Issue â„– 6 WINTER 2012 $12.00 U.S.
Handmade at Home
Creating is the true essence of life. - Barthold Georg Niebuhr
2
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
3
Letter
Although Meg Mateo Ilasco, the co-founder and creative director of Antholog y, and I both have backgrounds in writing and publishing, the magazine was really borne out of our fundamental desire to make things. We can’t help it; it’s in our genes. My mom is a prolific knitter and seamstress, while my dad is a consummate tinkerer. Meg also comes from a family of makers, which explains why her favorite part of attending architecture school was building models. And she always jumps at the opportunity to handcraft anything for the magazine—like the props
and set for our “Print Is Not Dead” video. (You can view it at vimeo.com/antholog ymag.) Since we’re always curious to see the unique way a home is decorated or learn about how goods are created, for our sixth issue, we’re paying tribute to the handmade lifestyle. In Canada, a couple plays a large role in the design and construction of their dwelling (“Labor of Love,” page 90). A Los Angeles craftsperson gives us a tour of her residence (“A Handmade Tale,” page 99). We also take you inside the studio of an Amsterdam glass artist (“Artful Execution,” page 46), and behind the scenes of a San Francisco coffee company (“Cool Beans,” page 36).
KELLY ISHIKAWA
EDITOR
Contents Winter 2012
We’ve got stories to get you in the mood to make things, too—such as a tufted headboard (“Sleeping Beauty,” page 19) and a delicious three-course meal (“A Simple Feast,” page 114). And the article on an urban homesteader in North Carolina (“Home Grown,” page 70) might have you brainstorming where to keep your own chickens and bees! If you’re wondering about the paper illustration on our cover, it is the work of French artist Chloé Fleury. (Read more about Chloé and her amazing process in “A Cut Above,” page 65.) Talented folks like her are just one of the many reasons we wanted to celebrate the handmade.
FEATURES
DIVERSIONS
CREATIVE PERSPECTIVE
24
In Philadelphia, a former mechanic’s garage is reincarnated as a residence.
GOING DUTCH
65
By layering and slicing, a paper artist creates intricate structures and sculptures.
90
Homeowners in British Columbia take a hands-on approach to their renovation.
A HANDMADE TALE 99 For an L.A. designer, being resourceful allows for a house filled with mid-century gems. ECLECTIC URBAN OASIS
108
Vintage objects, plant life, and do-it-yourself touches help define a bungalow.
A SIMPLE FEAST
46
A Dutch artist thinks outside of the box for her myriad design projects.
A CUT ABOVE
78
Craftiness reigns supreme in a loft occupied by a couple of makers.
LABOR OF LOVE
36
ARTFUL EXECUTION
53
A design blogger ventures to Amsterdam to explore its innovative spirit.
BUILT TO LAST
COOL BEANS
Get a close-up look at a San Francisco coffee roastery run by two brothers.
114
Few things comfort and satisfy like a home-cooked, three-course meal.
IN EVERY ISSUE
EDITOR’S LETTER 2 CONTRIBUTORS 4 MAKING THE MAGAZINE 6 SHOPKEEPERS’ PICKS 8 MARKET REPORT 10 CONVERSATION Alyson Fox 12 RESOURCES 123 BY THE BOOK 125 PRIZED POSSESSION Sue Daly of Renegade Craft Fair 128
HOMEWARD
Anh-Minh Le Editor in Chief
SLEEPING BEAUTY
19
Anchor a bedroom with a tufted headboard of your own design and doing.
COLLECTIVELY SPEAKING
41
A Melbourne apartment showcases its inhabitants’ diverse tokens and treasures.
HOME GROWN
70
A young family in North Carolina gets back to the basics with its homesteading efforts.
Cover illustration by CHLOÉ FLEURY
creative perspective A once raw industrial space is warmed up with hand-hewn touches and personal collections Text by LAUREN MCCUTCHEON Photographs by SETH SMOOT Styling by KENDRA SMOOT 24
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
The brick walls in the former mechanic’s garage serve as an industrial backdrop for John Mahaffey’s taxidermy collection. Opposite : John hangs out
with his guitar and Gus, one of two bulldogs with whom John and his girlfriend Doub Hanshaw share their home.
7
The disco ball in the living room is left over from a prom-themed party that John and Doub hosted.
