Journal

The most important thing to know about our luminous friend Cat Chen isn't that she's the VP of Marketing for the professional-magic-makers at Amber Interiors. It isn't that she is launching her own wine business or that she makes incredible dumplings. It isn't that her beloved mother, Alice, died nearly three years ago or that Cat has been on a beautiful, aching, and revolutionary-feeling path of processing that loss very openly...creating spaces for connection and vulnerability...spaces that gently and generously invite the sort of shared anti-aloneness-on-everyone's-own-terms that is perhaps the most potent salve for grief. It's not that she has a rich personal style, a great eye, grand adventures, a lovely home, or throws great parties. No, the most important thing to know about Cat Chen is that she is a real human being, beautiful and tender, messy and marvelous, and all of those things that she does, has, feels, and simply...is...that's all just part of the electric realness of being truly and fully alive.

We loved connecting with Cat to talk about the most important things: home and heart, food and drink, style and substance, and, of course, the anchor of love against the drifting tide of loss. Sending gentleness to any of your dear hearts out there navigating a similar path and wrapping them up in a sisterhood bandana.

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There is, of course, that resonant old William Morris quote: "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful". We feel this deep in our bones, and yet—the intersection of what is beautiful and what is useful is not a single point on a perfect axis. It's a collection, a constellation of activities and use cases, daily rituals and seasonal intentions, of memory and desire, of what you do, what you love, and how you want your world to feel.

The work of mosaic artist Maxine Midtbo is a living embodiment of this intersected collecting—constellations of found objects and shards, talismans of memory and desire composed and reimagined together into useful and beautiful objects whose purpose is both to conjure a feeling and to do the humble work of its chosen task. We were honored to dream up another future for a crop of our signature damaged deadstock bandanas with Maxine, for them to be "found", repurposed, and incorporated into one of her signature tactile sculptures, a resonant object of ritual that we know to be beautiful and believe to be useful—and everything in between.

We sat down with Maxine to talk about her process, about working with fabric, and the powerful joy of centering curiosity.

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What is a "signature scent"? After encountering the revolutionary, evolutionary scents dreamed up by Patrick Kelly, the founder/perfumer/sweet genius in chief behind Sigil, we think of "signature" more in terms of elemental biology: that we all have a unique metaphysical connection to our own sensual alchemy and when we manifest those connections into the world, we become naturally fluent in both the language of pheromone and personal style.

 

After all, slipping the merest hint of a scent that truly resonates with your personal alchemy, self-vision, and daily vibe onto wrist, collarbone, or the hidden hollow behind the ear is one of the most subtly radical and deeply sensual acts of self-creation possible. 

 

We caught up with Patrick in their own moment of subtly radical and deeply sensual self-creation: just at the cusp of moving on from Sigil and buoyed onwards on fragrant winds of possibility of their own making.

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Children are always the first to notice the moon. The average/enlightened adult might be generally aware that it may be full or that it might have a special poetic name or rareness (super moon, wolf moon etc) or they might have been compelled to acquire a moon calendar, to fold her miraculous constancy into the required architecture of "the schedule". But. Children will spot Madame Moon on any bluebird afternoon, cresting over some trees, say, with no heed to anything other than the act of noticing, an immediate centering of sheer wonder and the simple truth-ness of it simply being there. I SEE THE MOON! They will shout. And so they do, and so she is.

Thinker, writer, storyteller, and moon-seer Leigh Patterson makes a lot of beautiful magic. Her beloved "Moon Lists" project—an analog undated journal and self-propelled guide to cultivating awareness using the moon as metaphor and catalyst for reflection and expansion—in particular makes us feel like those children: I am here! This is it! What wonder. We talked with Leigh about that wonder, about refining perspective, committing to showing up fully, and the pure pleasure of feeling good in your clothes.

