Gimme Some Sugar

If your one of those people whose version of ‘a little piece of heaven’ comes in the form of a pastry then you will know what I’m talking about. There is nothing like going to reward yourself after a good work out, a good grade or for just falling prisoner of the delicious cravings that some of these treats create. Whether its vanilla cupcakes topped with chocolate ganache, the classic red velvet, or a seasonal pumpkin spice treat every single one of these little creations can give you instant joy.

If your mouth is already watering, fear not because at Chapel Hill, UNC students are able to reach all of these delicacies on a quick trip to Franklin Street. However, very little people know how much time and dedication are behind the making of these pastries. We can only get a small glimpse of what happens behind the scenes through shows like Cake Challenge, and Ace of Cakes, but they do give us the idea that each kitchen is a unique, but most importantly that it is filled with passion.

“When I was little I always liked art but I never liked any of the mediums, so I decided one day that I wanted it to be icing and so I started doing cakes,” explained Lauren Ivey, Head cake decorator at the Sugarland bakery.

Ivey had to train herself to be able to make her intricate creations, even before she went to culinary school. Starting by decorating cookies and by then helping her mom make all the desserts from scratch.

It is not a surprise that baking is a form of edible art and like all artistic areas it takes more than just practice, but instead it must be complimented by talent and creativity. Being a baker comes with some sweet deals, and no I don’t mean just getting to taste all the amazing treats. Because it is such a hands on work bakers, pastry makers and decorators get to express their creativity and look back on their creations.

“I am really satisfied to see what I have done in a day, see what I’ve created,” said Mya Jones baker at the Bliss Boutique café.

The baking industry lets those who work in it, to play with their materials and make amazing creations, but at the same time they also have to satisfy the client and whatever absurd ideas they might come up with. These factors pose incredible challenges for the creators of the cakes, because they have to make the treats not only delicious, but at the same time beautiful.

“We did a cake… and it was three TVs stacked on top of each other but they were all like crooked…they were really really intricate,” explained Ivey who also adds to her resume having built a castle and a nurse themed cupcake.

As fun as this all seems do not be misled, since this industry is very demanding and intense. Therefore in order to be successful bakers must be able to carry on their specific job with high precision and discipline.

“I get here at 4 (AM) and I go ahead and start making our breakfast and then I go ahead and make a list of all the production that we have to do today. That’s every component, that’s icing, cake, every little thing we need,” said Michelle Chavis an experienced baker from the Sugarland bakery who normally bakes around 12 cakes a day without counting the wedding cakes that could take days to make.

As the incredibly early mornings were not hard enough, people involved in the industry must deal with the fact that they have to work at a fast pace and still deliver a quality product.

“It is a high stress job, because everything always has a deadline…its not like most people when they turn in a paper and they’re done… with us is more like we have a deadline at four and a deadline at five…its forever going,” explained Ivey

In order to make the delicious creations that we enjoy every day the bakers at this stores must know how to work as a team. This is why in both the Bliss and Sugar land bakeries have a hard working team, that have divided they’re jobs in order to deal not only with the management, but the baking, preparing of ingredients and decorating. Its no surprise that with all these movement in one kitchen things can get a little out of control.

“…Back there its small, its crammed, everybody is biting each other’s neck half the time,” explained Ivey.

Pastries face some hard competition, not only due to the state of the economy but because they must compare their product, to those in supermarkets or chain stores. According to Chavis from Sugarland, the bakery makes their products from scratch and by hand, guaranteeing a high quality product, but at the same time a harder one to produce. They must do this while keeping an affordable price fro their costumers.

“You are always going to have competition with grocery stores…because most people don’t plan a ahead for their kids birthday parties, and they just run to the store… Harris Teeter has a very good bakery department,” said Ivey.

Despite the obstacles that these two bakeries might encounter, there is no doubt that they are both heading towards even brighter futures. As Sugarland, plans an expansion where new bakers will be coming in, and the Bliss Café, which embraces its early success offering a ‘cool’ vibe for and delighting us with any cupcake imaginable.

So if your stomach is growling and asking for some dessert I suggest you pay a visit to either one, or you might as well go to both of these bakeries. You can be sure that what you are getting is made with passion, great ingredients, and it will taste amazing.

For the Sake of Art

Franklin Street is arguably the most important street in all of Chapel Hill, yet businesses that are not food-oriented seem to come and go and never establish themselves as staples of Franklin. Nonetheless, this has not discouraged business owners to become the exception to this rule. In April, the Frank art gallery opened its doors to offer local artists a place to show their work. Despite the contradiction of Franklin Street businesses, the Frank art gallery has proven to be a success even during the slow moving months of summer.

