Have you ever stumbled upon a place so strangely familiar and right that it feels as if it was created just for you? I found my heaven on earth today, no more than ten minutes from our place.

Rows upon rows of used vintage and modern books, carefully curated-over 100,000 of them, all arranged in alphabetical order by categories upon thousands of shelves in a large space within a quirky red corner building with intricate purple doors and a name belying the literary voyages within-Iliad Bookshop. It was not hard to part with my Christmas money as you can see what I came home with in the pictures below!

It is no ordinary used bookstore and I’ve stepped into plenty in my lifetime- the owners of this one have carefully culled away large genres of books to include only interesting, unique and useful titles. There are no shelves of fluff to sieve through and multiple copies of bestsellers read once and discarded-instead there are thousands of volumes of GREAT reads, art books, architecture books, film books, cookbooks and my absolute favorite-several shelves full of contemporary and vintage ILLUSTRATED books.

Growing up in a small, obscure town on the other side of the world, there were no big box bookstores, and new books from across the oceans written in the English language were hard to come by. Instead, I spent my milk and adolescent years thumbing through the collections of older relatives, libraries and small used bookstores-books bought during the British Rule, decades before my time. Thus, vintage books with their beautiful and lovingly worn covers and pages of intricate illustrations, yellowed with age and perfumed with mustiness from long term storage are as familiar to me as treasured family photographs.

Iliad has a whole section dedicated to children and young adult books-not just contemporary works in their slick gaudy covers but beautiful old tomes that delighted children from yesteryears-old hardback vintage editions of the Bobsey Twins, Little House on the Prairie, an ENTIRE shelf of Lucy Maud Montgomery, and many more obscure titles with beautiful covers and intricate illustrated plates. They have entire sections of paperback mysteries and fiction from another time. Some people may say that any printed edition will do but I for one will disagree. A tastefully printed edition with the right typeset and a beautiful cover will do more for your literary adventure than a poorly executed publication.

And have you ever seen a prettier bookmark? It says something about a bookstore that has a beautifully illustrated bookmark to hand out!

So,what found treasures did I return home with? A stack of obscure L.M. Montgomery paperbacks (there are only SO many times one can read Anne of Green Gables and I’ve moved on…slightly), a beautifully old children’s book called the Young Adventurer complete with yellowed pages and lovely vintage typeset, a wonderful large, shiny almost-new Maurice Sendak hardcover art book and two yummy cookbooks, one which was already on my Amazon wishlist, all together for little more than $50, such a bargain.

The Iliad Bookshop is absolutely worth a visit if you delight in reading previously-loved books seeped in memories over new ones!

I had a fantastic weekend! Renegade Craft Fair and Unique LA took place downtown this past weekend and it was an inspiring 2 day adventure. In this post I will compare the two holiday fairs and include pictures of the booths I liked the most and of course, what I bought!

Unique LA (Sat Dec 12th 2010)

Summary: Bi-Annual Fair for independent artists, designers and crafters of LA
Location:California Market Place Penthouse (in the middle of downtown near Fashion District among Historic Deco buildings)
My Conclusion: More hipster fashion-centric, some beautifully created booths and really yummy food!

Interesting Booths : 50′s inspired artwork by Brittney Lee, felt and fabric jewelry by Homako, gorgeous thread jewelry by Alexandra Dewey and designer mints in collector art boxes by Hint Mint.
Favorites parts of the day: Seeing some interesting and creative booth setups, talking to artisans and trying Flying Pigs-smoked tender pulled pork in curry sauce topped with pickle cradled in a fluffy cloud-like steam pao bun.

Renegade Craft Fair (Sun Dec 12th 2010)

Summary: The foremost handmade craft fair in the country with local and visiting vendors, also Bi-Annual.
Location: Park Downtown next to Chinatown
My Conclusion: Some AMAZINGLY creative folks from all over, very inspiring for the special blend of craftiness, great design and refined handicraft. My favorite of the two events.

Interesting Booths: Vintage postal stamps on envelope kits by The Postage Service, awesome vintage repurposed book-journals by Ex Libris Anonymous, witty toddler-inspired artwork by Pickle Juice Prints, jewelry from wood and bark and clock hands by I am Dorkas.
Favorite parts of the day: Being outside at a downtown park in beautiful 75 degree weather, seeing a sewing machine powered by a bicycle, browsing through buckets of vintage bookjournals and finding some new favorite artists!

Now for my purchases-middle row far right and bottom row: my 5 vintage bookjournals with beautiful vintage illustrations with my favorite being The Cat Club, a journal made from an old book with illustrations featuring a cute little cat club; a curved box of pomegranate hintmints, several Catia Chien’s dreamy postcards (she is my new favorite artist, INCREDIBLE work!), a magic wallet made from vintage book covers (I know, there is a book theme going on!) and a screenprinted business card book by bookbinder artist Erin Zamrzla.

