Adornments

Some pieces I have been working on that you can find on my Pinterest for now until I get the new website up

Rose

... with Rose, my dear friend from Italy on her visit to Denver

Pining for Class

Had a lovely time with the Queen at the YSL Retrospective at the Denver Art Museum

DAM

Today is her birthday and I surprised her with tickets to the museum. We thought the retrospective was wonderfully curated and so I guess I'm going to have to stop telling people that Denver is and always was a 'cow town'.

Watching excerpts of the two part documentary in one of the smaller annexes I was really touched by Pierre Berge's description of YSL, the artist and  genius. The weight of being 'the other' can inspire so much creativity and yet the demons associated with it move so deeply.

A few weeks ago going through the storage closets I rediscovered a couple of vintage YSL Rive Gauche pieces that I acquired, obviously years ago.  This was during the 'Dusseldorf weekends'  hanging out with the unflappable Mr. Van Fisher and his ancient girlfriend. I think that I wore the Gypsy blouse for my first occasion at the über chic L'Orangerie.

The black blouse was a little more tricky, because of the à pois detail for one but also because it is black silk. Sheer silk chiffon. Not to be worn with a shift or anything else underneath, as per YSL rules. Which, we naturellement, followed to the letter.

A Gift in Two

At Pirate art gallery yesterday to see Brian Comber's new work on exhibit. Mythological animals, gold orbs, wings and black lines. Also - this

 Lovely as ever.

Ongoing talks between he and M. duPays have resulted in these very precious, rooted and sunny poetry/drawing/painting collaborations.

These touched me deeply my memory sparked by the Dandelions which my dear Grandfather adored. Dandelion salad with white vinegar, oil  and salt in a big bowl. He loved to eat them. This bright and beautiful picture made me very happy.

Another collaboration B Comber P duPays . More roots & vegetables - the heart of many revolutions. @Pirate art gallery on W 36th & Navajo.














Right down the street btw is Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, which features the most beautiful Mother/Madonna as the central figure of the Main altar. Also not something you see everyday.

Pot de Crème & Rosé

At Z Cuisine with the almost teens for a bit of dessert. Pot de crème for them & Rosé for me. Great mother daughter bonding during Spring break. & you know I had to stop at the 'Big Picture' wall and take some quick pics.

The light is so weird on that corner and works beautifully no matter what you do.  I've written about it in other posts and hope you don't tire of the repetition but really, how can you? The huge posters wheat paste smudged onto the west side of the restaurant wall is a project (one of so many!) created by dashing Denver based photographer Mark Sink & has garnered local & international note. Looks, btw, more beautiful with age. Some things do, you know.

 

....street art combined with organic French deliciousness ...Denver really can be quite fab if you know who and where...

Do You Facebook?

 Sharing my February article from my monthly column at the Denver News

"In December, The Denver News set up a Facebook Page and Twitter account to interact more readily with Denver area readers who are already active in Social Media. I thought it would be fun and interesting to write about some Social Media Etiquette. It doesn’t really matter who you are, what kind of job you have or how old you are, you’ve probably heard of Facebook and Twitter.

 Now my daughter, who is a 5th grader, tells me that most of her girlfriends are on Facebook which, on some level I find appalling. On the other hand, I also know that there are millions of people that will have nothing to do with the social media site because ‘it’s a waste of time’, which I disagree. For a number of years I’ve used social media for both business and personal reasons and I can’t imagine not having these very powerful and useful social-media tools available to me every day.

According to Mashable, an independent news outlet dedicated to covering digital culture, a full 42.3 percent of the entire American population uses Facebook at least once a month. That’s a heck of a lot of people and it’s going to grow bigger according to Ken Burbary another professional web marketer and technologist. And just in case you were wondering, it’s certainly not just for twenty something hipsters. Burbary writes that about 27.5 percent of Facebook users are between 35 to 64 years old. That is roughly 50-million users. That means average people; grandmothers, farmers, sales clerks, painters and paramedics, janitors, teachers, librarians and all the people in between.

via inkhead.com

I use Facebook to keep in contact with friends in the Denver area and family and acquaintances from around the globe. I also manage several fan pages for others. I realize though, that a lot of people still don’t know why they should dedicate any time either professionally or personally to this kind of thing.

When I was invited to participate with an entrepreneurial group of writers, producers and journalists last year, one of the things I took away from that connection was that each entity intertwines social media into their daily business dealings. It brings them a chance to open dialogue with their customers on a more personal basis and eventually, done with the right intent, it will make them more successful and better paid.

And of course, let’s get real, spending time on Facebook looking at pictures, making comments and watching the latest cute kitty video gone viral is totally a fun factor that adds allure to unaccounted for time.

