Wisteria Blog

Friday, June 26, 2009

Piles of Inspiration

The one thing all Wisteria employees have in common is their piles. Call those piles a source of creativity, research resources, or future purchases, they are everywhere. Walking from office to office, you might discover anything from stacks of books to a stockpile of toys. But it's always amazing to see a pile start as a source of inspiration and turn into a Wisteria product.

Some assortments are organized, neatly shelved,
stacked, or pinned up.

Others are exceptionally interesting, deserving a place of
prominence on the wall or atop a shelf.

Still others are just plain bizarre,
we wonder where they even came from.
(This is Andrew's prized Elvis Pez collection.)

And then one day in a meeting,
someone remembers a stashed-away pile
and the interesting thing on top of everything.

And the next thing you know, we're imagining it in our homes and developing it into a product!
(In this case, it's the Animal Throw and the coordinating square and rectangular pillows!)

Labels: our inspiration

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Felt-Making in Jaipur

We view our artisans as partners and look for like-minded organizations that are just as committed to their employees, community, and the environment as they are dedicated to great quality and interesting design. The company below lives up to our expectations and makes some of our favorite felt items including the Raggamuffin House, the Felt Animal Set, and the Egg Cups and Covers.

Located in Jaipur, India, this company's vision was born from the desire to strengthen the artisan community in India by promoting traditional crafts, particularly the art of making felt. Only a few communities in rural India still practice this ancient tradition and the craft was on the verge of becoming obsolete. This company employees more than 150 women felt makers or "pinjaras". Because they have families to care for, most of the women would not be able to work outside their homes. In collaboration with a UNICEF supported program, this vendor provides skill-building jobs and allows the artisans to care for their children and households while working in their homes. The opening, dyeing, cutting, and stitching of wool is done by these talented women.

Did you know?
Jaipur was planned according to principles of Hindu architectural theory. It is one of the best-organized cities in Asia. When the Prince of Wales visited Jaipur in 1853, the whole city was painted pink. It is known as the Pink City because of its distinctive look and the fact that many streets, parks, and buildings are still painted pink today.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Employee Spotlight: Hudson

Hudson Weichsel is the Vice President of Merchandising and Product Development at Wisteria. We love him for his eternal optimism and his unending zaniness. We hope you'll love him just as much as we do.

What is your job here?
Head plate-spinner, adventure seeker, fireman, dreamer, pot-stirrer, storyteller, and Ethel to many of Andrew's Lucy-style harebrained schemes (I am convinced we'll all end up in one of Ricky's shows someday).

What are your favorite things about working at Wisteria?
The people, the creativity, and the opportunity. Anything is possible.

What is one thing about you people probably don't know?
I am scared to death of flying, even though I do it all the time. People ask if I sleep on flights, but I am way too busy counting the rows to the nearest exit, looking for my flotation device (Sometimes it's under your seat, between seats, over the seat, behind the tray table, or in the kitchen with Dinah. In a panic situation the last thing I need is a scavenger hunt), and praying/making deals with God. (You know, the "Please get this bucket of bolts to Delhi and I will never swear again" type of thing.) The good news is while other people are reading the paper or listening to their ipods, I am actually paying attention to the safety speech from the flight attendant. If anyone's getting off that plane, it will be me. I also self-medicate with beer, so I am actually fun to sit with (unless, of course, you are the hairy, 350-lb guy wearing flip-flops who hasn't showered in a week. You know who you are.)

What is your favorite Wisteria item?
I tend to be fickle and like whatever is new. Right now I am nuts for the Oversized American Flag, the Chinese Acupuncture Models, and the Oyster Stick Lamp. The Very Old Stone Wall Lamps are my all-time favorite.

How many/what languages do you speak?
Well, I can say hello, thank you, please, how much? and where is the bathroom? in a lot of languages. Plus I'm good at charades and can sketch enough on cocktail napkins to get by.

My one indulgence is my nieces and nephew. I love to bring them prizes from my trips.

Craziest food ever eaten is alpaca in Peru, witchetty grub soup in Australia, and goose foot in China (ok, I didn't really eat this one but the guy next to me did, and he cleaned it to the skeleton!).

What is your favorite place to watch the sun set?
Not sure but those Viagra commercials certainly make sitting in a bathtub on a hill look appealing though separate tubs and the logistics of getting hot water up there sort of ruins the magic.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Behind the Scenes

One of the most bizarre and wonderful things about what we do is the constant juggling of current catalogs and upcoming catalogs. On the one hand, most of us are constantly confused about what month we're actually in. But on the other hand, we're always looking forward to something new. You might receive the April catalog, and we're already in the preplanning stages of our holiday catalog.

We just finished photographing our August and September catalogs, so we thought we'd share a glimpse into our crazy, ever-changing world. Behind every photo is a story; here's a bit of our story.

Styling a room scene.

Styling in the garden.

Getting Audrey ready for her closeup.

The most beautiful locations.

Reviewing the images.

The aftermath of a photograph.

Unusual uses for our products.

