nia nadii and her clay beads

bracelets too.

-pretty nia nadii and her bead necklace

goddesses are few and far between. because i am a self proclaimed one i tend to be able to identify them on sight. they come in many shapes, forms, sizes and from near and far. there are african goddesses, european goddesses, harlem goddesses, brooklyn goddesses and philadelphian goddesses too. for me goddess culture is a way of life and thinking . the goddess reference point is the self. not in the individualistic context but a wholisitc one. goddess culture says ; in cultivating an independent self  outside of restrictive thought.... gives you freedom . it removes or displaces you from the burden and or barriers that are applied when one lives and applies to thier life limited thought and thinking. the goddess has a value system and ethics. she is busy with evolution thus,her children, her family and most importantly her community evolve along side her. so you'll find that some goddesses will be mothers in non-traditional family settings, thier diet and eating habits will consist of foods in the pyramid or not at all...goddesses and their life styles vary but there is one thing that they have in common and that  is they are  free.this particular goddess i met in philadlelphia while vending costume jewelry in university city. she was a regular and a favorite. she  would  always buy  really interesting pieces of my jewelry that she explained, she would use to make her own. the following year i ran into nia and she had began her own jewelry line but instead of using pieces and beads, she decided to make her own beads out of clay. brilliant. here is a brief interview with nia nadii and her hand crafted jewelry from  her hand crafted clay beads. karimu abena hamilton

1.where are you from?I'm from a small town Michigan,

2. how did you get involved in jewelry making? I got involved in jewelry because I couldn't find anything I wanted to wear so I started making things

3.who is your market ? My jewelry is wearable art so I market to artists or those who need to tap into their inner artists
4. how did you come up with the idea to make your own beads? My initial idea was to buy beads but I thought of that being unoriginal and lazy so I thought of doing wood but felt it would take long to learn to use the wood carving tools, so I heard someone talking about clay bowls and a light went off.

5.how is business? Business is good, im just so busy with work that i need to transition from employee to jewelry designer for business to go great.6. What advice do you have for emerging independent business owners such as your self ? I would say be organized (which im not), network (which i don't do), and be consistent with working on designs and perfecting the craft (which i do), and always remain optimistic because you never know what your ideas will turn into if you stick with them.

7.i understand that you are vegan can you explain to me how that has impacted your life? Prior to me becoming a vegan i was experiencing a lot of uncertainty in life. there was a lack of awareness. now that iam a raw vegan i have so much more clarity and tons of energy .. vegan means awareness for me.

8.explain to me your creative process in making clay beads? Essentially i just take clay pick colors, bake and shape. If I am inspired by a concept then i will plan.

wow

earrings

 

da drummer

growing up in harlem; i had african dance class,african sprituality class,african history class, african heritage afterschool class. african rites of passage class.. .soo as you can imagine the drum was a familiar object for me. however,not until i hit the jazz scene and met and socialized with live musicians did i begin to cultivate an understanding of the power of the drum. i understood later on that a drum beat was only as powerful as its drummer and that was only after i dated one. master drummers are the care takers of the beat, the drummer contains the rhythm and keeps all other notes and musical functions aligned. it is the base and foundation of the melody. this particular drum circle gathered at clark park in philadelphia. there are two different types of drums featured here conga and djembe both deriving from africa and influencing world music of the caribbean and latino cultures. come join me for a brief moment with the drummers k.abena

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drummers in clark park

Dessert

tonight i had an ice cream party. i served vanilla ice cream and with the option to top with whipcream, blackberries, rasberries, chocolate syrup and the delicious peanut butter cups that i brought from reading terminal. i decided to serve dessert on my mother's antique cut crystal glass, with silver spoons and white linen napkins.  my grandfather spencer lee gettys looved dessert  and loved vanilla ice cream so i added a picture of him for a special touch. karimu abena hamilton

dessert in mommies pretty cut glass

pretty white linen napkins

fresh berries

STYLE

  

STYLE: The way in which something is said,done expressed or performed or a combination of artisitic expression or performance characterizing a particular person,group,school or era., distinctive features.

my mother at times would suck her teeth at me when i would dress as a teenager and complain ..you go to school in the village...where is your sense of styyyyle karimu...?! Style is not about matching everything...style is about taking risk my mother would advise.. step outside of the box try not to look so common.... i saw orunduns daughter djassi and she had style  she had her hair out and i can't remember what she had on but it was stylish.... she would snap and then go back to reading the new york times....i would sigh and go back to my room and rummage through my closet then dig up an african print head wrap or change my shoes to boots or put on a straw hat and then walk back into the living room...better. my mother would praise. today as i skim through  childhood pictures of myself, i really do appreciate the way my mother dressed me. i see peter pan collars, ruffle dresses, up do hair styles, opaque stockings and thick black shoes. as a child i thought that it was very mean for my mother to dress me that way ..i always wanted a bang and shiny mary janes but( i  would have to rely on mama my grandmother to buy me those) in the end i was cute.among many things mommy had an excellent fashion sense.

