Bouquet Pendants

I've been making smaller versions of my Wire Lace necklaces, in the form of pendants for flaurena™. They look like little bunches of flowers, hence the name 'Bouquet'. I'll be adding more photos of other Bouquet pendants to this post soon. Prices range from $45-$60. If you would like one, please email me.

TOKION magazine / Neilah Meyers

Neilah Meyers is a Los Angeles-based artist who I interviewed for Tokion magazine in February 2009. Below is the article I wrote, but you can also see how it appeared in Tokion's March 2009 issue by opening this PDF.

Vivacious Los Angeles artist Neilah Meyers has never been intimidated by scale: the first piece of art she ever sold was Ginger, a 6 x 4 feet charcoal sketch of a sprawling Great Dane puppy. That was ten years ago; since then Meyers has continued to create big and now works on life-sized sketches, sometimes even adding extra paper around a work so she can continue her sweeping lines. Meyers, who studied the Philosophy of the Sublime at NYU, likes to draw girls, animals and skulls, experimenting with different angles, texture and especially color, and throwing bursts of spray paint or acrylic into the mix. Born to an artist mother, she was introduced to the endless choices of art materials at an early age, but charcoal remains her preferred medium. "For some reason, working small has always felt too precious to me," she says. "Charcoal's nature is bold and strong. For me, to have a sense of tempo, it doesn't feel natural on a smaller scale." Meyers is also a paper aficionado, and binds her own sketchbooks in preparation for her art; their existence alone becomes a part of a work in progress. She has her eye on the goal, but the creation process is just as rewarding: "Whether it's a human or an animal, I always start with one eye. It just makes it real: when you have a connection to whatever this piece is about, everything else falls into place." It's true that her subjects' faces anchor a subtle, intense life in the work, but it is their often blurred bodies which capture the movement. This intrigue of motion is perhaps another reason she loves charcoal, which Meyers confesses she gets all over herself. "Sometimes I come home and find I have a Cro-Magnon shadow on my forehead, because no one has said `Hey! You have something there!"' she says, laughing. How sublime.

TOKION magazine / Lily Ludlow

Lily Ludlow is a New York-based artist who I interviewed for Tokion magazine in October 2008. Below is the article I wrote, but you can also see how it appeared in Tokion's Winter 2008 issue by opening this PDF.

There's so much penis art in Manhattan right now," observes artist Lily Ludlow, explaining her impulse to create art that is humorous, yet "a little twisted without being perverted or feminist." Her latest collection of paintings, showing in December at Canada Gallery (alongside a short film she shot with filmmaker Allen Cordell, featuring Chloë Sevigny) blends the erotic with the tongue-in-cheek, or what she calls, "sex comedy." An example is Victorian Jump-rope, which portrays two painted ladies, their voluptuous bodies tangled up in beads and bosoms, their blow-up-doll faces startled by the viewer's sudden appearance. Ludlow's confident pencil and ink strokes belie the hand of a shy perfectionist who struggles to not erase anything that isn't absolutely real. Eyes, for Ludlow, are the most important element in a face: "When I look at the eyes and get that feeling that it's true, then it's really true," she explains. Some eyes are drawn over each other multiple times, lending the impression that the figures are scanning your face as you study theirs, suggesting that you cannot be a voyeur if your gaze is returned. Perhaps this is a deflection of intimacy, the reaction of someone private who feels bared and over-exposed? "It's sort of wrestling with loving to do something, and then feeling that too much is out there," she says. This inner struggle extends to her hand-sewn clothing line, Somnus, customized with the same ink as her paintings, which, she explains, are "wearable, but they're more like a sculpture. It's up to the person who [buys] them what they do with them." It's a simple shrug from an artist whose curiosity trumps any insecurity: "When you put a line on someone, the way that it moves on the person, that looks really beautiful to me. And I want to keep up with that."

PAPER magazine / Sophia Eugene

Here's another review I wrote for PAPER magazine in September 2006. Sophia Eugene is a boutique in the West Village.