26
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
The Philadelphia home that Doub Hanshaw and John Mahaffey share is a far cry from the places where they grew up. Doub, the creative director for the women’s fashion brand Free People, was raised in a converted barn in rural Virginia. John, a lamp and furniture builder for Robert True Ogden, grew up in a tree-lined neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. Today, the couple occupies a 4,500-square-foot warehouse that once served as a mechanic’s garage. Its aesthetic and location—on an urban side street in the Old Kensington neighborhood—is night and day from their bucolic upbringings. Yet it suits them perfectly. About two years ago, they were living in a small apartment on a busy Philadelphia boulevard. They made do in the cramped quarters until the right place came along: one morning while walking the dog, Doub passed by an old garage with a
27
“for sale” sign on it. She peered through the windows of the expansive space and, despite the fact that it was filled floor-to-roof with oil tanks, she instantly knew that she’d found their new home. It was an ideal fit (and future project) for Doub, who describes her style as “American garage meets industrial Bauhaus,” and John, who spends his days turning salvaged steel and wood into lights, tables, and seating. After the building’s previous owner moved out the oil tanks, Doub and John brought in a backhoe and excava-
It was an ideal fit (and future project) for Doub, who describes her style as “American garage meets industrial Bauhaus.” tor. They had radiant heating installed beneath new concrete floors, and a kitchen designed with bird’s-eye maple cabinets and cement countertops. They patched the holes in the 25-foot ceilings (“You never know if it works until it rains,” says John). He painted both the repointed exposed brick walls and the ceiling. He also helped build the sleeping loft and the modern glass wall that adds light and creates an enclosed rear courtyard.
The maple and concrete kitchen is a completely new addition to the space. Opposite : The home’s original
industrial vibe works well with the couple’s furnishings and DIY projects, such as the wall paneled with salvaged laths.
“I’M THE DIRECTOR OF THE GLASS,” says Pieke
ARTFUL EXECUTION A young designer is garnering worldwide attention for her ingenious take on traditional materials Text by ANH-MINH LE Photographs by MARJON HOOGERVORST 46
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
Bergmans, explaining her role in creating the glass pieces in her portfolio. The Amsterdam-based designer was introduced to the wonders of glassblowing about five years ago—when she was invited to participate in a Dutch exhibition that paired artists with those in the glass industry. “I was amazed by the process,” she says of watching the master glassblowers at the 134-yearold Royal Leerdam Crystal factory, “but also disappointed in the results. I thought the forms were beautiful, until they were dropped into these molds.” So she decided to try something different. “I asked the glassblowers to forget about the molds,” she recalls. “I said, ‘Let’s work with the movement of the glass.’ By doing so, you get more exciting shapes.” For her collaborations with Royal Leerdam, she works with “the very best glassblowers,” she says, noting that it takes at least a decade of experience to be considered even a good glassblower. A blower wraps the molten glass around a pipe and inflates it much like a balloon. Then, as directed by Pieke, another craftsman pulls and pinches, wrests and warps the glass. “Every piece is unique; it’s never the same,” she says. While some people might frown on irregularities, Pieke celebrates them.
A shelf in her Amsterdam studio houses “a mix of inspirational materials and the beginnings of new projects,� says Pieke Bergmans. Opposite : Pieke surveys
one of her latest lighting experiments.
13
“The saying is a reminder to myself that no matter how much stuff I think I need, I already have everything I need,” says Shauna Alterio of the verbiage on the wood marquee, which husband Stephen Loidolt made.
14
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
Built to Last A loft filled with bespoke pieces proves the perfect setting for a young couple to get creative
Text by LAUREN MCCUTCHEON Photographs by SETH SMOOT Styling by KENDRA SMOOT
16
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
Left to right: Stephen
and Shauna created the wall treatment behind their bed. They modified a coffee table from the Salvation Army to make it work as a desk. Opposite : The man-
tel—purchased from an architectural salvage company—was rescued from an old hotel in Philadelphia that has since been demolished; serendipitously, the TV fits perfectly in it.
