Why I love Sebastopol.

On Sunday, my gallery opens at noon. As usual, I was running a few minutes late and was slightly distressed about this and my lack of a parking spot close to the front of my store. I decided to park my car down by the theaters in town as there is a huge lot there and always space. Luckily for me, when I walked through the Plaza on the way to my shop, there was a troop of belly dancers dancing to fantastic Arabic music.

I stopped in my tracks and watched. It was awesome! There were six dancers and I surmised that a few were students of the one dancer that stood out light a gleaming blue white diamond. Her manner was so confident. Her moves impeccable and timing perfect. I truly learned a lot about performance just watching her. She was not emanating, "I'm in love with myself" but more of a warm, loving, "I am here entertaining you and offering you my art!" I enjoyed it perfectly and decided I needed to learn how to do that! OK....keep you posted.

Many years before I was in the rug business, I worked at a night club in Hollywood as a waitress. It was a Greek nigh club with a full 6 piece band and one of the best belly dancers in the world. Her name was Helena Velahaos. She was on the Johnny Carson show and a complete talent. She had superlative costumes, incredible moves and was professional by every definition. One of the many skills she was able to perform in her show was folding a dollar bill whilst lying on her back with the muscles of her tummy. People used to gasp on that trick but the point being, I might recognize a good belly dancer if I saw one!

When I first opened my rug gallery in Sebastopol, I hired a belly dancer for my grand opening. I interviewed more than one and this lady was the best. Her stage name was Karawan and she danced to Arabic music. She was very good and made it look so easy! She formerly danced in San Francisco and Sonoma County at numerous venues.

The pictures you see above are of her at my shop: Paradise Oriental Rugs, Inc. in Sebastopol. She danced at my grand opening a few years ago and who knows, she may dance at my gallery in the future if a special occasion calls for some superlative entertainment.

Oriental Rug Articles. Decorating with Persian rugs and more.

Just got this email from Scottland the other day and it was a lovely communication to read with my morning coffee!

"Hi, I just wanted to drop you a note to say 'thank you' for such an interesting web site. Last weekend my wife and I went to a "sale" of oriental rugs being held in a city hotel in Glasgow here in Scotland. The sale was supposedly brought about by the 'credit crunch'. The rugs were all heavily priced but with the promise of huge discounts.I just did not like the feel of the place or the tone of the salesmen. We resisted the sales patter because it was all so confusing. Once back home I found your website and all its hugely interesting articles and I am now more confident in 'how to buy an oriental rug' - so armed with the knowledge and help you have given me its back in to the market place for that first purchase.Many thanks, well done and best wishes.
R. B."

The beautiful green Perisan runner above was a rug I sold a few years back to a gal in Berkeley and I think she did a spendid job of find a spot for it.

http://www.paradiseorientalrugs.com/article.html

The Mannequin Chronicles Come to Paradise...

As anyone may have noticed I can get enthusiastic and when the girls came to see my Oriental rug store, all had great fun! It was a buying frenzy, for sure!

Here are a few shots taken by Dannell Powell of The Mannequin Chronicles - Mannequin Art for the Masses, a very talented artist and also my friend. As you can see, these women really have an eye for the antique Oriental rug trappings and the better rugs at my shop! Ultimately Dannell Powell and I will be putting a number of these limited edition prints on display at my gallery!

Enjoy! The fun begins!

The Discovery of a Live Art Form!

I pretty much live for art. All forms that make life worth living are important and valuable. Superlative moments of wonderful communication with a fellow human being are, in themselves a moment of art…timeless and perfect.

Imagine that someone has actually created an art form that engages others, draws them out (as in extroverts them), invites their participation and even gifts them with their own, unique 15 minutes of fame! Creativity abounds in my admired associate’s body of work. Numerous individuals were invited to participate; some children, others adults and Mother Nature was not forgotten either! Amazing and fascinating.

I don’t want to give too much away but the basis or tool used here is photography but there is so much more than just point and shoot. Each scene is artistically created and the cast of characters, fun and fascinating! Satire, aesthetics, comedy and originality all rolled into one. Humorous, witty, fun and adorable are also musts on the descriptive. You will only understand when you see the images. Your imagination is invited…this is a traveling, living as in, “endowed life” art form unlike any you have seen.

I currently have 4 of these fantastic limited edition prints in my Oriental Rug Store and after our photo shoot this week; will be featuring the girls in Paradise!

Am I excited? Absolutely.
Take a peek and let your imagination run wild. The girls are going shopping!