Being able to create from home and spend time with her two children, Evelyn and William, is the perfect life for Jes Zange, a fiber artist based in Milwaukee, WI. After pursuing an undergraduate degree in fine arts, Jes explored a number of creative endeavors—painting, event planning, and even designing installations for Anthropologie. It was not until her first child was born in 2016 that she discovered her love for fiber art. Bothered by the idea that she was exposing her newborn to toxic paints, Jes asked the question, “what if I could paint with yarn?” Out of this curiosity, her original textile art was born, consisting of various techniques, vibrant colors, and a depth of textures.
Provenance: Zellige Tile
Zellij - often referred to as Zellige or Zelige - is a moorish art form that is heavily featured in Moroccan architecture. We have long since had an incredibly deep appreciation and affection for zellige and its imperfect charm - but especially so after our trip to Marrakech a few years ago with our dear friends, Holly Phillips of The English Room, Julia Buckingham of Modernique Inc. and Cathy Austin of Catherine M. Austin Interior Design. We digress for a second, but that’s us…. riding CAMELS in the Atlas Mountains!! It truly was the trip of a lifetime, y’all! To see more, check out the hashtag we used on the trip and for the Instagram Takeover we did for Traditional Home.
The Lovely and Talented Brett Beldock
“We have to keep learning through everything,” says furniture and wallpaper designer Brett Beldock, describing herself as a student, with a deep love for research and the discovery of new things. “I just bought myself a Japanese Marbling Kit and I will be learning marbling all afternoon,” she shares with a joyful expression. We are zooming from her home office in Southampton and I can spot her beautiful New Anemones wallpaper in the background.
Code Switch Podcast
This week we’re listening to the Code Switch podcast by NPR
What's Code Switch? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for! Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. They explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story.
Fab Five: Beachcombers
Palette No. 71: 4th of July Inspired
This July 4th, in particular, we’re thinking a whole heck of a lot about what matters most in life. To us, that means freedom and true equality for every person - regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation, good health, kindness, and the extraordinary gift that is creativity.
And creativity most definitely struck as we were pulling these festive red, white and blue textile and wallcovering palettes together! One of our all-time favorite parts of the interior design process is working with gorgeous textiles to add infinite layers, texture and personality to our clients’ homes. We hope you enjoy the visual feast!
Audrey Lorde: Self-Care Is Political Warfare
This quote is one that we have always kept close to our hearts, but fear that it is often oversimplified. It’s beneficial to understand the history and context behind Audre Lorde’s words before diving into our own interpretations. The first step in building a foundation of understanding for this quote is conceptualizing ‘radical self-care,’ an act that calls for the attentiveness to one’s individual mind and body. Speaking within social norms, women are socialized to care for others. By caring for oneself, a woman can confront the stereotype that she solely exists to give her time and energy to her surrounding environment. Self-care builds sustainable revolutions and social movements—ones that are upheld by individuals built to last. Self-care is ‘revolutionary,’ because it works against oppression and forms of discrimination that attempt to undermine particular identities.
Jared Hughes Rocks the Southeastern Designer Showhouse
Jared Hughes, a wildly talented designer and lovely friend of ours, has us totally gobsmacked over his bedroom in this year’s Southeastern Designer Showhouse. From his beautiful use of Décors Barbares textiles to the ornate detailing of his custom wallpaper collaboration with Gracie Studio, we were thrilled to learn more about Jared’s inspiration and creative process for this project.
Good Reads: Black Publishing Power
Racial disparity and discrimination in publishing was exposed with the #PublishingPaidMe hashtag as Black authors urged white authors to list the advances they received for their debut books. The results showed that white authors, some with no prior writing experience, frequently receive bigger advances than Black authors. As a response, Amistad Books created the Black Publishing Power initiative to encourage readers to buy two books this week by Black authors with the goal to Blackout the NYT bestsellers lists with Black voices.
We are highlighting some engaging, gorgeous and educational books written by Black authors that are guaranteed to inspire. Join us in supporting this campaign and consider adding two (or more!) from our reading list to yours.
Desk Diaries: Kate Loudoun Shand
Welcome to my creative workspace - my desk is situated in my home studio in the English Cotswolds. Reading materials are always in abundance here - I’m currently working through The Artist’s Way (highly recommend) and also re-reading Haute Bohemians. The Golden Thread is another fascinating read that I’m devouring.