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Handmade Art to Wear

Monica M — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:19:36 +0000

Belle Brooke Barer, a jewelry designer, is the winner of the 2008 Niche Awards for her “canoe ring”, in the category ‘jewelry:silver with stones’, and a finalist in two categories in 2007; ’silver with stones’ and ‘gold with stones’. This award is sponsored by NICHE magazine, the annual NICHE Awards competition that celebrates excellence and innovation in American and Canadian craft. Belle was awarded for her technical excellence, both in surface design and form, her market viability, and a distinct quality of unique, original and creative thought. All this can be appreciated in her jewelry.

She finds inspiration in geometric forms and is intrigued by mechanical objects, derelict industrial sites and ramshackle buildings. Her newest collection, Metropolis, has become her signature work; tiny tubes that are hand placed and soldered in singular batches to create effervescent circular patterns. It is an artistic rendering of the concept of cells and their multitudinous manifestations.

Her fabulous jewelry is made of gold, or sterling silver contrasting polished with highly oxidized, and precious and semi-precious stones; from diamonds, to moissanites, sapphires, rubies, garnets, peridots, champagne diamonds, citrines, tourmalines, alexandrites and more. She has also come up with her own in-house handmade chains that complement her work. Each piece is unique, never cast or mechanically replicated, made completely by hand, in house, at Belle Brooke Designs. Belle’s signature can be appreciated in all her pieces.

Belle now lives, creates and works in downtown Los Angeles, California.

Her work is mostly found in galleries and select jewelry stores.

MONTY ROBERTS ADVOCATES FOR THE HORSE IN HORSE RACING

Monica M — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:14:35 +0000

I just got this press release that I think we should all read and somehow contribute to it.

SOLVANG, CALIFORNIA - 5/7/2008 - Monty Roberts, internationally acclaimed horse trainer, animal behaviorist and author of the best-selling The Man Who Listens to Horses, continues his mission statement to ‘leave the world a better place than I found it for horses and for people too’ by advocating change in the horse racing industry.

The recent tragedy at the Kentucky Derby with Eight Belles is an opportunity for the industry to show that it is doing everything in its power to protect horses. A major step in the right direction would be to take whips out of racing. Roberts has been advocating this change for years and believes that now is the time for horse the industry to show their support for this change.

‘Violence is never the answer.’ Roberts took his message of violence-free horse training to the world stage in 1996 encouraged by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Already Roberts had been the leading Thoroughbred consignor at Hollywood Park Race Track for 13 years. He says that his horses respond to his non-violent approach.

‘A whip has no place in horsemanship at all,’ argues Roberts. ‘It’s medieval for horses.’ He also points out that a horse that wants to win, that has that competitive spirit and natural ‘will to win’ is always going to be a far better racing prospect than the one that has to be beaten for half of the race.

In 2006 Edgar Prado never touched Barbaro with his whip and never asked him to do anything more than was necessary. Prado said, ‘If he’s running real hard, why should he be punished? I’m a horse lover more than anything else.’

A student of Roberts’s concepts, Hong Kong’s leading rider and 7-time winner of the Jockeys Championship Trophy, Douglas Whyte, said ‘I still believe I can get more out of a horse by encouraging them rather than punishing them. My job is to win the horse’s confidence and to get them to run to their best for me.’

Roberts so often hears the statement, ‘We need the whips for safety’s sake,’ but, says, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth, because far more accidents are caused by whips than are ever averted by whips. Roberts offers that if a jockey felt the need for a whip to guide the horse, why not use a spongy, Nerf whip so that no pain could be produced?

Trevor Denman (race announcer at the Santa Anita race track) suggests that an extremely high percentage of disqualifications are caused by using the whip. Further, he said that if the bettors could understand that, they would be less apt to insist that jockeys use the whips to verify that they are trying.