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While bringing people together and showing them a good time sounds pretty simple, the perception of effortlessness is itself an impressive act of conjuring. From the light in the air to the chosen abundance on the plate to the heartbeat hum of *just* the right music, there is a specific kind of mystical alchemy to "entertaining"—just swap in the smoking cauldron of a successful incantation for the electric good-times feeling that rises, like bubbles in a champagne glass, to the top of the well-appointed room. As with most magic, it's not hard, per se, but you have to know the makings of the spell, have the words, power, and energy to set the intention, and be a very good witch.

The enchanting Sara Mae Zandi has been brewing just this sort of mystical alchemy at the constellation of charmed upstate establishments she, her chef-partner Sohail, and their young daughter Violet are building together in Bovina, NY. Anchored by their beloved restaurant, Brushland Eating House, and expanding into a patchwork inn and ordinary, a general store and sandwich shop, and, most recently, a newly-launched apron company, her world is a sacred space of lingering memories made, of traditions celebrated and created anew, and of the abiding magic of humans sharing an experience, a meal, a life. We borrowed Sara for a moment on a gilded afternoon to chat about imagining and reimagining what it means to be together and apart, cultivating new reverence for simplicity, and the common thread of a lifetime of "best" meals.

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There is much to be learned from humble clay. At its most elemental, it carries a heft, weight, and a deeply grounded sense of place—it is, after all, literally earth. When water and airy intention enter the mix, clay becomes animated by the infinite possibilities of creation, it becomes an earthy elastic shape-shifter that can be formed by the magical working of human hands. When under fire and pressure, it changes again, calling forth reserves of heretofore unknown strength, emerging out of the kiln transformed: matte tactile, diamond-hard, and ready for the task at hand.

At any point along this journey, there are sacred and messy lessons that speak deeply to us, lessons that are thoughtfully channeled into object by Vancouver-based ceramicist Rachel Saunders. In her dreamy island work-space, there is a Lao Tzu quote: "Shape clay into a vessel; it is the space within that makes it useful". We sat down with Rachel to talk about the preciousness and utility of maintaining that space, of the power of molding something out of necessity, and of the magic alchemy of air, earth, fire, and water.

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When we were working on our new Fall capsule we envisioned folding in new pieces that captured our core sensibility—clothes made thoughtfully, meant to be worn and loved, worked in and lived in—with an added feeling of effortless expansiveness, an easy comfort in wild, natural spaces interwoven with a sense of possibility. Naturally, when thinking of how and where to best capture that vibe, we thought of longtime OZMA friend and muse Nicole Granato and Holistic Ranch, her home and wide open heart-space/horse haven in Joshua Tree.

A place for beauty and respite, Holistic Ranch is more than a working farm, it is also a place of sanctuary: Nicole and her partner Kahn, with their young son Finn in tow, have dedicated their land and livelihood to saving horses destined for slaughter. Home to permanent equine residents Chief, Chloe, Gigi, Margot, Baby May, and a rotating cast of other friends rescued from unseen certain tragedy and on their way to new forever homes after rehabilitation, the homestead is full of love and animals, creativity and opportunity, a place for healing and renewal. We were able to steal Nicole away from the endless beautiful work of farm life to talk about the quiet mindfulness of horses, the idea of “rewilding”, and how clothes should feel.

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Now is the time for dreaming. As the twilights begin to stretch out their legs, daring to bare their shoulders and let down their hair in the golden hour, we too begin to feel the tidal pull of a new season. With this sense of coming lightness also comes a giddy expansiveness, a feeling that *things* might be *possible*: that valises might be packed, that long dinners around tables full of dear hearts might be forthcoming, and that dipping our precious bodies into new and far-off salt-kissed seas might be on the agenda. Now is the time for dreaming.

When we dream of this limitless "what might be", it has the sun-dappled, fuzzy-edged quality of snapshots: wet footprints on terra-cotta tiles, wavering palm-tree shadows on washed linen, a rocky cliff that makes its way on tip-toes down to a secret ledge jutting into the emerald sea, the crash of waves, the smell of oranges, the sound of laughter and the wind in the olive trees and Debussy on the turntable. In short, when we dream, we dream of Casa Balandra. 

