| |
|
We started out as a collection of rugs and things from Central Asia--the five countries with names ending in 'stan after the break-up of the former Soviet Union (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan.) Some people say our shop is more of a museum, because we include pictures and artifacts we collected from those countries. You can see and buy a variety of things, from tent bands to musical instruments, to jewelry and robes. |
We are located on Whidbey Island, the home of many local artists, and so have displayed a changing variety of their art. Right now we have large wood pieces from Pat McVay, glasswork from Natalie Hahn, and marble sculpture from Alexei Kazantsev.
 |
My husband and I are retired from our careers in State Department. Still, we enjoy making trips to different countries to go shopping; the items in the store, therefore, are always changing. For example, we brought lots of old jewelry back from Ethiopia. We next went to Morocco, where we bought old rugs from Berbers in the mountains. They tend to be orange and asymmetrical, and are wonderful to hang on the walls. |
We also traveled to Turkey, which has always been a wonderful place for rugs and textiles. This year we will go to Russia and Estonia, as well as Turkey again in the fall.
We have found customers to be interested in our jewelry, so the range has expanded from ethnic to more sophisticated, with a special interest in beautiful stones. Because we love beads, we've just opened a special section in the shop showing unusual beads, which will give us a chance to go exploring for different things on our trips. (We hear there's a great bead market in Istanbul!)
We welcome visitors to our shop to share their own travel experiences and talk with us about what we have collected. We look forward to seeing you on Whidbey Island.
|
|
|
|
