Maneki Neko

Maneki Neko

Beckoning Cat, Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money Cat or Fortune Cat. These cats first appeared during the later part of the Edo period (1603 – 1867) in Japan. I recently found this wonderful Lucky Cat at an estate sale. It is from 1945 and is adorable. The estate sale had many things from Japan but this charming cat beckoned me to take her home. I think the blue around her eyes are what caught my attention. Many of the Lucky Cats today are made of plastic but this one is made of clay and is also a bank. She measures 13 1⁄2" H X 9" W.

They first became popular in the early 1900’s being purchased for good luck and prosperity. 

There are several different stories of how this cat came to be so highly revered.

Now they are often seen in shops for good luck.

This one will be for sale at www.nidoart.com soon. 

Mother's Day Gifts 10% off until Mother's Day

John Powell and Carol Tomlinson's ceramics make beautiful gifts for any occasion. From a small saucer which anyone would enjoy receiving, to a platter or bowl for a wedding gift, their work gives lasting enjoyment. When you are not using the dishes for food they are beautiful sitting on a table or hanging on the wall.

They are all 10% off until Mother's Day.

Jenny Morten's Stripey Bowls

Stripey Bowls are 10% off until Mother's Day

blue on orange

blue on green

pink on green

pink on orange

pink on blue

yellow on pink

yellow on green

yellow on blue

Go to

www.nidoart.com

to view all of Jenny's work

and everything

in stock.

Sunday May 8th is Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming up, (Sunday May 8th) and I am giving a 10% discount from now until Mother's Day.

There is jewelry and ceramics to choose from and of course the fine art, textiles and ethnic art for the Mother who has everything.

Opening the door to NIDOART online

After spending an hour trying to remember my password and finding my way around I will attempt to do a little blogging. It's obviously been a while...

I have opened the door to my new online shop and love the challenge of creating a business in cyber space. I also enjoyed getting all of your emails of encouragement; putting faces to them was fun.

I am planning to make this shop as tactile and personal as possible. Your comments and emails will help with that.

Once again, one of my most favorite things is bringing artists to your attention, and there are so many. Sometimes, people don't realize how they can have great art in their home for a reasonable price and get years of enjoyment from it. If you have never purchased art before and think it might seem frivolous I can assure you in these times more than ever you will find great solace in the enjoyment you derive form it.

Look at this piece by David Fleming titled Matisse's Chair. Dave has captured Matisse's style so well, it's as if, it is Matisse's chair or something he would have painted. I love this painting. I find it cheerful... something I would love to wake up to in the morning or glance over at while having a cup of tea. I love the colors and how he thought to make the heater part of the composition.

You can see this and more of David Fleming's work at my online shop, www.nidoart.com along with David's artist statement.

Revamping

This is my first post on my new blog. I'm excited about my new venture into the land of blogging. I have been poking around on different blogs and now I'm just going to do it.
NIDO as you knew it is in the process of changing. The orginial NIDO started with a lot of help from family and friends and got off the ground with the collaboration of graphic designer Christina Hoffman. artjoy2@earthlink.net
I closed my shop in Moss Landing on September 15, 2007 and have spent lots of time in between trying to figure out what direction I want to go in now and what to do with all of the merchandise which I saved. If you had been to NIDO you know I had some pretty special one of a kind things which I had come across in my travels. Now you will be able ( as soon as I get my new site up) to shop on line.
I did take that roadtrip some of you had heard I was going on with my husband Mark, to Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. It was great. We drove Route 66 and really had fun exploring the little old towns along the way. If you haven't been on Route 66 you will be surprised at how the old is still there but may be right next to some fast food place. You get the idea of how it used to be if you squint and try to imagine it without all of the junk.
Chaco Canyon http://www.nps.gov/chcu/was spectacular. We hiked and cooked over the camp fire and had fun doing some drumming (the acoustics were incredible) which actually brought on the rain and surprised us all. We then climbed into a wet tent because the rain flap had blown off in the meantime. When we were driving out we stopped at an authentic trading post where I spent time talking with some friendly Indians. I had told them we had been camping at Chaco and had gotten rained on. They said "you know why that was... there was a big pow wow to bring the rain". I laughed a little and said "oh, we had been drumming ourselves." They got a kick out of that as you can imagine.