Good Sunday Everyone !!
I just stumbled upon this text that we'd written for an interview (they asked for 2 pages and ended up leaving most everything on the cutting room floor) and we hate to see words go to waste, so we figured we'd post the full text here along with a link of the interview they ended up carving out of the overall bird ; )
Here's a link to the final interview ... might be interesting to give it a glance before trolling through our tale below..
(Terrain Interview)
-- And here's the full text that we submitted ... I know, I know, good luck keeping the Net passerby on the hook this long .. but they asked for it, and you know we couldn't resist ; )
enjoy !!
-p&j
... But, even before that, here's a few pics of our brand new candle ; ) See the whole crew at our Etsy shop ; )
Ah ... and why not throw in a pic from our little ridge-side siesta !! Yesterday we followed my dirt-bike-riding brother to a lookout spot that he knew about 24 miles through the forest along winding dirt roads and narrow bridges.
Juwels found the perfect two trees to hang her hammock from, the only problem was that we wanted to hang mine, too, so (against by brother's boisterous ((and graphic)) warnings) we tied the second hammock about seven feet up the tree and invented the bun-bed hammocks ; ) Juwels looked like a silk walker as she climbed into the lower level and then spun and twisted into the high-wire hammock above ; )
I had the perfect positioning to reach up and rock-ah-my-baby side to side and feel her shadow play across my smiling face ; )
The wind picked up on a few occasions, and ruffled the pages of our books, so we entombed ourselves in little cocoons with tucked top blankets.
Photo: taken by caterpillar Juwels with a book she bought at the David Sedaris reading we went to the night before.
... okay, okay, here's the interview ....
alOha !!
We’re peter & juwels - husband and wife, creative partners, and most
of all, best friends. About three years ago, Juwels and I left our
fancy top-story loft, sold off the bulk of our things, and moved into
a 1975 Winnebago Chieftain. Before we built our automotive ark, we
were hustling nonstop just to pay the piper. And at the end of the
day, our eyes were too bleary to work creatively, and months, dare I
say years, slipped by in this very same fashion.
This lifestyle epiphany coincided well with the expiration of our
apartment lease, and we dove off the balcony of our old life down the
wormhole of the Winnebago project. We knew nothing about motor homes
or engine work, and our building experience was limited to Juwels’
childhood tree house and skate ramp construction. Oh … and we were
flat broke. Literally everything in the Winnie had to be rebuilt, a
staggering amount to learn and do, but our fuel was inspiration and
adventurous idealism, not fear of drowning, so we never tired. By
selling off our luxuries, we’ve bought back our time. Pollen Arts was
born in this Winnie, she’s the love child of our revolution of the
now.
- What inspired the start of pollen Arts? How did the company come to be?
Well, some say that all things started from the sea, and such was
the case with pollen Arts. If I remember right, it was back in
November on the day we found our message in a bottle … or rather, the
bottle itself was the message …
One Sunday morning, at the end of a pleasant bike ride, Juwels and I
were hopscotching from stone to stone across a local tide pool. I was
hollering over to Juwels about the pocket of sea glass I’d found, and
she was giggling back about the pool of hermit crabs she was watching.
“Look at these little guys! It’s like a big city in there.” She mused
what their bubbly underwater voices might be saying , ‘scuse me.’ …
‘pardon me.’ … ‘coming through.’” And it was in this tide pool where
Juwels found what she calls her “gift from the mermaids”, a tiny
antique bottle half buried in the sand.
It was that bottle which lit the flame of our new candle concept,
and people have been aglow with excitement since we lifted the
curtain. Was it a message from the past … or the future, we don’t
know. But we’re delighted to offer this glimpse into the time capsule
… all the way back to the time when top hats were standard and
milk was a nickle.
- Can you tell us a bit about the ingredients that go into
your products and where you source them from?
We use 100% raw beeswax and buy from local beekeepers. Beeswax burns
cleaner, brighter, and longer than any other wax on the planet. It
ionizes the air, pulling dust particles and allergens out of
circulation. It produces no black smoke, and the fresh scent from this
golden wax is pure pollen, nectar and sweet honey. By contrast, most
candles on the market are made from a chemical called paraffin. This
wax is a byproduct of the oil industry, and burning it in your home is
similar to having a little car spewing exhaust right on your night stand or
kitchen counter. They’re bad news, especially if it’s sweet-smelling
strawberry or cinnamon apple, that’s just more toxins to burn up and breathe in : (
- Who or what have been your biggest influences?