Sophia Eugene
If you saw the recent photos of Paris Hilton's arrest where she's wearing a red belt over a white top, then you are already familiar with Sophia Eugene. The label is the brainchild of Christopher Crawford, who wanted to create a new line of clothing appealing to a slightly younger and cooler gal. A chance meeting in the street led to an iced tea with co-founder and designer LaShunda Hamner: The end result is this little jewel-box of a store in the West Village, which stocks mod-inspired clothing in a mostly neutral palette. I fell in love with the Celine dress in gold-painted lamé with bluebell-shaped sleeves ($298) and the Stella jacket, a cross between a bolero jacket and short cape, in a cream teddy-bear fur ($398). Also worth mentioning is the Sienna dress, a '60s space-age number in a crinkled almost-looks-like-snakeskin gold ($298). If you look closely enough, you will also find cameo rings and other costume jewelry treasures hanging on the wall, as well as That Belt ($77) in white, gold and assorted prints.

PAPER magazine / Armoire

I wrote this review for PAPER magazine in August 2006. Armoire is a clothing boutique in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Armoire

Even if I were taken back to Armoire blindfolded, I'd know where I was just by touching the clothes: Owner Melissa Ray has quite a knack for sniffing out fabrics with textural interest. Upon entering, I immediately fell in love with a coat by Mint, whose cream wool imitated the look and feel of raw silk. Ray has an eye for up-and-coming designers and also a talent for choosing clothes that suit her loyal Williamsburg customers. A knee-length, plum-colored Wyeth dress conjured up all the fun of the roaring 1920s (how did she know that I've secretly been longing to be a flapper?). Slinky dresses, fine knits and all the store's great denim would look great with a pair of Jacqueline Schnabel boots (Ray's favorites are the two-inch-heeled, slouchy green-suede ones) and the Mercer clutch from Hayden Harnett in soft mustard-yellow leather with brass hardware. Taking pride of place is the eponymous armoire, a handsome antique Ray picked up on Bedford Avenue, bursting with treasures such as corduroy sweaters, floral baby-doll dresses from Cassguy, tailored sweatshirts from Mike & Chris and ultrasoft cotton T's and lacy dresses from Woo. Ray's hope was that Armoire would have the feel of "everyone's big closet." Indeed, stepping in is like finding yourself in an older -- and much cooler -- sister's walk-in wardrobe: your style, but way better.

PAPER magazine / K&M

This is a review that I wrote for PAPER magazine back in May 2006. Sadly, K&M bar has since closed, but it was a cheerful shabby-chic spot in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

K&M
There once was a pierogi place called Krystyna and Margaret, which was itself probably once a 1920s Williamsburg barbershop. Now it's a bar named K&M (a nod to the former owners) with an aluminum ceiling rusty from decades of boiling pierogi. Six months, two tetanus shots and sixteen stitches later, K&M has emerged as a muted 1950s local rock 'n' roll hangout, complete with retro bar stools and an antique red exit sign above the door. Andrea, the bartender, bubbles with enthusiasm for K&M and its emerging clientele, which so far is a cross section of local artists, curious dogs and the usual evening beer swillers. With 10 countries represented in the beer selection, this place specializes in the stuff- -whether you're looking for a domestic brew, something more exotic (Lindeman's Framboise, Belgium, $10) or a downright quaint draught (Greene King Abbot Ale, U.K., $5)- -although there's a full bar, too. DJs spin Monday through Wednesday and pop hits are banned, but anything else goes, except regarding the decor: A warning on a favorite postcard, "No fuckheads of any type", is probably directed at the thieves who stole one of the chairs.

PAPER magazine / Clandestino

This is a review that I wrote for PAPER magazine back in April 2006. Clandestino is a French wine bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Clandestino
Fresh-faced Parisian Laure Travers says her intention with the two-month old Clandestino was not to open a French joint but a neighborhood hangout. Despite her intentions, she's succeeded at both, and we're all the luckier for it. The minimalist shabby-chic bar is nestled among other Euro-New York institutions like Les Enfants Terribles and the Swedish Good World Bar & Grill. Clandestino has a downtempo vibe -- a combination of the best of downtown New York (exposed brick and full bar) and Paris (muted nicotine-colored walls, brass handrails and a short but varied French wine list). If you're feeling peckish, you can snack on a deliciously simple combination of poilâne -- a rustic whole-wheat bread that Travers has FedExed in from Paris -- and French cheeses and pâté. Wash it down with a good selection of draft beers, imported or otherwise: Hoegaarden, Guinness, Bass, Pilsner Urquell, Red Hook, Sixpoint Sweet Action Ale ($5-$6) or a cocktail ($6-$11). Travers has lived in the area for 10 years and is pleased that Clandestino draws a local crowd as well as new faces. It's evident from the decor and the menus that she's passionate about what she does. "It's kind of like organizing a little party every day," she says.

