I feel so flattered to have been chosen as one of the newest Rejuvenation employees. I first discovered Rejuvenation back in 1996, as a fresh college graduate at my first corporate position. The Grand store was a short hop from my Portland office, so often at lunch, co-workers and I would sneak over for a bite to eat at the Daily Café. We'd roam the store, being inspired by the beautiful period-authentic pieces while making our (future!) home wish-lists at the same time. Over the years I kept stopping in, and with time saved a box full of catalogs that still reside on my bookshelf (that came in handy when interviewing!). So I think you can say that I've nearly always loved this brand. As Rejuvenation's Creative Director, I hope to be able to bring my love of photography, design & writing to you - so that you too will want to savor & collect all that makes you love & feel connected to our brand. The product, the imagery, the voice. There are so many lovely things we have to share with you!
While my professional background has always been design centric, my specialty has been in the fashion industry for the bulk of my career; with special focus on directing fashion photography shoots, print design, and color & trend forecasting. I have appreciated interior design and lighting all along – with fond memories of my mother bringing me antiquing weekend after weekend in Seattle where I spent my early years. Nowadays, I have found that my personal aesthetic is likely more accurately described as Neo–Traditional. I love mixing my antique and period authentic finds with more modern lines and beautiful color.
In my 'off' time, I relish travel & discovering new things. I have a love of reading, printed books and the smell of libraries. I write as time permits for my own blog, as well as for another internationally recognized design blog – and design art prints for a studio in London. I love the Hipstamatic App on my iPhone probably more than I should.
2 truths + a lie
My father first put a paint brush and a set of oils in my hands at age seven.
I always keep a picnic blanket in my car, just in case the opportunity arises.
This year, we have been sharing our Labor of Love stories with you. Some have been about products and some have been about personal experiences, but they’ve all reflected on our appreciation for the handmade, the hard-won, and the heartfelt. To honor this weekend’s holiday, we wanted to pay tribute to the biggest labor of love of all: motherhood. We hope you enjoy our stories—and feel inspired to share one of your own with us. Or, even better, share it with the special ones near to you.
Like mother, like daughter
My story begins with my daughter as a toddler, barely two years old. I wanted to share my love of fresh-grown food and cooking from scratch with her right from the start. She wasn’t tall enough to reach the kitchen island, so a makeshift step stool found a permanent place nearby. She could hold a wooden stirring spoon and bang metal measuring cups together; the basics were in place. After years of spills, floury messes, smiles through “experiments,” and large doses of patience, what I hoped to instill took hold.
Last weekend, my daughter, now 11, and I headed to the farmer’s market. We meandered around, picking up a little of this and a little of that. Upon arriving home, I pulled out a recipe so we could cook up our finds. My daughter then turned to me and declared that she didn’t really need me in her kitchen. She took over and spent the next few hours baking for our family. I realized she’s independent now and ready to carry this love of fresh food into her own future, which warmed my heart to the core. She’ll never be without the means to gather those around her for a thoughtful meal and time spent with family and friends.
until you have to actually have to make it a reality!
Handcrafted Traditions Fall 2011 catalogue, page 8 -
un-wrapped by hand (piece by piece), especially for you!
Did you guess how many knobs were in our jar during our Facebook contest last fall? Better sign up on our Facebook page for chances to win prizes from our little contests. We’re having fun with it – and hope you are too!
Where did 2011 go? One minute it was here, and in a flash, it’s all over — with a new year chomping at the bit to get started. There were so many highlights for the team at Rejuvenation, but I have to say one of my favorites happened as we were putting together our Fall catalog.
Toasting to a working dinner with co-workers, friends.
As part of creating our three artisan stories for the Fall edition, our catalogue team was so lucky to get to field-trip out of the office to a local Portland restaurant, Beast – to sample the cooking delights & experience that is Naomi Pomeroy & her craft. We were working, but it was also an opportunity to slow down and get to know each other just a bit better outside of our cubicle habitats.
Our assignment - experience Beast first-hand!
Tony had some prep work to complete first...
Tim showed up a little early,
But Georgia & Tina waited with him until the table was ready.
Mark preferred I didn't take his picture more than necessary!
But Wendy chatted with me, while Michael set up the camera.
Then Michael got to work, pronto.
The Rejuvenation catalogue team – from Michael’s view!
And if getting to know my co-workers on a more personal level wasn’t wonderful enough, there was so much eye candy to take in at the restaurant too! I just had to show you a little bit more than what we had room for in the catalogue…
We all just loved the menu illustration.
And the wonderful chalkboard quotes adorning the walls.
Have you seen our latest catalogue yet?
I thought you might enjoy a few glimpses behind the camera - before the final photo selected looked so perfect.
Sooooo – our catalogue team had this concept of creating a sophisticated, yet rustic, cabin bedroom for our new Dakota Warehouse light. Not only is part of my job here at Rejuvenation to help concept & then design the rooms we showcase our lights within, but to take those designs and turn them into reality. Often that is much easier dreamed up than done!
As you can see from our final room above, I needed to find a rustic wood-encased room
in which to arrange two full-size beds under the Dakota pendants.
I did find the room – the loft of a barn on the outskirts of Portland. But to my chagrin
there was a bit of a challenge to overcome: a very narrow spiral staircase (in the silo attached to the barn) was the
only obvious means to get props up into the loft! Did the Rejuvenation photo crew let that stop us? Oh no!
Where there’s a will, there’s always a way…sometimes in the form of a forklift!