Since Facebook recently changed their format, you can choose who will see what you post which means that you have control over what information you give whom. If you want to show off pictures of your new born or your most recent girlfriend, you can post it to your “close friends” list but leave that info off your “acquaintances” list. You no longer have to worry about mixing personal and professional boundaries unless that is your strategic intent. The most important thing as my father says is: when all else fails, read directions.
Twitter is also a tremendously useful and fun tool but does not have such a huge following lagging behind with only 400K new accounts opened daily as compared to Facebook’s skyrocketing numbers.

According to @TweetSmarter, 20 percent of the Twitter elite attract about 85 percent of the attention and it’s interesting to note that Media Outlets are really the most active users on Twitter. If you are like me and want to know what is going on around town at any given moment most restaurants, stores, events and sports teams have their own twitter handle. All you have to do is start following them and they are happy to let you know about specials, openings and menus.

A little bit about Facebook etiquette: Common sense dictates that you should remember that you are on a public site. It is called social media because the point is to be social, but not stupid. Engaging in conversation is the whole point but it isn’t necessarily where you should spill your guts, talk about you next door neighbor in a disparaging way or let on that your wife is having an affair with your boss.

There are scores of Facebook and Twitter etiquette sites with the 10 most important Do’s and Don’ts. Follow those and get into it. In moderation it can bring you a whole lot of fun and open up rewarding conversation and dialogue with people you would normally not have a chance to know otherwise."

Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt, is a creative entrepreneur and advocate for sustainable living. She currently lives and works in Denver and is also a contributing writer for The Denver News

Keep Your Food Money Local

This is my article for the November Go Green! column I write every month in The Denver News, a local newspaper.

Keep Your Food Money Local

Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt

Although I am a contributing writer to The Denver News, I also work as an advocate of sustainable urban agriculture through a local nonprofit organization named Feed Denver: Urban Farms & Markets.
Feed Denver’s mission is to teach people how to grow food in the city and make urban farming viable and profitable. It is no secret that our current food system, with it’s over processed products and reliance on industrial animal farming is no longer sustaining us in a healthful manner. We have become a nation of fast food connoisseurs and the news has spread in recent years that fast food is making us fat and sick. Advertisers spend billions to convince us that we don’t have to ‘waste time in the kitchen’ and that faster is better. They make a lot of money pushing that message into our consciousness day in and day out. And it is our money they are convincing us to spend.
We spend our money buying food from industries and corporations that do not have the infrastructure or the mission to care whether what they sell us will make us ill in the long run or not. In supporting their businesses we have willingly let them rob us of our food culture - once rich in diversity and simple goodness. Every day I hear someone say about some food product “it used to taste better”. Well, this is the reason for that.

I don’t believe that faster is better. I believe that slow is good. Slow down to smell the roses, the coffee, the earth and soil around us. Slow down to get in touch with nature. Food is nature. Not industry.

So what do we do if we want change? My mom always says that in order to change the world you start with yourself and your family. You make sure that you take care of those closest to you and you extend that to your neighbors and then your village. The ripple effect of investing in what and who is important and will resonate to the rest of the world by proxy. This brings me to the Slow Money movement.

Slow Money is a concept that ties together the food system, our economy and local entrepreneurship. Created by visionary economist Woody Tasch, it is a movement that is rapidly gaining attention all over the country as well as in Colorado. It has been named “One of the top five trends in finance for 2011” by Entrepreneur.com. Slow Money ideas are rooted in philanthropy and local investing, specifically advocating investment in agriculture, small farms, regional food processing and distribution, local and organic restaurants and individuals or organizations dedicated to educating about how to grow good food.
Slow money is about patient capital, socially responsible and local investment. While at the Slow Money conference in San Francisco last month we I met quite a few interesting people. There were investors, farmers, activists, educators, business men and women and people interested in learning about it all.
Together with Lisa Rogers, Executive Director of Feed Denver and Michael Brownlee, of Transition Colorado, both Slow Money proponents I listened to Wes Jackson, founder and president of The Land Institute, who has written several books on sustainability and the viability of new agriculture.
One of the most interesting and charming speakers was Mr. John Bledsoe, who with his son, raises pigs on a farm outside Woodland, California without using antibiotics or growth hormones. He was straight forward about why he raises his animals the way he does: “Because it tastes better”. He also mentioned that his advertising budget is “exactly zero dollars”. Since his meat is ‘good and clean’, his customers come to him by word of mouth advertising. An enviable position. But not, as I realized during the three days of the convention, one that is so uncommon anymore.

All of the small businesses that presented that weekend were convinced that they experienced growth because of their commitment to sustainable practices and because local people bought and supported their products. Think about bringing you food money home. Slow Money suggests to moving just one percent to projects and businesses near you. These will be projects and businesses you can also get involved with, volunteer at and mentor. I put more than one percent into local food through my advocacy with Feed Denver and their programs dedicated to making urban farming profitable.
I volunteer my time and I invest my resources in these programs which ultimately create jobs in underserved communities, with refugee communities and also budding entrepreneurs.

