French Night is on hiatus for the summer… we’ll miss our evenings of French speaking with friends, but they’ll resume in late August!

Toots is off in France finding all kinds of lovely new things for the store! She snagged some old favorites as well as a whole collection of beautiful new pieces, and just found these great handbags at the market. It’ll all be available in the store and through the website in about a week, once she hops back over the pond.

Tired of writing your address over and over on bills, letters, and party invitations? Can’t read your friend’s handwriting? Fret no longer! We now carry PSA Essentials, which offers a line of beautiful personalized stamps and embossers. You can put names, single initials, collegiate logos, or an address – or a combination! They have been featured in O Magazine, Southern Living, Brides Magazine, Real Simple, InStyle, and on The View.

The stamps and the embossers can also be used to make your own stationery – both can be personalized with just an initial or monogram – and there’s a variety of ink colors for the stamps. They also have a cool little package of interchangeable designs if you’re looking to change things up a bit! Other suggestions from PSA for using your stamp include

Bookplates 
Luggage Tags 
Calling Cards 
Canning Labels & Cookie Exchanges 
Wedding Accoutrements

Stop by the store and order one for yourself or as a thoughtful gift!

Think you can’t afford a piece of fine art? Think again! Kiki Smith, best known for her sculpture and drawings, is now offering a line of cast silver jewelry through our gallery and website.

These one of a kind pieces of wearable art are inspired by the same themes as her sculpture and drawings, taking on subjects of the natural world including reindeer, birds, stars, and even tarantulas. Kiki begins by carving into wax with her thumbnail, and casts each piece by hand. Given this unconventional technique, no two are the same, but collectively they are an essential part of her oeuvre.

We are proud to be carrying these beautiful pieces in addition to Falcon, her etching and aquatint on mold-made Hannenuhle paper, 2001.

Back when Toots owned an art gallery in San Francisco, she represented artist Robert Charles Dunahay and gave him some of his first exhibitions. His work is now featured in collections around the globe. He is most well-known for his richly colorful paintings of palms. His palm references have often been compared to Andy Warhol’s in that he uses the palm tree as an consistent icon while experimenting with various color combinations.

“His large colorful canvases of a single palm image isolated against a solid color background have an immediate and definite pop art quality. The palms are beautifully rendered in fantastic detail with crisp, confident brushstrokes and saturated with rich colors. As a result of Dunahay’s intimate approach and ability to personalize the subject matter, these paintings feel more like portraits than landscapes.” artnet.com

Several affordable prints of his beautiful paintings have just arrived at the gallery. Palm Blanc (immediately below) can also be seen in the March issue of Coastal Living magazine, page 88.

Palm Blanc, 16 × 20

James, 16 × 20

Koala, 16 × 20

Cranberry, 16 × 20 and 30 × 40

Myra, and 30 × 40

Not pictured: Erin, Palm Breeze, and Craven.

We’re featured in the latest issue of Southern Living! They had some ideas for a party on Franklin Street (do you have any?! we’ve got lots) and were so kind as to include us! They especially liked our cute letterpress party invitations from Ilee Papergoods and Oscar+Emma.

Well-loved Chapel Hill establishments Top of the Hill Brewery, Julian’s, Sugarland, and 411 West were also featured. We’re honored to be included amongst such an all-star line up!

Last Tuesday evening, we had a reception to celebrate the opening of a special month-long exhibition in an annex gallery right next door to our store. It features the internationally celebrated artist Benjamin Long (UNC ‘67), a variety of other artists, and a new selection from Magoo’s incredible collection of antiques. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Women’s Center of Chapel Hill.

Ben Long will be joining us for an informal reception tomorrow evening. He will be in town for several days to paint the portrait of UNC president Erskine Bowles. If you’re in the area, please stop by! The reception begins at 6:30 in our Annex Gallery, 144 East Franklin Street (right next door).

Dale Dixon admires Ben Long drawings

antique sofa with updated linen upholstery, Louis St. Lewis paintings above; Jonathan Robinson pieces center and at left.

Vintage French posters

Toots, Magoo, Louis St. Lewis, Kimberly Kyser

photography by Jonathan Young