The sprawling and magical "experiential guest house" and creative artist's residency on the island of Mallorca is itself the dream of two Mallorcan sisters, Claudia and Isabella del Olmo, and their dear friend Cecile Denis—or as the sisterhood calls each other—Clau, Isa & Ceci. Until we can visit ourselves (save some date for us, sisters) we talked with Clau about the connectivity of creativity and ease, the rhythm and pull of the sea, and the powerful woman-energy required to build the beautiful stuff of dreams.

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Ally Walsh begins every day with an act of becoming. The hiss of the flame. The hum of the kettle. The bloom of the grounds. The careful alchemy of time and care. For many, the day's first coffee is certainly a ritual, but for the Canyon Coffee Co-Founder, this moment of transformation is a daily opportunity for cultivating mindfulness, for setting intention, for bearing witness to small miracles. We sat down with the businesswoman, model, and all around insanely kind soul to talk about finding space for exploration, balancing passion in a working relationship (her partner, Casey, is the other half of the Canyon Coffee family), and what it takes to feel at ease.

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This year has felt like lesson after lesson in letting go—of being tender with change, of relinquishing expectations, of admitting that things we thought were constants are actually always in flux. In this usual season of abundance and generosity, as we approach the winter solstice and the shift back towards the light, we are reminded, of course, that there is a flip side: That being tender with change can also look like nurturing new growth. That relinquishing expectations can also look like rewriting what brings joy. That when we realize that the path we are on doesn't have to to be a straight line, it leaves room for twists, turns, unexpected destinations, and beautiful adventures.

On the stunning surf-report coasts of New Zealand, artists Ophelia Mikkelson Jones and Ryder Jones have been living on the flip side—approaching their summer solstice on the twisting, turning path towards a life less ordinary, one on which they are the authors of their own joy, finding deep meaning in living simply, with intention, and with each other. 

As we are reconsidering how to make the most of this holiday season (and this one precious life), we wanted to step into the flip side, and take a few notes from Ryder and Ophelia on giving beyond the material and celebrating the miraculous in the everyday.

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We miss being in other people's houses. Sure, we miss the lingering dinners, the spangly cocktails, the late-night living room dance parties, the first-awake early coffees with visiting far-flung beloveds...we miss the people, dearly and deeply. But. We also just miss being in other people's houses.

You can learn so much from an effortless afternoon basking in the light through someone else’s west-facing windows, from finding the perfect spot to tuck the found wildflower or turkey feather, a host’s talisman, or from hearing how the music makes its way—just so—the sound escaping around ancient casements to fly up and out like so many sparks from the chimney when you step out to admire the moon. You can learn so much from being in other people’s houses. And we miss it.

Luckily, beautiful genius, flower forager, and writer Lisa Przystup is here for us in our time of need. Her new book "Upstate" is an invitation into the varied and gorgeous interiors of homes dotting the rolling green hills and tucked-away farmsteads in the wilds above and beyond Manhattan—right when we needed it most. 

We spoke with Lisa from her perfectly imperfect 1893 farmhouse in the Catskills—in which nothing is exactly straight, everything is beautifully whitewashed, and where we cannot wait to invite ourselves for a long rambling visit sometime hopefully sooner rather than later—to talk about tuning your clock to the natural world, finding glamour where you can, and how, if you can’t be in someone else’s house, being fully present in your own is pretty damn great too.

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In the opening moments of her newest song, "Earthy", singer, songwriter, and powerfully mystical mama Lia Ices channels divine intuition with a voice like a morning bell. She never wanted to sing (she sings), she'd rather be a dancer, her body like a language. She never wanted to write (she writes), but sometimes it comes right through her, not a choice but as a duty. These explorations—this search for finding what is true among the great contradiction and beauty of the human mystery and then giving it a path to pour forth in song and word—is the essence of Lia's work. 

The music is itself mystically reverent: the heartbeat of piano like waves against The Lost Coast, the reverb echo like the vast cathedral hush of towering oaks, and the laid-back drum feel is like our old favorite records caught the electric spiritual current drawn forth by the gentle rhythms of ancient California mountains.

