Interview: The Harper and The Minstrel

08/27/2011

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Lulled by Medieval Harps

By Christine Stoddard
QuailBellMagazine.com
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You are a forest sprite, zipping under the roofs of toadstools or over the limbs of yearling trees. The sunshine soaks your hair as the most glorious sounds flood your pointy ears. Taxes, standardized tests, and traffic jams don't exist. Nirvana? Maybe, but not the band. A different musical group's responsible for this particular heaven. Meet The Harper and the Minstrel, a husband and wife duo who specialize in "instrumental Renaissance, Celtic & Medieval music."

Anyone who wants earthy and serene tunes can't help but love this heart-dappling music. The Harper and the Minstrel draw their inspirations from early European traditions, Sting, Yes, Loreena McKennitt, and other melodic influences. 

Quail Bell interviewed Jay and Abby Michaels to hear what they have to say about their art:
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Gutter/Alley/Heart

08/27/2011

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Coeur City: Bushwick, Brooklyn

By Christine Stoddard
QuailBellMagazine.com

"Love can exist anywhere--even in the greatest filth, the greatest stink, and the greatest darkness--because love lives in memories and memories are ubiquitous. Nobody can completely escape nostalgia." -Luna Lark
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Quail Bell Express Ads

08/27/2011

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Sponsor our first 'zine.

Advertise! Advertise! Advertise!
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Jewelry Review: Simply Willow

08/27/2011

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A Taste of Victoriana & Nature

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By Margaret Amonette
QuailBellMagazine.com

Simply Willow is an Etsy site that showcases the talents of self-described “hippy” jewelry maker Willow (Jodi) Cartwright. Her eco-friendly jewelry line out of Allegan, Michigan draws material exclusively from recycled and vintage materials.

Her merchandise includes pendant necklaces, charm necklaces, and earrings, and her design categories include Victorian jewelry, Steampunk Jewelry, and Nature-inspired Jewelry. The steampunk pieces are appropriate for those looking for Victorian-influenced designs with very modern and almost industrial touches. The Victorian pieces exhibit a more period-centered, authentic look. The nature-inspired category is for bumblebee lovers, with many featuring gorgeous, multi-colored opals.

Cartwright’s jewelry proves to be unique, ornate, and aesthetically rich, nodding to her interest in spirituality and Mother Earth. It's also trendy; I've seen similar (though mass-produced and eco-unfriendly) pieces at Urban Outfitters.

Consider Simply Willow next time you’re in need of a jewelry fix or birthday present. Support the independent artisan and green movements, and look stunning as a consequence!
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Quail Bell Express 'Zine

08/25/2011

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Nostalgic little fledglings love paper!
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Interview: Artisan Polly White

08/25/2011

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Oh the Pollybilities

By Christine Stoddard
QuailBellMagazine.com
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We snagged an exclusive interview with Polly White, founder of Oh the Pollybilities, a crafty line featuring birdhouses and garden decorations made from teacups and teapots! Here's what this Virginia-based artist has to say about her coo-worthy creations:


How on earth did you come up with such an adorably quirky form of "green" art? 

It started with the teacups.  I love thrift shops and junk stores, the dirtier the better. So I kept running across little abandoned teacups.  I wanted something to do with them.  I like the feeders you see where the cups are on a pole, but they seem so static.  There is no life in them.  When I hung them instead of skewering them, they were affected by the world around them.  They blew in the breeze. It gave them life.  Inevitably if you are looking for cups, you run across pots and I often found myself with teasets since they were sold that way.  I had the drill and I had the bits for some reason (I think I had bought a set of various sizes just to see what I could do).  It was a matter of looking at the shelf one day, seeing the two things together and saying, "A-HA!"

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'60s/'70s Revival

08/24/2011

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Field Fashion

By Nicole Duda
QuailBellMagazine.com

As the days (or at least nights) begin to cool off ever so slightly, consider layering your summer clothes and mixing textures for a little hippie flair.
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Fall Fashion Show

08/24/2011

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Fairytales, fantasy, and children's classic lit

Quail Bell's premiere fashion show takes place this fall!
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Gift Ideas

08/24/2011

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Put a smile on any fantasy geek's face!

By Ani Mikaelian
QuailBellMagazine.com
Well, we've gotten past July. That means the holidays are less than half a year away, and you better start saving up. At least this time you don't have to frantically brainstorm, too. This year when you’re stuck on what to get that “fantasy geek” friend of yours, never fear! This list is full of unique inklings:
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Flashback Film Review: The Lovely Bones

08/24/2011

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Haven't seen it yet? Taste suspended bliss.

By Jeremy Clemmons
QuailBellMagazine.com
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The purgatory imagined in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones – based on the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold – is one of immensity and awe; a limbo of roving vistas and coruscating foliage, evoking comparison from Chytilová and Monet, to acid trips (the film often screams, “This is the ’70s!”) and “What Dreams May Come.” But it’s also a place of death. It harbors all of the memories and clues to its inhabitant’s brutal rape and murder, even if we can’t see, or feel the impact of either.

Our story begins in 1973 by introducing us to Susie Salmon, (played with considerable effort by Saoirse Ronan) a typical 14-year-old girl, replete with schoolgirl crushes and an insatiable love for photography. “I want to be a wildlife photographer,” she pronounces early on. She is survived – will be survived – by her adoring friends and family: her father, Jack Salmon (Mark Wahlberg), mother, Abigail Salmon (Rachel Weisz), and two younger siblings. Add to that an advice-giving grandmother (Susan Sarandon) who, granted, serves said advice alongside a glass of scotch and a pack of cigarettes.

Little does Susie know she’s being watched by her plotting and reclusive neighbor Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci) — a character conceived as having one too many comb-overs and thickened mustache hairs to be considered anything other than a serial killer (apparently, profiling was still in its early days in 1973). Which is what he is. Susie is raped and murdered at the hands of Mr. Harvey one fateful night, and she ascends toward heaven, leaving behind the aches and pains of death for her family to cope with and disentangle.
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