Where are you from?

When people ask me where I'm from I never know what to say. I have to figure out what they're really asking - where is my accent from? where did I grow up? what's my ethnicity? where's home? So here's the Long Version.

I was born in London to British parents. I was also educated in the UK. Ethnically, I am half-English (the rest being a mix of Irish, Welsh and German). My accent is British RP, the classic BBC World Service accent, albeit occasionally muddled from living in U.S. for a few years - where, when emailing my acting resume for an audition, I've found that likening my accent to Kate Winslet's opens more doors!

But when I lived in London as a child, I can only really describe that time as having been based in London. I've lived in and been to school in four U.S. states, Assissi, Italy and Marbella, Spain.

My mother has lived in Spain for over 20 years, and Andalucia is home for me. My father has lived in Los Angeles, Toulouse and Vienna, but his current home is Sofia, Bulgaria. As an adult, I have lived in Madrid, Paris, London - and New York. Twice.

The short answer I used to give to the question, Where are you from? was 'Europe'. But that invited exclamations of But you sound English! I once quipped Yes, I sound English when I speak English; Spanish, when I speak Spanish, and French when I speak French but I think it came out wrong, so I've never repeated it. The tongue-in-cheek 'Eurotrash' tends to confuse my fellow Americans, but their protests tell me the joke a little too dry, the humour a little too unfamiliar.

The best response is for those who think I'm Australian - a phenomenon I've only ever experienced only on U.S. soil - and that is to give an unsolicited demonstration which compares the Australian and British accents because it seems to make people crack up.

It seems that wherever I go now, I'm a foreigner. Too emotional to be English; too reserved to be Spanish; too eccentric to be American. At this point, I've spent more time living in the US than I ever did the UK. So, over the past year I've been giving the Short Version - describing myself as half-English, quarter-Spanish, quarter-American, and it feels good.

Sunset over Europe and Africa

I love how this photo captures the creeping twilight border over Western Europe and Northern Africa.

My flaurena™ portfolio

Here are some links to my jewellery portfolio:

• Available for Purchase - please email me to discuss
  
• Wire Lace Collection - organic gold / silver sculptures
  
• Strung Beads Collection - elegant and whimsical bead designs
  
• Past Commissions - examples of custom-made pieces

Learn more about flaurena™ at www.flaurena.com.

Web guru shout out

I'm teaching myself HTML, and am thinking about taking a stab at CSS (gulp), so I can continue to improve my flaurena™ and acting websites. It's been a helluva learning curve and I couldn't have figured out as much as I did without the following sites:

• Squidfingers - for providing the pretty background tile seen either side of my blog's page.

• Hype - for the colour chart
  

• Nebojsa Pajkic - for the image map code
  

• Anshuldudeja - for helping me figure out how to add an extra header for the banner

• Yourminis - for the Recent Posts widget
  

What is 'Wire Lace'?

These photos are of the first Wire Lace necklace that I ever made. I receive at least one compliment each time I wear it, and its popularity is why I launched flaurena™ in the first place!

This particular necklace is made from brass wire, but I now use sterling silver or gold fill wire (your choice) and adorn these wearable sculptures with semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals, and anything else that catches my eye. Comfortable to wear and utterly feminine, each of these hand-made necklaces is a unique design.

• See more of my Wire Lace collection.

The difference between gold fill and gold plate

Put simply, gold fill is much better quality than gold plate. Solid gold is expensive (especially nowadays!) and gold fill is an excellent alternative to the real deal as it has the look and feel of solid gold -- but it won't fade or rub off because the outer layer is solid gold. Plus, if you're not allergic to gold, you can wear gold fill. Gold plate, on the other hand, tends to rub off fairly quickly and can stain your skin green!

