Islamic Art and Little ole Me

Yesterday afternoon I went to an antique dealer's home. Isa is someone I have known for years but we have never spoken more than ten words together. Usually we see each other at the international antique fairs where her hand is often holding something extraordinary and my hands are itching to have it.

She is one of the best hunters at the antique fairs.

The other day I saw Isa at a flea market. I broke the silence and asked her if I could come to her home and take some photos for a magazine. "Oui bien sur! Sans problem." She said willingly as she touched up her flaming red hair.

               

I  walked away rubbing my hands thinking of the wonderful things that I would see Chez Elle! I imagined 18th century Provencal antiques the type of antiques I have seen in her hands over the years. Small unusual delicacies such as religious relics, ivory chest pieces, gold thread lace, miniature oil paintings, things that Louis 15th had touched...You see Isa has a knack for finding the most amazing, impossible, incredible antiques... Antiques that have price tags on them that make my bank account look like bubble gum money.

          

But nothing, nothing could have prepared me for the mouth dropping experience of what I was about to see. Isa's home was not at all what I had expected. When Isa opened the front door to her home my eyes rolled out before me and I said in English, "Holy Shit!" (I shocked myself red!) Thank God she doesn't speak English bad mouth!

You know I felt like Alice in Wonderland except I was riding the Orient Express and my plain Jane little self seemed so so so soooooooooooo BORINGLY typical by comparison. I fell in love with Islamic art and color yesterday...and please tell me how I am ever going to look at grey white walls again?

             

             

             

             

Honestly, Isa's home seems to have belly dancers, ya ya sisters and mint tea pouring out of the every inch and nook and cranny. I literally stood speechless for 15 minutes and didn't breath.

To say it was a feast for the eyes just doesn't cut the mustard. It was alive, on fire, like a heart on a plate begging you to grab it and stuff it in your chest, and scream, "This is livin'!"

             

I should have known by her shoes that Isa was not an ordinary woman.

             

The endless stories, the countless details, the names of artists, styles, period of pieces washed over me as I sat and stuffed myself with her charm and exotic-ness. I simply could not contain everything she said... So I sat there drinking her in and loving every minute of it.

             

...even the kitchen sink spoke of another world far far away.

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

I took over three hundred photos of one room only. You might say these photos are the tip of the mosque!

Unbelievable! Oh and let me tell you her bathroom! I could die happy there, honestly I could. A sunken tube lined with enormous seashells... there was water in the tub and it was filled with flowers. I looked at Isa and asked, "Do you always leave your bathtub full of water?" She shrugged her shoulders like I didn't understand and walked away.

"Golly gee I am in for a wild and wonderful ride!" I laughed. Isa tugged my hand and said, "The train is moving are you jumping on with me or not?"

I am I am I am.........................

Photos:  Chez Isa. Islamic art and history. More to come as I absorb the experience of my new friend who talks a mile a minute and makes me feel alive.

Notes:

Islamic Art and History.

Clarke and Clarke

Islamic Culture

Travel North Africa here and here.

            

             

Comments

[Enid Schaller]

There is a photo of a tea strainer in this post. My sister has one in her kitchen. It came from her husband's grandmother. This grand lady grew up in India as a privileged British girl and had many interesting treasures and stories. Thank you for bringing them to my mind.
Enid

[rhondi]

I don't know for sure how I found your blog but I sure am glad I did. The adventures you have are wonderful. I love the colors of Tunisia Isa's house is absolutely amazing. I love the colors, the objects, the anmbience...everything. Thanks for a delightful read! Rhondi

[michele]

SUBLIME!

[Gina]

Wow, we are having the same reaction looking at your photos. What an amazing place!

[Nora]

Oh, this happens to me every time I visit Morocco. I become SO engrossed with the jewel colours, I buy and buy and buy, only to come back to Australia... And give everything away! They don't match my all white home! :)

[liz elayne]

her house looks like the very definition of magical. oh my goodness...i just want to jump inside each of these photos (and redo my entire house!).

[Betty @ She's Sew Pretty]

Holy sh*t is right!! Wow! I love color and I love eclectic decorating. Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine what my pink crocs are saying about my house. LOL

[Marva]

Oh my gosh!!!! I had to laugh when you wrote what you said, but I can see why!!! Oh how wonderful it would be to visit! Such wonderful treasures! Marva

[Miss Maddie's]

What beautiful vibrant colours.
You never know where chance meetings and your camera lens may take you.
Oh yes I love her shoes too!
Susan

[shirleymcc]

what a feast for the eyes! An exotic port transported to a foreign land...