As we immerse ourselves in golden blocks of beeswax, and our home
smells of honey and pollen, we sometimes feel like we’re bees in a
hive. We have great veneration for these fascinating creatures. They do their
merry work dusk till dawn with no drain on the environment. In fact,
if it wasn’t for the bees
playing cupid between male and female flowering plants, many fruits and
vegetables would never reach your plate. These little buzzers cross pollinate
⅓ of our food - that’s one out of every three bites.
But it’s not just the bee’s work ethic and sustainability that we’re
influenced by,
it’s also the trouble they’ve found themselves in and the help they
desperately need. Bees by the millions have been vanishing from the
hive without a trace, and researchers are struggling to find out why.
There’s a great new documentary called “Vanishing of the Bees” which
sheds some light on Colony Collapse Disorder. Juwels and I attended
the Hollywood screening, and as the film unravels the plight of the
bee and their keepers, we learned that chemical pesticides from
conventional food are prime suspects in the demise of our beloved
bees. We can all help by supporting clean organic produce, and
investing in renewable beeswax over harmful alternatives.
Link to a great Doc called -- “Vanishing of the Bees”
- What is your approach to creating new products?
For us, ideas are kind of like shooting stars. There's really no
direct approach to catching one besides keeping a wide and open range
of vision and presence. They can come from anywhere, and like a
shooting star, these whispers are here and gone. They're pixies of
light and color zipping around in a trail of sparks. A wandering, open
mind is a great net for a shooting star.
- What is your favorite thing about or in your home? What is the
one item you couldn't possibly live without?
The other day I was reclining in our tiny loft bed which hangs from
springs and bars over the driver's seat (we call this place the crow’s
nest). With my bird’s eye, and partially salivating, I watched Juwels
make a batch of raw chocolate. When she was done, I noticed her
fishing around in one of the kitchen drawers. She opened a round
bamboo container which was full of mason jar lids, and I thought to
myself, I didn’t know there was a container of lids in that drawer. My
mind’s eye flashed into our closet, and I saw recycled cigar boxes &
woven baskets, all neatly packed like a mosaic of right angles, and
their contents, honestly, I couldn't name offhand. If we lived a few
hundred years ago, I would be the nomadic minimalist and Juwels the
gypsy queen with a wagon full of treasures.
When we built our home, I had a lot of practical input, (the solar
power system, water conservation and recycling, security, and I did get
swept up in few aesthetics from time to time) but as far as feathering
the nest, I left that up to the queen bee. The way she organizes her
keepsakes as well as our entire tangible existence is a cross between
a museum of curiosities and an impossible mathematical equation, and I
find it all
unbearably cute. I realized then, that I am very much so living in
what Juwels calls her “Palatial Playhouse”, a beautiful and coveted
place with long term audience for one only, lucky me ; ) I couldn’t
pick one favorite thing from bumper to bumper in our little Winnie,
but their collector, and the one who finds their place, I could not
live without.
- Where is your favorite nook of nature, and why?
It’s hard to play favorites with the works of Mother Nature. We’ve
swam in coral reefs amongst spotted purple clams and chroma colored
crustaceans. We’ve trod barefoot across red sand dunes, splashed
through mountain creeks and cat napped on tree limbs. We love it all.
But if we were to suggest one very special place where everyone
should visit, (not all at the same time though ; ) it would be this
little jungle town in southern Thailand called Ton Sai. It’s not an
island, but you can only get there by boat since the village itself is
huddled against the sea by great limestone cliffs. Because of the
surrounding cliffs, Ton Sai has become a world-famous climber’s
destination. Wiry sun tanned foreigners cling to the rocks from
first light till they’re just head lamps 100 feet up on a black night.
The whole place vibrates to the beat of a Bob Marley song. There’s no
cars, no pavement, just trees and trails and monkeys and fire flies.
The cafes are crowded with miniature tables, pillows on the floor and
low strung hammocks, and the coconut milkshakes and mango sticky rice
hit the spot before a mid day swim in the clear blue water. We spent a
month there one day, and we’d go back in a heartbeat.
- What can we expect to see from you in the future?
