I just love these wonderful, contemporary brooms from India.  The handles are made from twisted and braided rags and the bristles are probably some kind of palm leaf: for some reason, the fragrance from the bristles is exactly that of fresh, green tatami.

They are hanging against a patched Japanese, hemp mosquito netting, which I am offering for sale on my website, here. I think it’s a good combination.

I like the way the brooms can be hung on the wall; they make a nice decoration in addition to being useful…

Yesterday a mysterious box arrived from Ann Wood, the marvelous artist and, I am proud to say,  fellow Brooklynite.  Ann fashions small birds from perfectly chosen scraps of old cloth: her creations are so animate that they feel uncannily “alive.”

Inside the box, in a beautifully packed in a free-form “nest” of shredded paper, I found the jaunty gentleman who perched himself on a stool in my showroom, below.

I think he’s on-the-go as he is carrying a sleeping mat slung over his shoulder–and his little, hand made tag reads, “Pearl, Camper.”  Check out his tweed outfit and his little acorn cap!

I think his scarf is made from old, Japanese indigo dyed cotton.

He’s standing on a Japanese step stool or fumidai next to two balls of Thai hemp, one indigo-dyed, the other, un-dyed.  I think he’ll stay right here for a while.

To see more of Ann’s work, make sure to follow the Ann Wood link on the “…of interest” blog roll that I have listed to the right of this post and click on the the highlighted words at the top of this post to go to Ann’s wonderful blog and website.

If you don’t yet know Ann’s work, you will soon become a fan.  I know I am.