To describe Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt as in-
dustrious is an understatement. In the notched-out loft in an old tire factory on the edge of Philadelphia that the couple calls home, you can usually count on a flurry of activity: a stack of textiles is sewn into dapper bow ties; letterpress blocks are lined up on the press; and a bevy of tools and supplies are markers of various other projects in progress. The husband and wife may be better known by their company’s name: Something’s Hiding in Here (somethingshidinginhere.com), which includes whatever fun home and personal accessories they dream up, such as the popular Forage line of bow ties (forage.tumblr.com). Since the sartorial collection launched in 2010, it has developed quite a following: the ties often sell out and are part of the uniform at the first-ever BHLDN store (the wedding offshoot of Anthropologie) that opened last year in Houston. The secret to their success? According to the pair, it’s fairly straightforward: be confident, work very hard, and always be on the lookout for something new to love—even if that something new is something old (like bow ties). “We go into a project assuming that we can do it,” says Stephen,
81
18
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
Right and opposite : The vintage
press came from The Arm in New York. Below : With the mustaches,
Stephen combines his talents for sculpting with his love of woodworking.
For years, their friends and family were the only beneficiaries of Shauna and Stephen’s handmade goods. who met his wife and partner at Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art, the same school where Charles Eames met Ray Kaiser. For years, their friends and family were the only beneficiaries of Shauna and Stephen’s handmade goods. “I’m a little bit neurotic about making things for everyone we know,” explains Shauna. For example, she and Stephen designed calendars for New Year’s presents, and once casted in chalk anatomically correct hearts for Valentine’s Day. They were constantly told that they should sell their creations, and about four years ago, they started doing just that. At first, they whittled and painted silly mustaches on sticks. Next, they carved tiny acorn charms. Later, they stitched bow ties out of vintage fabrics. Yet no matter how many products they come up with or how busy they are, they always remember to make things for each other. Every year, Shauna gives Stephen a cake topper for their wedding anniversary (they’ve been married 11 years). And one Valentine’s Day, Stephen crafted a sweet wooden treasure box for 81
The rest of the dwelling pays tribute to places they’ve been and people they love.
20
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
The 1890s harvest table in the dining area was a Craigslist find. “I spent almost two years looking for one and still can’t believe we have such an amazing piece of history in our house,” says Shauna. The curves of the living room sofa— which she and Stephen reshaped and reupholstered—offset the sharp angles in the space.
21
Today, the loft is filled with vintage objects and handcrafted elements.
Left to righ t: Stephen
made the “Valentine” box for Shauna (it plays “Love Me Tender”), and Shauna made the owl for the window of the couple’s show at Rare Device in San Francisco. The typewriter is often used for making gift tags.
84
ANTHOLOGYMAG.COM
Shauna; the word “Valentine,” scripted with tiny pin dots, adorns the front. Five years ago, when they first set foot in their current abode—a big, boxy, bland space near the train tracks in Philadelphia’s Tacony section—they knew they could transform it into a cozy and rustic home for themselves and their pound-rescued companion, Dexter. Today, the loft is filled with vintage objects and handcrafted elements such as the patchwork paneling behind the bed that the two constructed with rugged old strips of wood and the giant marquee sign that was on Shauna’s wish list. Yes, Stephen built the sign, as well as the bookcases that it sits on. Just beyond those towering bookcases is a letterpress studio. Heavy, old machinery, including a cast-iron circa 1881 Paragon paper cutter and endless trays of tiny wooden letter blocks, fill the inky space, as do a yellow cabinet that Shauna and Stephen refinished themselves, hanging lights they made from old metal funnels, and a green flat file for which Stephen fashioned legs from old spindles. The rest of the dwelling pays tribute to places they’ve been and people they love. “I’ve always been nostalgic to a fault—sentimental and super nostalgic,”
A Handmade Tale An L.A. artist and designer imbues her work with vintage charm
Text by ANH-MINH LE Photographs by MEIKO TAKECHI ARQUILLOS Styling by MEG MATEO ILASCO
23
“I love working with my hands and making things. ”
Left and below : The corkboard is covered in “things
I just like to look at,” says Cathy Callahan. The outdoor area often serves as additional work space (for example, for spraypainting projects). Opposite : Cathy purchased the Bertoia chair and
ottoman for $75; the seller had placed an ad in The Recycler, a classifieds-only publication. “This was the pre-Craigslist days,” she notes.