We have many passions and projects … some top secret for the moment,
but aside from creative concepts - health, happiness, and preserving
the environment are very important to us. We believe the first step to
getting people motivated about improving the planet as a whole is to
first get them informed and excited to take care of one very small
part of it - their own body. When your body’s running right, it’s a
great place to be : )
Health consciousness is a passion that we intend on sharing through
raw food and powerful, simplistic ingredients. Juwels grew up with a
naturopathic doctor and herbalist for a mother and is herself a
culinary artist & mad scientist in the kitchen. We’re superfood
junkies and soon intend on sharing these delectably wholesome
indulgences with the world in one form or another.
But the big dream is to someday open a wellness center, a simplistic green
paradise where people can unwind, relax, and ascend health and
happiness. We’ll build a hybrid between a yoga retreat and a summer
camp for adults where laughter and art go hand-in-hand with personal
growth. Walking the grounds, you’re likely to find small bungalows
surrounded by flower gardens, fruit trees, organic farming, and
possibly a peacock dancing for love. We’ll have a high vibrational
meditation center amongst the bee hives, mineral pools and a sweat
lodge. And to light the nights, we’re daydreaming of breeding fire
flies and glow worms. We’ll offer a spectrum from detox programs,
cooking classes and creative workshops, to volcano hikes, treetop zip
lines, and horseback rides through the jungle. (yeah, we have a
location in mind ; ) When this dream comes true, you’ll all be invited
to visit our secret garden.
- Is there anything we've missed that you'd like to tell us about?
Hitchhiking is dangerous, but if you wag your thumb over to our
blog, The Winnebago Diaries, we'll give you a lift : )
nighty, night
-p&j
I just stumbled upon this text that we'd written for an interview (they asked for 2 pages and ended up leaving most everything on the cutting room floor) and we hate to see words go to waste, so we figured we'd post the full text here along with a link of the interview they ended up carving out of the overall bird ; )
Here's a link to the final interview ... might be interesting to give it a glance before trolling through our tale below..
(Terrain Interview)
-- And here's the full text that we submitted ... I know, I know, good luck keeping the Net passerby on the hook this long .. but they asked for it, and you know we couldn't resist ; )
enjoy !!
-p&j
... But, even before that, here's a few pics of our brand new candle ; ) See the whole crew at our Etsy shop ; )
(yes .. we actually sell this big momma one in a collection ; )
Ah ... and why not throw in a pic from our little ridge-side siesta !! Yesterday we followed my dirt-bike-riding brother to a lookout spot that he knew about 24 miles through the forest along winding dirt roads and narrow bridges.
Juwels found the perfect two trees to hang her hammock from, the only problem was that we wanted to hang mine, too, so (against by brother's boisterous ((and graphic)) warnings) we tied the second hammock about seven feet up the tree and invented the bun-bed hammocks ; ) Juwels looked like a silk walker as she climbed into the lower level and then spun and twisted into the high-wire hammock above ; )
I had the perfect positioning to reach up and rock-ah-my-baby side to side and feel her shadow play across my smiling face ; )
The Vista ; )
The wind picked up on a few occasions, and ruffled the pages of our books, so we entombed ourselves in little cocoons with tucked top blankets.
Photo: taken by caterpillar Juwels with a book she bought at the David Sedaris reading we went to the night before.
... okay, okay, here's the interview ....
alOha !!
We’re peter & juwels - husband and wife, creative partners, and most
of all, best friends. About three years ago, Juwels and I left our
fancy top-story loft, sold off the bulk of our things, and moved into
a 1975 Winnebago Chieftain. Before we built our automotive ark, we
were hustling nonstop just to pay the piper. And at the end of the
day, our eyes were too bleary to work creatively, and months, dare I
say years, slipped by in this very same fashion.
This lifestyle epiphany coincided well with the expiration of our
apartment lease, and we dove off the balcony of our old life down the
wormhole of the Winnebago project. We knew nothing about motor homes
or engine work, and our building experience was limited to Juwels’
childhood tree house and skate ramp construction. Oh … and we were
flat broke. Literally everything in the Winnie had to be rebuilt, a
staggering amount to learn and do, but our fuel was inspiration and
adventurous idealism, not fear of drowning, so we never tired. By
selling off our luxuries, we’ve bought back our time. Pollen Arts was
born in this Winnie, she’s the love child of our revolution of the
now.
