Are you looking for something unique or special this holiday season?  The Eye of the Day Holiday Gift Guide for 2014 has you covered. These gifts come from all around the world and are sure to be statement pieces in the home or garden.

1. Mini Greek Oil Jars 
Handmade in Crete. These oil jars are hand thrown on the wheel and can be custom colored by Eye of the Day. As a standalone piece or filled with plants, these oil jars make striking decor items. 
$29-$49. Custom coloring available for additional fees.

2. Limited Edition Giclee Prints 
Painted by Santa Barbara Artist Karin Shelton. Each print is numbered, signed and created with archival inks.  Her artwork subject matter ranges from abstract to botanical to landscape. 
$36-$175. Call for size option availability.

3. Mini Anduze Vases 
Handmade in France. The classic Anduze vase in miniature makes a charming addition to your home or office decor.
$53 and up.

4. Olive Wood Bowl and Serving Set
Handmade in Tunisia. Handcrafted from richly grained olive wood results in unique pieces. Serve your holiday treats in something beautiful.
Starting at $207. Call for availability.

5. Antique Italian Glass Milk and Cream Jars
Clear glass or half-obscured with sand paint, these jars can be used as beautiful rustic vases, one of a kind terrariums or hurricane lamps.
Clear, $110-$130. Sanded, $120-$150. Call for availability.

Visit our Eye of the Day showroom for more gift ideas or call 805-566-6500 regarding questions and availability on our gift guide products. Cheers!

Guillaume Bimar, the dynamic son and partner of Vincent Bimar, founding owner of Poterie de la Madeleine, is a proud man.  The Anduze Vase, long considered THE representational icon of French pottery is the foundation of his business, which actually produces pottery in a variety of designs and colors at their factory in the community of Anduze in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.

Poterie de la Madeleine was founded by Vincent Bimar over thirty years ago when he decided to produce the classic vase first made in the 18^th century by the potter, Henri Gautier. During this time, there were many “free markets” in the South of France, near Marseilles.  In one of these markets, Monsieur Gautier saw Italian pottery decorated with garlands of flowers and fruit which inspired him to design his own interpretation which included the macaron gracing every Anduze Vase today. Extensive gardens in Vauvert and Anduze were decorated with Gautier pottery and soon they were being replicated throughout the area, used primarily as citrus planters.  After a time, the “Gautier” pot fell out of fashion,  and for a few centuries were made sporadically throughout Southern France by artisan potters.   When the “Anduze Vase” once again started reappearing, small family-run factories sprang up in the village of Anduze, some of which survive today.

Poterie de la Madeleine was the first Anduze manufacturer to export to the U.S. and is now the largest producer of the classic vase.  Guillaume and his father employ 46 people, thirty of whom are making pots in ten different styles and 33 different finishes.  If you were to visit the factory, Vincent Bimar might be one of those working on the pots,  he is a quiet man and stays out of the spotlight.  His son, Guillaume graduated from San Diego State University and received his Masters Degree in International Business at the University of Madrid before becoming a partner to Vincent.  Father and son share their infectious enthusiasm for their work, designing both traditional and contemporary lines of pottery.  The traditional Anduze Vase, available in classic colors, is being used in garden design throughout the United States, lending its inherent grace to a multitude of applications, but new, ultra-modern designs in exciting colors developed by Guillaume and Vincent  provide sheer compliment to mid-twentieth design.

Guillaume is proud of his family’s success in preserving a traditional French product and proud that he and his father have made it available to those of us living outside the foothills of the Cevennes.  He has his father and himself to thank.

Guillaume Bimar, the dynamic son and partner of Vincent Bimar, founding owner of Poterie de la Madeleine, is a proud man.  The Anduze Vase, long considered THE representational icon of French pottery is the foundation of his business, which actually produces pottery in a variety of designs and colors at their factory in the community of Anduze in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.

