Meet Coldwarer Canyon Provision.

Coldwater Canyon Provisions hand crafts jams, jellies, pickles, relishes & chutneys using family, heirloom and unique recipes, with the finest California pesticide-free or Certified Organic produce sourced from family farms. Products are always all Vegan, gluten free, and use Kosher ingredients.

"When we prepare our jams and jellies, we enjoy letting the fruit speak for itself.  We only rarely add spices or herbs to our jams, jellies and marmalades, after all, California produce is awesome!  We find the best California produce we can find at the farmers markets so we let the fruit sing, rather than covering it up with other ingredients.   Perhaps you could describe our style as "California rustic??"  Or maybe or style is "Good Old Grandma's??"  

Coldwater Canyon Provisions is based in North Hollywood run by Rondo Mieczkowski who grew up in the Midwest. His Polish family canned just about everything they could.  The company was born after Rondo’s Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam won Best In Show for all jams and jellies at the California State Fair.

"Most of the recipes I use are originally my Grandma's, who lived up on farms in Poland, Canada and Michigan.  Again, if you have a wonderful batch of fresh raspberries or peaches, no need to gild them up with other flavors....let the fruit taste be clear."

Coldwater Canyon Provisions has won a National Good Food Award medal and been featured in various media including Bon Appetit and "Top Ten L.A. Artisan Food Makers," L.A. Weekly and "20 LA Food Artisans You Need To Know," Zagat.com 

"Now our pickles and chutneys (also Grandma's recipes) are where we excel with spices added to the fruit and or vegetables.  We also feature "old school" kinds of pickles, like Pickled Watermelon Rind and Bread and Butter Pickles, things that families regularly used to can and put up, but you can't find nowadays in grocery stores."

"We take advantage of California and its ability to grow such a variety of produce.  Our fruit is only from California including growers we have found who grow mangos, guavas, jalapenos and the Baba Raspberry, a variety that is native to Southern California, discovered in the mountains in 1979.  We continually are learning and finding out new varieties and passing on the successes to our customers."

SHOP Coldwater Canyon Provisions at our upcoming Jackalope Art & Craft Fair at Central Park in Pasadena CA on April 25th & 26th from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

How would you describe your style?  Are there any artists / designers that you particularly look up to?
My personal style is minimal in color but exaggerated in silhouette. I love mixing layers, textures, and neutrals. My wardrobe often becomes a blank canvas for my jewelry to really stand out. I admire the confidence and strength in vision that designers, Mary Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen have for their work with The Row, and the impeccable design sensibilities of Kym Ellery for her namesake brand, Ellery.

What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?
My work is my own simply because it comes from me and my experiences. There's a quality to everything I create that comes from within. When I start to feel lost in the sea of amazing jewelry designers out there, I look to my own center of gravity and find my inspiration again. This act turns good designers into artists. In this way, we're all sharing our own unique messages.  

When do you feel the most creative?
I feel the most creative about 2 seconds after I wake up in the morning, but that creativity is somewhat fleeting. Around my second cup of coffee the juices really start flowing. I also feel creative at the height of boredom. My best ideas come when my mind is clear and free of stress, which is often times at the most random moments. I have a notepad handy at all times to jot down my musings before starting on new wax designs. 

What's the coolest artistic tip you've ever received?
My dear friend and fellow artist, Joy Smith of Communion by Joy shared this notion with me, "there could be a million designers out there, but there is only one you." Such a simple, yet powerful concept that can be so easily forgotten. 

Where can we learn more about you?
My website! www.androgynydesign.com

SHOP Androgyny at our upcoming Jackalope Art & Craft Fair at Central Park in Pasadena CA on April 25th & 26th from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own? 
We think what makes Post Studio unique is that we started by designing simply for ourselves, and we live with, and use all of our products first. We design and make everything by hand, and a lot of energy and love go into everything we create. Color and pattern are key elements in our design sensibility - a blend of mid century modern, op-art, and what we have come to call "California Pop". 

What sort of things inspire you and where do you look for inspiration?
We are inspired by travel. We've been lucky enough to go to some great places like Stockholm, Tokyo and Paris, and each place has sparked inspiration in us. We love catching glimpses into how people in different cities live - what sorts of design trends and color palates are unique to each place, and how people create their own living spaces. Travel also reinvigorates us; when we come home we are always ready to get back to work!

What is your creative process like?
Our creative process is very collaborative and we find that the funnest part is playing with the color palette: we try out a few different arrangements, print each out, and hang them in our apartment and live with them for a few days. Once we're happy with the design, we go into production. We do everything ourselves, and together - we sand and prep the wood, mount the prints, and then mix up resin to finish each piece. It's a meticulous process but it's gratifying to see our designs come to fruition from a concept to a completed work of art.

Where can we learn more about you?  
You can follow us on Instagram @Post_Studio for a glimpse into our creative process, what we're working on, and for pics of things that inspire us. You can go to our website - www.postispost.com - to see our products, a list of stockists, and our Press page where you can check out where we've been featured. Of course, you can come to Jackalope Arts and talk to us in person! We'd love to meet you!

