Design: wabi sabi mommi

My sister and I both arrived into adulthood near-obsessed with Asian culture. I blame our mother for her love of Japanese design and Greene & Greene buildings, and my father for innocently giving me a copy of the Tao Te Ching when I was twelve, and his old college materials from what I can only guess was a Sumi class. The love of all things aesthetically pleasing (not coincidentally most of them Asian in origin) was so ingrained in me by adulthood that I forgot to even think of it, and my love became part of the wallpaper of my being.
But as I have eased myself into a comfortable(ish) understanding of my new 'motherhood' role, many of my studies have quietly resurfaced, and I find myself making peace with everyday, every moment with the deep-down Zen I had all but forgotten.

a wabi sabi bowl

It is truly a gift to live so closely with a child. I am remembering again what living in only the present is all about. The delightful child-sized messes around the house, the joy of beautiful food prepared according to baby time (which seems to stretch into infinity), the imperfection that can't be helped is all priceless. At first, it all drove me batty.
Then I remembered the Japanese philosophy I love most of all: Wabi Sabi. I am too much a Westerner to explain the concept accurately, but I will sum it up like this: Its roots in Zen Buddhism, wabi sabi is about the perfection of impermanence and imperfection. There are many sources for further study, like here, for starters. The moment I started to remember wabi sabi, I began to love the beautiful chaos of motherhood.
First, I de-cluttered. Then I de-cluttered again. If 'it' isn't truly important or necessary, it gets recycled, donated or trashed. Then I started eating simply, and consciously, remembering this old Zen teaching: When alone, eat as though you are entertaining guests, When entertaining guests, eat as though you are alone. I began to better understand that all of our battered belongings are beautiful with evidence of their years of usefulness, and I began to feel that way about myself, too.

The below interior shots are cited on apartment therapy as 'wabi sabi'
While I agree they might have been inspired by the philosophy, I side with Zimbio.com:
"You can't buy wabi sabi at Pottery Barn"

True wabi sabi in action
Japanese tea house with leaves

again, beautiful on its own, but too sterile and new to truly be wabi sabi:

Closer (and I am being generous here because I think this is a cool-a** mantle piece), but no cha

this garden corner is wabi sabi without trying to be (therefore making it even more wabi sabi)

classic examples of wabi sabi cha cups

from zimbio.com: "The true spirit of wabi sabi":
made me smile

More classic examples:

A roundup of the basic concepts:

The bowl is hollow, open and free shaped	antithesis	The box is rectilinear, precise and contained
Simple and sparing (It's what you leave out that counts)	antithesis	Cluttered and full
Non demanding beauty	antithesis	Quintessential supreme rule to aesthetics
Non utility, non-purpose, sustaining empty meaning	antithesis	Survival of function and utility to uses
Solicits into sensory expansion of possibilities	antithesis	Desolate sensory with excessive definition
Comforts uncertainly & unconventionality	antithesis	Intolerant with ambiguity or contradictions, requires strong definitions in order to withhold substance
Seemingly Crude (Primordial and natural materials)	antithesis	Ostensibly slick (New artificial manufactured materials)
Earthy, Intimate and warm	antithesis	Sterile and hygienic
Unpretentious and obscured	antithesis	Pretentious, ornate, gaudy & flashy
To everything there is a season to change	antithesis	Strained for everlasting
Favors degradation and attrition (Free to change)	antithesis	Requires maintenance and excessive attention
Diminish to evolve to nothing (Dissolved)	antithesis	Requires restoration, fixing and reviving
Revives naturally through change in time	antithesis	Revamp/replace or change in pace to exhaustive trends
Weathering/contamination generates rich expression	antithesis	Purity is divine, decay is weak
Imperfect and incomplete	antithesis	Strains improvement and perfectionism

From zenarchitect.com

Quoting the novelist Natsume Soseki [1867-1916]):

When I was in England, I was once laughed at because I invited someone for snow-viewing. At another time I described how deeply the feelings of Japanese are affected by the moon, and my listeners were only puzzled... I was invited to Scotland to stay at a palatial house. One day, when the master and I took a walk in the garden, I noted that the paths between the rows of trees were all thickly covered with moss. I offered a compliment, saying that these paths had magnificently acquired a look of age. Whereupon my host replied that he soon intended to get a gardener to scrape all this moss away.

Leonard Koren:

Get rid of all that is unnecessary. Wabi-sabi means treading lightly on the planet and knowing how to appreciate whatever is encountered, no matter how trifling, whenever it is encountered. "Material poverty, spiritual richness" are wabi-sabi bywords. In other words, wabi-sabi tells us to stop our preoccupation with success — wealth, status, power and luxury — and enjoy the unencumbered life.