Poterie de la Madeleine was founded by Vincent Bimar over thirty years ago when he decided to produce the classic vase first made in the 18^th century by the potter, Henri Gautier. During this time, there were many “free markets” in the South of France, near Marseilles.  In one of these markets, Monsieur Gautier saw Italian pottery decorated with garlands of flowers and fruit which inspired him to design his own interpretation which included the macaron gracing every Anduze Vase today.   Extensive gardens in Vauvert and Anduze were decorated with Gautier pottery and soon they were being replicated throughout the area, used primarily as citrus planters.  After a time, the “Gautier” pot fell out of fashion,  and for a few centuries were made sporadically throughout Southern France by artisan potters.   When the “Anduze Vase” once again started reappearing, small family-run factories sprang up in the village of Anduze, some of which survive today.

Poterie de la Madeleine was the first Anduze manufacturer to export to the U.S. and is now the largest producer of the classic vase.  Guillaume and his father employ 46 people, thirty of whom are making pots in ten different styles and 33 different finishes.  If you were to visit the factory, Vincent Bimar might be one of those working on the pots,  he is a quiet man and stays out of the spotlight.  His son, Guillaume graduated from San Diego State University and received his Masters Degree in International Business at the University of Madrid before becoming a partner to Vincent.  Father and son share their infectious enthusiasm for their work, designing both traditional and contemporary lines of pottery.  The traditional Anduze Vase, available in classic colors, is being used in garden design throughout the United States, lending its inherent grace to a multitude of applications, but new, ultra-modern designs in exciting colors developed by Guillaume and Vincent  provide sheer compliment to mid-twentieth design.

Guillaume is proud of his family’s success in preserving a traditional French product and proud that he and his father have made it available to those of us living outside the foothills of the Cevennes.  He has his father and himself to thank.

When you visit Eye of the Day Garden Design Center in Carpinteria, you’ll see a lot of things: authentic European and American terra cotta, statuary, fountains, a gift shop full of wonderful books and more. You’ll also see succulent planters designed by Mimi Richardson, whose eye for color, texture and scale has resulted in our collection of one-of-a-kind pieces that are ready to take home.

I sat down and talked with Mimi to find out more about her creative inspiration.

Q: How did your background growing up around horticulture influence the way you think about and design with plants today?

A: I grew up living on Seaside Banana Farm with my parents and three sisters. Playing in the dirt was more than just a saying for me. My dad raised fifty varieties of organic bananas plus other subtropical plants and fruits like passion fruit, mango and papaya, plus there was always a multitude of plants around that were being studied and tested. My inspiration for design came later, when I worked at Pan’s Garden in Summerland, CA, and then Island View Nursery in Carpinteria.

Q: Regarding the containers you plant up for Eye of the Day, what makes you lean toward succulents?

A:  While I try to be just as artistic with other plant materials, it is succulents I most prefer to work with.  As to containers, succulents give immediate instant gratification and they maintain themselves from the get go and anyone can take care of them. There are forms, textures and colors to satisfy everyone and their proclivities.

Q:. Can you comment on how color, texture and size of plants figure into the way you design the containers?

A: I don’t have a design layout for containers or specific forms. Like Jackson Pollack, I let the plants speak to me and for me and go with their flow and as they populate the container. As I work, I make adjustments, sometime even tearing them out and replacing them until I’m satisfied with the feel and look. Obviously, colors and textures play into it, but not until they are in my hands.

Q: Can you comment on the containers themselves: what you like about them, which one do you prefer, and why?

A: The contemporary form excites me as much as the elegant and high-colored French Anduze. We planted up a number of old French Cavalry stone troughs awhile back and although it was a challenge and they turned out beyond my wildest imagination. Each container allows me to escape into a new adventure.

Q: In terms of customers caring for these planters once they buy them, what do you suggest?

A: We plant them in correct soil and from there they just need to be groomed for old or dead foliage and watered sparingly (and don’t forget an occasional loving chat).

