Due to the positive feedback I made another video. In the video I give a few examples of transitional rug designs and talk a bit about each.

Challenge yourself by clicking on our Tibetan rug gallery and trying to identify transitional pieces. Of course if you can't it's entirely my fault for being such a poor teacher. Hmm... I did fall asleep a lot in school.

I thought it would be fun to post a video blog talking about three new Afghani rugs. The first two pieces reference Suzani textiles for design inspiration while the last is surprisingly modern. Enjoy!

O couch, couch! Wherefore art thou couch?

In addition to sumptuous, hand-knotted carpets another passion of mine is movies. From art house films to pop corn flicks I am known to watch a movie or two. In order to fully enjoy the home theater experience one must have a Netflix account, beverage, snacks, and a comfortable couch upon which to recline. I had all my bases covered except for the base itself, a comfortable couch. Thus began the sofa safari.

As a Portland business owner I wanted to support another local owned gallery and found myself drawn to the contemporary lines offered at HIP furniture. It took more than a few visits to wend my way through the many offerings and the owner Dave and his staff were immensely patient and helpful. My questions regarding fabric options, incoming stock, and lead times for custom orders were easily addressed. Subsequently I have referred friends and they have all had positive experiences. For those used to dealing with impersonal big box stores, Hip is a welcome respite.

Here is a photo of my comfy new Hip couch designed by Gus in Canada. The two back cushions can be removed turning it into a bed. Hopefully my brother Mike will not read this post as he is known to visit family with a one way plane ticket and stay and stay and stay...

What qualifies as classic cinema is a beloved film nerd subject, below are a few of my favorites. Click on the poster to read a rotten tomatoes review. And if you need a new couch check out HIP.

Summertime and the living is Kush.

Sunday I took a Sahar and a Khamseh on a field trip outside to be photographed in front of the gallery. The sun was brilliant and the vegetal dyes shimmered in the afternoon light.



















Many people inquire about the attributes of dyes utilized in Oriental carpets. We carefully choose pieces with color fast vegetal or highly quality Swiss chrome dyes that will hold up to use and sunlight. Of course any textile exposed to a great deal of sun will fade, but the curvature should be a natural evolution not a drastic shift.

Poor quality rugs are made with Aniline dyes as a way to cut costs and these pieces are susceptible to color run and extreme fading. Some rug insiders refer to low quality dyes as "fugitive dyes" which conjures up an image of dyes on the run, literally.


Pedestrians strolling by enjoyed the rug show and a chance to view carpets in a somewhat unusual environment.
It is always a pleasure to field an unexpected question and to engage those that would not normally walk into Kush gallery. I often find that people are curious about rugs, but sometimes are intimidated by their unfamiliarity with the art form.

Each journey begins with many questions. Fine rugs are a broad and diverse medium with many nuances that even rug scholars disagree on amongst themselves. I learn more about rugs every day and in the end I buy for the gallery and myself with the same tool, my heart.

Why wool? Let me count the ways... Natural, renewable, soft, hearty, plush, supple, washable, eco-friendly, organic, hmmm I seem to be repeating myself. Sometimes a story is best illustrated through pictures. Check out our new photos on flickr to see raw wool transformed into utilitarian art.
The wool express is ready for delivery.

Radish Underground gets jiggy with first Thursday soiree.

Radish is an amazing boutique chock full of lamps, jewelry, art, and clothing that you are not going to find any where else in P-town. The vibe reminds me of the best up and coming galleries in Brooklyn, NY. Fun, fresh, with a clear sense of individual style.

They even have a Kush, Terra rug gracing their dressing room floor. Nice!
Paul Thompson, a man who fears neither catwalk nor blinding flashbulbs strikes a pose. Grrr!!!
Radish is located at: 414 SW 10th ave. in downtown Portland, a great area for local owned shops.

Thanks to Tod Foulk of Semper Fashion for including Kush in his booth at Portland's Better Living Show. Tod has long been a supporter of sustainable, eco friendly fashion and fits perfectly with the hand-made, organic, fair trade, ideas behind our gallery. You can catch Semper on the runways and don't forget to look down you just might spot a Kush rug!


Terra rug hand-knotted in Afghanistan with Ghazni wool and vegetal dyes.

If you love your Portland Monthly magazine than get acquainted with its sister publication, Portland Spaces. It focuses on homes, gardens, and design with beautiful photos and in depth articles.

Kush was very excited to be included in the Apr/May "Desirables" column. Featured was a 6x9 vegetal dyed Hooked rug from our New England Collection.












The green an blue mosaic pattern adds lively color, perfect for setting a fun and casual tone. Check out more hooked rugs in our gallery http://kushcarpets.com/gallery.php

Portland is renown for its rich and diverse music scene. Kush was pleased to host the Penny Jam, who filmed local artist Boy Meets Drum Machine. You can view the video at: http://vimeo.com/2624267 or http://www.thepennyjam.com/

Help Kush fight the abuse of South Asian women.

