Dear Everyone ~
I am truly rather chuffed to announce the arrival of luxurious
colourful greeting cards from The Pattern Book in the U.K.
I discovered a smattering of them when I was shopping or sleuthing,
or both, in York some weeks ago. I had happened upon a bookshop that was
closed for the day, and when I went back the very next morning…
it was closed for holiday.
I was standing there in the drizzle,
wondering what good might come of this disappointment,
when I stepped into an adjacent little foyer. I was greeted with some
lovely ceramics and abstract paintings that looked intriguing.
I made my way up a narrow flight of stairs to the gallery above the bookshop,
which was not closed for holiday, and which, in delightful fact,
is owned by the daughter of the woman who owns the bookshop.
And, in a little basket, a selection of these cards,
some of which leapt into my totebag.
The next week, I saw more of these enchanting cards at the
John Rylands Library in Manchester (about which, more next week!).
And, of course, I bought additional designs.
Now, Bari Zaki Studio is one of the first three shops
in the U.S. to stock Pattern Book cards
(neatly between one on the Left Coast and one in Massachusetts).
These cards are lovely to write on.
The stock is heavy and a bit toothy … and very receptive to pen-and-ink,
fountain pen, and even a Sharpie. The cards are approximately
(because they are metric) 4¾ x 6⅝. Their matte kraft envelopes
have a nice deep flap with a rounded tip.
Delight is in the details:
The back of each card features a tasteful snippet
or miniature of the design on the front,
plus an extensive attribution.
Here are several of my favourites.
[Silk] Adapted from The Aniline Colours of the Badische Anilin
& Soda Fabrik…and their Application on Wool, Cotton, Silk
and other Textile Fibres (1901). The Baden Aniline and Soda Factory
as it is known in English, or BASF, is now the largest chemical company in the world.
[Yellows] Adapted from Werner’s nomenclature of colours:
with additions, arranged so as to render it highly useful
to the arts and sciences, particularly zoology, botany, chemistry,
mineralogy, and morbid anatomy: annexed to which are examples
selected from well-known objects in the animal,
vegetable, and mineral kingdoms (1821).
[Strawberry] Adapted from a watercolour by
Deborah Griscom Passmore (1891). Passmore painted more than a thousand
detailed watercolours of fruit for the US Department of Agriculture,
where she led a team of artists.
Eight designs are in my online shop,
all to do with colour in some delightful way,
either theoretical or swatchful. Several additional designs
are available in-store only.
Dramatic Chromatic Greeting Cards
Chromatically,
Bari