Frank gallery can easily be distinguished within the blocks of Franklin Street because of its colorful displays and inviting exhibits. Once you enter the gallery you are overwhelmed by the art-covered walls, filled with every type of art from sculptures to painting, and even a mixture of both in paintings filled with poetry.

The insides of the gallery are not the only unique thing that Frank possesses. Its success is mostly due to their special business model which proposes an innovative way to support the gallery and integrate itsmembers. With this strategy, the gallery is not only financially secure but also holds a sense of ownership for many of the artists.

According to Frank gallery’s website, their revenue comes mostly from their artists. Frank hold two types of artists.  The first type is member artists who double as board members and help out in the day to day running of the gallery, but who also get 75 % of the earning from their artwork and have a secure spot on the gallery’s walls.

The other type of artists is a consignment artist, which do not handle as many responsibilities as a member but still count for the majority of the artists at the gallery. These artists get 50% of the revenue of their sales.

Nonetheless, artists are expected to pay a monthly fee and do everything possible to establish Frank gallery increase its visibility as a “premier arts destination.”

Despite being open for a short time, the business model has seemed to surpass the test of fire: summer. During this time Chapel Hill, being a college town, vacates, making business lose most of their clientele. However, to the Frank gallery, this did not seem like too much of a problem.

“Summer was slower but we did okay, but because we had just opened we were able to talk to people and create interest,” says Barbara Rich, manager of Frank Gallery.

This strategy of making an impression on those who show some interest in the gallery has certainly paid off. Frank has increased the number of artists present at the gallery up to a total of 81, both members and cosigned.

“Sometimes although revenue, is not happy, you kind of need those times so that you’re not just going, going, going, and so that you can think about how to strategize your business and where we want to be and where we want to point our outreach and education,” explains Rich.

It was Rich’s determination to relate the gallery to their visitors and clientele that kept the gallery strong through the less busy seasons. One of the strategies that they utilized was having their TGI Thursday’s events. Something that started out as a way for fellow artists to meet one another during the construction of the gallery has now become a trademark of Frank.

Additionally, on Thursdays, Frank gallery normally holds an event open to everyone to appreciate art, literature or live music.

“We started doing it for ourselves… and we had everyone meet; have some wine and then we didn’t want to stop it so we decided to just open it to the public. It’s free; it’s open; anybody can come,” said Rich. “We’ve had Deep Dish come, the Playmakers. It takes time to spread the word but I think we did that quite well over the summer.”

According to Rich, it is Frank’s diverse clientele, which has helped them keep strong during the summer, from a combination of factors like the price range of $20 to $10,000, to clients coming from out of state, to Chapel Hill’s own students and locals.

“I am surprised, happily surprised, how many people come from outside the Chapel Hill area. People come in from Raleigh. We have a lot of people who come when they’re out of town, they’ll stop by and meet the artists,” says Rich, explaining that Frank gallery is not focused simply on those locals around the gallery. According to Rich, people  on vacation, or parents of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students would come in to the gallery and fall in love with a piece, hence making them buy it even if they lived outside of the state. Rich also clarified that they have shipped artwork to states such as Kentucky, New York, Florida and Texas. “That makes me happy because you know people of New York who buy your work, and you know there is no shortage of artwork in New York,” said Rich. “It really is reinforcing as to the quality of our work.”

The effort that is being put in to the Frank gallery can be clearly seen on all of its walls and in the staff attitude and demeanor. Nevertheless, Franklin Street proven to be a hard place to maintain a non-food related business.  

However, Rich is hopeful that there will be a cultural revival on Franklin Street and that this will help Frank Gallery to position itself as a long-term art gallery.

“I also think there is a whole new revival going on … with 140 West, Franklin Square, that this whole area is going to be sophisticated a little bit,” expresses Rich. “That is one thing that I am hoping will work.”

While Frank gallery is still planning to keep their business model, it hopes to be a self-sustained business. Nonetheless, Rich knows that Frank’s main goal is to be able to stay open and be able to showcase the work of their talented artists.

“We’ll have to see how it goes. Whether we are going to be able to support ourselves from the sale of art, remains to be seen. We will still do fundraising, grant writing and we’ll just have to see,” says Rich. “Otherwise we won’t be able to show any art, no matter how good it is.”

So what does it mean to be a HIPSTER?

In a memorable scene of the Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly tell the badly dressed Anne Hathaway how fashion is more than the clothes worn and instead it is something bigger than that whole industry, a way of expression and many more factors that influenced the blue sweater that she was wearing. Having loved fashion from as far as I can remember I can't help but side with Miranda on this one. Being such a big industry and world in fashion certain words tend to come up, which brings me to the word that has caught my atention; 'Hipster.' For the longest time I thought that hipster meant someone who was hip and cool, however I recently found out that it has some negative connotations. To quote a quote that said that hipsters spent too much money on clothes to look like they're poor. Ofended by the comment, not because I consider myself a hipster but because I felt I could not be completely off the definition and a little hurt by the connotations, I decided to clearly define the term and hopefuly clear out the confusion.