For my birthday this year, my wonderful husband surprised me with a lovely trip to Morro Bay in Central California, a little seaside town with a tiny harbor and a giant rock in the middle of the bay.

We went kayaking among seals and birds and had fresh seafood!

The bay was, as most of California is, a treasure trove of nature’s gems and I couldn’t help picking out some of the most inspiring ones to share! And as usual, I delighted in the abundance of raw material for future paintings.

(Click on image to see it bigger) Memorable moments: Dried seed pods fluttering in the Elfin Forest; little ecosystems carved into the boulders by the beach; otherworldly hanging moss from miniature oaks in the Elfin Forest; bright pink seaweed; multi-colored beach pebbles worn smooth; wine and cheese pairing at sunset; a twilight magical mini maze; slippery rock threading; and gorgeous gorgeous sunsets.

This is a drawing you will see quite a bit of in the future. It’s a little sneak peek and dreamy little sketch of what I would love the studio to be like ONE day! In the meantime, till that materializes, we can all build castles in the tree! Don’t forget to dream folks, and capture them somewhere!

This past weekend, we had the most amazing camping/hiking trip ever. Specifically 6 hours north to the jaw-droppingly beautiful region of California’s Sierra Nevada, a stone’s throw away from the legendary Yosemite.

The Ancient Bristle-cone Pine

In spite of being rained and hailed on during our hike, what we encountered there was to me the epitome of tree heaven. And heaven perhaps it was, a living cemetery of strange and ancient pines- simultaneously dead and alive, its departed limbs twisted into grotesque and other-wordly forms seen nowhere else.

The trip was so extensive I couldn’t possibly show all of the breath-taking wonders we saw, so this will only be Part 1. Sit back, grab a hot cup of tea and be prepared to enter an enchanted land.

many shapes, click to zoom in

playground

These are the world’s oldest known living beings, almost 5000 years old. Just pause and ponder on that.

And can you see a painted triptych? I have so many painting ideas just from this one weekend trip!

textures

Can you see the owl?

The severely twisted tree trunks and limbs were worn and smooth and textured, like a beautifully carved table or wooden sculpture. They are no longer alive.  Only a few inches of bark and leaves reveal the tree’s seemingly fragile thread to the living.

otherwordly

unimaginable tree spaces. click to zoom in.

Trees always fascinated me, as a child they were places where fairies and magical creatures hid and where you could climb up to strange worlds upon their treetops. To walk amongst these ancients recall those youthful imaginings and made me realize that literary fantasies do not hold  a candle to what the natural world can reveal!

a closer look- an ancient bristlecone tree, the miniature moss world, reeds

sunset over the campsite

Can you imagine what it was like being there?? Next up in Part 2, strange rocks, glorious lakes and the seeping in of a vivid fall…

I fell in culinary love this past Saturday.

My new love: Donabe-cooked (Japanese clay pots) Shojin Buddhist vegan food, a traditional Japanese cuisine eaten by Buddhist monks. Naoko of Toiro Kitchen and her fabulous foodie blog hosted a donabe cooking class at her awesome hilltop home in Echo Park.  One of my most treasured kitchen items of all time (next to my wok)-my hand crafted Miso Shiru Nabe all the way from Japan, came from Naoko.

Food, almost spiritual.

I have made countless delicious curries and earthy soups in it and thought that it was time to venture into Naoko’s cooking class, specifically since we are weaning off a majority of our meat consumption (though not completely) and looking for deliciously interesting and somewhat familiar forays into vegetarian and vegan cooking.

I feel that this is such a fitting Inspired Monday post to the blog because it parallels so much of what I aim for daily with the studio-rustic but elegant simplicity,  a deep appreciation for nature, nostalgia, and traditional craft, and an enthusiasm for slowed down and joyful sustainable living.

Naoko and her donabes, Shojin dashi, and the delicious sesame paste

Abura age simmering, Kombucha pumpkin and stuffing the tofu pockets

There is indeed a magical quality about these donabe claypots, the nature of their material and craft allows the food to cook slowly, evenly and most efficiently! I am continually, unabashedly amazed by them.

Sous-chef Jason, ice cold Barley tea and the beautiful Bento boxes

After the cooking demonstration, we proceeded outside in true Southern Californian style, to enjoy the fruits of Naoko’s labor, sitting in the patio that Jason built. Leafy shadows and mini japanese paper lanterns hovering above.

Such simple and delicious festivity! Fine sake pairing topped it off..

Coming from a South East Asian country with rich and complex culinary traditions, I can honestly say I have never been easily moved by new cuisines. Naoko’s donabe shojin delights definitely opened up a wonderful new world. I will never forget the first taste of the vivid yellow Kombucha pumpkin soup, nor the first bite of those beans and tofu pockets.  Food so deceivingly simple bursting with freshness and delicate flavors.I am gushing yes, in true M.F.K Fisher fashion.