[Gillian @ Indigo Blue]

Oh my Corey. The unexpected bonuses of your new job. You must have just loved her, and her warm, welcoming home. I love the tub idea, filled with flowers.
All those colours, what a lovely feast for the eyes. She is lucky it was you who went to take the photos, you appreciate the world in all it's beauty.
xo
Gillian

[Tamara Giselle]

Amazing photos. She has that air of mystique and you are right the shoes tell alot about a person don't they?

[liannallama]

oh, what a fantastic and beautiful home! Absolutely stunning! I love the color and pattern. I could easily die happy here! I hope you keep us updated if this goes into a magazine! WOW!

[Ariane]

WOW! WOW! WOW! I understand your reaction totally. What a gorgeous home. I love all the color. I would love to see photos of the bathroom too. The tub of seashells and flowers sounds wonderful.

[laura]

Oh my! Please, please more pictures...i can completely understand why you couldn't breathe! Those colours are so rich and gorgeous..more, morrrrrrrrrrreeeee!

laura

[Travelingmama]

Corey, this is fantastic! What a wonderful representation of the mysterious and fascanating style that surrounds us here! Even here in Morocco many of those treasures would be hard to come by. Isa obviously has a good eye and a keen sense of style. At times when some try to achieve this style they go overboard and the eye has nowhere to rest, but that is obviously not the case with Isa's beautiful home! She has found a wonderful balance with color and pattern. Thank you so much for sharing!

[Lee]

So you liked it, then?

[Sugar]

Wow ~ absolutely amazing! Isa captured the true spirit of Islamic culture ~ colorful, sensual, and mysterious. Every object seems to have a story to tell, but only when you touch it does it come alive. In this day and age where sometimes all things Islam envoke not so flattering emotions ~ I bet Asa could bridge the gap with wonderful stories!

[Elaine L.]

I can see you feeling very at home in this exotic splendor. My husband loved the colors of Morocco and keeps saying he wants to take me there. Someday . . .

~elaine~

[Carolyn Peeler]

what a bright atmospheric space she has designed. Thanks for sharing Cory!

[Diogenes]

Well Ms Corey,

Once again you had me laughing out loud at one of your clever descriptions!

I always have a good time and a bit of an adventure when I come here.

[the farmers wife]

Now that I've caught my breath, I had to come back and say that the third photo, with the golden tones and everything covered in exotic text....is so beautiful. A calligrapher's dream.

[Cynthia G]

Corey
Fabulous Fine..... Right, there in Provence
The Photos are so vibrant and beautiful
It's as if you physically transformed us.... with just
a mouse click to "Morocco"....You can almost
smell the sandalwood enscents burning in the back
ground and just to the side...... on the table
the steamy Theiere full of mint tea, really to pour into
the ornamented red/gold glasses and there's probably
a brass tray full of magnificent filo dough pasties filled
with pistachios ,almond paste and dates
Maybe next time she'll invite you for
"Tangine Chicken with Green Olive"......Call me!!!
Her home is truly a Arabian night paradis
HAPPY BIRTHDAY "In 5 Days"

[Alexandra]

Fantastic house! I'd love to see her bathroom with that tub. I love shells and beautiful tile.

[Cindy]

wow her home is absolutely gorgeous!! SO inspiring!! i love the colors, especially in the first picture w/ the turquoise and the splash of yellow on the walls... WOW!!

[Lynne]

Just incredible!

[Chantal]

This is a most enchanting, sumptuous invigorating and dreamy house!! I surely would not mind living there :-)

[the boogeyman's wife]

such beautiful photos! they remind me of my marrakesh, it's like entering a whole other world. the islamic style is so lively and full of color, yet it's hard to picture in my house even though i hate white walls. your home is beautiful as is, with a style all its own - don't stress the white-grey walls!

[Lorie]

Holy Harem, Batman! It looks like the set of a movie. That is amazing. It's wonderful how creative people live...

[Jill]

The house of Isa is fabulous, but I think I prefer the quiet tones of whites, greys, ivories, pale sea blues.. I might find myself getting jittery with such bright colors leaping out from every direction - lovely as they are!

[qualcosa di bello]

holy mother of pearl!!! i am now certain i have not properly lived...every woman should know an isa!!!

& now i am going to fill my tub & float a flower or two...

[carolyn]

WOW!

[Islandsparrow]

i love blue...

magical!

