Is your home rich in spirit??
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It’s “home jawns” week at Blackbird Spyplane. We cover home goods all year — you can find them all, plus several cool home-goods shops, in the Home Jawns section of our Master Jawn Index. But every December we like to do a dedicated deep dive. Because if you pour all yr energy and resources into jawns while treating your home like an afterthought, you are neglecting your place of retreat from this hustle-bustle, topsy-turvy, modern world!!
As you decorate the cribbo, though, how should you proceed? The answer, if you ask us, is not to go on “minimalist autopilot,” in which case you may wind up with a house that feels “correct but cold” — the kind of place where you’re forced to ask, “Did an A*rbnb Management Company furnish this s**t or did I… ??? Where is the character…? Where is the love…?”
Put plainly: Where is the richness of spirit!?
I (Jonah) grew up in a vibrantly cluttered home, full of handsome beat-up furniture and assorted bric-a-brac my parents scored at flea markets, weird antique stores and curio shops from Paris to Perth Amboy, NJ. They hung up art they made, art I made, art their friends made, art they picked up for peanuts who knows where. In the kitchen were WFMU fridge magnets, thrifted mugs and mismatched Fishs Eddy Outlet plates. In the living room, a promotional molded-plastic bust of Joe Camel perched on a shelf, grinning down at a Fernand Léger print in a worn metal frame. Over on the windowsill was a chunk of concrete my dad salvaged from the demolition of the old West Side Highway. This was (still is!) a small fraction of the funky cacophony on site…
Erin & I don’t get anywhere near that O.D. with the décor at Spyplane HQ, as much as we admire the “1-of-1 living museum” my parents have cultivated. But we do like to tap into that spirit of vibrant clutter in controlled doses, to enliven and re-contextualize more muted pieces we’re drawn to. We hang art made by friends & family, we line a windowsill with rocks and dolphin-shaped driftwood we’ve found on shorelines, we let our bookshelves get “structural hazard”-level overcrowded. A few years ago on eBay I copped a Hans Wegner CH25 chair (a true GOAT midcentury banger, as “tasteful” as they come) — it sits draped with an old overshot-weave quilt Erin got at the Alameda Flea, near a wobbly wooden stool I inherited from my folks, who found it on a Brooklyn street corner in the ‘80s.
In a way, it’s our version of the fashion wisdom that suggests you toss a wild accessory into an otherwise understated ensemble….
… or the hummingbird nest-building wisdom that suggests you mix in pops of FUNKY VIBRANT LICHEN as you use an otherwise sober pallette.
As you navigate between the “muted” and “funky” ends of the spectrum, it’s obviously up to you to decide the ratio that feels best — but you can’t lose when you mix the two. Part Two drops Thursday. Let’s get to Part One !
— Jonah & Erin
💡CERAMICS
In past sletters we’ve shouted out many ceramists we love, like Ginny Sims, Shane Gabier, Elliot Camarra, and Ivy Weinglass — here’s a bunch more we’re feeling, whose work is “new to the Spyplane”:
A. Jenny Mulder of L.A.’s Sister ceramics throws organic-shaped lamp bases, bowls and other vessels with understated glazes, finishes, and embellishments like natural stones. We like her curvy lidded jars (starting at $45), tiny cups ($22) that would be great for sake or mezcal, and funny lamps (like the knobby one pictured). Online store here.
B. Philly-based artist Corinna Cowles makes some funky coiled sculptural pieces as well as pleasingly chaotic patterned plates and mugs. She’s sold out her online store at the moment, so follow her to get shop updates.
C. & D. Also based in Philly, Wonky Ware by Claire Resnick retains the appealingly handmade texture you can only get from pinching clay between the old thumb and forefinger. Check out her stuff and DM to purchase here.
E. & F. If you’re looking for something vintage, add “Jaspé” to your search terms.
This type of pottery originates from the Savoie region of France and dates from the late-19th to the early-20th century with glazes that are jaspé, or “randomly mottled or variegated” like the gemstone jasper. Here are a few swirly-glazed finds to get you started: Provençal bowl, pictured, $82 here. Farmhouse mug, $58 here. Antique pitcher, $345 here. Great vase! $93 here. Red mug, pictured, $25 here.