SHOP Post Studio at our upcoming Jackalope Art & Craft Fair at Central Park in Pasadena CA on April 25th & 26th from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

Fashionista - 2nd place winner in Digital Media Arts in the Ventura County Fairgrounds Professional Arts Division Competition - Juried Art Show 2011. Framed Lustre Print - 18" x 24" Runner up of 4 - 2011 Chicago Fringe Festival Poster Design Contest. Featured in  "Art Takes Times Square" - Coffee Table Book - Premier showcase for international contemporary art

Today we're excited to introduce the designer behind our Jackalope logo, and give you a peek into his style, process, and inspirations.  Meet Jonny Blackburn!  

How would you describe your style?  Are there any artists / designers that you particularly look up to?

My works are a mixture and marriage of the all the mediums that I love. Blending the traditional technique where I’m mixing my own colors combining airbrushing and paint strokes capturing them digitally. Sometimes I will take a print and put that on canvas and layer it with random brushstrokes then reuse that random style in a digital medium. This makes for some extremely interesting mixtures and compositions. The coolest things come out that even I didn’t expect. My deigns combined photography, custom Photoshop brush design blending and implementing traditional painting, pop-art, mixed media and street art mediums that are transformed to create colorful, wild and vivid collage-style expressions.

Artists/Designers that inspire me: Blek le rat / Miss Van / Kubiki / Kris Kuksi / Jeff Soto / Todd Schorr / Mark Ryden / WOHA Archetects / Mr. Bungle / Tom Waits

What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own? 

With my art tending to lend itself to a menagerie of "collage-esque" stylings that can be somewhat abstract, There is a method to my madness that is seemingly my own. One which uses many facets of development to create a final piece such as: the fluids used to mix certain paints and inks (Water from the San fransisco bay/ rain water / glues / beer & liquor to name a few) - I sometimes use these elements into physical paintings alone... or will airbrush/splatter them to photograph them for digital application into my works along with other mixed media stylings. I really don't like to think to much about the process.. thinking is too self-aware.. I like to be somewhere in between the "real self/unconscious" and some formulaic active thought.

Ringmaster

What is the most challenging part about being a mixed media artist?

Other than Open Competitions, I can't say just where challenge has been a huge struggle art-wise. Challenge is what it takes to put a smile on everyday amidst all kinds of adversity. Challenge is life. Challenge should be a normal instinct that pushes you forward to create and be diverse without questioning how "hard" things may be. 

As for competitive entries/ judged galleries.. winning or being noticed is usually what the judges art preferences are in the "mixed Media" category. Most people tend to not fully see or want to read long descriptors in how a piece was made, or the 100's of different elements are created... what medium was used, how it was applied.. and so on. 

Am I commercial artist? What’s mixed media? I really enjoy fitting snugly in this gray area undefined.. or help create a new idea of what "mixed media is... and can be" Some mystery is always notable. 


What do you wish you knew about mixed media before you got started?

Since the name alone.. "Mixed Media' sounds so ambiguous, processing my feelings for the category is like making love with a meat-grinder... or watching a plumber work in a tutu.. i just doesn't work for me. I had hoped if any that I would have known it's much more than a few words. It's more like Heavy Experimental Trans-formative stylized thoughts in some beautifully arranged vision held in time. *Heavy Laughter!

What sort of things inspire you?  Where do you look for inspiration?

Microcosms. Asymmetry. My wife Brianna and my neurotically excitable pooch Darla "Peanut" Blackburn. Things that push the boundaries in what the art world wants to pigeonhole or categorize. Wild and exotic things, Vivid Color & Expression. Music. Laughter. That perfect dusk atmosphere right before the sun will set. The Avant Garde. I enjoy rule-breaking the conventional art barriers. Never compromise yourself.  Find your own path and explore down the rabbit hole.

What do you believe is a key element in creating a good composition?

Color, or lack of thereof.. Nothing specifically has to be form-fitting. Act as if your work can reflect the sound of your synapses firing... as if under some serious miss-fire. Like fusion-Jazz on an acid trip. Sometimes, it's just as good as the sound of silence holding your breath underwater near a waterfall.

When do you feel the most creative?

No distraction, complete isolation, Whiskey and quite possibly listening to Tomahawk's - Anonymous Album "Mescal Rite" "Song of Victory" or "Totem" :)

What is your creative process like?

With some formula at first (Ideas to start a base/form to build off of)... then a decent into abstract madness, followed by bout's of laughter and disbelief. Paint will fly, photos will be taken, but the revolution will not be televised indefinitely.

Medusa - Original 1st Print on Giclee Stretched Canvas / Gallery style / wire-Hung.  2nd Place Winner / Mixed Media - VC Country Fair Professional Arts Dept.

Where can we learn more about you?  

You can find my Visual Art & Portfolio @
jonblackburn.sqsp.com
OR
darklineink.com (Webdesign/UX design)

“My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.
”

— Tom Waits