If you want to know more about the science involved, read this short article by Beverly Fernandes who clearly describes the process of how to make gold, gold fill, and gold plate.

Unless otherwise noted, all gold used in my designs is gold fill.

Playwrights Horizons Donation

In April 2009, I donated one of my Wire Lace necklaces to the Playwrights Horizons annual auction, which raises funds for the Playwrights Horizons’ six annual productions, as well as helping to develop new works, train young arts professionals, and strengthen its audience and community outreach programs. The above necklace sold for $200 at auction.

Everything is bigger in America

I can't think of a single manufactured thing that is physically bigger in Europe that it is in America, except for magnums of wine. I just returned from a week in Spain and lugged two magnums back with me-- the only magnums I've seen Stateside are cheap, nasty bottles of plonk, retailing at less than 5 bucks, or else the bottles are empty Methuselahs of champagne in French restaurants.

I was in Spain in September visiting family and it was my first visit back to Europe since moving to NYC. I was struck by how small even the cars are! I've never owned a car and so know and undeerstand very little about their status/ upkeep/ insurance. Anyway, my step-father's Cherokee Jeep seemed a "normal" size, but I happen to know that this is a huge car by Euro standards. Occasionally you pass one of those vile Hummers, but that's not a car, it's a military tank. Over here in the US one of my sisters-in-law drives a Jetta and, from what I understand, this the car to drive if you are a hip 20-sthg girl in the US - but this is a 4-person family car by Euro standards! Twice I've been asked by curious Americans if that Smart car is really a car. I assume it is, but nothing could convince me to get behind the wheel of one, as one small accident and I might end up a double-amputee. But, at 6ft/ 1m 84 tall, I probably wouldn't fit inside anyway...

And on the subject of squeezing into tight spots, clothing sizes run larger, too, which means I have better luck finding longer trousers and shoes for my clodhopping UK 9/ US 11/ Euro 43 feet. I see more obesity in the US (although the UK seems to be catching up fast!) which might offer an explanation for more generous sizing in clothes, which can also be applied to the vast quantities of selection on a restaurant menu and, consequently, on your restaurant plate.

You can buy industrial-sized cartons of milk and juice in a corner shop that you'd normally find in a large suburban supermarket in London. Of course, fridges over here are huge (they are known as "American Fridges" in Europe) so can accommodate a gallon of OJ and a gallon of milk and a gallon of something else on only one shelf in your fridge door (how did I manage before?) Good luck finding one Stateside to fit under your kitchen countertop.

Even my pills are bigger here, which makes them harder to swallow without water. In Europe they come in a discreet strip, and the tablets themselves are glazed, sort of like M'n'Ms for cabbage patch dolls, and they share the same yellowish-grey CPK skin tone. Over here, they are almost the size of an aspirin, and the strip is contained in a palm-sized pink plastic box, which has 28 holes punched through on one side. It's monstruously indiscreet. (I've seen others, though, which are a similar shape and size to a pinwheel.)

There is a kind of convenience to buying in bulk. I like CostCo, but quickly learned that I'll need a couple of kids before I can fully take advantage of shopping there. Wonderman helps finish the milk and OJ before they turn sour, and a 5lb bag of frozen shrimp will last for a couple of months in the freezer, but I'm still working on striking the perfect balance between being economical without being wasteful. For now, I'm happier with my larger choice of not-all-completely-hideous super-size-me shoes.

What does 'flaurena' mean?

I'm sometimes asked how I came to pick the name flaurena™ for my jewellery collection.

Flaurena was a nickname given to me by my best friend in our high school Spanish class. A doodle of a tiny flower furtively appeared on my notebook, with 'flaurena' - an anglicised hybrid of flor (flower in Spanish) + Lorena (my real name, Lauren, in Spanish) - lovingly scribbled underneath.

When the time came for me to think of a business name for my jewellery collection I wanted something that sums up who I am, and flaurena™ immediately came to mind. I think it's an elegant and whimsical name for elegant and whimscial designs, and there's a connection to flowers and Spain, where I grew up. I also like that it is a nickname given to me by a someone who is my best friend to this day.