This December Kush Hand-knotted Carpets will donate 50% of every sale of South Asian Patchwork Textiles to Progressive Women's Association in Pakistan. The PWA provides shelter, medical care, legal assistance and counseling to women victims of abuse in the region. To learn more about the group please visit their website: http://www.pwaisbd.org/

The unique textiles are hand-made from colorful, sequined and embroidered remnants and scraps of saris and ceremonial garments-- the ultimate expression of recycling as art.
Check out the dedicated web gallery to see a sampling of the wall hangings at http://kushcarpets.com/gallery.php?gallery=29

They were a sell-out last year during the holiday season as they make wonderful and meaningful gifts. There are 50 pieces available through this program, and the cost of $120 each. If all are sold Kush will send $3000 to the assistance of women in South Asia-- a great contribution.

As owners of a business that relies on individuals, families and communities throughout South Asia and the Middle East, Brian and Rebecca of Kush Hand-knotted Carpets feel called to do what they can in support of the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable in these regions. For this reason Kush supports groups like Rugmark and Care and Fair, dedicated to ensuring fair pay, safe work environments, and age standards for the weavers of Kush carpets.

The problem of violence against women in weaving countries is a less publicized injustice. Each year thousands of women are victims of abuse throughout South Asia. The recent story about an attack against Pakistani real estate agent, written by the New York Time's Nicholas Kristof presented an opportunity for action. Progressive Women's Association in Pakistan, the small but inspiring organization led by Shahnaz Bukhari, has worked for nearly a decade to give Pakistani women a voice in a society that has long silenced them.

To show your support in this endeavor stop by Kush gallery, select one of these wonderful works of art by Rajasthani women, and help Kush lend a hand to the Progressive Women's Association.

FASHION UNDERFOOT
Kush was very excited to be included in Portland Fashion Week. Our rugs added a bit of "kush" to the VIP lounge, fitting right in with the eco-sustainable theme of the show.

Rich, chocalate toned furniture paired with a Kush Oushak from Afghanistan. Good enough to eat, or at least have a cocktail on...

One of our Tibetan rugs provided the back drop for an impromptu fashion shoot.
Rugs on the wall how terribly chic. Hope everyone had as much fun at the show as we did.

Not your Grandmother's hooked rug...

Kush breathes new life into an American classic craft, hooked rugs. In early American culture hooked rugs were ahead of their time in that they were a recycled craft born out of need and tranformed into art. Enterprising homemakers utilized empty grain sacks made of burlap as a backing and any spare scrap of cloth to hook in a design thereby making rugs to keep feet warm during the cold New England winters. Antique hooked rugs have become a collectable piece of Americana. Inspired by the old, but with an eye towards fresh color and design Kush presents our American Classics Collection.

For more images please visit our gallery: http://www.kushcarpets.com/gallery.php

OOOOOH LA LA!!!

You know I can't resist this sort of treasure. Come check out the Uzbeki Silk Ikat!

I bought 40 meters of this rare fabric this from an old Uzbeki man overseas, and stashed it in my carry-on luggage! The bright and beautiful hand made silk is perfect for small pillows, or upholstering that one of a kind gem you've been hiding from view. There's only a little, but we promise you won't find it anywhere else no matter how hard you look!

We are proud to announce our position as retail sponsor and marketing partner of Rugmark, a non-profit organization working to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and to offer educational opportunities to children in South Asia. Every month we send a portion of our proceeds to this important foundation. At Kush, we believe that "green" products are not only environmentally safe and sustainable, as all Kush Carpets are, but also represent cultural and societal safety and sustainability. This is what makes our business so unique and special: by supporting weavers in their craft we- each one of us- are green in the global market. We are voting with our dollars for a world that values quality, dignity, and longevity over disposability, mass production and uniformity.

Check out our spotlight article at the Rugmark site:

http://www.rugmark.org/spotlight_det.php?cid=87&interview_id=51

It takes a couple of weeks for a trip to India to settle in. Eventually, the outer surface of the experience washes off your skin; a henna tattoo on your palm growing paler and weaker with every good scrub until all that remains is one dark spot of pigment, an oversaturation point right smack dab in the middle of your lifeline. And, for a short time, the whisper of elaborate design on a fingerpad.

People ask how my trip was and I say to them:

"Have you been there?"

India is indescribable. It is exasperating, reflective and honest. India is breathtaking. The only way to describe it is to show it, and so I share these photos. Snapshots from my hip as I moved through this tremendous country.

Want to see more pictures from this trip? Want to see pictures from past trips? Click here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8368712@N04/

Let us know what you think!

Winter color therapy has arrived.

Modern doesn't have to be dark or cold as this brilliant Tibetan rug proves. Warm red and orange with a slightly askew design this is modern design at its best.

Mysterious rug "speaks" to gallery owners.

No, this post does not concern a long lost episode of the X-files. Rather it is the immediate gut level attraction Rebecca and I both felt for this beautiful Persian Kashkuli. The tree of life design rises up in contrast to the ivory wool. A delightful feast of color to fend off Portland's often grey sky.

