Yikes! It's Back and It Knows Your Name.

Poison Ivy

I've seen it on my walks. Right there on the wood's edge. Those menacing shiny little reddish three lobed green leaves. Rhus radicans. The scourge of outdoor workers everywhere. If you are susceptible to the poison ivy rash, it just seems to jump out of nowhere, on the attack. Camo doesn't help. There are many remedies out there, but none seems to work as well as the all-natural Anti-Poison Ivy Soap we discovered last season. Those who bought it came back time after time to buy more for their friends and family. It really does work. The 4 oz. bar contains Jewelweed, Peppermint Oil, and Rosemary Oil. All in an all natural Castile biodegradable soap. Don't wait until it's too late. Be prepared like every good Scout. We have this great soap in stock now. Check it out...This link, Anti-Poison Ivy Soap, will take you to the page on our website.

Made in U.S.A.

In the March 16th issue of The New Yorker, comedienne Patricia Marx pens an article with the title Made in the U.S.A. The subtitle is Buying American is a shopping challenge. While there is no doubt that much of our commerce in the 21st century is indeed produced offshore, it is not as difficult to buy American in the countryside of America as it is, I guess, in New York City. At the outset, it is queried by the author, "Don't our fellow-citizens create anything?" Reading on, it is apparently our honor to produce hamburgers, Hummers and spam. The email kind of spam, not the Hormel variety, although, I suspect that Hormel's Spam™ is made in the U.S.A. Where else could this quintessential American food product be produced? (Ms. Marx does end her article writing about the great state of Minnesota, the home of Spam™.) The product is actually produced all over the world, but ours is still produced here in America.

Reading on, Ms. Marx rephrases her earlier question about Americans creating things with the more apt question, "Are there any domestically produced goods that we might be proud to call our own?" While I understand that this story is written with intended humor, as the owner of a contemporary craft and fine art gallery, it is with some astonishment that only a nod goes out to a single American artisan who labors in the U.S.A to create a beautiful box by hand. There are thousands of truly accomplished two and three dimensional artists in this country laboring in their studios out of love for their craft. Our gallery represents only a small percentage of them, but our mission is to try and give them a means to make a living doing what they love. Ms. Marx and the American consumer need to support galleries like G Squared so we in turn can continue to buy work from these artists. We want to be enablers.

There is so much beautiful and functional handmade in America work available. It is unfair to ask the question "Are there any domestically produced goods that we might be proud to call our own?", without pointing out the value of handmade American craft. From a wooden spoon that will last a lifetime to a small glass pitcher to hold your cream, American made products are readily available if one takes the time to look.

Ms. Marx's bio indicates that she is a comedienne. I think maybe a different subject may have had more of a funny-bone impact during this rough time for artists in America. Maybe something about golf.

It's Pruning Season!

It's time to pull out the pruners and begin to prune out all your damaged branches and cut back your summer flowering shrubs. While there are many different brands of pruning equipment out there, there is no better pruner than the Swiss-made Felco brand. These tools will last a lifetime with a bit of TLC; however, periodically you will need to replace a part. G Squared is able to get every replacement part for these pruners, so check out your equipment and let us know if you need a part. We have the Felco #2, #6 and #8 in stock now, so if you need a new set of pruners, we can help you there as well. This link gsquaredgallery.com will take you to the Felco page on our website.

Goodbye, Planet Art

Pittsburgh loses a great asset this month with the closing of Linda and Greg Mitchell's gallery, Planet Art. In its short life, it provided an important outlet for many local artists. Located on Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon, Planet Art developed a devoted following both from the artists' standpoint as well as its own clientele. It is unfortunate that these tough economic times affect great small businesses that, in better times, provide a means for artists to make a living. With the demise of Planet Art, we have one less outlet for creativity.
G Squared has evolved from its original handmade mission for many reasons, one of which is the dictates of the marketplace. While the gallery still has over 75% handmade craft from the United States and Canada, we have had to revisit our criteria for handmade if we expect to remain a viable business. In November, we will celebrate 15 years in Ligonier, Pennsylvania and we expect to be around for quite a bit longer. We will continue to represent local and national artists who produce their own work. We will also continue to search out good looking work made outside of the US. The handmade in America is, and will remain, an important part of our mix, but we are pragmatic and will always carry work that is well made, good looking and affordable.

So, with that said, we will miss you Linda, Greg and Planet Art. We all wish you success in future endeavors.

Stick It Up!

We found the greatest block of sticky notes ever made when we were in Denver last January. We finally tracked them down and now have them at G Squared. There are 700 (!) sheets on the block. The one we bought for ourselves in Denver (and have been using consistently) still looks as though it's never been used. We love the clean design and packaging of these note blocks. They are great as a gift to yourself or as a hostess gift for your friends. If you're interested in more details you can check them out on the G Squared website. gsquaredgallery.com

More on the Flower Show...

