Jewelry in Collegetown, part one.

Hooray. At last we have some jewelry in the shop. From Luna Librarian of Rochester, earrings, bracelets, watch bracelets, as well as some funky chunky mosaicized frame mirrors, corked bottles, and more. All of LL's handiwork is highly affordable. Just the thing for Collegetown Court apartment residents to snag as they zip past on their way to...everywhere. Pictures forthcoming. And P.S., Luna Librarian has provided us with one perfect gift for men, a one-of-a-kind pencil holder, studded with coins and glass. Actually, they're Playboy casino tokens, I think. It's very handsome. I want it, but there's only one and it's for sale at Magpie Gallery Shop.

Beatrix Potter marble coasters

I don't get nostalgic about children's books. I don't even know what "Goodnight, Moon" is, which probably reveals how ancient I am or how childless. I do love book illustrations. And I did get lost in and savor Beatrix Potter's books as a child. Or, they savored me. (See "Samuel Whiskers or The Roly Poly Pudding". Yikes.)

On 4" x 4" Botticino marble tile coasters with cork backing, Beatrix Potter's immediate and evocative little pictures can be enjoyed in lasting form. You may even want to frame one of these beauties. They are available at the Magpie Gallery Shop for 8.00 each.

Pictured above, from l. to r.: the cover image from Little Pig Robinson, The Tale of Tom Kitten (before they lose their clothes!), The Tale of Samuel Whiskers, and, from TTK again, Mrs. Ribby at the door.

Purple rain, Red Apple Falls, Shower o' Tiles

If rainbows could rain. That's what it feels like some days, in this business, if I focus on the negative space around the drab piles of paper in my inbox. We have so many new images coming in from artists--Jo Dunnick surprised us with watercolor renditions of Tillie Baldwin and other cowgrrrls (above), which we are turning into tile, along with new equine beauties and the sweet but not cloying "Pour Your Heart Out" (shown above on a 6" x 8" tile); Dan Bacich has been dodging into phone booths in between painting leaves, and bringing forth new (brilliant) assemblages--he calls them "boxes"--photographs of which are going to make some truly amazing tiles. Yes they are. We'll devote a future post to them. Meanwhile, we're working with Bill Callahan nee Smog on tile coasters and boxes, and we hope some "soft" goods, featuring images from his CDs, including the new Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. Yes, we can provide Tuscan landscape murals for your backsplash, as well, and magnificent Victorian-neoclassic Tadema murals for your shower, but we can't stop the thirsty purple rain cloud that follows us around like a guardian angel and seems to be our brand identity and brand difference.

Guy Davenport

with which compare:
Guy Davenport, in Hugh Kenner's The Counterfeiters

an idyllic stone mural

...some years ago I passed most of an afternoon in an Amsterdam bruine cafe. Let us say that behind the bar was an impressive stone mural, to sit before which was to deliquesce in time and Jupiler beer, transported onto rhapsody and reverie, until, in the early evening I braved traffic and lights and, as in a dream, found myself finding my way back to the hotel.

Fresh flowers by Chris and Arnie Galin (on ceramic tile)

It's that time of year when artists are standing in line waiting for their ceramic art tile orders to be fulfilled for their first shows of the season. With Phil at Magpie Gallery Shop most days, and my mountain of you-know-which forms to attack and preferably kill off today, I'll just put up some pictures of Chris and Arnie Galin's lovely flower photography tiles. Keywords: mother's day gifts, pink extraordinaire, live nude flowers!

ceramic tile mural of photograph by Frank Muller

new sparklies in the store

We received our first batch of glass bud vases made by Deb Florian of Recreations by Deb (Buffalo, NY). This blue dragonfly is just one of the many themes of adornment Deb offers. There's the rubber duckie bud vase, a perfectly funky Easter gift or spring fetish, a black wooden bird vase, and silver hearts and crosses. These bud vases have a little sucker attached, allowing you to stick them on your bathroom mirror or a window (to catch the sun). Magpie also carries larger colored glass hanging vases, and inspiration vases, by Deb Florian. Check out Deb's web site at www.recreationsbydeb.com and then come pick out your own at Magpie Gallery Shop. You can't go wrong with these and you can get them in between classes.