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Take a look at this incredible new version of Sacred Tree. Alibay first designed this motif in 1998, and I recently asked him to revisit it. And what a result! The piece is absolutely magnetic. The background is a fantastic mix of blues, purples, and greens, (when I asked him about this, he shrugged his shoulders and said he could not find any black… soooo Alibay!!!), and the crisp colors of the Tree and all its glorious details are nothing short of magnificent. As usual, the photo does not do it justice! This will be our anchor piece at the Architectural Digest Show is March in NYC!

Just a little background about the story of Sacred Tree: Many cultures have myths and legends about a Tree of Life in their folk lore, and the Kazakh nomads are no different. The tree carries and supports all life in its branches, and bears abundant fruit itself. This particular tree, however, also contains a hint to a different tale from Kazakh mythology: The bird of paradise perched on top of the tree is Samruk, in Kazakh mythology a symbol of regeneration and the circle of life. Samruk every spring lays a golden egg, symbolizing the sun, in the nest of the Tree of Life, Baiterek, and every winter when Samruk flies away, a snake eats the egg, completing the circle of life, which starts anew with Samruk returning again in the spring. Check out the nest and the snake!

Tree of Life 2012

It’s quite a long way from New York to Chicago – particularly if you are driving through a snow storm in Indiana. But we made it, there and back, in one piece!

The One of a Kind Show Chicago is huge – REALLY. I think there were over 600 exhibitors, that’s a lot to digest for any visitor. I have to salute the Chicagoans – they are a very interested and appreciative audience, and love to hear the stories behind the pieces they like, and want to learn how things are made! A very pleasurable experience!

Below are some booth shots, with Alibay weaving his magic again. Alibay loved seeing a new city in the US, and after the show spent long hours at the Chicago Art Institute! Saule did not come this time, but hopefully, she’ll be back for the AD Show in NYC in March!

We were blessed with our booth neighbors – very talented, very supportive and lots of fun! Check out their websites when you have a chance: Brian Siewert, who brought an outrageously pink and purple piano and provided the perfect musical backdrop for the show, Earl Nesbitt and his wife, whose incredibly beautiful handmade furniture I had the pleasure looking at most of the show, Boris Kramer and his smooth flowing iron sculptures, and Kali Basi and her sister, sharing their vast show experience so generously with us!

I did not have much of a chance to venture out and explore the show, it was so crowded that any excursion simply ended up taking too much time. But here are a couple of further artist picks: Jim Budish (fell in love with ‘Bailey’, looks exactly like Rascal, my Labradoodle!), Mike Szabo (fabulous fountains!), and Anne Sherwin (exquisite paper quilting, and lots of great stuff under $100, so if you need a last minute Holiday gift, go to her website!).

That’s my digest for now, great experience, great contacts – gotta get some sleep now!

Well, the countdown is on for the Chicago show, and I’m happy to be able again to provide you with complimentary entrance tickets.

The tickets are good for 2 adults for the entire duration of the show, December 1-4. Click here to print your tickets.

We’ll be at booth 8-2008! Looking forward to seeing you there!

Here is the result of the commission of ‘Mysterious Reflections’. It finished setting at a bigger size than intended (there’s always a surprise factor in felting!), quite a bit larger than the 2007 version, at 83″ x 142″. However, that turned out to be perfect for the wall it was intended for. And the blended red / beige background looks absolutely stunning in its new surroundings. The client was pleased, and Alibay and Saule are happy that the felt found such a beautiful home!

Here is an example of how a felt tapestry is made.

Alibay is working on a new version of ‘Mysterious Reflections’ (see below, 65″ x 120″, 2007). The commission calls for a reddish background, and slightly larger dimensions. In the photos, you can see the different raw materials, Alibay mixing colors with a coarse brush, the white base, and the application of the pattern.  A new masterpiece in the making!

Well, the bad news is: we were informed a couple of weeks ago by the organizer of the One of a Kind Show New York that the show has been cancelled.