G. Milwaukee’s Lalese Stamps a.k.a. Lolly Lolly makes wild-handled mugs, here.
H. Belgian ceramicist Patricia Widmer hand-casts porcelain to make these beautiful nesting bowls (starting at €16), available in 13 matte colors here.
A. We’ve been noticing & loving a bubbling trend of plates with individual compartments — sorta like funky T.V. Dinner trays?? Ariel Clute’s great peace-sign plates, not pictured, are in this vein. The coolest examples by far that we’ve seen are Somsack Sikhounmuong’s hand-pressed and -molded white clay plates, $55 to $115. DM to order.
B. How about some actually tight handmade garden gnomes for your yard, from L.A.’s always-on-point Cactus Store? No yard? Stick one in a big potted plant!! Here.
C. And also on the plates-with-compartments tip: Chell Fish by Michelle Mirisola is a line of updated takes on oyster plates, with shellfish-shaped depressions (made with real shells!) where your snacks can co-exist peacefully. Follow her to learn about her next drop or commission something.
💡FURNITURE
A. D’Emploi makes a modern version of classic Shaker wood-and-woven-strap stools. Available in 4 colors along with a black-and-white checkerboard storage basket that nestles perfectly underneath.
B. …OR make your own with Shaker furniture kits from Shaker Workshops, started in 1970 in Massachusetts. You can make stools of varying heights, and different types of chairs with a selection of wood types and tape colors, to create yr own patterns. Kits from $125 here.
C. & D. Raini Home is furniture handmade in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and designed to ship flat-packed with simple assembly here. (They currently have a sale going on archive pieces, all made from baltic birch. Pickup or local delivery only, $295-$395.)
E., F. & G. Multifaceted-genius alert: NYC-based designer Sarah Burns not only runs Old Jewelry, a great resource for vintage and new jewelry, but she also designs extremely good furniture. Reach out to commission something like bent- and blackened-steel wall hooks that look like thick brushstrokes, pine jewelry boxes, or a maple-plywood prep station with thicc legs.
💡PILLOWS & CUSHIONS
A. These shearling pillows are handmade by Hannah Emile (who a SpyFriend tipped us off to) using offcuts and scraps of leather. Yin-yang bolster and patchwork pillow both here.
B. Gabrielle Colville makes excellent trippy high-pile pillows by hand in San Francisco. She’s sold out at the moment, follow for updates.
C. If you feel like splashing out wildly, you can cop cashmere pillows from The Elder Statesman, 😱💦💦 $1100 and up!
D. Pom-pom-like cushions by Belgian artist Renilde De Peuter are part pillow, part textile art, $245 here.
E. We recently wrote about Norlha’s luxurious yak khullu shirts. You can also buy yakked-up pillow covers in geometric patterns and solid colors here.
F. Colorblock linen pillows from Old Stone Trade — the colors are inspired by David Hockney, here.
G. Quilted pillows made out of found and vintage fabrics by Bay Area textile artist Cassie McGettigan, here.
💡GLASSWORKS
A. This past summer Erin brought home some very cool Murano glasses from Venice in an acid-green color and has been on the lookout for more Murano pieces ever since… These striped tumblers are from the Italian fashion line Sunnei, here.
B. Sirius Glassworks is a Canadian art-glass studio started in 1976 by Peter Gudrunas. You can find some of their great tumblers ($60) and bowls, pictured, ($115) at Mociun in Brooklyn.
C. We like these blown glasses from Cape Cod’s Fritz Glass, which merge two different patterns via a technique called “incalmo”… Reach out through their charmingly old-school website here to order.
D. & E. Devin Balara of Solid Space Glass makes these stained-glass shells to hang in your window, and she’ll do commissioned pieces, too, like this UGHZ-style tavern-sign, a pet portrait, or a stained-glass lampshade. DM her to order.
F. & G. When we’re in L.A. we like to pop into The Good Liver for pretty-but-functional objects sourced from around the world. It’s where we found the glasses we use for sipping wine and whiskey, made by a Japanese glass company established in 1899 (available here). They also have the lidded glass jar pictured above in different sizes, $35 and up here.
Holy moly… That’s just the start. PART 2 COMES THURSDAY !
🏠P🏠E🏠A🏠C🏠E🏠 till then… E & J
There's no G. info on glassworks and I am curious
I LOVE seeing Renilde's pom pom cushions here. I've been admiring them for years.