Wabi-sabi is exactly about the delicate balance between the pleasure we get from things and the pleasure we get from freedom from things.

"Greatness" exists in the inconspicuous and overlooked details. Wabi-sabi represents the exact opposite of the Western ideal of great beauty as something monumental, spectacular and enduring. Wabi-sabi is about the minor and the hidden, the tentative and the ephemeral: things so subtle and evanescent they are invisible to vulgar eyes.

Things wabi-sabi are unpretentious, unstudied and inevitable looking. They do not blare out "I am important" or demand to be the centre of attention. They are understated and unassuming, yet not without presence or quiet authority. Things wabi-sabi easily coexist with the rest of their environment.

Things wabi-sabi are appreciated only during direct contact and use; they are never locked away in a museum. Things wabi-sabi have no need for the reassurance of status or the validation of market culture. They have no need for documentation of provenance.

Keep things clean and unencumbered, but don’t sterilize. (Things wabi-sabi are emotionally warm, never cold.)

One of my favorite personal 'wabi sabi mommi' moments:

Living with my child everyday; seeing her wonder, her natural ability to live only in the moment, and her joy, has reinforced my old lessons on Zen and wabi sabi. Each day I am happier as I pare down to that which is essential, and therefore, truly beautiful.

Which moments of your day, and which objects, bring you back to your center?

Interiors/Kids: The Only Thing I Miss About Our Old Place

Our baby girl is six months old now, and I was remembering a year ago: morning sickness starting to subside, and nesting urge quietly building itself into an unstoppable obsession. We were living in a rented two-family historic home, but our landlords were deadbeats who gave us (basically) free reign on painting the nursery. I'm sure they expected something a little different than what we left them when we moved on, but I was a woman obsessed. I wanted a blue sky, I was getting a blue sky.
I tried to let the father-to-be help me paint, but everyday that ticked by was about three days too long for Lady Preggers, so I did it myself. I painted the walls, the ceiling, the clouds, the birds, then I made pillows for the rocking chair and the changing table. I painted the rocker, and the secondhand chest of drawers. I hauled up an abandoned bookshelf from the basement. I found an old mirror at a yard sale, and painted that, too. I ran out of things to paint.
That's when I cleaned!!! and cooked!!! and baked!!!, but, alas, those are stories for another time...
When it came time for us to move, I was glad, and I like our new little house very much, but I was near heart-broken to bid adieu to my much obsessed over nursery.
"Someday," I whispered to our baby girl, "I'll make an even better room for you. I promise."

Changing Table With Swallow and Mirror

View of the crib (and mommy-made high-contrast mobile)

The corner and swallows flying 'in the distance'

Custom pillows and girlie flowers and ribbons, oh my

Another swallow - this time holding cross stitch by grandma

View of changing table

*sigh*

Interiors: I Have a Girl Crush

I have a new favorite design blog! Holly at Decor8 is the blogger I wish I could be! Her blog is gorgeous, with all sorts of yummy interiors, beautiful products, and sound advice for entrepreneurs. Check out these delightful photos from her latest post:

Photos courtesy of Decor8

Kids: Craft Magazine Rocks This Week

I check out the Craft Magazine site every couple of days for some inspiration (and sometimes lots of giggles,) and, I admit, I usually leave feeling like I'm just not that craftily motivated, and thus, somehow lacking. Among the features on the site this week, however, are two very practical crafts that I know even I could accomplish.

First: How to Turn a Regular Bra Into a Nursing Bra. Genius. What mommy or mommy bff doesn't need this?!

Secondly: Stuffed Toy From a Child's Drawing.
I love this idea! It's so sweet and cute, and could be a great way to teach an older child about design and sewing (I'm thinking about 8 years old, that's when I learned, but maybe I'm delusional in my thinking about today's youth.... but I digress,) plus, it's a neat way to preserve a moment in your child's life, and give her something to be proud of and talk to guests about.


And to think I was actually blogging because I am procrastinating getting started on a new project! *Slacker*

Art: In Forty Years?

Are these the sweaters we'll be making in forty years (much to the chagrin of our grandchildren)?

Bansky is a graffiti artist, yes, but incredible. I sincerely recommend checking out his site for some truly inspired social commentary/urban art.

Gardening: Upcycling and Plant Markers, Whoo-hoo!

