The Totam never expected to discover San Francisco-based jeweler Alix Blüh’s workshop and gallery, Modern Relics, tucked away on a sleepy residential street in the heart of the Richmond district, but after spending a recent afternoon hearing the stories behind her wares, we’re delighted that the secret is out.

Located in a former jewelry school, Modern Relics’ high-ceilinged, spare loft houses Blüh’s studio upstairs and the showroom below, partly camouflaged by a whimsical, curtained window display. It took the better part of a year to transform the space to reflect the artist’s exacting standards, with walls paneled in recycled fence timbers, stenciled floors, turn-of-the-century glass display cases, old-fashioned bare-bulb lighting and a vitrine constructed from a cast-iron sewing machine pedestal. The resulting effect is at once ornate and austere, a curio parlor of fanciful oddities balanced by the weathered utilitarianism of a schooner-captain’s quarters.

Alix Blüh, named for family friend Alexander Calder, was formally trained as a painter at the University of Massachusetts and at Oxford, where she developed her passion for collecting and dealing in antiques in London flea markets. Raised among avant-garde artists in rural New England, Blüh creates sublime pieces of wearable sculpture inspired by the forms found in nature and historical objects of remembrance.

Alix Blüh jewelry

Using a meticulous wax carving technique, Blüh’s pieces are hand-wrought in precious metals, with a signature rough hewn texture. Lacy, carved coral and honeycomb forms are studded with pinhead-sized jewels. The artist’s variants on the cross, anchor and heart- symbols of faith, hope and charity that many sailors and their wives wore in Victorian times- have a medieval touch to them, and figure prominently in her latest collection. Blüh hopes her jewelry will function as personal talismans for the wearer:

“I have always been so moved by the stories found in nature, in time worn objects, in mourning jewelry and religious reliquaries…I want to create heirloom pieces that are not about fad and fashion but art and timelessness.”

Blüh’s reverence for beautiful mementos with sentimental value extends to her own collection of daguerreotypes, tintypes, mirrors and books, found throughout Modern Relics. She has been quietly showcasing a mix of handpicked antiques, reproductions, her own jewelry, and the work of like-minded creatives in her tiny atelier for the past year or so.

Clockwise from top left: Suga necklace on antique handmirror, Swallow thorns, tooth and jackalope, Swallow painted glass with 22K gold backing, reproduction scrimshaws

We love that Blüh views Modern Relics as a platform for more than just her own work; Blüh feels such kinship to the work of Brooklyn-based artist Ria Charisse, whose Swallow line of cast-metal creatures, woodland letters, and paintings of whales on glass layered w/ 22K gold leaf, that over half the space has been given over to Charisse’s creations. Swallow’s pairs of bird feet and pewter tooth are Totam favorites. An additional case features the dainty jewelry of Blüh’s assistant, Soojo “Suga” Rocereto.

Modern Relics is located at 771 Cabrillo Avenue between 8th and 9th Avenues in San Francisco. Gallery hours are Thursday-Saturday 12-7pm. Contact (415) 422-0477 or relics@alixbluh.com

Alix Blüh will also be exhibiting jewelry at the NY International Gift Fair this August- look for her at the Jacob K. Javits Center, Booth 535.

(All photos by Aileen Tat except where noted)

Tags: accessories, Alix Bluh, antiques, artist, jewelry, Modern Relics, reliquaries, Ria Charisse, San Francisco, sculptor, Suga Rocereto, Swallow, Victorian.

My obsession with macarons hit a feverish point last week as I visted Ladurée, the fabled patisserie in Paris, credited with inventing the double-decker delights. Macarons are little sandwiches, sugar-filled cookie sandwiches and as delightful as they taste, their optimistic demeanor is just as significant. Fluffy, colorful, small and round - really they are the happiest cookies you could ever ask for. Ladurée also made the macarons for Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette which has undoubtedly added to the allure of these petite pastels. I myself waited outside and then in a small twisted line at the rue Royale location, feeling silly as a half hour, then forty minutes passed, thinking about the times I had laughed at people waiting in line outside the Magnolia Bakery in New York. Well there’s no good way to travel with a cupcake, but the macarons were surprisingly adept; at Ladurée, they sit nestled side to side in decorative boxes, with crinkly tissue paper protecting the lot. Wonderful! The packaging happens to be just as covetable as the merchandise.

Another obsessed macaron fan:

Just Macarons Flickr Page

Tags: cookies, Laduree, macarons, Magnolia bakery, Marie Antoinette, package design, Paris, patisserie, Sofia Coppola.

