In Progress

To draw a living line and not tremble from knowing it to be in danger of death at every point along its way, I must sleep in a sort of slumber allowing the sources of my life to flow without restraint into my hand, so that my hand ends by working alone, by flying into a dream, by moving without any care for me.

--Jean Cocteau

National Poetry Month by Ani

Poets have given us such inspiration and guidance

with their carefully crafted words.

April celebrates these treasured writers with National Poetry Month.

Jeanine has set so many favorite lines in harmony with her jewelry designs.

Take a moment this month to savor some poetry, in print and on metal.

Ani wearing her favorite piece from the Spring collection, the Tassel necklace.

The souls should always stand ajar

ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.

-Emily Dickinson

It's Coming Along

All In A Morning's Work

Since this morning I have been slowly carving this tiny flock of butterflies out of a chunk of green wax. I forgot to have lunch--it's already 3. I will go get some soba noodles from the hole in the wall down the street and then resume.

Thoughts

Inspiration in the Studio

Holiday Countdown at JPI

Here in the JP studio we love being Santa's elves but today I am feeling like this picture of Peggy Guggenheim...

Today was cold and I was on my Vespa running from the Sacramento store to the Union Square one, ending up at our Jackson Square studio. It was fun to run around with my camera going from neighborhood to neighborhood. I felt really lucky. And appreciated that SF if only 7 square miles.

Everything Is Popping Up Pretty!

In addition to our store in Union Square, we are excited be opening our first pop up store with Martha Davis and Birch on Sacramento Street. The Pop Up Atelier is in the heart of Laurel Heights on Sacramento between Lyon and Presidio. We will be open this Saturday and will stay open up to New Years Eve!!

I was looking to open a store just for December somewhere in the city and Laurel Heights has always been one of my favorite neighborhoods. I find myself there a lot usually drooling around at The Ribbonerie, Sue Fisher King , Susan, March--the list is literally tooooo long for me to keep going. We will in the very best of company and we are all so excited about this new event. I can’t even describe Birch as being a store—it feels more like an atelier in Paris. So when I ran into Torryne around town and mentioned my idea...it all came together. ‘A perfect little pop up made in heaven’ in Torryne's words.

Martha Davis comes at her work from an award winning career in industrial design before presenting her first footwear collection in ’09. Impeccably made in Italy, the collection is best described as architecture for the feet and is as innovative as it is chic. She and I became instant friends when introduced a couple of years ago-- it will be a lot of fun to set up shop with both of these stylish San Francisco women.

Please drop in if you are in the neighborhood, have a cup of tea and look at the goodies. I will be in there a lot, in the back working on drawings for January--that is how much I love the space. Did I say the store is painted entirely black? A very dramatic, interesting and unexpected choice and beyond lovely with Torryne's signature white arrangements.

Eye Catching

Worked all afternoon trying to bend my thoughts into thinking differently about shapes. I got small amounts of work done on fifty things at once. Not one thing got finished.

I found these little J's recently. I love the fancy ones. In my grandmother's day they were embroidered into the insides of your fur coat so you wouldn't get it mixed up in the coat check.

The bottom picture is an installation that Sheila Hicks did for Target's headquarters. This is in her Paris studio courtyard. I wish I could wear it around my neck!!

I.D. Please! - by Melissa Lim

Left to right: Frankie, Craig, Gail and Kismet. All Jeanine Payer

James Dean sporting an ID bracelet

Another silver ID bracelet which belonged to James Dean recently sold for $30,000

The King wearing his signature ID bracelet

Elvis' 14k diamond encrusted ID bracelet sold for over $500,000 at auction

The iconic ID bracelet, once worn by soldiers during the Second World War and now donned by both men and women as a fashion statement, has an interesting history. During WWII, the bracelets were a part of a soldier's uniform and was engraved with basic information (name, rank, serial number). After the war, many men still wore them proudly, as a badge of honor, thus starting a trend. By the 1950s and 60s, the ID bracelet became popular with rebellious teens as well as grown-ups.

Over the years, Jeanine Payer has designed her take on the ID bracelet. In our current collection, there are several versions, all beautifully engraved with poems or quotes.

Featured on the Gail bracelet:

The joys I have possessed are ever mine- ~ John Dryden

The quote seems to capture the essence of the high-spiritedness of both Elvis and James Dean, who lived their lives fast and hard, but by doing so, left this world all too soon.

In Progress...

A Member of the Wedding

I just ran across this beautiful picture of Morgan and her wedding party from a few years back. Morgan is the manager of one of our best stores in Canada, Rubaiyat. Don't these women look amazing? And they all are sporting our Edmond necklace!!