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Following the energetic Kristine Dang around her upcycling boutique, Fernseed, in Oakland's Dimond neighborhood, feels a little like chasing an over-caffeinated elementary school art teacher. Virtually every item in the store has been upcycled, either by Dang herself or one of the local artists and workmen she contracts with, and she has a zealot's pride in describing each item.
Pointing to a stippled painting of two children done in earth tones, she claps. "That's a Jeremiah Bal painting - he did it on a cabinet door I gave him. And look, see the jewelry boxes beneath it - those are made by a local guy from a black walnut tree on his property that was causing foundation issues. The city was making him cut it down, and from that he created all these beautiful boxes, at a fraction of what I'd have to pay to even buy them wholesale." Clocks made from record albums, side tables made from vintage suitcases and leftover hardwood table legs, and children's toys made from fabric scraps crowd the industrial space that first opened in July.
The connection Dang feels to each item in the store, from gauzy overhead lamps made from leftover Burning Man hula hoops to a cowhide-covered stool, is reflected in the price tags, each of which contains a few sentences about how material and maker came together in this single unique piece.
For Dang, the decision to open Fernseed has been extremely personal. For eight years, she worked at an online merchant as the head of sourcing, and as she puts it: "My job was to find the cheapest mass manufacturing. I took jobs from U.S. workers and spread them to 13 different countries. And all that stuff will end up in a landfill."
Through Fernseed, Dang is achieving a kind of redemption. "We're scrappy, but we make things that will last. We believe in supporting local artists, not consuming new materials."
Fernseed, 3436 Dimond Ave., Oakland; (510) 207-4050; www.fernseed.com.
One of Fernseed's launch items, this vintage desk was purchased by the proprietor of Giddy Giddy. I'm getting teary-eyed reminiscing what it took to open the Fernseed shop. This child's desk was one of my first paint-over-vintage work. Darn, that is a good-looking piece!
via giddygiddy blog.
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Thanks for the mention. Click here for full article.
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In this article, fernseed was one of three go-to sites for inspiration. Yay.
View article at RealSimple.com
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Full article at EastBayExpress.com FYI: We're not part of the Shoplifter article. Read the Retail Tour Section. :-)
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Full article at re-nest.com
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Thank you for the mention.
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Thank you for the mention. Love the name of your blog!
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Read article at recyclingmoments.org.
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