• Style.com’s response to the current economic forecast? Depression Chic, the trend report which is referencing not the current recession, but the one from the 1930s. “Designers worked both sides of the crash of 1929, turning out glittery flapper frocks and faded sack dresses in equal measure.” Look for pieces that could have crawled out of the Dust Bowl (rusty plaids and floppy hats are a must) and Prohibition-ready flapper dresses.

• Domino magazine, the turn-to home style guide that inspired so many has announced its farewell, folding due to lack of advertisers. While it may not have been the Flair magazine of our time, it certainly had a similar stylish take on décor, entertaining, and travel that will be sadly missed.

• The best thing about being in a recession is having blogs which tell us to shop at Target and to find pieces at places like Forever21 and Express that resemble designer clothes, for a fraction of the price! We need blogs to inspire us, not point us in directions that aren’t going to fully feed our fashion needs. The blog Recessionista does a fine job of covering these topics and sometimes even mentions some great online sales. However, we do get the feeling that if Target had not invented its highly blogged about Go Collection, the Recessionista wouldn’t have much to report.

• Possibly not as a direct result of the economy, Jason Wu’s Fall fur line with Sara Furs has been put on hold to concentrate on his ready-to-wear line. The humane society rejoices.

Tags: Domino, Dust Bowl, economy, Express, Flair, Forever21, Jason Wu, prohibition, recession, Recessionista, Target.

With the recession in high gear, lunches out are the first thing to go. Nevermind your $10 a day habit at Pax: those yogurt parfaits are soon to be a distant memory. But instead of shoving your homemade burrito into your bag before work, try these carry-aways that have purpose and style (not to mention eco-friendliness written all over them).

Tiffin boxes are traditional Indian lunch carriers - each compartment is meant to hold a small dish like a curry, rice, and a sweet. The whole idea of tiffins started in British India and originally suggested a light midday meal or snack. We love the old fashioned notion of bringing our lunches in these steel tiers and unstacking them as a daily ritual.

Left: Two-tier tiffin with sidekick available at EcoBags / Right: Small pyramid tiffin available at Happy Tiffin

On par with the tiffin, the bento box uses a similar concept: lots of little meals packed into one. Favorite Japanese characters abound, the last time we checked, this eBay seller had Hello Kitty, Totoro, and Miffy boxes. Bonus points: chopsticks are included.

Totoro Bento Box available on eBay

With an old school brown bag feel, the reusable cotton lunch bag reminds us of unwrapping turkey sandwiches and trading Kudos bars in the cafeteria. Remember your bulky Igloo? Well, the cooler has grown up and with sleeker curves, the Tortuga Lunch Tote by Built NY is made of temperature holding neoprene and is as suitable for deep sea diving as it is for lunch toting.

Left: Organic Cotton Lunch Bag available at Green Kit / Right: Tortuga Lunch Tote available at Built NY.

Tags: brown bag, lunch, recession, Totoro.

The original La Fonda del Sol. Left image courtesy of Life, right image courtesy of Patti Hauseman.

When La Fonda del Sol opened its doors in New York’s Time-Life Building in 1960, it became one of the city’s first theme restaurants, with an interior posing as a Latin American village complete with an adobe hut bar. The entire restaurant made diners feel as though they were in another world with pigs roasting on spits and intricate lighting which created the illusion of being outdoors. The concept was executed by Alexander Girard, the architect and designer most noted for his work for Herman Miller and Braniff Airways. The interior of La Fonda del Sol was just the beginning though as Girard oversaw and designed the entire restaurant down to the menus and the espresso cups.

The sun motif was used largely throughout the restaurant (La Fonda del Sol translates literally into “the restaurant of the sun”), from a dazzling sun sculpture which filtered light through its yellow ribbon blind “rays” to the matchbook covers and sugar cubes. I purchased such a cover on eBay a couple years ago, always having been struck by Girard’s colorful and graphic sensibility.

La Fonda del Sol sugar cubes and tableware, courtesy of Patti Hauseman

La Fonda del Sol reopens today in the Met-Life Building with the same name but none of its previous affiliations. The new incarnation is designed by Adam Tihany who also worked on the icy modern interiors of Per Se in New York and the Mandarin Bar in London. The new La Fonda del Sol doesn’t try to recreate the original in any way, instead using matador-themed artwork along with chile-red striped banquettes and a matching starburst carpet to illustrate its version of Latin America. For those who remember the original, the new version may disappoint. Retaining none of the jubilance or colorful excitement that made its predecessor shine, the new adaptation seems well, cold. As with a movie that turns into a remake for profit, La Fonda del Sol may have lost its heart with the rewrite.

Further reading: The Memories of La Fonda del Sol

Tags: Adam Tihany, Alexander Girard, Braniff Airways, Herman Miller, La Fonda del Sol, Latin American.