Visit www.slowmoney.com or www.feeddenver.com

Books I Want

Leisurely roam around the Tattered Cover on East Colfax today and I can't get enough of the books. If I didn't already have a thousand boxes in storage, full of books, longing for shelves I'd go bonkers buying more of them, especially in a book haven like this one.

Sometimes it's the tittle.....

Sometimes it's the Woman

Or the tragedy

 I  want them all. And more.

Pretty Little Things

I am madly in love. With porcelain. Look at this gorgeousness:

Pictures I found online from various exhibitions at Ferrin Gallery. Chris Antemann (and other artists) now showing at the Robischon Gallery at 1740 Wazee in Denver from November 10 - December 30 2011

Night Sky August

The Sun & The Moon

Pink in Nature

Chiaro di Luna

Clouds

Lately the Target Parking lot has been the spot for a lot of beautiful sky visions. Who knew? I think it's a particular light that bounces off the foothills and the mountains and reflects on Sloan Lake. Then, there is the Sun and the Moon...What ever it is, the colors and images are entrancing. 

Silvana L'Amour

Samantha Martell, the beautiful and lively owner and editor of  the Downtown Denver News just forwarded a copy of this article she found about me during the days I was a shop keep in the Tennyson Street Art & Shopping District. Pretty heady stuff, I say.

Silvana L'Amour Embraces The Spirit of Women

"If you are craving a stimulating and interesting conversation with someone who is bursting with personality in an atmosphere that engages the senses, spend an afternoon with Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt at her Tennyson Street store, Silvana L’Amour. You will step in the door with curious caution and try to find the words to describe the eclectic sense of style that will overwhelm you. In one corner of the small, but satisfyingly full store you might find a collection of playful lingerie, in another, cocktail napkins with charmingly humorous quotes inscribed on them. Leopard print wallpaper and fabrics will jump out at you and the many textural fabrics and collections of seashells will make you wonder whether you have stepped into India or the beaches of California.
Silvana shares her style philosophy when she says, “I am a big believer in fusion of cultures. I like traditional and modern. I sell antique Asian furniture from Afghanistan and Pakistan but I fuse it with modern things too. I just have a love for many, different styles and lots of pretty things.
And Silvana L’Amour is full of those pretty things. Silvana carries a variety of treasures like rings that were featured recently in In Style magazine, Votivo candles, Lum soaps and soy candles, 'Love Letter', locally made vintage slips, her own handmade amulets, Turkish jewelry and sparkly necklaces from New York and L.A. She specifically features art by local artists like Carla Rey Lankford.

Silvana says the name of her store and it’s logo is meant to be humorous. “It’s like Marilyn Monroe meets Peppy Le Pew,” she says smiling. “I didn’t want to take myself  too seriously. The name gave me the freedom to do what I wanted without having to cave to being a conventional women's boutique. When I was trying to come up with a name for the store, I went through every language and I was inspired by the word ‘love.’ Creating this store was a definite love and a passion of mine. I think the name embodies the sense of romantic love, a bit of European flair and I liked the silliness of it. I’m having fun with my life!”

Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt is a strong, charismatic woman with a respect for the role that women have played in and throughout her life and the role that they continue to play as her business peers on Tennyson Street.
Silvana reflects, “There are so many wonderful people on this street who have been so encouraging from the beginning. And many of the stores on Tennyson are run and owned by women. I was really excited to be on a street with so many women. We all compliment and support each other well.So many different women can bring so many different talents and styles to an area. There’s no competition between us-just encouragement and support. When I opened my store, everyone was so welcoming and accepting. There’s a definite cool female energy on this street.”

Tennyson Street truly is a buffet for the ever-changing moods and styles of women. Silvana L’Amour offers items for the seductress and exotic woman, while Studio Bini carries specially designed children’s products and clothing for the doting mom. Sweet Potato appeals to the acclaimed cook or domestic goddess with its fun take on kitchen goods. Many women are at least one of these personalities, or maybe all of them at different stages in their life, or even in just at stages throughout a single day! On Tennyson Street, you can cater to all your moods and find a “hat” that fits each role.

Silvana understands and appreciates that most women also need a little pampering once in awhile too, “As a woman, I want to be beautiful and I want to be pampered and express my spirituality as well. I don’t want to be put in a box. Women aren’t just one thing or another, we have so many sides to express.” She recently opened up a boutique-style spa that will be an extension of her store. She chose to open her spa on Tennyson Street as well, a few doors down from Silvana L’Amour.

