Harvest Home

My husband, Matt Shapoff loves to cook. He picked up the habit, a few years into our marriage, when I suggested he expand his cooking repertoire from deep fried potatoes into other food groups. I’m somewhat of an amateur chef myself, having sweated away a few thousand hours in professional kitchens as a low level chef de partie, including a mediocre Hamptons fish palace and a charmingly upscale Swedish bistro. I even spent a Summer season being abused by a grumpy chef at the old Amagansett Farmer’s Market, who disliked my dicing skills intensely but taught me how to make a wonderful cold ziti pasta salad marinated in roasted garlic oil and flecked with fresh dill.

Most nights Matt and I prefer to stay home and throw together tasty meals made with local seasonal ingredients readily available at NYC’s many farmers markets and specialty food shops. In late summer, and throughout the fall, we enjoy the bounty of the harvest, marveling at the sweetness of the corn and the abundance of good tomatoes after months of sensory deprivation. We also keep a good supply of fresh herbs on hand from Matt’s Southampton chef’s garden, which grows a little bigger each year. Herbs do better than vegetables in the sandy bay soil and salty air and we end up with copious amounts of parsley, basil, rosemary, sage, lavender and chives, most of which gets pressed and dried for Matt’s Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown botanical prints.

This past summer, in between cooking experiments with Native American ingredients and the re-working of an old recipe for squash, corn and beans we named Pilgrim Stew in honor of the first Thanksgiving, Matt created a new Cyanotype series using only pressed herbs and edible flowers from his chef’s garden. We mounted the prints in one of a kind upcycled frames assembled from reclaimed wood paneling complete with original beadboard details and peeling paint. Choosing modern vintage frames made from weathered wood seemed a perfect compliment to the pale cyan botanicals, which give the appearance of being faded from the sun with age. A selection from Matt’s Chef’s Garden Series is now available at Mascot Studio in New York’s East Village.

Handmade On Peconic Bay Cyanotype Chef’s Garden Series by Matt Shapoff, on cream colored Rives paper in Antique White frames, $175-$250 at Mascot Studio.

Super Cute

Into The Woods charm bangles $38 each

I just can’t help myself. I love super cute furry or feathered creatures the way some might love a fat baby. I’m currently obsessed with the Sweet Million ad campaign, with it’s sleeping piglets quivering on miniature bunk beds and piles of snoozing kittens dressed in onesies for a long winter’s nap. I grew up in the mythical 70’s pop culture, when graphic representations of wise owls and spotted toadstools were plastered on much of the decorative ware found in my friend’s homes. I carefully stitched embroidered butterfly appliqués to every piece of denim my closet and painted tiny canvases of lush fields sprouting a first grader’s interpretation of those ubiquitous mushrooms and butterflies with my beginner’s set of acrylic paints. As an adult, I have scoured thrift shops, flea markets and even my mother’s cupboard for reminders of that idyllic time, scoring kitschy vintage Arabia Finland pieces, for my collection of pure unadulterated nostalgia.

Into The Woods charm pendant $68

I’m a fairly serious jewelry designer, not generally given to fits of whimsy or pretentious post-modern irony, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for 70’s retro cute. Come autumn in New York City, my creativity is jet fueled by woodland fantasies conducted in brisk weather, as the thermometer tops 70 degrees. Inspired by the changing autumn leaf outside my window and the comforting knowledge that screech owls do indeed nest in the Forest of Central Park, I am overcome by my outdoorsy leanings, shuttering myself from the warm Indian Summer sun in my apartment studio niche, dreaming up cute designs for my little cast of woodland characters.

Woodsy Owl charm earrings $38

Cynthia Rybakoff oxidized sterling silver Into The Woods charm collection $28 to $68, on Supermarket.

Art Of Nature

“Numbskull” Cyanotype and Van Dyke prints by Matt Shapoff

Our home is a museum of not necessarily rare and precious objects. Just stuff we’ve stumbled upon and really liked for one reason or another. We’re not talking exotic wood carvings or colorful woven baskets from far away places, although I once dragged home from Stockholm a suitcase full of mid century modern Swedish ceramics and glassware. We collect things: a pair of vintage Boy Scout bookends, an incomplete set of worn wood type, a polychrome bird’s nest made of tangled sewing thread, a vintage microphone and whatnot.

Cyanotype fragment from Kunstformen der Natur, by Matt Shapoff

Natural wonders play an important role in our curatorial efforts and in Matt’s art. Each oddly shaped piece of driftwood, slice of agate or spiral seashell is examined for it’s unique potential to join our little cabinet of curiosities or perhaps become the subject of a new Handmade On Peconic Bay print series. Found feathers are of particular interest, as are dead bumblebees, lovely banded snail shells and tiny intact crabs in a ready stance, frozen in time on our shelf.

Van Dyke Brown fragment from Kunstformen der Natur, by Matt Shapoff

Call us new antiquarians living in a sepia toned world. We are modern collectors with Renaissance style. The 16th century Wunderkammer movement, defined as an explosion of interest in snapping up natural curiosities throughout Europe and Asia, then hoarding them in dedicated rooms and obsessively recording them in lavish botanical encyclopedias, was the original cult of collecting. Back then it was strictly wealthy patrons who traveled far and wide in search of animal and mineral specimens for their extensive curio cabinets. But the specimens were also of great interest to Northern European artists who started the trend for realistic still life paintings of newly discovered insects, vegetables and flowers. It’s an entirely human fascination with the art of nature that has not diminished in the last 500 years.