The good news is, we applied to the Chicago One of a Kind Show and were accepted! Sorry New York – Hello Chicago! Visit us December 1 – 4! Will keep you posted about location etc. And about all the new pieces Alibay and Saule will bring along. They are excited to see a new city in the US of A! Not that one could ever get bored in New York, of course….

So, if anyone has any deep insights into the Chicago art market, let me know!

I’m asked a lot what the knot count is for Alibay and Saule’s tapestries. Well, first of all, the tapestries are woven, not knotted like an open pile carpet. So strictly speaking, there are no knots. Tapestries are a weft-faced weave, and wherever the weft passes in front of the warp, a ‘pixel’ in the tapestry forms. The weft is then battened tight to make sure that the warp will be completely invisible. So, I guess, people are interested how many pixels there might be per square centimeter, or per square inch. Well, there is a short answer, and a long answer. The short answer is: It all depends! (You probably knew that was coming…)

If you’re not afraid of math and technicalities, read on for the long answer.

I discussed this at length with Alibay. Here’s what he said. He usually strings a loom with 14 double warps per 10 centimeters. That means that there are 14 ‘front’ warps and 14 ‘back’ warps that are either pushed back or pulled forward during any given pass of a weft color. So that makes 28. Now, every one of those 28 warps actually consists of 2 strings. So essentially, there are 56 vertical strings on the loom per 10 centimeters that serve as the base. So the weaver can double his ‘pixel resolution’ at any given time, depending on the pattern or the required detailing, by not picking up the warps two-by-two, but one-by-one.  Now, if Alibay wants to get even more detailed for a pattern, he strings the loom with 18 warps per 10 centimeters, so that makes 72 strings in total. So much for the warp. Now for the weft: it depends how many strings are used to form a weft color, and how tightly the weft gets packed onto the warp. Typically, there are at least 4 – 5 different strings combined to form a weft. But we won’t count those separately, a weft is a weft. Dizzy yet? Also, Saule loves the relief type weavings, where she over-weaves different types of fiber over the simple weft, in order to create three-dimensional patterns. I guess that is just simply not countable, so we’ll disregard this here.

You are probably thinking: ok, lady, just give me a number. Average. Ballpark. Roughly speaking. Ok, so we just counted. We used an average 14 warp per 10 centimeter tapestry, and counted 45 – 50 ‘rows’ of weft. So the pixel count would be between 1,260 and 1,400 per 10 square centimeters. Yup, it’s a work of art, and a labor of love! And since you won’t be walking on it anyway, I guess it does not really matter what the number is…

First of all, let me thank all of you who came to the show and visited us, and for all your appreciation and kind words to Alibay and Saule! They enjoyed the show immensely, and left here with lots of inspiration and ideas. They were in great spirits the whole time, not even the snowy rain on Monday after the show, when they had lots of sightseeing in the City planned, could dampen their spirits. They took one look out the window and said: how wonderful that we had such great weather during the show! That’s so typical Alibay and Saule. Always positive, just like their works of art!

So here are couple of booth pics, for those of you who could not come!

It’s very hard this time to pick artists, there is so much incredible talent represented at this show. It’s a huge show, in a lot of ways. A huge number of hugely creative artists presenting to a huge number of visitors – all that makes for a huge number of really sore feet!

Anyway, let me start today with an amazing metal artist. Check out Gary Magakis’ website for a look at the beautifully proportioned and crafted furniture and lamps. Fabulous!

And since I’m partial to textile art, I love the quilts done by Kasuri Home, made of Japanese kimono fabrics.

There are a lot of outstanding wood artists at the show, and I’ll get you more info about some of those tomorrow. But for starters, check out Michael Baumeister for tall (and I mean, REALLY tall!) vessels and wood wall art that is elegant, unique, and actually looks more like ceramics than wood! Really cool stuff.

Gotta catch some z’s now! More picks tomorrow!

Almost forgot, here are pics of some of the new pieces the Bapanovs brought to the show. The ones shown here with the semi-precious stones are by Saule. ‘Alatau Mountains’ is flax on cotton, and has an incredible relief effect. ‘Horizon’ is a very soft and harmonious composition, and ‘Earth’s Treasures’ pops!