It's been a few days since we returned from Philadelphia and I just can't get some of the flower show scenes out of my head. For example, there was a display by a guy named Jacques Armand who's been at this flower show for years. (I remember that he's been coming for a long time, but being the experienced journalist that I am, I didn't write down how long.) At any rate, his Amaryllis choices were mind boggling as you can see from the photo. He also always includes some sort of a horse sculpture in his display. This year it happened to be an artist whom we've represented! her name is Lisa Fedon from north central Pennsylvania. The choice of plants in the main exhibit hall ranged from the ordinary to the unobtainable in normal circles. There was an amaryllis with a double flower that looked as much like a peony as anything I've seen. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it. And I am quite unhappy with myself that I didn't get the name of it either.

A bit of background on the show itself. The landscape area (Hall A) is 10 acres in area. All three halls combined total 33 acres! The setup takes about a week and enough mulch is used to keep any of us happy for years...Meadowbrook Nursery alone forces over 9000 plants for this show. They are forcing for a number of landscaping companies, not just their own. All for just a week of display. Moving on, we were heading out for lunch and happened upon the Stash Tea Company's luncheon area. It was incredibly charming and sold out - a year in advance. I've loaded a picture on the right. If you're planning on attending the show in 2010, contact the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to find out how to make your reservation. That's my last effort for the Flower Show. It was 70 here in Ligonier today. I'm now more interested in my own spring garden cleanup than that show; however, it sure got me excited about the upcoming season in my garden. I can't wait until my Forget Me Nots blanket the bare ground with that heavenly blue...

The World's Largest Flower Show

The 2009 Philadelphia Flower Show is in full swing and, for a neophyte, it was something to behold. The theme this year is Bella Italia. What they don't really write about in the press is that the theme is really "Bella Italia, Alla Notte". What this means is that the theme was to experience "Beautiful Italy At Night". The major installations are in Hall A in the Philadelphia Convention Center. The overhead lights in this hall were basically off. They had a few of the big overhead lights on, but overall one had a hard time making out many of the spectacular installations. Having had the opportunity for a "Backstage Pass", we were able to check out the whole show before it opened to the public. You'll see from the attached slide show (my first, by the way, so please don't judge too harshly) that there is indeed plenty to look at and we did end up spending the whole day salivating over plant materials, wine tastings, lectures and demonstrations - all included for the price of admission. It really is a pretty darn good deal.

Most impressive were the fashion accessories made entirely out of plant materials. No man made material allowed. You can see some of the items in the slide show. The artists constructing these pieces were fussing over the most minute details. Very impressive. Hall C held all the vendors and being Flower Show virgins, it was, well, you know, exciting. The theme seemed to be all about orchids and succulents. For those of us who get turned on by plant materials, the temptation was fierce. We have some new additions under lights at the moment.

The Barnes Collection, Merion, PA

Today Pat & I visited the famed, and at times troubled, Barnes Collection near Philadelphia. It was quite an experience in a number of ways. The collection is located in a residential neighborhood. The building is a massive structure, not really particularly appealing to me. It looks like many other public buildings. The grounds are spectacular though with many very special specimens throughout. Mrs. Barnes established the Arboretum School in 1940, many years after her husband, Dr. Albert Barnes established the Barnes Foundation in 1922. The building itself was designed by a French architect and was completed in 1925. The whole premise of the collection was to educate students in art theory, not in how to see the different elements, like boats, trees, buildings and people. An interesting note that I discovered is that Dr. Barnes collected a major number of Auguste Renoir paintings. This collection has 160 pictures by Renoir. This numbers more paintings in one collection than in all of the museums in Paris combined. The whole collection is displayed in such a manner as to explain art theory to the students. Therefore, Dr. Barnes would display disparate styles, periods and subject on one wall just to explain theory. This was totally unlike any collection Pat & I have ever visited. It was a bit unusual and we were not quite sure we loved it, but it was an impressive collection nonetheless. I would for sure recommend either a docent tour or the recorded tape. It would be hard to figure out what was going on if you did not have some sort of an inside track. The Foundation has been embroiled in controversy and legal issues for years regarding the trust Dr. Barnes set up for his collection. It was not allowed to travel for exhibition anywhere, but did so in 1993-1995 much to the consternation of various parties. Interestingly, Pat & I happened to be in Paris in 1993 and we had the opportunity to see the exhibition. It was a superb experience in the new (at that time) Musee d'Orsay. At any rate, the Foundation is perpetually a bit low on cash and wants to move the whole collection to Center City somewhere and has received court approval to do so. They expect to have the new facility opened by 2012 if all goes well and there aren't more lawsuits to keep it in Merion. We are now in Center City during a major snowstorm (12") with the intention of seeing the famed Philadelphia Flower Show which starts tomorrow, Monday.

How about this great new clock by artist Portland, Oregon artist Pam Corwin? She creates her own art and then reduces it to fit on the clock's face. You may have seen the custom image we commissioned her to create of Ligonier's Gazebo. This new "Barack around the Clock" is her latest masterpiece.

Whether or not Mr. Obama will be able to pull us out of these troubled times we're in, you can always be comforted knowing that he won't let you oversleep or miss any appointments with Pam's latest alarm clock. Call us to order one of these latest works from Pam. Or better yet, just stop in at the gallery and check it out!