Absinthe Minded that is.
This is a delightful store that I discovered quite serendipitously through this very blog.
I check regularly to see how people found this blog, and among my list of referrers, I saw that people who had visited absintheprimrose.blogspot.com had also come to see me. So I went across in the other direction, and found not just a nice link to Prim Perfect but also the blog for Absinthe Minded, run by Absinthe Primrose. And not only does her store have a great name – it has a great product too!
Although she is now starting to diversify (as you can see on her blog), when I called in to the store, the most prominent thing on display was the collection of pots and other ceramics – and they really are lovely, being a sort of weatherbeaten stone, like something that might have been unearthed from an ancient, long-lost Etruscan villa.
Just right for my new villa, in fact – and I’ll be getting some very soon!
Interestingly, the texture is a result of the technique Absinthe has been using to make them. These are sculptie pots, but when she started making them, Absinthe found herself disappointed with the appearance of conventionally textured sculpties when viewed from a distance.
Then she discovered that giving them this slightly battered, weather-beaten appearance worked rather well, both at a distance and close up. And the rest, as they say, was history.
I admire Absinthe for starting from a small product base that she does extremely well. But she doesn’t just use her stone to make pots for plants (and pots that are very attractive without any plants at all), she also makes outdoor stoves and tree planters that have surrounds large enough to sit on.
You can see some lovely photos of all Absinthe’s items on her blog. It’s a good wide range within its own market niche, and having achieved that, she’s now expanding into other areas as well. Her deckchairs and shades look lovely, but I do hope that she’ll continue her really high quality work with ceramics and develop this end of her business too. Let’s encourage her by going and having a look at Absinthe Minded – either at the current store in This Land, or the new store being constructed in Skyridge.
Prim Perfect 