Handmade On Peconic Bay Wunderkammer collection of modern vintage Cyanotype and Van Dyke Brown prints by Matt Shapoff, $12.50 to $48.00 on Supermarket and Etsy.

Icon

Isaac Mizrahi clothing with Cynthia Rybakoff Papier Mache Jewelry
by Irving Penn for Vogue, early 90's

Throughout his multifaceted career as an artist, graphic designer and photographer, Irving Penn challenged traditional ideas of beauty, treating fashion models, consumer products and urban detritus with equal dignity, perfect lighting and sumptuous color. There was also a remarkable consistency to his expression, whether he was shooting an allegorical still life, fashion spread or anthropological study. The quiet stasis of his compositions were as classic as a Greek frieze, yet delivered a modernist punch.

After Dinner Games, by Irving Penn, 1947

On two memorable occasions, Irving Penn photographed my jewelry for Vogue magazine, the fabulous Isaac Mizrahi clothing being the actual editorial subject matter. Later on, I briefly met Mr. Penn in his studio, when a good friend of mine landed a plum job as his personal assistant. Star struck by his noble presence, I was far too polite to do anything but whisper a very nice to meet you, and fade into the seamless backdrop.

Are You An Autumn?

Sundance Horizon Duster, $198

I’m obsessed with color, having started out as an artist long before I realized I was actually a designer, and could get paid for selecting a color palette. All I’d have to do was follow a few simple rules, when planning the next big color trend. First, I’d ask myself, does it make sense? Meaning does it already exists in the collective fashion unconscious of endlessly recycled seasonal color stories? Then I’d check if the fashion industry was on board with let’s say turquoise and coral (they are for Spring 2010).

Like A Prayer Collection, Fall 2009

But when it comes to my own wardrobe, trends need not apply. I’ll stick with colors that are best suited to my fair freckled complexion, thanks. After decades of wearing colors that looked simply hideous on me, I discovered there were a few basic rules, which when followed would bring lasting harmony to the contents of your closet. These rules were published in 1981, although I didn’t catch on right away. Color Me Beautiful is a personal color guide for dummies, using the seasons of nature to identify your unique coloring and which colors look best on you. Everything else just looks wrong. Like all my 80’s fashion choices: the Stephen Sprouse inspired day-glow chartreuse cap, which made my face look greenish grey, and the lipstick red high waited peg leg pants I paired with a jade green Ralph Lauren cavalry bib shirt that made me look like an anemic traffic light.

Like A Prayer Collection, Fall 2009

This fall, 80’s color palettes are hot again (think Nancy Reagan red) but they still make me shudder. Thankfully, as an independent designer, I don’t have to follow those rules anymore. I wasn’t convinced about Pantone’s top 10 fall ’09 colors, choosing instead a universally flattering palette that’s earthy and bright for my Like A Prayer collection, pictured here. For myself, I fell in love with a variegated striped sweater coat from the Sundance catalog, noting that the unexpected mix of earth tones with orchid pink was just what I was thinking! It’s finally starting to make sense. I’m an Autumn.

Cynthia Rybakoff sterling silver and Japanese waxed cord Like A Prayer necklaces, $88 and bracelets, $68, at Supermarket.

Pearl City

I heart pearls, those delectable organic gems from the sea. Classic, but never old fashioned, pearls are transcendent. At the dawn of civilization, pearls were considered by far the most valuable of gemstones, long before the diamond became your BFF. Cleopatra is famously said to have consumed one in a wager against Marc Antony, as the world’s most expensive meal. During the Renaissance, the original fashion queen Elizabeth I understood the power of pearls, wearing them not only as baroque jewels but liberally sprinkled on her ornate gowns and elaborate wigs. Today, no proper jewelry wardrobe is complete without a fine strand of lustrous pearls.

For Fall 2009, pearls have gotten a bit cheeky. Wear your pearl baubles dripping from tangled silver chains with a quilted black leather biker jacket like a rebellious Jackie O. Better yet, show off a single perfect strand in true aristo style, like the opera length 8.5 millimeter Mikimoto pearls that Carrie wore throughout the Sex and the City movie, paired with a black deconstructed dress and towering studded heels for an au courant girl in the city vibe. Or just wear them to bed!

Fierce Fashion

Fall/Winter 2009: a profusion of dangerous looking accessories embellished with weapons grade studs, spikes and chains are back with a vengeance, reminding me of another fashion era with paramilitary flair. I’m not referring to the gladiator chic aesthetic of ancient Rome, but rather the late 1980’s, when women sported linebacker shoulder pads and hubcap size earrings, seemingly for their own protection, while following an aggressive color and pattern protocol at all times.

The above Fashion Preview spread clearly demonstrates the pervasive mood during the pre-Gulf War years and the importance of fierce fashion. Although constructed from lightweight wood with a delicate gold leaf finish, my heavily studded finger and ear ornaments set with earthy semi-precious stones were meant to scare you just a bit. The magazine itself was an over-sized seasonal image catalog of runway trends that was the style.com of its day, covering important fashion news from New York, London, Paris, Milan and Barcelona.

From the archives: Cynthia Rybakoff Collection studded wood and gilt rings and earrings with assorted semi-precious stones.