The incredible surprise dessert-a cold yam soy-based blancmange with black sugar and goji berries

Thank you Naoko and Jason, for such a wonderful introduction to Shojin cooking in those amazing donabes.

Bliss...

It is no secret by now that I have a lifelong love affair with trees!  Well, we now have our very own canopy tree in our (new) backyard- a lovely low hanging tree with the perfect umbrella shade and hundreds of large, golden lemons hanging like lanterns from it. Perfect!

Our little slice of heaven.

I cannot stress enough how such a simple little piece of garden space make our lives so much richer, calmer and inspired!

Since the weather here in Southern California is almost always gorgeous and sunny-warm clear days and comfortable cool nights, I have no trouble at all imagining many happy future days under this tree- curled up with a book, sipping home made cocktails or painting while the birds chirp excitedly around us!

Juicy golden lanterns

We love lying on our blanket and looking up to count the lemon lanterns.

Happy Monday Folks! Due to unforeseen circumstances (ah, the realities of life and work! )I had to reschedule last Friday’s Wedding Charette to this Friday. I received some really interesting submissions that I cannot wait to get working on, so my apologies to those who have been looking forward to it, I will make it worth the wait!

A Favorite Pastime

I am on a tight dateline this two weeks, but I wanted to leave you all with some images I took of a trip to my favorite part of town a few weeks back. Ever since we moved to LA about a year ago, going on a bus+bike trip to the east side meant a fun day of funky vintage boutiques, great designs, mid-century modern treasures and delicious and cheap Thai food in nearby Thai town. This still stands, and after a long hiatus, I recently resumed this much enjoyed urban adventure!

Yolk in Silver Lake

As part of this InspiredLA post, I am featuring Yolk, a most delightful Scandinavian-centric ‘free-range design’ store in Silver Lake, one of the more interesting stops of the day. It was pure eye candy and I walked out with a book, a little bottle of ink and lots of photos and inspirations:

Not What It Seems

Such lovely colors...

What I liked most about the items in the store is that it is such wonderful junction of whimsical illustrations that don’t look digital, fresh modern colors (of the last 50 years), natural and modern materials and a deceivingly naive almost rustic simplicity that is timeless and classic. Top-notch design sensibilities without being overly slick, which a lot of modern design stores tend to be. I like that it has an earthy hint of vintage ideals, but with a fresh outlook-silicone mats that just beg to be touched and bent, unusual lighting fixtures and objects, design books so beautiful you want to bring them all back, bed linens that look like large papers of drawings….

A Juxtaposition of Modern and Vintage Inspired

Book Fever

There are many objects here so curious and interesting that one can’t help but touch and turn over. The books all beg to be opened and browsed. I limited myself to one book purchase, which was an accomplishment!

Quirky Objects

A nice ending to the day, I felt that I had a good dose of inspiration that I needed and could now move on to Thai town for my favorite lunch spread!

Today for Inspired Monday, I am sharing with you some pictures of my finds from flea-marketing this past weekend! I scored some great deals, particularly a Necchi Lycia sewing machine made in Italy in the 1960s, complete with accessories and tools! (will post about this another time.) I love good craftsmanship and finding inspiration in well-made items of the past is one of my favorite activities!

A Melrose Flea Market Adventure

100 year old French deckled postcard

I love the deckled edges and the feel of these 100 year old postcards, the typography and the creamy colors.

Old print postcard

Casual but great penmanship, such delicate scrawls, no one writes like that anymore.

A funny one

This above was my favorite, ornate typography, and a rather cheeky front!

Sewing Kit

One of my treasured finds, this little vintage sewing kit so well-made and refined and practically brand new. Sturdy vinyl-backed card with a strip of woven thread, felt needle backing and instructions! How positively quaint!

Insert sheet and felted needle back

Packet folds are big deal to me lately and I was thrilled to find a unique and well-made one in these!

Wooden spools of lovely strong thread

Beautiful wooden spools of pure silk threads in lovely colors, such luxury! The cotton ones were thin, strong and well-made, not at all like modern threads. Love the carved spools, I wonder if they use to have them refilled with threads when finished?

Silk threads and such

More curious sewing notions.

A Tiered Chest

They came in this tiered chest with a handle! Hun says it is quite common but I haven’t seen one before and this gorgeous Norwegian-made piece of furniture was absolutely wonderful to me! I can imagine my pens, brushes and art supplies and sewing notions stacked in it for studio portability and clutter reducing!

Norwegian craftsmanship

Clean, modernist lines.

Vintage Posters

Simply adore old illustrated posters, particular French ones, with their whimsical flourishes and classy, muted shades.

French illustrations