Today riding on the train I ran into two women that i thought were stylin and i just haad to stop them and take pics and find what some of there secrets were. as you will see in the pictures both topics are two very different people of race, socio and economic backgrounds but their intepretation of cool and comfortable are similar. meet Loretta Kurlich and Charday Bullock.  take a look and tell me what you think. karimu abena hamilton

  Loretta Kurlich


loretta looking very cool.

 









pose

 










shoe game

 




love the costume jewelry and beads


CHARDAY BULLOCK

 


shes cute right,

strike a pose

pretty earrings

i like the hair tooo.

shoe game



Indian Food One Of My Favorites

i indulged in a delicious lunch today at Tandoor

TANDOOR RESTAURANT 

Tandoor Oven

 Today for lunch I had a delicious meal at Tandoor a local Indian Restaurant located in the heart of Philadelphia's University City. The name Tandoor refers to the ancient traditional clay ovens that are used in India and other eastern parts of the world. It is Cylindrical in form and heat is generated from the Tandoor oven by charcoal or wood. Because clay is a conductor of heat the oven remains hot for long periods of time and allows you to cook larger amounts of food longer.  I enjoy Indian food, it is very similar to dishes prepared in Africa, The Caribbean and even southern regions of the United States.  When eating Indian food your taste buds are going to experience flavors like; cumin,cloves,curry,fennel,bay leaves and paprika to name a few. Today I indulged at the Tandoor buffet and filled my plate with basmati rice, lentils, curry chicken, lamb,  vegetable samosa and a fresh green salad...karimu abena hamilton

Tandoor Oven

cool natural hair style

pretty simple cornrowed and twist up do

being and raised in harlem by a collective of conservative afrocentrists, i was not aloud to wear a perm or process my hair. we were taugth to love our hair in its natural state and to be proud of its wolly texture as my mother would suggest. now of course as i matured , i began to explore wearing my hair in weaves and wigs, i enjoy the versatility. but there is nothing like finding joy in managing your own natural hair.

i was on my way to Reading Terminal of Philadelphia and ran into Deirdra Church. Dierdra Church works with an organization called Food Trusts as a Projects Assistant. As a Project Assistant she is responsible for bringing nutrtional awareness to food providers or grocery stores in low income communites. Dierdra enjoys her job and wearing her hair natural in simple styles which she says should last for about three weeks.......karimu abena hamilton

ms. mary and her awesome vintage jewelry collection

ms.mary

pretty butterfly pins

my late mother barbara gettys hamilton would be defined by some people as a hoarder and others as a Collecter. she was born in the thirties which would mean that she survived segregation, the civil rights movement,the black cultural movement, black and white television,lace tablecloths, depression glass , milk glass, bakelite typewritters and a black president too name a few. i think that people of her generation have experienced soo many cultural transitions that they begin to collect items of thier past. items that bring them back to Sunday dinners as a child, a certain type of pocketbook worn to a formal, a song with lyrics that made them smile. i believe my mother began purchasing her items as a collection of memories. three years later today i am still going through her items and i have found that she loved pretty things...lace , sparkly jewelry, shiny pocket books and colored dishes. i recently ran into a woman in west Philadelphia named ms. mary. never in my life had i met some one whom had such an extensive costume jewelry collection as. no one had my mother beat but i think she comes very close. i walked by her table and had to take a seat. because i could not believe it what a collection!!!!! meet ms. mary she migrated to Philadelphia during the depression from the Carolina's. she is a mother of 6 children and attends church every sunday. she has been collecting for 35 years . she enjoys wearing jewelry and use to go to flea markets to shop. then her friends would call her as they moved out their homes and into assisted living dwellings and offer her some of their collection. she decided then she had tooo much stuff and transformed her collection into a business. she shares a small piece of her legacy with the world 0n 48th and baltimore avenue in west philadelphia  twice a  month on the weekends. karimu abena hamilton