We had a teaser of spring weather here (now the wind is howling, and the temperature has dropped thirty degrees....of course), birds were building nests, mockingbirds were singing, and I got a little garden-fantasy obsessed. I found this lovely, green idea on Little House In The Suburbs, and wondered why I had never thought of it myself. I don't normally drink soda from cans, but for this, I could make the sacrifice. I think, with the proper design-savvy treatment, these garden labels would be perfect for an urban gardener. I can't wait to put my typography and embossing skills to work... now if I could just get some plants to label...


For complete instructions, visit the post HERE.

Interiors: DIY Perpetual Photo Wall Calendar

Love This:

From the lovely folks at PhotoJoJo.com

It's fantastic and poppy, but since one must go on a personal photo safari to find all the needed numbers (1-31) and letters (M-Sun), it could be carefully designed to fit your personal style. You'll need a camera, photo clips (available at the website), and optionally, a photo printer with matte paper, plus scissors to cut your photos into hip little squares. Photo adventure/mission, typography, pop-art, functionality, great interior style, and a conversation piece -- what's not to love?

Also adore this idea:


Photo Jojo is my new favorite crafty site!

Kids: Your Mop, Waiter, and Family Will Thank You

The above oilcloth can be found at ReproDepot.com

Our daughter just started transitioning to solid food, and, while rice cereal eaten happily by a baby thrilled to be served 'big person food', but not yet wise to her ability to 'help' is pretty innocuous, I know that the days of sweet potato puree flinging are just right around the corner.
In an effort to be proactive, I have been checking out various websites for the best oilcloth with which to make a drop cloth. I can put it under her highchair at home, a restaurant, or at Grandma's, wipe it clean (even hose it off in the sink at home), and fold it neatly into the diaper bag.
I haven't started making it yet, so I have no 'how to' for you in the classical sense, but making a drop cloth is as easy or difficult as you want to make it. You could, for instance, simply order a yard and a half of a fabric you love (and it's hard to choose!), which will set you back around ten bucks. Oilcloth is pretty heavy, and doesn't necessarily need to be hemmed.
If you want to get fancy (and I know I do), you can order contrasting prints (remember: One Big Print + One Small Print = Happy Design World), and sew them together, making a reversible cloth with contrasting edges on one side. Easy-peasy!

Check out these lovely patterns from Mendels.com!

Some examples of fancy drop cloths found on OilCloth.com, a wholesale company.

Gardening: Enter The 'Great Garden Giveaway'

Until March 22nd, 2009, visit OnTheHouse.com to enter The Great Garden Giveaway! Prizes total more than $5000., and include furniture from Smith & Hawken, Proven Winners Color Choice Shrubs, Mode, Studio Replica, and Rebecca Cole.

Some yummy Color Choice hydrangeas:

My Backyard:
(Yeah...in my dreams!) (Actually, Smith&Hawken weather-resistant wicker:)

I really, really want to win!!!
But, if one of you wins instead, will you please invite me over to enjoy your new oasis?

Art: Raquel Aparicio

Raquel Aparicio is the kind of artist I want to be when I grow up -- the kind of artist that makes me wish I had kept up my practice. She's an extremely accomplished illustrator whose work you should check out, and hopefully she will forgive me for posting one of her pictures here (from a book of Russian folktales she illustrated), but I wanted to make sure you all saw how truly delightful her illustrations are, and would want to visit her website for more.

by Raquel Aparicio

Food: Olive and Onion Bread

There was a time in the not-too-distant past that I, Maven Mama, was terrified of baking. I admit, this phobia was precipitated by a series of early baking debacles (a legendarily bad birthday cake for my father springs to mind), but after several years of general cooking success, coupled with envy over the fluffy muffins and chewy cookies from other kitchens, I decided it was time to try my hand at the baking arts once again. To me, the most terrifying of the practical baked goods was bread. That's where I began, and a year later, I finally feel pretty good about my success - enough so that I now lust after a brick oven.
Yesterday afternoon, I was a little bored, so I strapped the baby on, and 'we' started some bread: 2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour (this time I substituted 1/2 Cup of white flour), Yeast pac whisked into water with sugar, and a little salt and oil -- this base can be made into basically any kind of bread you're in the mood for, but I had been drooling over Colson Patisserie's website, and noticed some of their sandwiches are served on fresh olive bread. "Mmmm, olive bread...", and I set to poking around the fridge for ingredients. Here's the recipe I came up with - it's a little loose, as I didn't take notes (I didn't realize how delicious and blog-worthy the bread would be!)

