Love and Other Fabrics

"Love is a fabric that never fades, no matter how often it is washed in the water of adversity and grief." Dear Friends: Zoe and I were looking through our superb collection of clothing (to find more and more things to put on our phenomenal sale...thanks to all of you who have been emptying our sale racks and making it possible for us to have room for all the great new finds...) and it made me think of my deep and long-standing love affair with fabric. And that, of course, made me look around for some wonderful fabric quotes, like the one above. I do not know who said it originally, but I'm sure that the person knew a bit about fabric, not to mention love, adversity and grief. Here at ArtsEcho Galleria, we believe in wonderful fabric. Some of the clothing we have here in our charming little shop is made from fabric that almost makes me want to weep, it is so beautiful. I have been searching for great fabric for almost 40 years...all over the world. I had the privilege of traveling widely while performing in places that most (normal) people never get to go to, like Isfahan, Mashad & Khorramshahr (in Iran...pre-Khomeini), Dubrovnik (on the Adriatic coast in the former Yugoslavia), Vishakapatnam, India (on the bay of Bengal) Gauhati & Shillong (North-Eastern India, past Bangladesh), not to mention towns in Thailand, South Korea, southern Taiwan and many, many more places. For a long time, I was performing a program for the US State Department all over the world that traced the story of American history through our wonderful folk songs (from songs like "Greensleeves" that pre-date Columbus' voyages to "Pollution" by Tom Lehrer...still, unfortunately, very current). When I wasn't onstage or out meeting the incredible people in these countries, I was searching for fabrics to use in making my contemporary art quilts. Here are a few of the pure silk quilts that I've made over the years: And here I am with a quilt that I made for my son, Roy, called "Sinister Beauty". It reflects the exquisite sunsets in times of war, when bombs raise huge quantities of dust and the light at sunset turns bright orange/red...so that the skies are painfully beautiful and horrifying at the same time. Now, just so you don't think I've used all of our qorgeous fabrics in my quilts, here are a few photos of our wonderful clothes that are all ready to be purchased and worn. That's Zoe in a Dotted Swiss Eyelet dress from about 1952 (this is a real "I Love Lucy" dress): And here is Laura in a vintage Silk & Sequin green top (with the ubiquitous jeans): And here is Laura again in a Cotton Eyelet lined and floral printed jacket: Our wonderful sale, 50% - 70% off, is going on! We are adding more and more things every day (including some amazing fabrics) so stop by to check it out... Warm regards, Sandra and the marvelous people who spend a good part of their week here at ArtsEcho Galleria, Zoe, Liana, Yara, Laura (back to college this week!), Nao, Heather, Sylvia, Shenella & Lina. PS: DEXTER LANE!!!! is that phenomenal Weehawken photographer who exhibits some of his incredible NY scenes here at ArtsEcho Galleria. Well, Dexter's amazing panoramas are now on display in a HUGE new display area in Port Authority (the 9th Ave side). Dex is the FIRST artist to exhibit his work in the new P. A. Gallery. Go Dexter!! Check out Dex's work here. PPS: Our summer hours are M-F 12-7 and Sat 12 - 6. I'll be here all day tomorrow if you want to stop in and say "hi". Yes, still at 3809 Park Ave, across from the Pathmark parking lot and still at 201-617-1110. PPPS: Make sure you visit our website! It's getting quite edgy...