But it's the pure, honest poetry of Lia's verse and her crystalline songbird voice that speak straight to our hearts and we wanted to know more. Lia spoke with us from her mountaintop home in Sonoma (her partner, Andrew, is the co-founder of Scribe Winery) on the spiritual practice of creativity, the psychedelic power of the primal feminine, and the value of showing up. Put on a record and read on.

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We have always loved the sea. How the horizon draws the eye to limitless possibility, somehow disregarding the barriers of any intervening waves, how Madame Moon smooths the surface as she cuts her nightly luminous path across tide and time, how the body becomes fully itself within its waters—alternately weightless or as slick and powerful as a seal. The path to the sea is always studded with magic: watery gems of sand-smoothed glass, winking pastel coquinas, glimmering mother of pearl, or other storm-tossed treasures await you at the wrack line if you know how to look and make the time and space to do so.

For Kate Jones (the founder, precious metalsmith, and salt-kissed dreamer at Ursa Major—a beloved jewelry line made in Maine and NYC) the sea is a messenger. From her childhood aboard a sailing ship—called, of course, "Ursa Major"—to her current rock-ledged seaside aerie on the sunrise coast of Maine, Kate finds herself most open to receiving both lightning-bolt inspiration and serenity within striking distance of cool waters. We caught up with Kate to talk about the freedom and joy of making space to create, the power of going barefoot, and the beauty of everyone carving out their own story, wave by wave. 

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This season we were lucky enough to shoot our spring lookbook in Mallorca — in the art studio of our dear friend Vera Edwards. Born in California but raised in Mallorca, Vera has lived around the world (including Northern California where we initially met her!), but returned to Mallorca six years ago. Today, she lives in a small beach town on the southeastern coast, making oil paintings in a studio that was formerly her grandmother’s home. 

Her grandmother Anne is a lifelong artist who has created stone sculptures out of the studio where Vera now paints — it’s easy to imagine blissfully slow days spent here, picking fruit from blooming trees, surrounded by nature and a view of a monastery in the distant hills. No distractions, only quiet. 

Vera is one of the most inspiring women we know, both for her ability to find and create beauty seemingly anywhere, and also for her perspective on living and moving through the world with ease. Amid this moment when the only thing that feels knowable is that all things change, Vera’s perspective on embracing the journey feels just right.

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On the occasions that take us out of the everyday — a conversation with actress Jodi Balfour on what it means to step outside and find connection in fleetingly specific yet beautifully immersive moments. . . . Read More

Yasmine Ganley is the New Zealand-based art director, writer, and the creator and editor of the online platform anyonegirl.com, which is now in it's 12th year. Anyone Girl celebrates the personal projects from a like-minded community of makers. Yasmine is also the editor of the zine WAIST, a journal that nods both to following one's gut intuition, and also explores how we manifest emotion and experience in our bodies. Below, a conversation on how embracing life as it comes manifests in motherhood, personal ritual, and nostalgia.

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Meet the multi-talented, widely traveled, and entirely creative designer, mother, artist, and stylist Darya Bing.

Born into a family of accomplished sculptors, architects, calligraphers, and ceramicists and brought up and educated in the renowned Dadaists artist village of Ein Hod in Northern Israel, Darya Bing has had a background that’s taken her around the world and across disciplines. Currently based in Auckland, Darya began her creative career in wardrobe and set design in theatre and film but in between has worked across creative industries and disciplines — from fashion to art to education.

We find her at present, where she is co-managing an interior design + ceramics production + fie art studio that services hospitality groups across the Pacific, Australia, and Europe... . . . Read More

Our classic raw silk tees are designed to embody the OZMA ethos – they're what we talk about when we talk about adoring the perfectly imperfect. Our tees rely on the beautifully organic, nubby soft texture of raw silk, an incredibly special fabric that we love for its character and unique wear... resulting in every tee feeling slightly different and entirely special. The metaphor isn't lost on us: to continue the conversation, we spoke with five inspiring women in the OZMA world about what it means to lean into imperfection, to discover the path of self-acceptance, and to see the beauty in our ever-evolving perspectives.

