Invitation phote
December Newsletter 2008
In This Issue
Ancient Library at Chinguetti, Mauritania
Portrait of the Month: Parvaneh Limbert
Tag Line Contest
Join Our Mailing List
Greetings!
 
In our final issue of 2008, we aim to bring you a little cheer - with days growing shorter and colder, and our holiday spirits downcast by harsh economic realities, we know it won't be Pauline's breast cupeasy!  
 
I am delighted that Parvaneh Limbert agreed to contribute this month's article on her painting of the ancient library at Chinguetti, Mauritania.  Her artist's statement is our portrait of the month. 
 
Parvaneh and I served together at the American Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, while her husband John was one of 52 American diplomats held hostage for 444 days by Islamist students in Tehran.  Parvaneh's courage and grace under such trying circumstances helped reassure us all.  We got together again after many years, living within a few blocks of each other in Arlington, Virginia, and are now again joining forces to showcase our respective labors of love.  
 
We hope to see you at the open house at Parvaneh's lovely home on December 13.  Please join us for seasonal music, refreshments, a raffle, and an enjoyable opportunity to shop for everyone on your list.   For the bargain hunter in all of us, Great Aunt Fannie's Attic will be offering a sample sale of hand-made handbags at 50% off.  And Swan Ways has a brand new selection of shawls and scarves from India and Laos chosen for their exceptional value as well as beauty.  We are confident that you will have a good time and will find something to fit your budget, interests and desires.   
 
Early next year, we hope to enhance our web site to include more products, prices, photos... and possibly begin an internet store.  We would be very grateful if you would send us your views and suggestions as to how we can make www.swanways.com one of your all-time favorites! 
 
With warmest wishes for the Holiday Season and for a New Year of restored prosperity, health, peace and happiness.
 
                   Alix Sundquist
 
 
 
Ancient Library at Chinguetti, Mauritania
 
The desert city of Chinguetti (Arabic: Shinqit) is located on the Adrar plateau in central Mauritania.  The town gave its name to the whole region, which Arab geographers called the "Land of Shinqit" (Balad Shinqit).   Chinguetti, along with Tichitt, Ouadane, and Oualata, is a UNESCO heritage site in honor of its role as a center of Islamic scholarship on the so called "Road of Ink".Chingetti
 
The town flourished as a center of learning and caravan trade from the 13th century C.E.  Wealthy travelers to the Middle East would return with valuable Arabic and Persian manuscripts held in the town's personal and mosque libraries.  The inhabitants treated these works not as museum pieces, but as scholarly texts used in the transmission of Islamic learning.
 
The door shown in the painting enters into the library owned by the Habott family, whose ancestor, the scholar Sidi Muhammad Ould Habott, organized the library in the 18th century. 
 
Today Chinguetti retains little of its previous glory.  The Sahara's dunes threaten to bury the medieval buildings, although the square tower of the town's 14th century mosque still stands as a symbol of modern Mauritania.  Despite the area's decline, the Habott and other families have lovingly preserved their written treasures in libraries such as the one in the painting.     


  
 
 
Portrait of the Month - Parvaneh Limbert
 
As a student growing up in my native Iran, I absorbed a love for the country's many traditional arts - carpet weaving, ceramics, calligraphy, and miniature painting, all of which show a love of design and vivid color and a close connection to the shapes and forms of the Parvanehportraitnatural world.   Although I explored painting as a student (and later as a teacher), I rarely had a chance to do serious work.

Later the demands of work and family and the constant moving involved in the life of a Foreign Service family could not lessen my love for painting.   Wherever we served, I always found my way to local artists, from the charming designs of Tunisian potters to the bold patterns and vivid colors of West African textile makers.
 
In 2000, while living in the West African country of Mauritania, I found time to begin painting seriously.  I joined a painting group there, and found ample inspiration in the proud people and spectacular desert and ocean landscapes of that vast and empty country.  With the support of art lovers among the diplomatic and local community, we organized shows and encouraged many talented, young local artists.
 
Since that new beginning in 2000, I have continued working mostly in oil.  I have also come to enjoy photography.   I will sometimes use photographs as a basis for painting, and, in some cases, exhibit the photographs themselves.  Mauritania provided spectacular subject matter, but there is great inspiration to be found closer to home.
 
I have been living in Arlington since 2003, and retired from federal government service in 2005.   The area's rich cultural life, the encouragement of friends and colleagues, and the leisure of retirement have let me continue painting and return to what I had enjoyed so much in my childhood. 
 
 
 
  
You are invited: 
 
 Holiday Open House 
Saturday, December 13
11 a.m-5 p.m. 
2742 N Lexington St.
Arlington, VA 22207
 
Featuring:
 
Artwork by Parvaneh LimbertParvaneh's garden
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Pauline's breast cup
 
 
 
 
 
    Swan Ways'
      Holiday Collection
 
 
 
 
 
Handbags by Great Aunt Fannie's Attic
 
      Deb's bag 2
 
Sample sale, refreshments, raffle, and more!
 
  
 FOR MORE DETAILS:  
           
      www.swanways.com
           [email protected]
         703-536-5385
          703-969-1688
 
American Express cards are welcome.
 
 
Tag Line Contest
:
 
Winner of our $100 Swan Ways' gift certificate 
 
As promised, we have raffled the entries received for our tag line and the winner of our $100 gift certificate is Catherine Funkhouser for her submission:
 
"Timeless Elegance for Today." 
 
Congratulations, Catherine, and happy shopping!    
                       
We have extended the deadline for submitting your suggestions to December 31 and,once again, we invite you to send us contributions  The winner of the contest will be featured in a future issue of the newsletter, and receive a prize, to be announced later.       


 
articlewritingInvitation to contribute to the newsletter
 
We welcome your thoughts on articles or questions you would like to see addressed in the newsletter.  If you write an article and it is selected for publication, we will post it with your byline and picture and we will send you a $25.00 certificate valid on any purchase of Swan Ways' collection.
 
We look forward to hearing from you! 



Alix Sundquist
Swan Ways