Llamas' Valley / Autumn issue preview

October 2013

PERFECT PLACES - IMPERFECT PEOPLE

PRE

VIE

W

EDITOR’S LETTER

Alge Ramanauskiene Editor-in-Chief

Llamas’ Valley alge@llamasvalley.com We each have a story to tell. Whether it be a story that will last for a second, or a life story.

The story I’d like to tell you began about two years ago.

It was me, a girl from somewhere in the middle of nowhere, running like a fool, struggling to cope with tons of never ending work problems. Taking little failures as major tragedies. Taking it all too seriously, too deep and straight into the heart. A girl who kept forgetting to raise her head and sometimes, at least sometimes, enjoy those little things – the smell of rain, the softness of dry moss in the forest, the bitterness of coffee, the strength of a hug. She forgot it all except for one thing.

She never stopped dreaming big.

And then of a sudden something made this girl stop.

Something made her listen to herself. Just as though something had exploded inside her. She realized that her dreams can’t wait forever. That there is no better time to fulfill your dreams than… now.

What did she do? She simply quit her former life saying that it’s never too late to figure out who you really want to be in your life. She was convinced that even in our stressed out world there is space and time

for slow living, for joy, for true things and thoughts.

She started looking for that perfect place in which people create their everydayness out of simple pleasures. She thought it would be great to write her dreams down on a white page and to share it with others who are looking for that courage to start it all from a white page.

And so Llamas’ Valley was born – a thought-out place where one can relax, forget all the worries and indulge oneself in the slow world of big dreams. The place that you’re in right now.

Starting to fill that first white page was far from easy.

It was a long and slow journey. Going up and falling down. And then again – up and down... But it was the most interesting journey she ever experienced. And it still is. Today – more than ever!

Don’t be afraid to start it all over again and again, till you find your very own perfect place to fulfill your imperfect, yet big dreams.

Cover image production: Carline van Oel, Christine Bauer Photography: Christine Bauer

2

Llamas' valley

CARLINE VAN OEL interior stylist

TIM ADAMI

El Ramanauskas

http://carlinevanoel.com

Photographer

Art director, interactive design

http://timadami.com

Instagram: @elas_ram

Christine Bauer Photographer

http://christinebauer.com

OLGA LEMPERT Proof editor

NADIA GRIC

Photographer http://nadiagric.com/

INDRE BLAUZDZIUNAITE Author

https://www.facebook.com

MILDA BENDORAITYTE Photographer

http://www.mildabendoraityte.com

6

Autumn poetry by Carline van Oel, Christine Bauer

The Challenge of Paris

34

4

The magic of simplicity by Nandu Jubany

CONTENT White World of Elena Gardin

20

A concentration of flavor

70 4

Llamas' valley

Download Llamas’ Valley magazine interactive edition on your iPad

Available on the App Store now

Production: Carline van Oel, Christine Bauer Photography and text: Christine Bauer

The poetry of

Autumn T

6

rees, plants, flowers, grass – we love them in summer; enjoying their beauty and fragrance makes us happy. During the winter months, they hide under the snow somewhat forgotten. Yet with a closer look you can discover a second, less obvious beauty in fall.

Dry leaves or withered flowers deform into delicate sculptures, leafless branches turn into Llamas' valley

graphic works of art, and even the ordinary bulb shows its hidden artistic side. Now, as the days get shorter and the mist rises in the fields, we have brought the faded beauty home and refined it with chalk wall paint into tender pastel shades. To make it less morbid simply combine the faded greens with modern design and a few casual vintage pieces.

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

â‚Ź1.50

Text: Indre Blauzdziunaite Photography: Tim Adami

WHITE WORLD OF ELENA GARDIN

8

Llamas' valley

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

â‚Ź1.50

Llamas' valley

9

Text: Alge Ramanauskiene Photography: Nadia Gric

THE CHALLENGE OF PARIS

10

Llamas' valley

W

hen designer Arturas Sargaitis moved from his native Lithuania to France six years ago, he was unsure what he would do there. Today his home in Paris’ Le Vésinet suburb is full of his singular creations: light fixtures, furniture, even handmade shoes.

The most unexpected details attract the eye in this house. The owner could tell at least a brief story about each of them. Arturas’ greatest passion are lamps. He is very excited to share the way he first works on the computer, then makes blueprints, then paper models, and finally folds successful designs out of plastic. This is a very precise job, because the slightest mistake leads to the folds not matching up. As he speaks, Arturas keeps demonstrating folded models which the house is full of. They seem endless.

Later, it transpires that Arturas is also a cobbler. He shows three pairs of shoes he has designed. He punched each and every hole in the sandals and made the layered sole out of thick pigskin, so the shoes are heavy but look impeccable.

The designer goes on to tell us how he painted the walls in his house, made a double-top desk for his office out of a wardrobe, and pasted its surface over with clothes patterns from old fashion magazines. How he improves old school chairs he finds in the street by attaching wheels to some, upholstering others in cow fur or leather, or just painting. How the elegant cloth on the little table is actually… concrete, and how the lamp in the hallway he made of dishwasher grates, and how if he wanted, he could make almost anything.