Roberts suggests that the number of race fans would increase with a strong promotional program featuring Whipless Racing. ‘As racehorse people, we often say we are giving the horse a chance to do what he loves best, run. I believe that is a true statement, but if it is what he loves best, why do we have to whip him to do it? We do not.’

It is Roberts’ opinion that the best jockeys would still be the best jockeys, and in fact, true horsemanship skills would come to the front if whipping was eliminated.
ABOUT MONTY ROBERTS
Monty Roberts first gained widespread fame with the release of his New York Times Best Selling book, The Man Who Listens To Horses; a chronicle of his life and development of his non-violent horse training methods called Join-UpÂ®. Monty grew up on a working horse farm as a firsthand witness to traditional, often violent methods of horse training and breaking the spirit with an abusive hand. Today, Monty’s goal is to share his message that ‘Violence is never the answer.’ Roberts has received the ASPCA ‘Founders’ award and the MSPCA George T. Angell Humanitarian Award.

Join-Up philosophies can be seen at work with both humans and horses across the world, from farms to major corporations. To learn more about Monty Roberts or the many applications of his Join-Up training methods, visit www.montyroberts.com or call (805) 688 - 6288.

# # #
PRESS RELEASE
May 7, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Debbie Loucks
+1-949-632-1856
debbie@montyroberts.com
www.montyroberts.com

Alison Antrobus' Revolutionary Convertible Bag in MOCAShop.com

Monica M — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:50:32 +0000

Alison Antrobus, a Miami based Designer, and inventor of the ANTROBUS bag, is showing off her controversially revolutionary convertible Antrobus Bag in MOCAShop.com, a new e-commerce site that provides an online destination for fashion-forward women who bask in their individuality and appreciate high-end accessories and unique statement pieces.
Born in Jamaica, raised in Barbados and schooled in Canada, and the United States, this designer, sculptor, and painter, is well known for her various design projects, namely Prime 112. She attended the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, where she double majored in Architecture and Interior Architecture. Originally accepted to study fashion, she soon realized her interest existed more in the mathematics and science behind design, and thus chose to study architecture. Her studies took her full circle when she wrote her senior thesis analyzing the synthesis between the clothing and architecture. By no surprise, the ANTROBUS bag is an embodiment of her studies and brings her back to her original focus - fashion.
It comes as no surprise that Alison would come up with such handbag, she says “all my ideas come from needs” and always digging into her bag looking for keys and necessities like fabric samples when visiting clients, she decided something had to be done about it. She is a very busy person and very resourceful, she usually juggles many things at a time, she’s a senior designer at the Miami offices of YOO, and has still found time to search all over China looking for factories to make her new handbags.
The ANTROBUS bag is a fashion accessory that is architecturally designed to change according to the different functions throughout the day, whilst offering an ergonomic solution to women’s tireless search into their handbags.
Recently showcased in the Modern Luxury Miami Magazine, which states: “Featured on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch and all over the blogosphere, the Antrobus bag helped heat up last year’s sizzling handbag market. For 2008, her carrying contraption with removable drawers that store items horizontally (thus neatly) advances with lighter, more feminine construction in natural linen with faux-croc trim and an interchangeable cover/clutch in lemon-yellow leather. ‘It was my solution to always digging through my bag for work supplies like paint chips and fabric swatches when visiting clients’ she says.”
Expect to see her new line launching this summer at www.mocashop.com.

Philippe Starck, what are YOO up to?