- What inspired the start of pollen Arts? How did the company come to be?
Well, some say that all things started from the sea, and such was
the case with pollen Arts. If I remember right, it was back in
November on the day we found our message in a bottle … or rather, the
bottle itself was the message …
One Sunday morning, at the end of a pleasant bike ride, Juwels and I
were hopscotching from stone to stone across a local tide pool. I was
hollering over to Juwels about the pocket of sea glass I’d found, and
she was giggling back about the pool of hermit crabs she was watching.
“Look at these little guys! It’s like a big city in there.” She mused
what their bubbly underwater voices might be saying , ‘scuse me.’ …
‘pardon me.’ … ‘coming through.’” And it was in this tide pool where
Juwels found what she calls her “gift from the mermaids”, a tiny
antique bottle half buried in the sand.
It was that bottle which lit the flame of our new candle concept,
and people have been aglow with excitement since we lifted the
curtain. Was it a message from the past … or the future, we don’t
know. But we’re delighted to offer this glimpse into the time capsule
… all the way back to the time when top hats were standard and
milk was a nickle.
- Can you tell us a bit about the ingredients that go into
your products and where you source them from?
We use 100% raw beeswax and buy from local beekeepers. Beeswax burns
cleaner, brighter, and longer than any other wax on the planet. It
ionizes the air, pulling dust particles and allergens out of
circulation. It produces no black smoke, and the fresh scent from this
golden wax is pure pollen, nectar and sweet honey. By contrast, most
candles on the market are made from a chemical called paraffin. This
wax is a byproduct of the oil industry, and burning it in your home is
similar to having a little car spewing exhaust right on your night stand or
kitchen counter. They’re bad news, especially if it’s sweet-smelling
strawberry or cinnamon apple, that’s just more toxins to burn up and breathe in : (
- Who or what have been your biggest influences?
As we immerse ourselves in golden blocks of beeswax, and our home
smells of honey and pollen, we sometimes feel like we’re bees in a
hive. We have great veneration for these fascinating creatures. They do their
merry work dusk till dawn with no drain on the environment. In fact,
if it wasn’t for the bees
playing cupid between male and female flowering plants, many fruits and
vegetables would never reach your plate. These little buzzers cross pollinate
⅓ of our food - that’s one out of every three bites.
But it’s not just the bee’s work ethic and sustainability that we’re
influenced by,
it’s also the trouble they’ve found themselves in and the help they
desperately need. Bees by the millions have been vanishing from the
hive without a trace, and researchers are struggling to find out why.
There’s a great new documentary called “Vanishing of the Bees” which
sheds some light on Colony Collapse Disorder. Juwels and I attended
the Hollywood screening, and as the film unravels the plight of the
bee and their keepers, we learned that chemical pesticides from
conventional food are prime suspects in the demise of our beloved
bees. We can all help by supporting clean organic produce, and
investing in renewable beeswax over harmful alternatives.
Link to a great Doc called -- “Vanishing of the Bees”
- What is your approach to creating new products?
For us, ideas are kind of like shooting stars. There's really no
direct approach to catching one besides keeping a wide and open range
of vision and presence. They can come from anywhere, and like a
shooting star, these whispers are here and gone. They're pixies of
light and color zipping around in a trail of sparks. A wandering, open
mind is a great net for a shooting star.
- What is your favorite thing about or in your home? What is the
one item you couldn't possibly live without?
The other day I was reclining in our tiny loft bed which hangs from
springs and bars over the driver's seat (we call this place the crow’s
nest). With my bird’s eye, and partially salivating, I watched Juwels
make a batch of raw chocolate. When she was done, I noticed her
fishing around in one of the kitchen drawers. She opened a round
bamboo container which was full of mason jar lids, and I thought to
myself, I didn’t know there was a container of lids in that drawer. My
mind’s eye flashed into our closet, and I saw recycled cigar boxes &
woven baskets, all neatly packed like a mosaic of right angles, and
their contents, honestly, I couldn't name offhand. If we lived a few
hundred years ago, I would be the nomadic minimalist and Juwels the
gypsy queen with a wagon full of treasures.
