Meet Jivi x Studio Strata

Remember that magical trip to Asheville? 

Well part of the reason why it was so fun is because my childhood friend Nirav somehow remembered the exact day we were going and the morning of us flying out I get a message. 

“Hey Meghan, we are gonna come meet up with you”

Luckily our friend bailed on the trip and we had room in our Airbnb and these two brothers came to hang. 

Not too long before meeting, Meet Jivi was founded. I think by that point I had started using the products and it changed my skin so drastically. Using that one product repeatedly pretty much eliminated my breakouts and my skin was glowing as my mom often commented. I have believed in using chemical free products for some time now, but they are so expensive. When I saw the prices on Meet Jivi, I was so thrilled. Every product is under $20. That’s a big deal and makes it even more marketable to a young audience. Because not gonna lie some of us are broke sometimes, but still wanna look good and support local. It's also so safe its actually edible. 

We talked a lot of shop, about marketing, user interface, and just bouncing around ideas. We found Jivi Blue around Asheville and had to take pictures. For some reason we woke up kinda early the next day. So we were out on the street taking a picture during the best lighting of a Jivi Blue house. We then did a scent test for the next seasonal moisturizer. This turned into a collab with Studio Strata. 

When I got back to New Haven, I sent over some images of my work. Nirav and Nikhil picked out their favorite that would suit the project and ended up using my favorite scent as well. Then they just took off. The only way to describe the packaging is divine. It was so lux and just so well done. The package came with the bottle of moisturizer, a print of the artwork with some text on the back, and a little card saying where a meal was donated. OH ya, every bottle purchased they donate a meal to a local food bank. 

I mean if you’re still reading, what’s there not to love? You’re going to go oder something now, right!?

Side note, I know Nirav and Nikhil because our dads were roommates on Prospect St in New Haven when they were both bachelors. So, we go waaay back. 

To learn more, visit: https://meetjivi.com

A Love Letter to Asheville

You had me within half hour of landing. I’m not sure if was the sun we were greeted by with the backdrop of scenic mountains. Or the delicious vegan lunch we had with coffee in a handmade ceramic mug. Or the amazing bathroom with local soap. Or the absolute cutest airbnb. 

But then my desire to move just kept amplifying.

The Biltmore was up next. I mean I have been to some of the mansions in Newport and Hearst Castle in California. But, something about the Biltmore dressed up for Christmas was pure magic. I decided when we left if I am bahumbug for holiday season after experiencing that, there is truly no hope left. 

Everything was just so tastefully done. And the art collection was beyond amazing! 

Next day started with biscuits and fried green tomatoes. 

We were off to explore the deep art scene. I had a meeting with Sunny Side Trading Co. and everything was totally going according to plan. I left feeling inspired and wanted to see more studios. 

The day included meeting up with some childhood friends and continuing to explore. The art, well curated beer/wine lists, love for local handmade, coffee shops, vegan food, and of course company left me feeling content. 

aSheville Museum was totally worth checking out. It’s this feminist museum with pictures, writings, and some interactive exhibits as well. There was one picture with writing set in the foreground about the feeling when one cuts off their hair that especially resonated with me. 

And just like that our weekend escape to Asheville was over. My take away from the trip were some new textile ideas and a new collaboration with Meet Jivi (more on that later). 

The Biltmore

Biscuit and gravy breakfast

Sunny Side Trading Co.

aSheville Museum

Halima Flint

Romantic Street

It has definetly been a minute since my last blog post, but here I am back with lot of old content to cover! We will start with catching up on trips...

It feels so distant from now that I ended my time at Chhaap, came back to America for a wedding, and was off to galavant through Europe. At the same time, I can still taste sugarcane juice and remember how disappointed I was to be leaving mango season. I can still taste those pretzels from Germany, espresso from Italy, and falafel from Paris. I guess it seems like my memories come from food!

Instead of going through the trip through words and I am going to take you to a photo documentation of it instead.

The route was: Backnag - Munich - Bergamo - Milan - Parma - Rome - Minori - Remini - Venice - Paris

My take away from this trip lies in Paris. How can so much amazing art have its home in one city!? There was this walk in Giverny from Monet’s garden back to the bus that just left me in awe. That field of yellow flowers has made its abstract way into my work and was the first real time I started using yellow. Now two years later, there is a little series of textiles that have some of that yellow in it and I am absolutely loving the direction.

I'll leave you with recommendations for vegetarian friendly restaurants in Paris:

Hanks for veggie burgers in Marais

Luz Verde for great tacos

Les Barav for wine/cheese bar

Las Deux Falafel for the best falafel I have ever had

Ginger Cafe for vegan food

Venice

Colosseum at Sunset in Rome

Amalfi Coast

Glass Studio in Murano

Getting a custom necklace made

El Timon in the original Jewish Ghetto of Venice

Burano

Remini

Venice

Burano

Rome

Duomo of Milan

Munich

Castle in Germany

Eating the best falafel in Paris at Les Deux Falafel

Monet's Garden in Giverney

Giverny

The Two Ends of Audubon St

It seems as though I am all over Audubon St, and I assure you it is not on purpose! I got in touch with Taylor at Koffee sometime last year when I saw an ad online that they were looking artists to show. Mono is Many came together recently and its such a funny coincidence that they are over lapping.

The opening for Mono Is Many took place last Thursday, and I am proud to say it was a pretty good turn out! I felt like I was being pulled from person to person but isn’t that what usually happens at openings? That was the first time I actually got to see the show and it came together really beautifully. Debbie and Jennifer really did an amazing job curating. I especially enjoyed the placement of my little installation with the textiles. Another exciting moment was when Allen from the New Haven Independent interviewed me. He spent quite some time speaking with me. He asked me many thoughtful and fun questions and I didn’t know who he was until way after were done speaking. A few days later, an article came out in the New Haven Independent featuring our show.

Here is a link to read the article: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/mono_is_many/

Following the opening, some folks headed over to Koffee to check out my show there. I wasn’t sure what to expect with comments on the paintings because it was my first time showing them around here. Luckily, I got a lot positive feedback and it has been good encouragement to continue painting. The space was well suited for my work and I think “In Thirds” came together pretty well.  

If you missed the opening for Mono is Many, the show will be up through June 17th. As for the show at Koffee, the closing reception will be June 25th at 5pm. There is still time to see both shows!

Arrived at Chhaap!

Baroda has the best art school in the entire nation of India. This means that Baroda has a thriving art scene. Two thousand artists live here. It’s really not THAT big of place! I went to two openings yesterday and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The first one was at a gallery called Nazar in Lal Bangalow (red mansion).  There was a nice flow to the space and a few interesting pieces. Outside there was a full spread of all kinds of foods and drinks. Since Gujarat is a dry state, there was no alcohol like in the states. The next opening we went to was put together for women’s day. We got there and it was elaborate, a little crazy in my opinion. There was so much to look at and the first thing I said was: “where’s the art?” All these ladies were dressed to the nines and I was still in my studio clothes. Most weddings in America aren’t even that fancy.

The thing you have to understand about artists in India is that there is little creativity. I am almost more impressed by the traditional crafts and designs you find. There is real technique behind all that work. The main person in charge at Chhaap was explaining to me that if you tell students to come up with their own idea they have literally no idea what to do. She said if you tell them make a 4X4 drawing with a flower here and a leaf there, they would be able to do that. I did not think that would be the case at all.

While I am at Chhaap, I am going to conduct a lecture, workshop and have a show of my own at the end. I am so excited to get working. I started making some small paintings yesterday. I decided that they look a little too happy for my taste. Since when is that a bad thing? Ha!