[Colette]

You found the motherlode! Everything is absolutely GORGEOUS! But, about going back to your grey-white walls, look at it this way: after living amid such richness in my Lebanese grandmother's house (although she was not Moslem but Catholic, she was still une orientale), I needed my minimalist surroundings to balance it all out.
xoxo

[TACE]

You crack me up... Your first comment upon seeing Ilsa's home is sooooooo funny.
And the photos, ohhh boy I do love those bright splashes of blue!!! It must have been hard to resist the urge to dig about while there, sooo many interesting things. My fingers would have been itching like mad wanting to touch and feel anything else I could get my hands on.
Big smiles from me, thanks for sharing the photos.

[marita]

aahh... isa still lives in her maghreb world! surrounded by bright colored objects of her home land, never boring always exciting, listening to and dreaming 1000-and 1 nights every day again!
lovely images corey!

[Candy]

I love the stained glass! I love the color!! I "get" color. My house is (at last count) painted in 25 different colors. Maybe I should blog about that sometime. It's been a metamorphosis that came alongside my deciding to live life in full color by opening wide and letting go. I love your home - your gray walls with all that romance spilling out of it. But I couldn't live without color. I have to have it! But this is gorgeous!! I can't wait to see more. I just wish I'd seen your face when she opened the door and beckoned you inside!!

[tommie]

Those were phenomenal! I love the big white gate (?) on the wall above the sofa....Please let me know when these are published. I will run right out and get a copy!!

[lila]

It so reminds me of visiting Maryam's blog, My Marrakesh, which I found through your blog last year!
Seeing Iva's home, and yours too, is such a treat for "armchair travelers"!

[Mary]

It's just beautiful, and although I have the red hair, I could not live with all the colour on a daily basis. Corey, if you decide to change your decor (and I just know you wont - please don't!), but if you do, may I please come to your garage sale?

Did Isa serve something exotic to drink? I recently visited a Persian rug shop on an errand for a friend. The elderly owner was charming, invited me to sit and talk about London where he has family, and served me an exotic glass of fragrant tea with pistachios to nibble - so enchanting - such a gentleman.

[Passementerie]

How completely fabulous! I suppose that if you are a collector you have to narrow your own home down to a certain theme and stick with that, but still... I'm so glad you shared these pictures with us!

[rel]

Corey,
You are really a woman of understatement.....Holy Shit doesn't quite cover it! Wow, yes wow. What a magnificent homescape to feast your senses with.
It gives credence to the belief that at first blush you can't tell what's in a person's heart, nor their home.
These incredible flashes of serendipity are what drive us to get up in the morning just to see what the day brings.
Your article portends to be outstanding!
rel

[Lea]

Oh Corey...

You've been bit, oh have you been bit!!! You will indeed, never, ever look at color and shape in the same way ever, ever again. Wow. What an amazing, incredible experience! I love it!!! XO

[missy]

endless, endless magic---the always present possiblity of the ineffable--the meaning of 'life'
thanks Isa and to you Corey for sharing.....

[Amy]

After the shock wears off, I'm going to go cry. Then I'm coming to move in with Isa. Amazingly unbelievable. Usually, I have some witty little anecdote for you, but today.....just...wow. I really do have tears....her home is that beautiful.

[Paris Parfait]

Her place rivals what I saw when living in the Middle East! Gorgeous pieces and a gorgeous and interesting woman, as well. How lucky you are that you got to visit her home and photograph it for an article. Thanks for sharing these photos with us. Hard to imagine anyone could want a minimalist environment after such stunning Islamic art!

[annieelf]

How jaw-droppingly gorgeous. You can be forgiven for the potty mouth. I would have said the same thing. OMG, I cannot WAIT to see that photo shoot when it comes out (not to mention the beautiful story you will create to go with it. What magazine will it be in so we can keep a watchful eye open?

[Miss Sandy]

Corey,
I think my have a good time wish was an understatement! Words probably cannot describe your experience. The tile upon which your new friends shoe rests sparked a jolt of desire in me to be you for just a small moment in time! I want to remove my shoes and place bare feet against the cool aqua tile, as if standing on holy ground, and gaze in awe and wonder at all that magnificiant color and texture!

[susanna]

Oh, Corey, I am soooo happy that you had such a wonderful experience with Isa! It sounds like you were given an infusion of creativity and colour. And how wonderful is it that you were surprised with the beautifully unexpected?! I'm yearning for that in my own life these days. Really, it sounds like you just stepped into a Middle Eastern fairytale and met the princess heroine. And that portrait you've taken of her really captures her spirit. She looks like a fascinating woman.

[deirdre]

I want my house to stand very close to Isa's and absorb some of that lush color. What a feast it must be.