Tired after a long day.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Southern Living Idea House

Each year Southern Living features beautiful homes and interior design through its Idea Houses. In 2008, they featured several pieces of furniture and accessories from Wisteria in the Fort Worth Idea House (in Fort Worth, Texas). Since the house was within driving distance for us, many of the Wisteria employees were able to visit the house and see our products featured in a completely new environment. That relationship with Southern Living worked out so well that they decided to feature us in both of their Idea Houses this year! It's so great to know others appreciate our products, and we love seeing their ideas for using them.

Below are some pictures from the Southern Living Idea House in Mustang Island, Texas. You can see our products in the Dahlonega, Georgia Idea House as well the Mustang Island one.

We always enjoying seeing our products styled in a fresh way, and we'd love to see your ideas. Feel free to email us at blog@wisteria.com with images of Wisteria products in your home. We'll feature some of the pictures in an upcoming blog post.

In the photo: Stainless Steel Barstool

In this photo: Rustic Two-Drawer Console

In this photo: French Directoire Chest

In this photo: Translucent Bird Lamp and French Industrial End Table

In this photo: Rotund Finial Lamp and Venetian Bamboo-Leg Table

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

American Summer

Remember when summers were filled with simple pleasures? Days were long and languid, filled with treats made by your grandmother. The only relief from the heat in the kitchen was to go outside and stand under the hose. We drank real cokes from glass bottles and chased lightning bugs through the yard. We ate popsicles on the porch and laughed when our tongues turned bright orange and purple. Those are the kind of summers we want to hold onto to or at least try to recreate ourselves. So this summer we will spend more time at home, creating memories, sharing recipes (making an apple pie from scratch), and letting time slip slowly by.

What are some of your favorite and simple ways to enjoy summer at home?

Friday, June 5, 2009

Dragon Boat Festival in China

This time of year is filled with celebration. Or at least that's how we think of it: school's out for the summer and we celebrate our mothers, graduates, and our nation's fallen heroes. May, specifically, is also a time of celebration for our artisans in China. They shared with us some pictures and stories from their recent Dragon Boat Festival.

The Dragon Boat Festival is a Chinese lunar celebration that occurs on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. It is one of China's longest celebrated traditions. At the center of the festival are the dragon boat races, where boats decorated like dragons race to a drumbeat. Historically, the race and the drumbeat were attempts to rescue a patriotic poet, Chu Yaun, from being eaten by the river dragons. Yaun drowned on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month in 277 B.C.

Today, Chinese citizens throw Tzung Tzu, bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice, into the Mi Low River so that fish can eat the rice instead of the heroic Yaun. Eating these dumplings has also become a tradition during the Dragon Boat Festival. The celebration is a time for protection from evil and disease for the rest of the year. When the festival ends, it marks the beginning of good luck, good health, and summertime.

We wanted to share with you what our friends around the world are doing. This festival reminds us of the Dragon Planter, a product made by the very artisan who told us about the festival.

And here's the recipe for Tzung Tzu, in case you want to make some for yourself!

How to make Tzung Tzu
Makes 20 dumplings

Ingredients
40 large bamboo leaves (2 for each zongzi)
20 long strings (for binding leaves)
1 kg (2.2 Ib) uncooked glutinous rice
2 kg (4.4 Ib) fatty pork, sliced into 3 cm (1") cubes
10 salted duck's egg yolk, shelled, cut into halves
40 small dried shittake (black) mushrooms
20 dried chestnuts
10 stalks of scallions, cut up into 1 cm (1/2") lengths
500 g (18 oz) dried radish diced very finely
100 g (3.5 oz) very small dried shrimp
200 g (7 oz) raw peanuts (shelled, with skins)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice wine
Vegetable oil
5 cloves of garlic, roughly crushed
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 pieces star anise

Preparing ingredients
1. Soak rice in water for three hours. Drain.
2. Stew pork and chestnuts for 1 hour in soy sauce, rice wine, ground pepper, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and star anise. Set aside pork and chestnuts in bowl.
3. Boil peanuts until tender (30 minutes to 1 hour).
4. Soak mushrooms until soft. Clean and cut off stalks. Stir-fry with a little liquid from stew.
5. Set aside in bowl.
6. Shell and halve duck eggs. Set aside in bowl.
7. Chop up dried radish finely and stir-fry with some 1/2 teaspoon sugar and garlic.
8. Stir-fry spring onions until fragrant.
9. Stir-fry shrimp very quickly.
10. In a large wok or bowl, add rice, then add spring onions, radish, shrimp, peanuts. Mix together well.

Wrapping Tzung Tzu
1. Rinse bamboo leaves in hot water to tenderize, before washing thoroughly in cold water.
Wet strings to make them more pliable.
2. Take 2 leaves and overlap them. About two-thirds of way along the length of the leaves, place one hand underneath, make a cup shape with the leaves.
3. Add a small amount of rice mixture, then add 1 piece of pork to the center of the rice. Add more rice on top, compressing slightly.
4. Now repeat this process, in turn adding 1 each: chestnut, mushroom, half a duck egg, followed by a layer of rice until you have a full rice ball in your hand.
5. Wrap leaves tightly around the ball of rice.
6. Dumplings should be pyramid shaped with sharp edges and pointed ends. It takes some practice to make nice looking ones.
7. Tzung Tzu are tied up just like shoes laces with a double knot which makes them easy to open.
8. Steam for 1 hour, unwrap, and serve.