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Greetings!
Jetez vos rêves dans l'espace comme un cerf-volant, et vous ne savez pas ce qu'il rapportera, une nouvelle vie, un nouvel ami, un nouvel amour, un nouveau pays.
Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.
Anais Nin
The holiday season has come and gone and a New Year has begun, full of fresh hopes and tantalizing promise. There are many ways we can fill the days, weeks, and months ahead. How do we balance unavoidable tasks, worthy goals, and pleasurable, enriching experiences?
Last year at this time I proposed that, instead of making New Year resolutions (you feel bad when you break them!), we concentrate on the essentials of living each day well. Do first things first, take time for your loved ones, have some fun and, first of all, rise above little things! This year, after seven wretched weeks which put a major damper on my holiday cheer, I want to add another essential: never renovate a kitchen again!
Things on my to do/wish list this year include:
- Travel more: Montreal; Eastern Mediterranean cruise; Paris and Bordeaux; and of course, New York, as often as possible
- Indulge in more operatic and gastronomic delights.
- Organize and and redecorate the house to gratify my outer empress.
- Design and produce "The Swan," a companion scarf to "The Eagle," celebrating Empress Josephine.
- Dream more, plan less!
This issue's article by Dagmar Painter, gallery curator and Swan Ways' Board member, reports on her trip to Magnificent India in "preparation" for mounting the exhibit of antique and rare shawls from the Swan Ways' collection. Enjoy!
The exhibit, Art of the Moghuls: Kashmir Shawls, at the Jerusalem Fund in Washington DC, was very well received and was extended by popular demand through Friday, January 14. If you have not already seen it, do hurry up and go with a friend!
I am delighted to report that Swan Ways' inaugural scarf, "The Eagle," is now sharing the floor with the luxury brands carried by Santangelo and Sandridge, the chicest fashion store in Middleburg, Virginia. In the photos below, we show you Linda Sandridge's flair for putting the perfect ensemble together, and give you a peek at some new items in Swan Ways' new collection, soon to be available in our internet boutique.
With warmest regards,
Alix
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A Royal Experience - Riding the Rajasthan Express
by Dagmar Painter
 
Palaces, elephants, jewels, hand-woven shawls and turbaned attendants -- all this was part of an amazing trip though Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh by luxury train. Private carriages with brocaded walls, dining rooms with Raja red upholstery andBritish Empire blue, with tables accented with crystal legs, 12-course tasting dinners, and guided trips to palaces, forts and gardens made a week on the train simply fly by.
Visits included Jodhpur, the "Blue City", Udaipur, the "White City" with its famous floating Lake Palace (a James bond movie was shot here), and Jaipur, the "Pink City" with its breathtaking Palace of the Winds. Then on to Benares (now Varanasi), city of silk and the Holy Mother Ganges, Chittorgarh, ruins of the fort where Rajput princess Rani Padmini took her fellow women into the burning pyre rather than surrender, Rathambore Game Reserve, where Maharajas had hunting lodges and tigers still roam, and even Khajuraho, site of carved temples dedicated to the arts of love.
 | | Jodhpur |
 | | Udaipur |
A Shoppers' Mecca - and a Shawls' Paradise!
Woven and printed textiles are a major part of the Indian heritage, so a visit to the looms in Varanasi and in Jodhpur were not to be missed. In Delhi, FabIndia at Khan Market is the place to go for hand-blocked cottons in traditional paisley designs, while Good Earth has spreads, pillow covers, clothes and jewelry, all hand made and exquisite. For jewelry, Jaipur is the place, the Gem Palace being only one of many sources. In Delhi, Dariba Kalan is Old Delhi's ancient silver market, located in the charmingly chaotic Chandni Chowk, which is also famous for textiles. Also at Khan Market is Amrapali Jewels, well known for their unique designer jewelry .
Given my interest in unusual hand woven shawls, one particular visit stands out. Before I returned to the train to leave Jodhpur, my guide took me to a special factory on the outskirts of town. There I met weavers who produced exquisite textiles, most of which were special orders from Ralph Lauren, Donna Karan, Etro and other European designers. These textiles are made by only the most skilled weavers of the best Kashmir wool and silks. The Indian designer works with the weavers to produce two types of textiles: traditional designs, like the Kashmir shawls I brought back for Swan Ways, in a range of colors, and contemporary textiles, such as an all black and white spread destined for the Donna Karan line, using traditional techniques and motifs made modern. Nowhere else in India (this was my 6th trip) had I seen work of this quality.
It is at this factory in Jodhpur that I found this magnificent 7'x8' boteh (paisley) patterned, hand-woven shawl/throw, light as a feather, that became a major attraction of the exhibit of Kashmir shawls at the Jersulem Fund Gallery. A true masterpiece worthy of a maharajah, it is now available for sale through Swan Ways.
Bio Note
Dagmar Painter, textile expert, art gallery curator and Swan Ways'  Board member, planned and organized the current exhibit of antique and rare Kashmir shawls from the Swan Ways collection at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery in Washington DC. In "preparation," she took a trip to Magnificent India.
Dagmar's articles, art criticism and photography have been featured in numerous publications such as Ornament, Accent Thai, India Today, and Arts in the Islamic World. She has lectured on design symbolism in textiles and jewelry at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC, and has advised private collectors, galleries, corporations and other entities such as Art in Embassies on their collections. |
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Swan Ways' Snapshots
In Middleburg:
 | | Alix with Coco |
 | | Santangelo and Sandridge |
 | | Linda Sandridge |
Art of the Moghuls: Kashmir Shawls
 | | Kashmiri Shawl, circa 1840 |
 | | Contemporary Kashmiri shawl with hand-embroidery |
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Samples of our new collection
  
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 Invitation to contribute to the newsletter
We look forward to hearing from you!
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