Monica M — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:27:25 +0000

“Stylish, trendsetter-type with homes in 20+ cities and a penchant for eclectic furnishings seeks”... This is how they describe themselves, YOO. Founded in 1999 by three partners, Philippe Starck, Jade Jagger, and Mark Davison, with impressive design all over the world and no fear of not selling every piece of real estate they touch.
“YOO don’t believe in soulless, copycat design. We like buildings with strong personalities. Think theatrical lobbies and moody roof terraces - the kind of imaginative public spaces where remarkable people can enjoy being different together.
In your YOO home, by contrast, the only personality on display should be your own. And we’ve found a modern, easy way to make that so. Our designers work in palettes, or design themes. You choose a designer and a palette that captivates you. The rest is a bit like ordering from a restaurant menu, except that the choices might include an Eames armchair, a Tord Boontje lampshade or an item designed by our own Philippe Starck.”
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting their Miami, Fl, team, composed by very talented artists from different backgrounds, who bring YOO the best there is to the USA! They are: Ruby Ramirez-Goobman, Alison Antrobus, Manuel Morales, Constanza Collarte, and Ruggiero Messina.
YOO has projects all over the globe, to include Boston, New York, Puerto Vallarta, Punta Del Este, Toronto, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Panama, Hong Kong, Dubai. If YOO like to live or stay in cutting edge designed properties, look no further! YOO is the place!!

Paper Genius

Monica M — Sun, 04 May 2008 14:01:22 +0000

Great venezuelan artist, Yoshi, work with paper. Enjoy his work. ART!

Cinema Redux

Monica M — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:48:24 +0000

This explores the idea of distilling a whole film down to one single image. Very cool, very interesting! Must check this out!

MOCAShop introduces Belle Brooke Barer.

Monica M — Sat, 03 May 2008 22:41:09 +0000

In shopping around for my favorite ‘thing’, jewelry, I must say that there are some pretty amazing stores out there, and the easiest to shop at without leaving the house is internet. There’s styles for everyone, and not only jewelry, but original artisan jewelry is definitely my ‘thing’.
Talking about the jewelry awards,here is one great find I added to my store. Winner of the 2008 Niche Award, Belle Brooke Barer. She entered her “Canoe Ring” and won in the category of ‘Silver with Stones’. Here’s a picture of the ring. So original! The artist explains “..tiny tubes are hand placed and soldered in singular batches to create the effervescent circular patterns that define the signature collection...”.
In shopping around for my favorite ‘thing’, jewelry, I must say that there are some pretty amazing stores out there, and the easiest to shop at without leaving the house is internet. There’s styles for everyone, and not only jewelry, but virtual stores in which their looks can decide if you stay or leave. Sometimes you don’t even want to go any further than the home page, you must identify yourself with it, something tells you ooohhh, aaahhh, mmm... or uhg! and leave without exploring any further. I will comment on some great finds in that respect too, I have a great list in my favorites to pass on to you.
Continuing on the jewelry awards, as I promised on my previous post, here is an other great find. Winner of the 2008 Niche Award, Belle Brooke Barer. She entered her “Canoe Ring” and won in the category of ‘Silver with Stones’. Here’s a picture of the ring. So original! I looked up the artist, http://www.bellebrooke.net/, in which she explains “..tiny tubes are hand placed and soldered in singular batches to create the effervescent circular patterns that define the signature collection...”.
Later I discovered in a very cool high end jewelry store, www.mocashop.com, that she has many pieces in that collection and there are choices to be made in terms of the stones that she puts on the jewelry. I am thrilled to see she has many levels of prices, so if you can’t afford her “Vertical Triptych” necklace, you can go for other amazing and original pieces to satisfy your hunger for her designs.
Hope you find this interesting and pleasing to the jewelry lover eye.
Visit Belle Brooke Barer at www.mocashop.com, a very cool high end jewelry store, filled with original, some exclusive, pieces of very talented artists. Belle has many pieces in this collection and there are choices to be made in terms of the stones that she utilizes on the jewelry. I am thrilled to see her work in my store.
Hope you find this interesting and pleasing,... to the jewelry lover eye.

MOCAShop

Monica M — Sat, 03 May 2008 04:46:09 +0000

mocashop.com is an online destination for fashion-forward women who bask in their individuality and appreciate unique statement pieces. Featuring hand-picked, cutting edge designers, mocashop.com is the ultimate accessory closet for women with...