The term hipster started out as as 'hepcats' in the 1940s refering to those who knew a lot about jazz and considered themselves part of the jazz scene. It eventually became 'hipster' in association with the word 'hip' being defined first by the glossary named "For Characters Who Don't Dig Jive Talk" in the album 'Boogie Woogie In Blue by the pianist Harry Gibson AKA Harry the Hipster.

With such a colorful background hipsters today are known a young adults, from middle and upper classes, who have a distinct tendency for everything to that's alternative or bohemian. Those who move from the suburbs into the cities and have a particular taste for alternative rock and independent cinema.

Hipsters have been targets of criticism for some time saying that their actions mostly contradict their so called 'philosophy' which no one has been able to correclty define. Yet the definition I like the most is people who are looking for new styles, for new music and who adopt that which they like the most. People who want to more about culture who care about those who may be less fortunate and in all sincererity those who are willing to show what they like regardless of the criticism. To me hipster just means spontaneous.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Josef Frank!

Today is the birthday of one of the most important architects and designers ever to be known. On his 125th birthday we remember the man who brought us psychodelic patterns to every posible artefact we could imagine and reminded us that our world can be whimsical and fascinating if we look close enough. Nonetheless, Frank's genius was not confined to only patterns, with its architectural designs he evoked modernity and simple aesthetics that would define the guidelines for future architecture. In a mixture of colors and natural elements designed in the most organic and high quality materials in which a living room can easily become into an enchanted forest worthy to be associated with Alice's Wonderland. Therefore, I invite you to delight yourselves in this expression of magical designs and ingenuity. Lets celebrate the birthday of the man who brought the organic into the homes and whose designs will hopefully prevail well beyond these 125 years. Happy Birthday Josef Frank.

For more information on the Swedish artist: Josef Frank Website

Cortazar's Democratization of Fashion

The man who dazzeled the fashion world with his feminine and wearable designs in the fashion house of Ungaro has now decided to take his designs to all the women, no matter the social status, shape or form, of his country. I'm talking about the talented Esteban Cortazar, the Colombian designer who at the age of 15 was already having his pieces shown in the most acclaimed runways of the world. Cortazar was born in Bogota, Colombia in 1984 but grew up in the Miami Beach where his two very artistic parents introduced him to the design world, where he showed unusual talent.

Despite all the glamour and elegance that comes with being a renowed designer, Cortazar's latest project shows that he is connected to his first country's roots and to all the women in it. He has announced that on July 26 he will be presenting his first economic line for the chain retailer EXITO. (To those who don't know much about Colombia this would be the equivalent of Target.) The line will be presented in the country's most important fashion event, Colombiamoda, and will hit stores the next day.

In an interview with the newspaper El Tiempo, the young designer says, "It is the true democratization of fashion." Cortazar wants with this line to give women all the neccesary elements to be elegant but modern women at an affordable price. The line is made up of 85 clothing garments and 15 accessories, ranging in the price range of $19.000 to $400.000 colombian pesos. ($10 to $200 dollars)

With a joint effort between Paris and Colombia the line is sure to be a success, lets just hope he decides to do one with a retailer in the US so we can all enjoy his talent.

Moving paints

Everyone kows the eye can play tricks on you, but what the artist Alexa Meade does, brings this common known expression to a whole new level. With only 23 years of age this Washington D.C. local has stirred up the art world with her hiperreal art. Meade is able to make spectators perceive a 3D object as 2D painting, shocking more than once, a passer-by when the 'painting' in fact moved and talked. According to her webpage, Meade's work is a fusion of different techniques of art combining: video art, installation, painting, performance and photography. According to a Washington Post article, Meade had barely any art trainning, after graduating as a political science mayor and working three summers at Capitol Hill incluiding the Obama campaign, this unconventional prospect decided to make art her full time career. Giving the art world and its lovers a 'spin' Meade's work is truly something to admire. Therefore, I urge to look closely at these paintings and appreciate what an innovation looks like.

If you cannot get enough of this artist I recommend you look at her web page and to see her latest collections check out her Flicker page.

So this is incredibly amazing when apartment are getting smaller and smaller but prices still seem to skyrocket without ceiling they come up with these smart and space-saving ideas. Helping the urban population live in the cities they love without having to move out to the suburbs and endure long commutes but still keep the urban style. I recommend this to anyone in a tight situation. Resource Furniture