• to learn more about my jewellery designs, visit www.flaurena.com
  

Columbia Road Flower Market

My friends and neighbours in London introduced me to the rather wonderful slice of the East End. Columbia Road Flower Market sprouts every Sunday and its stalls sell a whole bunch of plants, trees, fruity things and flowers in pots down the actual Columbia Road, itself a small street lined with pretty shops selling books, antiques and art. Go earlier for a wider and healthier selection of flora, or go late (ie. 1pm) to get less healthy but marked down from already cheap prices. A dark green tiled Victorian pub booms techno music in the morning (but it's strangely OK, as it just adds to the vibe); tattered books, vintage jewellery, kitsch memorabilia from any decade you care to mention are some of the stalls' offerings.

'Round the back there's a fabulous coffee stand where you'll get one of the best caffe lattes in London - considering it's made on a wheelbarrow, it's as good as Caffe Nero (best coffee from a chain) or Bar Italia (best independent coffee bar, with the most unflattering wall mirror in all of London, and one of the few places there open 24/7/365. Unlike her American sister, London is a city which sleeps.)

Next door to the portable coffee shop is the fry-up stand, where you'll get the best bacon sandwich in London - fried eggs, ketchup and HP sauce optional. What more incentive do you need to get up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday? And all a stone's throw from the famous Spitalfields (prounounced spittle-fields, not spite-ul-fields) market too.

Below is a picture I took of Columbia Road's signpost on my very first visit (Sept. 2003). I was amused because it was so low to the ground, and liked the contrast of the rust-coloured Victorian tiles. Taken on a busy corner, I was delighted to see I'd snapped a passerby squinting into my lens.















There are few things I miss about London, but I dream of that sandwich now that I am in the U.S. whose bacon tends to be meagre and streaky, or else plain old smoked ham, which they call 'Canadian' bacon. The only place in NYC where I've managed to find that generous fat 'eye' of salty pink bacon - what Americans seem to call 'Irish' bacon - is the crumbling-in-a-charming-sort-of-way Meyers of Keswick.

Banjo

I coined the term 'shyhound' to describe the temperament of our German Shepherd/ Greyhound-mix, Banjo. We were told by the shelter that he was a Shepherd/ Labrador-mix, but as he has grown up we can see he is predominantly Greyhound.

Not much is known about Banjo's past. He was found with his mother, who looked like a Labrador, and three brothers in Queens, NY. City Animal Control picked them all up, and, because the puppies were only 5 weeks old, would have put the litter down had Sean Casey Animal Rescue not stepped in. In those early days of the non-profit, Sean Casey ran his shelter from a concrete shed in the cargo section of JFK - I hear he has since moved to South Park Slope - and this is where Banjo and his brothers were cared for until they were old enough to be neutered.

Meanwhile, we had seen Banjo's adoption photo (see below) and fallen in love with his little face. We'd seen many lovely photos of puppies available for adoption, but Banjo's face was the one which made me pick up the phone and make an appointment to visit the shelter.

A couple of days later, we had an 8-week-old puppy in our lives. He has turned our lives upside-down and back again, but we wouldn't change it for the world.

I'm posting some of my favourite photos of my shy guy because I occasionally hear from strangers who have a dog like mine, and want to get an idea of what their pup will look like when s/he grows up.

Banjo's Adoption Photo

When I saw this peeping face, I knew my dog! Banjo at approx. 5 weeks.

Favourite Puppy Photo

I love how curious and fuzzy he is in this photo, taken when he was around 12-weeks-old.

People-Watching

Here he is in one of his favourite spots. True to his GS genes, he's a barker! If you look closely, you can see the crick in his tail - a congenital break. When he's relaxed, it's pointed, like an arrow, and when he's boisterous, it's curled, like a cane.

A Peaceful Moment

Banjo is predominantly Greyhound, physically and in temperament. But his muzzle, ears, colouring and protective nature are all Shepherd.

If you're as silly as I am, your pooch can connect with Banjo on

#1 dog site for dogs & bipeds!

>:o3