Eye of the Day has received a twenty foot container of French Anduze pottery from the South of France. There are new shapes and a great variety of colors and sizes available close to home (i.e. there is no reason to travel to Provence to outfit the garden with authentic French garden pottery).  The colors of the Provencal countryside are at our fingertips and ready to transform any garden area: the soft grey of an early winter sky, the blue of the summer evening, the gold, brown and green of the hillsides, and the pale blue of a spring morning are some of the evocative hues.
The French terracotta pottery is unique and compliments any architectural or garden style.  Visit our Santa Barbara showroom to see the range of French Anduze planters now available.

Over the last few years we have focused on survival and have been importing only products that have become our staples: Italian terracotta, French Anduze pottery and hand-thrown Greek terracotta pots.   Pre-Recession, Eye of the Day traveled throughout the world and brought back some amazing things for our customers.  These one-of-a-kind items coupled with our large inventory of antique oil jars from Italy, Greece, Spain and France have helped see us through slow times.  We often hear that our customers are amazed with our large inventory and what a pleasure it is to be able to find items for their projects.

Many of our special finds have been sold so now it is time to begin exploring the shops and fairs throughout Europe looking for old jars, pieces of stone, architectural iron and funk that just seems to work in a garden.  I look forward to keeping you updated with my wanderings and great finds over the next few weeks, and hope that you may find something to tickle your fancy that you just can’t live without.

Many who know about my wanderings comment that I am lucky to travel around the world and that you wish it were you.   I sometimes wish it were you too and that I could just stay home, read, give Suzi a wish list for each meal and try to burn through a cord or two of oak in our fireplace.  But reality is different, and I find myself with an emptiness in my stomach, feeling homesick before I ever leave.

The ambivalence of arriving in Rome with a cold and my luggage still somewhere at Heathrow keeps me from going to my favorite dive in the ghetto for baby artichokes fried in olive oil.  Instead, I sleep for eight hours and have a marginally decent pizza in the hotel bar (how bad can a pizza be in Rome?).

Finally I catch the last train to Chiusi and meet up with Marcello, owner of Terrecotte San Rocco.  We drive to his home in the hills of Siena where his wife and mother, Nona, have a pot of pesto al Genovese ready and tonight a platter full of prosciutto and a variety of salumi.  It could definitely be worse.  After dinner Nona brings out a small bottle of deep amber liquid, a Christmas gift from an old friend.  There are no labels or foil and it looks to be hand-corked.  My mouth begins to water.  I hope it is a local Vin Santo.  The pruny, sherry-like liquid makes me almost forget the three dozen oysters and magnum of champagne we had with our daughter in Brooklyn on Christmas morning.  Almost.

New Years Eve day we are off to a nearby town for a big antique fair.  It is sparsely attended which gives me a little breathing room to adjust to my antiquing personality.  Walking up and down the steep cobblestone streets of the ancient Tuscan hill town is hard work and makes me hungry.  There is not time to sit down to the wonderful food in a local restaurant, but I find a nice salumeria and a sandwich of excellent prosciutto, pecorino and to my friend’s surprise, a few thin slices of lardo.  A glass of local vino rosso in a plastic cup and I’m back pounding the cobbles.  I find many interesting, but highly priced items, and then find a dealer who wants to bargain…

Below are some photos of some beautiful antiques that I found during my trip to the antique fair.  More to come!

On New Year’s Day I wake up late but I’m glad that the house is quiet.  It allows me to organize my week ahead at the factory.  My partner, Marcello, is the most progressive manufacturer in Italy.  In the afternoon he shows me a new factory he just started with a partner to produce quality terracotta for large garden centers.  While older, traditional terracotta manufacturers are going out of business, Marcello is buying their factories and their molds and working to develop new items.  Our association with this man and his business is becoming to be the backbone of Eye of the Day.

Next week:

Bologna and a little spaghetti.  After that I’m off to France to pick up a special order for a new landscape architecture firm wanting pots from Anduze that we don’t have in stock.  It will be an experiment renting a truck in Italy, driving to France for the pots and take them back to Italy to put on the container.  We are about to find out if this will be less expensive, faster and more productive than shipping by truck from France to Italy or shipping by pallet from Marseille.