Thangka Event!

We hope to have you join us for our July 27th event at Kush gallery-- a truly unique exhibition of one-of-a-kind hand-painted Tibetan Thangkas.

Thangkas are Buddhist banners traditionally hung in monasteries and family altars and carried by lamas in ceremonial processions. For many centuries traveling monks carried them from monastery to monastery throughout Asia to serve as teaching tools depicting the life of Buddha. For believers, their stunning colors and intricate geometric forms steeped in symbolism and allusion make them manifestations of the divine.

Lester Lamm, a Portland resident and principal at Western States Chiropractic College, has spent much of his life traveling to and around Nepal. While living in Katmandu as a young man, a remarkable series of circumstances led him to develop a love for the art of new Buddhist Thangka. Over the years he has accumulated an impressive collection of the most beautiful examples of this ancient and fascinating art form. Lester has forged personal relationships with all of the artists he buys from in Nepal, placing emphasis on quality and integrity of work and helping to ensure these artists are able to continue to make a living from their craft, and to do so with artistic and personal freedom.

The event at Kush gallery on July 27th will feature these artists' paintings, some of which will be for sale. My motivations and goals for this "show" are anchored in a fundamental desire to assist in the cultivation and sustainability of cultural and spiritual art forms all over our earth. It is my belief that our appreciation for, and support of these timeless crafts helps culture survive.

Karcheung’s story, how it all began:

Lester Lamm was living in Kathmandu in a rented house in a compound, working as a chiropractor—the first in Katmandu. The compound, owned by a military captain, was home to around 7 other families. This captain had a wife and two children, a son and a daughter. One night the son of the captain knocked on Lester's door to say that the boy in a neighboring house, the poorest house in the compound, was sick and would Lester come to look in on him. Which he of course did, and he helped the boy back to health.

A couple months later there was a late night knock on Lester’s door and it was this same boy with a Thangka rolled up in his arms and a translator by his side. The Thangka was an extraordinary Buddha Thangka with a traditional cloth brocade border; the boy was offering it as a gift. Lester at first refused but was quickly instructed by the translator that you really can't refuse a gift and so Lester graciously accepted but said "Why would you buy me this wonderful gift?"

To which the boy replied "I did not buy it, I painted it."

To which Lester replied "Well, you do wonderful work, is there any way that I can purchase another?"

The boy, Karcheung, replied "I cannot, I work for a man to whom I am deeply indebted and I cannot work for anyone else. Everything that I do belongs to this man."

Lester replied “How is it that you did this one?"

"I stayed up very late, after dark, and worked on it every night after work."

It was a secret, you see.

Karcheung’s story is reminiscent of that of many young Thangka artists who come to Kathmandu from the hills outside the city. He had come looking for work as a painter and was approached by a man who promised him the world. The man gave him a place to live, clothes to wear and food to eat, a cassette recorder and other wonderful things, all the while telling him how much money he'd make as a Thangka painter. The truth was that this man owned a sweat shop and acquired all his "artists" this way.

Before long Karcheung found himself deeply in debt and unable to even pay for rent, so he moved into the sweatshop and produced subpar Thangkas for his master. These are what you find on the tourist market, these mass produced pieces. Karcheung’s debt, a mere $85, would likely take a lifetime of work to repay. Lester decided that he wanted to buy the boy out of this artistic servitude and approached the owner who at first objected, preferring instead to have the labor of this boy. But when Lester threatened to take up the matter "under the tree," (which is where squabbles were legally settled) the man conceded defeat, took his payment and Karcheung was free.

Karcheung offered to paint Thangkas very fast but Lester encouraged him to paint slowly, to look towards quality, not quantity, and after a time he became very good at the art. He now has 3 wives, owns a farm in his village, supports a Thangka concern of his own in Kathmandu where he treats his artist very well, and was the first master to hire women.

The rest is, as they say, history.

Freshly returned from her latest adventure, Rebecca brings us Suzanis from Uzbekistan! Used for centuries in Central Asia as dowries, tent hangings, and baby carriers these unusual, hand-embroidered tapestries work perfectly as bedspreads or wall coverings. Vegetable dyed silk threads are immaculately woven into breathtaking designs on a linen field. Each one is unique and will make a delightful keepsake to pass on for generations to come.

Kush presents our newest collection of textured flat weaves, "Glaowa"! Take a second look and the subtle marriage between color and texture reveals itself in a word, divine. Glaowa comes stocked in standard rug sizes such as 8x10 or can be custom woven to fill a particular space. A picture fails to communicate the true beauty of these pieces, however I posted a closeup in order to highlight a few of our favorite colors.

New Turkoman Shipment!

05/30/07 Ahhh, the excitement of receiving new rugs is akin to Christmas morning. We just received a small shipment of vegetal dyed Afghani Turkmen rugs. These brightly colored rugs have beautiful variegation in color due to the small batches of vegetable dye and hand spun wool. A real treat for those who enjoy classic tribal rugs. I posted a pic of one of my favorites form this collection, C-0120, (5x7).