Regardless of the job title she held, one thing has been a constant in Cathy Callahan’s professional pursuits: her penchant for handcrafting. “I love working with my hands and making things,” she says. Fortunately, she has successfully cultivated a career—or actually two careers—that allow her to spend her days ideating and creating. After graduating from San Diego State University with an art degree, Cathy got her start in retail displays with a gig at Esprit in Los Angeles. She later went on to work for several prominent department stores. “I met a lot of very interesting people at Neiman Marcus. There were people doing displays who had started in the ’50s and ’60s; it was really cool to learn about how stores functioned back then. I feel fortunate to have been exposed to how window displays were created in a much grander fashion than they are today,” she says. “And of course being at Barneys was amazing as I got to work under Simon Doonan. I learned so much!
“I. Magnin was probably the place where I had the most creative freedom. The display I remember most was where I decoupaged photos of Jean Paul Gaultier all over furniture purchased at a thrift store.” For the past decade or so, Cathy has been her own boss—splitting her time between freelance display and merchandising projects, and selling her own limited-edition handmade wares. The latter vocation was borne out of the former. “Customers were asking to buy the props that I made for store displays,” she explains. “The fact that they were interested gave me this really good feeling of satisfaction. So I started thinking, ‘How can I make things 101
A SIMPLE FEAST Text, Photographs, and Styling by GIAO TRAC
T
he first time I cranked out
strands of tagliatelle, I felt like Houdini. I remember thinking to myself: “That’s all it takes? Is this a trick?” Preparing homemade pasta was surprisingly easy and fun. To this day, I never tire of seeing plain dough magically transform before my eyes—the sheets getting longer and thinner with each turn of the pasta machine. Although it’s delicious topped with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and freshly grated cheese, I love serving fresh pasta with a simple tomato sauce. And, because my husband is a big fan of Brussels sprouts, a side of the greens is a perfect accompaniment. If the inspiration strikes, I’ll give in to a couple of winter cravings and prepare a pot of squash soup to start the meal and bake a seasonal clafoutis tart to end it. The extra work is well worth the effort, as it means my husband and I will have an excuse to linger a little longer at the dinner table together—enjoying the food and each other’s company.
HOMEMADE TAGLIATELLE PASTA Serves 6 The ratio of flour to egg is 100g to 1 egg for each person—an easy conversion to remember when making batches of pasta for a smaller or larger group. This same pasta can be used to make fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, or ravioli. 600 grams “00” flour, plus more for dusting 6 farm fresh eggs
1. Add flour and eggs to a food processor. Pulse until dough comes together. Turn off power, open lid, and test dough consistency. Dough should come together when pinched. If too sticky, add more flour, a few teaspoons at a time, and continue to pulse. Drop dough onto a floured work surface and knead a few times into a ball until smooth. Divide dough in half, and each half into equal thirds. Press the six dough pieces into rectangles. 2. Roll one portion of the dough through a pasta machine, 2 or 3 times starting at the thickest setting. Pull and stretch the dough with the palm of your hand as it emerges from the rollers. Continue moving the rollers closer together each time until pasta is paper thin, silky, and smooth, about 1/8" thick. Flour the finished sheet. Take one end of sheet and fold in half onto the other end. Dust with more flour, and fold in half again. Dust again with flour and make one last fold. Cut across layered folds into ½"-wide strips. Gather slices, toss with a bit of flour, and hang to dry. 3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta for 25-30 seconds. Do not overcook. Drain, reserving a little of the cooking water to thin sauce if necessary.
WINTER TOMATO SAUCE Yields 4-5 cups Though this sauce is best made with ripe plum tomatoes at the height of summer, canned San Marzanos are a perfect alternative when you’re craving a hot bowl of pasta during the colder months. 1 ½ 28 oz. cans whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes ¹/³ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more to finish large pinch of crushed red pepper flakes kosher salt freshly ground black pepper 2 tbsp unsalted butter 10-12 fresh basil leaves, julienned
½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated
1. Drain tomatoes and remove seeds. Slice in half, or quarters if larger. In a wide pan, heat olive oil over mediumhigh heat until hot. Add tomatoes and red pepper flakes, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Allow tomatoes to cook for a few minutes. With a potato masher, chop the tomatoes finely. Cook on medium-low heat, covered, for 20-25 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. 2. Meanwhile, cook homemade tagliatelle pasta (see above). Add the pasta to the sauce and cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes, gently tossing with wooden spoons. If sauce seems too thick, add a bit of reserved pasta water. Remove from heat and add butter, basil, and cheese. Give it one final toss and serve immediately.
117