“I wanted the spa to have a neighborhood feel. And I wanted it to be an intimate, walk-up spa,” she says. And by “walk-up” she means that you actually have to walk up a narrow, staircase entered directly from a door off the sidewalk to visit the spa. Just like most of Tennyson Street, it feels like you are uncovering a great, hidden treasure as you take the stairs to the spa.

Silvana’s spa might be one of Tennyson Street’s most surprising secrets yet. A bright, vibrant color of pink washes over the walls and the shutters over the windows have been intricately carved with breathtaking designs, infusing the light that shines through and highlights the design detail. The design in itself is a work of art. Every detail in the spa looks as if it has been brought back from voyages to other countries. From the art and colors on the walls, to the jars and detailed boxes on shelves, with her design style Silvana has truly captured the essence of a “spa getaway.”

“The spa developed naturally out of the store because I sell top-of-the-line skincare products for the face. I wanted to be able to focus more on facials and skincare but it developed into this beautiful quaint atmosphere for the skin, body, and mind,” marvels Silvana at the transformation of the upstairs spa.
The spa is for both men and women and focuses on various types of massage, energy healing techniques, and facial products. Silvana wants the spa to be a place that is comfortable for both women and men and feels that the products and treatments offered are essential for a healthy lifestyle.

“I think energy work is extremely important to incorporate with massage,” encourages Silvana. Energy healers work with the aura (human energy field) to notice imbalances in the auric field via clairvoyant sight, subtle touch, or some sort of psychic connection. One specific form of energy healing is called “Reiki” which is similar to Chi Kung healing.

“I didn’t want to do the typical route with my spa. I wanted to offer something different. But basically I just wanted it to be a little jewel, a little haven of relaxation,” says Silvana. “It should be like an urban retreat for people to visit after a day of shopping and enjoying Tennyson St., a place for people to ‘bliss out’ and escape from the world.”

The spa offers original “hamam” or Turkish steam bath products imported from Turkey, as well as art by local Darcy Phillipps on the walls throughout. Silvana is in the process of developing her own personal line of lotions and soaps that she hopes to make available at the spa in the near future. Spa packages and various spa deals will be available each month.

The inspiration for Silvana’s store and spa expands from a great love and respect for the women in her family. “Both my mother and my grandmother were very big influences on me- which I think is true for most of women in one way or another. My sense of style definitely comes from my mum, a great beauty who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovia and later moved to Germany. She always had this innate grace and class and was way ahead of her time in style and fashion. And she is still like that today. Amazing!
My grandmother, who's family owned large tracts of land and forests in Central Bosnia was famous for her herb gathering skills and home-made remedies that she made with natural plants and seeds. She would gather these on her daily, long walks in the country-side almost every day of her life. Sometimes she walked ten or twenty miles a day. Till she was in her 80's. Natural healing & herb remedy is a tradition with the women of Bosnia, and she was exemplary of that ancient tradition. Whether you come from rich or poor, when times are tough, these women fall back on their own natural remedies that have been handed down for centuries from mother to daughter, so that history is in my veins” says Silvana with obvious respect for her storied family history.

Silvana also has a deep respect for the women who continue to live in Bosnia and the daily struggles they face, “It’s always been my passion to contribute to Bosnia. I will continue to help the women and children who are affected by the last war.  I have planned an art installation this summer with an artist from Bosnia to create awareness of  women affected by war. This is an issue that is important to me as a woman and as a mother.”
Silvana’s hope is to make an impression on others and an impact on the world through the things that she does and the joy she hopes to bring to those who visit her store or spa, “I want people to feel free and uplifted and maybe take away something to think about too. Style, fashion, philosophy....I want to help them express themselves, whether it be through lingerie or art or the act of hearing stories from past traditions. My store blends experience with fantasy. That’s exactly what I want my store to do…it’s who I am.”
by Brianna Conrad, June, Two Thousand and Four

The Skies Sometimes

An Evening @Hinterland

Inspiring evening at Sabin Ael's Hinterland space on Walnut in the RiNO Art District.

The effervescent & talented Jeanne Connolly,  in the most adorable handmade bloomers ever, guided loads of vintage fabric lovers and admirers of retro furniture renewal through the spacious front room of the gallery throughout the evening. Great pieces at great prices - I'm not even sure how I got out of there without buying every single lamp! This girl can sew and tac and plissee and design and create something fantastic! Each piece is perfect, not one out of place color, thread or border. As a person who loves well crafted, high quality pieces I really enjoyed myself.

Vintage Renewal Lamps

Later in the evening Norm Broomhall made some lovely melodic sounds come out of his guitar and soul, both which I'm sure have a secret name. It was my first time hearing Mr. Broomhall (I know, aaak!) and like the rest of the evening it was really a pleasure.

Norm Broomhall

In the background of all that happy flowering, the steady flow of subtle, intricate, soul and eye pleasing pieces looking down from the high walls ..............

pieces by Cein Watson.

I really need to get out more.