When we built our home, I had a lot of practical input, (the solar
power system, water conservation and recycling, security, and I did get
swept up in few aesthetics from time to time) but as far as feathering
the nest, I left that up to the queen bee. The way she organizes her
keepsakes as well as our entire tangible existence is a cross between
a museum of curiosities and an impossible mathematical equation, and I
find it all
unbearably cute. I realized then, that I am very much so living in
what Juwels calls her “Palatial Playhouse”, a beautiful and coveted
place with long term audience for one only, lucky me ; ) I couldn’t
pick one favorite thing from bumper to bumper in our little Winnie,
but their collector, and the one who finds their place, I could not
live without.
- Where is your favorite nook of nature, and why?
It’s hard to play favorites with the works of Mother Nature. We’ve
swam in coral reefs amongst spotted purple clams and chroma colored
crustaceans. We’ve trod barefoot across red sand dunes, splashed
through mountain creeks and cat napped on tree limbs. We love it all.
But if we were to suggest one very special place where everyone
should visit, (not all at the same time though ; ) it would be this
little jungle town in southern Thailand called Ton Sai. It’s not an
island, but you can only get there by boat since the village itself is
huddled against the sea by great limestone cliffs. Because of the
surrounding cliffs, Ton Sai has become a world-famous climber’s
destination. Wiry sun tanned foreigners cling to the rocks from
first light till they’re just head lamps 100 feet up on a black night.
The whole place vibrates to the beat of a Bob Marley song. There’s no
cars, no pavement, just trees and trails and monkeys and fire flies.
The cafes are crowded with miniature tables, pillows on the floor and
low strung hammocks, and the coconut milkshakes and mango sticky rice
hit the spot before a mid day swim in the clear blue water. We spent a
month there one day, and we’d go back in a heartbeat.
- What can we expect to see from you in the future?
We have many passions and projects … some top secret for the moment,
but aside from creative concepts - health, happiness, and preserving
the environment are very important to us. We believe the first step to
getting people motivated about improving the planet as a whole is to
first get them informed and excited to take care of one very small
part of it - their own body. When your body’s running right, it’s a
great place to be : )
Health consciousness is a passion that we intend on sharing through
raw food and powerful, simplistic ingredients. Juwels grew up with a
naturopathic doctor and herbalist for a mother and is herself a
culinary artist & mad scientist in the kitchen. We’re superfood
junkies and soon intend on sharing these delectably wholesome
indulgences with the world in one form or another.
But the big dream is to someday open a wellness center, a simplistic green
paradise where people can unwind, relax, and ascend health and
happiness. We’ll build a hybrid between a yoga retreat and a summer
camp for adults where laughter and art go hand-in-hand with personal
growth. Walking the grounds, you’re likely to find small bungalows
surrounded by flower gardens, fruit trees, organic farming, and
possibly a peacock dancing for love. We’ll have a high vibrational
meditation center amongst the bee hives, mineral pools and a sweat
lodge. And to light the nights, we’re daydreaming of breeding fire
flies and glow worms. We’ll offer a spectrum from detox programs,
cooking classes and creative workshops, to volcano hikes, treetop zip
lines, and horseback rides through the jungle. (yeah, we have a
location in mind ; ) When this dream comes true, you’ll all be invited
to visit our secret garden.
- Is there anything we've missed that you'd like to tell us about?
Hitchhiking is dangerous, but if you wag your thumb over to our
blog, The Winnebago Diaries, we'll give you a lift : )
nighty, night
-p&j
Lovely! Thanks for sharing. The vista is the bomb!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are officially my new favorite blog! Your candles are absolutely darling (considering I'm vegan that should tell you how amazing they are) and your Winne is my dream home. Beautiful job on the renovations. Love the interview, it's too bad they narrowed it down so much!
ReplyDeletewell well well .. thank you both very much for the comments ; ) we LOVE comments .. it's so exciting when our little email alert PING goes off and it says - "new comment Winnebago Diaries" !!
ReplyDeleteWe're going back to that lookout spot this weekend to camp and dance around the campfire ; ) Full moon saturday - aOOOooooOoooo !!
We'll bee posting some new stuff soon soon !!
love,
-p&j
another pet peeve of mine is texting. plain and simple. no more texting! ever!
ReplyDeleteis this where i'm supposed to put this comment to be in the contest? did i beat you to your own contest posting?
I just love you guys... and the answers about new products/ideas was perfect, and your big dream/camp/secret garden... sign me up.
ReplyDelete