 

April Valencia is... hard to nearly sum up in a concise bio, but we'll try: A photographer, textile artist, flora-obsessed advocate for the preservation of nature, and accomplished culinary wizard. Creativity and passion ooze out of her... we get the sense that she never approaches anything halfway, she is an all-in liver of life, and feeler of experience. April was also the woman behind the camera for the other four stories in this series, and to conclude the project we asked if she'd flip the lens to document herself and reflect on the notion of imperfection.

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Our classic raw silk tees are designed to embody the OZMA ethos – they're what we talk about when we talk about adoring the perfectly imperfect. Our tees rely on the beautifully organic, nubby soft texture of raw silk, an incredibly special fabric that we love for its character and unique wear... resulting in every tee feeling slightly different and entirely special. The metaphor isn't lost on us: to continue the conversation, we spoke with five inspiring women in the OZMA world about what it means to lean into imperfection, to discover the path of self-acceptance, and to see the beauty in our ever-evolving perspectives.

 

 

Meet jewelry designer Sophie Monet Okulick, whose eponymous line is a reflection of a life spent in the studio of her father, sculptor John Okulick. Using sustainable materials and weaving in references from natural landscapes and mid-century design her pieces contextualize familar materials in wholly unexpected ways.

 

 

Photos by April Valencia

 

 

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Our classic raw silk tees are designed to embody the OZMA ethos – they're what we talk about when we talk about adoring the perfectly imperfect. Our tees rely on the beautifully organic, nubby soft texture of raw silk, an incredibly special fabric that we love for its character and unique wear... resulting in every tee feeling slightly different and entirely special. The metaphor isn't lost on us: to continue the conversation, we spoke with five inspiring women in the OZMA world about what it means to lean into imperfection, to discover the path of self-acceptance, and to see the beauty in our ever-evolving perspectives.

 

 

Today we're in conversation with Valerie Quant, co-owner and do-designer of LoQ, a women's contemporary footwear and handbag company based in LA, a business she started four years ago with partner Keren Longkumer, who she met in footwear school. Today she lives between the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and frequent visits to Spain, where LoQ is produced. Below, a conversation on long term relationships, living on a whim, and finding harmony in the unconventional.

 

 

Photos by April Valencia

 

 

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Our classic raw silk tees are designed to embody the OZMA ethos – they're what we talk about when we talk about adoring the perfectly imperfect. Our tees rely on the beautifully organic, nubby soft texture of raw silk, an incredibly special fabric that we love for its character and unique wear... resulting in every tee feeling slightly different and entirely special. The metaphor isn't lost on us: to continue the conversation, we spoke with five inspiring women in the OZMA world about what it means to lean into imperfection, to discover the path of self-acceptance, and to see the beauty in our ever-evolving perspectives.

 

Jewelry designer + sculptor Kelci Potter's beautifully organic work is a study in form and nuanced shape, expressed in hand-molded beeswax and recycled gold. Below, a conversation on what it means to step into the self to seek out the 'juice' of life, and to live simultaneously with the meaningful and the messy. 

 

Photos by April Valencia

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Our classic raw silk tees are designed to embody the OZMA ethos – they're what we talk about when we talk about adoring the perfectly imperfect. Our tees rely on the beautifully organic, nubby soft texture of raw silk, an incredibly special fabric that we love for its character and unique wear... resulting in every tee feeling slightly different and entirely special. The metaphor isn't lost on us: to continue the conversation, we spoke with five inspiring women in the OZMA world about what it means to lean into imperfection, to discover the path of self-acceptance, and to see the beauty in our ever-evolving perspectives.

 

To start the series, we visited Stephanie Cleary, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Morrow Soft Goods, a home textile company specializing in natural fibers and earthy color tones (something we obviously love!) Below, a conversation on drawing inspiration from life's curveballs, thinking less linearly, and retreating to simplicity.

 

Photos by April Valencia

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