Bird Watching at Atlanta Gift Show

Birds are a great motif for Jewish stuff -- well, specifically the dove-type bird. The symbol of the dove comes from the story of Noah in Genesis, from The Torah... or you may call it the "Old Testament." After the rain (and 40 day slumber party with two of every beast) Noah sent a dove out to find land. When the dove came back with an olive branch, Noah knew land was near. Since then the dove with the olive branch has become a common Judaic motif and a universal symbol of peace.

Birds were a very popular motif last spring and they are still everywhere at the trade shows.

I found the most beautiful bird ceramic bird tiles at the Atlanta Gift Show made in the UK. The small tiles are 4 1/2 square tiles and retail for $56 and are hand made by a craftsman in the UK.

Ibride is a French design of modern-vintage trays and furniture whose motifs range from woodland creatures to portraits of famous people as children. They are heavy on the whimsy and do boarder on kitsch but they are truly unusual and wow -- take a look at the furniture on the Ibride website. They design a tray with a bird motif called skylark:And the third set of birds I've had my eye on since the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) last August: melamine plates from Working Class Studios -- designed by SCAD students (Savannah College of Art and Design) from my home state and now home town (they have an Atlanta campus too). These I bought (the entire melamine plate collection) and are coming to ModernTribe.com for you to buy soon because they are my favorite melamine line. Set of four will be $25.

Designist Dream Uncovers the Israeli in Italian Design

I recently discovered a great blog on Israeli design by Ziva Haller called Designist Dream (say designist slowly). She reports on furniture, decor, fashion and all things design-related going on in Israel or abroad by her Israeli compatriots.

Ziva's recent posts on Israeli designed furniture shows this: you may think it's Italian or German designed but, alas, it could be Israeli designed. Israeli designers work for design houses Zanatto, Kartell, and Alessi. For example, at right, The Clover chair by Ron Arad for Italian furniture house Driade.

And the Bigwire table by Arik Levy for Italian furniture house Zanotta:
Learn more about Ron Arad in Ziva's blog post here.
Learn more about Arik Levy in Ziva's blog post here.

Expect more great insider Israeli information from Ziva coming soon!

Glam Rock Found at Atlanta Gift Show

This past week was a big international gift show right in my own back yard: the Atlanta International Gift Show. When I go to these shows I'm there to visit my regular vendors and, of course, look for the totally cool, new Jewish stuff. While walking through the juried Boutique aisles, a bunch of sparkling, candy colored things lured me into a booth. There was nothing Judaic about the line but the mix of chrome and gloss was irresistible. Stunningly, the designer was speaking Hebrew. I'd stumbled upon Glam and Glam Rock by Triple C Designs. The owners are Israeli (living in Brooklyn) and they design glam-punk rock-star jewelry and purse accessories such as keychains, compacts, purse hangers, and pill boxes. Here's the skull motif again (sans Magan David):Take a look at the Glam Rock line (Glam is "coming soon") and tell me what would you like to see on ModernTribe.com?