Re-accessorizing your kitchen drawers can be as fun as re-accessorizing your wardrobe these days. With many declaring food as “the new black”, it seems that kitchen activities are at the heart of our culture’s trending parties and past-times. With all eyes on the kitchen, we find ourselves spending as much time styling our kitchen as we once did our own wardrobe! We’re using this foodie frenzy as the perfect excuse to start up vintage glassware collections, snag smart-looking new aprons to juice in and otherwise upgrade our kitchen swag.
When it comes to the perfect accessories, we’re inspired by artists like Amelie Mancini. Amelie is creating the kind of kitchen accessories we love most: unique, simple, hand-crafted and fully-functional. Her carved wooden arrow spoons have shot us straight through the heart. Although her paintings and prints are popular too, it’s the one-off wood kitchen accessories that really had us at hello. We caught up with Amelie in her Brooklyn studio for a closer look at her craft, to hear about her creative routine and to find out who inspires her!
Daily necessity:
Coffee! The Internet! Preferably together.
To get the creative juices flowing I…
Just get to work. Shutting down the brain and letting the hands do the thinking is usually a good way to get going in new, unexplored directions.
Favorite object on my desk:
An old Harvey Haddix baseball card from 1960, and my Criterium mechanical pencil. I like classics.
Favorite morning of the week:
Wednesday.
At 10:00 a.m. I am usually:
Walking through the door to my studio, ready to start the day. I’m most likely holding a cup of coffee and I will take some time to chat with Ariele whose studio is right next to mine, check Instagram for too long, go over what I have to do today, answer emails and take care of shipping. Then I start on whatever thing I am working on.
my Favorite current project is:
My arrow spoons.
My necessary extravagance is:
My ever-growing collection of plants. I can’t make a run to Home Depot without coming back home with a new succulent…
my Favorites workbooks/paper goods:
My Moleskine planner. A bunch of Rhodia pads – I love the quality of the paper, and that bright orange pleases the Mets fan in me.
My top distraction is:
Instagram! But it’s also been an amazing work tool and it has given me a real community of supportive like-minded creative people, some of whom even became real-life friends, so it’s a good distraction.
Soundtrack in the studio:
Either silence, episodes of This American Life or sports radio.
Easiest way to brighten up the space is:
Lots of plants!
Books always in studio:
Lots of art books (David Hockney being the favorite around here), and lots of thrifted books with interesting subjects, like one on Victorian needlework, or the animal kingdom, or the 1912 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture.
Most common visitors:
The UPS guy.
The snack we always keep on hand:
PB and J.
Organizational item I can’t live without:
My phone, like probably 95% of the population at this point. It’s a little scary.
Favorite way to spend the lunch hour:
A quick trip to the junk store, followed by delicious Mexican food, apple pie or a doughnut, and, of course, more coffee.
Favorite design neighbors:
There are so many talented people making beautiful things today! Ariele Alasko is literally my neighbor. A few blocks away, Josephine Heilpern of Recreation Center makes amazing ceramics and really cool bags. My friend Kim Mullis makes stunning jewelry, and my Canadian pals Sandi and Danielle of Falconwright have been kicking all sorts of ass lately with their super cool silkscreened leather goods. Plus, A Little Sojourn, Another Feather, BlockShop, Bookhou, Folk Fibers…