Olive & Onion Bread

1 Package Active Yeast
2 Tblsp Sugar
1 Cup 110 degree Water
1 1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (again, I prefer King Arthur Brand)
1/2 Cup White Flour
2 Tsp. Salt
2 Tsp. Dried Thyme
About 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
7 - 12 Kalamata (or similar) Olives, the flesh sliced from the pits and roughly chopped
1/4 Large Red Onion, Chopped
1/3 Cup Crumbled Feta

In a small bowl, Whisk the sugar into the hot water, when it is disolved, add the yeast and whisk until mixed. Set aside for about five minutes. In a large bowl, mix together Flours, Salt, Thyme, add Olives, Onion, and Feta. Using a rubber spatula, add yeast mixture, and mix, add Olive Oil slowly, a little at a time, and mix. You've used enough when the dough can be formed into a ball. Depending on conditions, you may need extra olive oil.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic, reincorporating the pieces of olive and onion that escape as you go.
Coat the bowl with olive oil, return the dough the the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and place in a warm place for an hour. After the hour, punch dough down once, return to bowl and allow to rise for about 30 more minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a pan, and shape dough minimally into an oblong loaf. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes, until golden-brown. Serve the same day for best taste and texture.

Art: Shameless Plug: Leslie Amick

Even when I am not living up to my own full potential, I still obsessively encourage and support talented friends, family, and, heck, even acquaintances. I usually find it easier to see the obvious, overflowing talent in others than to recognize my own (to the extent that I am embarrassed to even infer that I have talent here.)
That being said, I am very excited to introduce the pastel artist, Leslie Amick. She's a mom and grandma out of Atlanta, Georgia who works full time and keeps a beautiful house and garden. She's been producing beautiful work for years, and has accepted many commissions, but today marks the opening of the very first online representation of her work!
Please check out her blog HERE, and check back often. Below are a couple of her pieces:

Turn Left At The Tree
24" x 30" $500.

Cow's In The Corn
24" x 30" SOLD

Thank you for supporting 'new' artists!

Food: My New Favorite Condiment

I had a foodie 'ahah!' moment recently when our local Greek place enclosed extra tzatziki (dza-DZEE-kee) sauce with my falafel pita. While using the stuff liberally, I realized: 'Cucumbers? I love cucumbers. Yogurt. Love yogurt! Garlic? Yes, I love garlic! Holy cow! This stuff is my perfect food, and I never realized it before!'
I had leftover tzatziki, and snacked on it the next day experimentally: Potato chips and tzatziki? Delicious. Raw veggies and tzatziki? Check. Gala apple slices and tzatziki? Strange but good. I ran out of tzatziki at this point in my snacking extravaganza, but I imagined more of the divine sauce on sandwiches, on fish (baked, fried or ceviche - ole!), on lamb burgers, a dollop on white bean soup, with sauteed spinach and artichokes.... and on and on. So here's a recipe I whipped up. The sugar is not traditional, but the sauce from our Greek place is a little sweet, which I love, so I added it.

16 oz. Greek yogurt
4 cloves of garlic, chopped extra fine (You can reduce the amount to your taste. Note: I think if the garlic was roasted first, it would be incredible
1 Cucumber (Hothouse variety, also called English or European), seeded, skin left on
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tsp. Fresh Dill (you can also substitute mint here)
1 Tbsp Salt, Plus 1/2 Tsp.
2 Tsp. Sugar
Pinch Fresh Black Pepper

Grate the cucumber on a box grater, stir in the tablespoon of salt, and place in a sieve over a bowl (or, heck, over your sink if you're feeling low-maintainance). Allow the salt to draw out the water from the cucumber for 30 - 45 minutes.
Place the yogurt in a large-ish bowl. Squeeze what remaining water you can out of the cucumber, and add to the yogurt. Stir in the rest of the ingredients until well mixed. It's best to allow the tzatziki to 'rest' in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. Enjoy!

Kids: The Future is Now

From a 1950 edition of Popular Mechanics:

You laugh now, but imagine the possibilities when it comes to baby spit-up and sticky toddler hand prints...

Gardening: Moss 'Graffiti' by Helen Nodding

Helen Nodding's website features some fascinating art, but also the recipe and directions for making your very own 'moss graffiti'. I think it would be an awesome gardening/science/art project to do with young-ish kids, and they could easily be charged with the daily water misting that the new moss requires. I, personally, would love to do a swirling design from under the single tree in our yard...
Thanks to Helen, here's the recipe:

RECIPE
*Several clumps of moss
*1 pot of natural yoghurt or 12oz buttermilk (experiment to see which works best)
*1/2 teaspoon of sugar
*blender
*Plastic pot (with a lid)
*Paint brush
*Spray-mister

After you've assembled these ingredients, visit Instructables for the thorough instructions.
I can't wait to make my very own moss smoothie!