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

€1.50

Llamas' valley

11

Text: Indre Blauzdziunaite Photography: Can Jubany

Special thanks to Eva Torrents (DĂ­vik) and Carles Barbero (Barcelona Design Week)

THE MAGIC OF SIMPLICITY

BY NANDU JUBANY

12

Llamas' valley

P

acing to and fro in the kitchen, stirring a pan, filling the boiling pot with the ingredients, touching the meat to see whether it’s ready, stirring the sautéed paella again, checking the stew in the oven... Ingredient after ingredient, with an open mind, feet firmly steady to the ground, heart pounding with emotions, mind clear and always restless... This is the way chef Nandu Jubany, owner of Michelin-starred restaurant Can Jubany, daily falls in love with food and turns it into contemporary culinary passion.

Why not serve sushi in aperitif glasses, or make egg-shaped truffles, why not heat what’s supposed to be cold or freeze a normally warm plate? This is what turns Nandu’s kitchen into the Cuisine of Senses – a place to experience traditional tastes in a different way.

“Mr. Nandu, when did you decide you wanted to be a chef ?” I ask Nandu Jubany in the lobby of a five-star hotel where he captains the kitchen once a week.

“What else can you become when both of your parents are chefs, grandma teaches you to cook, and all your chores are kitchen related?”

Nandu laugs. “To be honest, I hated cooking and restaurants when I was little. It was always taking

away my time. My parents never had enough time to play with me, because they owned a restaurant which required plenty of time and efforts.

At the age of 13 I was helping my grandma in the kitchen, and surprisingly I began enjoying it. The enjoyment was increasing incrementally, until together with my wife (chef Anna Orte) we started to dream up our own restaurant concept. In 1995 this dream materialized into Can Jubany, our family restaurant.”

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

€1.50

Llamas' valley

13

Text: Alge Ramanauskiene Photography: Nadia Gric

A DESIRE TO PERFORM

14

Llamas' valley

B

ritish artist Olivia Bliss enjoys life in Paris to the fullest. Although this city makes her want to sing jazz more than develop her printmaking practice, Olivia is happy doing the job she’s dreamed of since childhood. The charms of Paris? Oh yes! In its fullness…

– Olivia, how does your creative work reflect your personality?

– For me there is a strong connection between thoughts, emotions and creative expression, so it’s only natural that different aspects of my personality come out through my music and art.

Art enables me to express my theoretical ideas and connections with the environment, in a tactile and perhaps conceptual manner (head).

Whereas music, I have a strong connection with an expression which instinctively comes from within (heart). Singing is perhaps an emotional connection, also paired with a desire to perform. This desire has been with me since I was very young. Last March I performed at my dad’s 60th birthday party and a family friend told me how when I was as young as 3, he could see this performer in me. I have also thought, that friends who have not seen me sing, haven’t seen (or heard!) a big part of my personality.

I can also make the distinction between my art being more of a solitary creative activity and music being more social and group based, both of which fulfill different parts of my character.

– How do you like Paris? This must be an exciting experience! How did you end up living and creating in this city?

– Paris is very different being a tourist than living here, but yes, I do love living here. I had always dreamt of living in Paris, learning French, enjoying the exhibitions and singing in the jazz bars here. I believe that when you have an idea or a dream, you have to make it happen. This was the advice given to me by my Performing Arts teacher Mr. Smith when I was 16.

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

€1.50

Llamas' valley

15

Text: Alge Ramanauskiene Photography: Milda Bendoraityte

A CONCENTRATION OF FLAVOR

16

Llamas' valley

Llamas' valley

17

“Just stay”, were the magic words pronounced by Venetian Daniele Vallot to the beautiful American tourist Brittany Hymore after they met on her second day visiting the canal city. That was 14 years ago. Today they are proud and happy parents to two lovely little Venetians. For three years the couple lived in San Francisco where Daniele worked as a residential architect and Brittany – as an interior designer.

But their heart finally brought them back to Venice where they now collaborate on interior design projects bringing their experience from the States and their European roots and soul.

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

18

Llamas' valley

€1.50

- Brittany, Daniele, being both architects and interior designers, did you design your home in Venice yourself ? What was your vision?

- We fell in love with our home from the first moment we stepped inside. What impressed us from the very beginning was the potential to have a place that, unlike most flats on the Grand Canal, had a setting of modern character.

In fact our home, despite its location on the third floor of Ca‘Duodo, an early 15th century Gothic Palace, underwent a modern renovation in the late 60’s in the style of Carlo Scarpa who was a very famous Venetian Architect from that period.

The vision that we had for our place was to reflect this peculiar characteristic.

In designing the house, we decided to keep the original layout that had a high and long central cell with several side rooms. The front of the house is characterized by sloppy ceilings and exposed beams. The interiors are a collection of past and present, juxtaposed to reflect modern day comfort in an elegant old world setting. We’ve used modern-day upholstered pieces combined with fine and rustic antiques and dark and light tones playing off each other to furnish rooms that are welcoming and presenting a timeless quality.

Llamas' valley

19

IN AN INSTANT

Stephanie McCombie

Instagram @ifitwags 20

Llamas' valley

Read the whole Autumn issue online for only

â‚Ź1.50

Llamas' valley

21

STAY WITH LLAMAS’ VALLEY

@llamasvalley