Sunday morning Farmers Market in Sebastopol. Belly Dancers and More!

The dancers were back and this time, I had my camera! Above are a few photos of the belly dancers at the Sunday morning Farmers' Market, in Sebastopol, California, taken June 28,2009. The wonderful dancers are the Raks Rosa Dance Company. The director is Elana Quihuis. For those of you interested, their web site is http://www.raksrosa.com/.

The weather was HOT but there was ample shade and the mood was relaxed and friendly. Many vendors with fresh, organic produce and an assortment of exquisite hand-crafted items and delectable food. The entertainment was great. This market runs all summer so come and check it out on any Sunday morning. The market is held right in the center of downtown Sebastopol in the park and runs from 9:00 AM to 2 or 3PM.

My Favorite Rugs! Paradise Oriental Rugs

Anyone care to see my current favorite rugs? They are right above...just love these. I believe the Khamsehbaf and Qashqai rugs that I am in the fortunate position to have at my gallery will be the antiques of the future. They are woven with great care, excellent wool, the best dyes and are incredibly hearty. A number of the designs, such as the above pieces are gorgeous. If you haven't seen any of these, take a look. I feel these are my best rugs and over the long term, will be good investments.

Questions About Rugs and My Best Advise!

I recieve many emails from people far and near and so I've decided to post the questions and my responses so that the information is available to one and all. Here's the most recent:

"I saw your web site and you seem to be knowledgeable about rugs. This is my carpet. I've been told by my rug cleaner, one of the few guys who still cleans by hand in Los Angeles, that this rug is over 75 years old, Belgian, and probably machine made. I really like the rug, but as you can see, the wear is getting bad. Is a rug like this worth restoring? Can a rug like this be restored? I love the aged look of it, but I think it's a little TOO aged. One of his guys offered to "color" the bald spots. If the rug isn't worth that much, is that a way to go - or will it look painted? Any advice you could give would be most appreciated."

Melanie Graham

My response:

Dear Melanie,

There is really no investment potential in older machine made rugs. If they are in perfect condition, there is some value there, but never as much as a good hand-woven rug.

Babylon rug cleaners on Westerm in Los Angeles is the best one that I know of. Link below.
http://www.babylonrugcleaners.com/
If they can put a bit of the color back where it's worn out, it may look better for a while but don't spend a lot of money on that. These guys are the best in LA and VERY fairly priced.
If it's clean now, my best recommendation is just to arrange your furniture so the worn spots don't show and use it until you are done.

Machine woven rugs cannot be restored. You are right, it is a very pretty rug.
Hopefully this helps.

Best Regards,
Penny Krieger
http://www.paradiseorientlarugs.com/

What's up with Sebastopol? Sebastopol, California.

Just found a cool article about Sebastopol so here's the link.

http://outside.away.com/outside/destinations/200608/best-outside-towns-2006-5.html

Of course, my Oriental Rug Gallery, Paradise Oriental Rugs is in Sebastopol, just in case you were thinking of a visit.

I will be at the Healdsburg Antique Show August 30, 2009, Downtown Healdsburg in the Park! Show hours: 8 AM - 4 PM

Bringing some beautiful rugs and a few antique tribal pieces so it should be fun!

The show is free to attend so hope to see you there!

http://www.paradiseorientalrugs.com/

Babylon's Ark. Incredible book I finished today!

As you may have noticed, if you've ever been to my web site http://www.paradiseorientalrugs.com/ , I have listed on the front page and also on my links page, two environmental organizations, one of which is the called the Earth Organization.
Welcome to The Earth Organization - conservation organization,environmental organisations,environmental organizations,environ...

The founder of this organization, Lawrence Anthony is not only a fascinating individual, he is also an uncommonly brave and dynamic human being that we all could learn from on the subject of integrity. What is integrity but doing what you know is right, regardless of the outcome to yourself or your personal needs and comforts.

Being the first civilian that entered Iraq after the start of the war, his mission was simple. Rescue the animals in the Baghdad Zoo. With little resources and sheer guts he was overwhelmed when he arrived to discover only 35 starving, dehydrated animals left on the brink of death from a former population of 600. No water, filthy cages, broken pipes destroyed by bombs...the question was where to start. This is an amazing story of hope and inspiration that shows what ONE individual can do to make a difference.

Here's a hint. Not one animal died after his arrival. This book is a must read.

Here are the links.
Babylon's Ark: The Incredible ... - Google Book Search

Enjoy and if you want to help, get involved, make a donation, do whatever you can. It's our planet and none survive alone.
Our Founder

The name of the book is Babylon's Ark by Lawrence Anthony with Graham Spence.

Amazing Camel in Downtown Sebastopol on Thursday in front of Paradise Oriental Rugs!

I arrived to work yesterday and there was a large trailer parked in front of my rug store. I didn't think twice about it until someone asked me, "Is that your camel?"

I was busy on the phone and getting set up to open when it was pointed out to me by one of my neighbors on Main Street, that there was a real, live camel, parked in a trailer, directly in front of my rug gallery.

I waited patiently until the caretakers of Kazzy returned as I had no idea if she was friendly or even how to approach her. She appeared to be completely relaxed with cars going by and one and all, magically pulling out their digital cameras, including me! When her owners returned, I was amazed to find out she was a therapy animal from Lyon Ranch in Sonoma County and was in between visits to convalescent hospitals while her owners were out to lunch.

When they returned, I was offered the opportunity to meet her along with everyone else! She was so sweet and affectionate, it was fantastic! I asked many questions and found out Kazzy is one smart camel. She is trained and works as a therapy animal bringing smiles to the faces of all she meets. She's particularly fond of men with beards, I was told by her owners, but friendly to all and truly enjoys her work as a therapy animal.

Decorating with Antique Oriental Rugs

I do believe this is a beautifully created space and recently received this photo in an email from one of my loyal clients. The three rugs you see here were purchased at my gallery a little less than a month ago, so I was thrilled to see all.

The small piece you see hanging on the wall in the back of the photo is the front of an old Persian saddlebag. These are known as bagfaces in the trade. The piece is an old Persian Qashqai and I think her placement on the wall is excellent.

The faux finish wall with the blue hues bring this whole dinning area together and speaks to me of Greece or Italy, reminiscent of days gone by. I think it's just stunning with the old rugs. Another facet of this space is that it remains interesting as one continues to look over all. She has kept the space open, allowing the wood floors to add an elegance while still retaining a very individual quality with her signature look.

The rug you see under the dining table is an old Kurdish rug with deeply saturated colors woven is a bold tribal design with a whimsical quality. This piece was quite dynamic in it's large scale geometric drawing and smartly, she has given it breathing space. The last rug I will comment on, placed right at the entrance to the dining area is an old Ersari Turkoman. It was slightly faded but still smiling. This little charmer was one of my favorites as the wool had a beautiful sheen (antique patina) and the rug was quite charismatic. Notice that each piece is a different size but the overall look of the room is balanced.

Just thought I would share, as this space was created with three antique rugs, all of which were somewhat different from one another. What she has achieved here is harmonious and contemporary, while still retaining an old world charm.

Paradise Oriental Rugs

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!