Product Placement: Brookside Chocolate Acai

Brookside's Dark Chocolate Acai (with Blueberry) are our EVERYTHING! Have you eaten three, no four a million of these things yet?! If not, check them out. Great little treat AND acai is a super food! #LittleKnownFact #ForReal

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We do get a little attached to the pieces that come in our store so we love seeing them in your home and how you've used them! Barb shared this photo of her Maria Justice monogrammed "Beat Navy" pillow and two green pillows behind (all from Clutter) and we just love the look she achieved.

If you bought something from Clutter and want to show it off, we'd love to see what it looks like at your house! Feel free to send photos to clutterconsignments@gmail.com!  Cheers.

Obsessions of the Week: 12MAY to 18MAY13

Some things we're obsessed with this week:

• Instagram....now we get what all the fuss was about. Pictures, washes, low lights, high lights...we are digging Instagram hardcore this week. Bottom line up front: you will probably get annoyed with our over-eagerness this week on our new favorite social medium.
• shopSCAD on Instagram. Holy cow! We love this store. The art is off the chains and the pictures of the art are even more bananas. We love Instagram so much this week that it got TWO obsessions!
• Getting F-I-T! Whether you're on the Paleo diet or you're doing a ballet workout, getting fit makes the whole rest of the day a little brighter! We are obsessed with pinning workout/get fit ideas on Pinterest (@Brookdalyn or @ClutterSavannah)...now we just have to get around to getting obsessed about ACTUALLY doing the workouts!
• "Modern Vampires of the City". Vampire Weekend's new album comes out this week and we got an awesome sneak peak of their forthcoming sound on this weekend's SNL with host, Kristen Wiig. They combine their usual sound with a little funk, a little gospel, and maybe a little rockabilly for what looks to be and awesome new album!!

Clutter Book Club: The Great Gatsby

This week's CBC selection is F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic, "The Great Gatsby".  You probably read it in high school...and you probably re-read it in preparation for the Baz Luhrmann theatrical vehicle starring Leo/Carrie/Tobey that came out this weekend. Let's talk Gatsby...what you love, what you remember, if the movie or book was better...below.  And knock back some of our Work Hard Play Hard: F. Scotch Fitzgerald & Sodas to make the whole book club experience that much more enjoyable!!

Work Hard Play Hard: F. Scotch Fitzgerald & Soda

In honor of this weekend's debut of Baz Luhrmann's interpretation of the classic "Great Gatsby"...our Work Hard Play Hard drink is a simple one with a hella clever title (if we do say so ourselves). 

Know back a few "F. Scotch Fitzgerald & Sodas" and you'll be feeling like you own the own the world like Jay Gatsby.

F. Scotch Fitzgerald & Soda

Ingredients:

• Scotch (2oz)
• Club Soda

Pour Scotch into a sophisticated tumbler. Turn on some Lana del Rey.  Fill tumbler with club soda. Drink! (responsibly...)

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"Banyan." (Kaka'ako Beach Park, May 2013)

"Pack n Play." (Kaka'ako Beach Park, May 2013)

"Pipe." (Kaka'ako Beach Park, May 2013)

Hawaii is a cultural hodgepodge of decadence and destitution. On average, around seven million people vacation on the Hawaiian Islands every year, and while areas of downtown Waikiki and the North Shore are flush with cash, poverty and homelessness is a huge epidemic especially among local Hawaiian families and communities.  Our "Paradise" photo series juxtaposes the dichotomy of our beautiful, temporary home.

Summer Style

From clothes to home décor, it's time to lighten up and get ready for summer, y'all! Here's our short and sweet style guide for what you need this summer to survive the sun and look good doing it!!

Every Southerner needs a koozie come summertime...and what better way to keep your beer cold and your hand warm than with this great "Shop Local" koozie from Clutter.  Support local business and drink your face off at the same time!! (Drink your face off responsibly...we meant).

Colored gemstones are so hot during this so hot season! This amethyst was mom's (I stole it...woops) and now I wear it in honor of my daughter, Violet. It's a great way to lighten up a look and funk up your fingers!

Nothing screams summer more than these bright blue lawn chairs. Electric blue is IN and throw these in your back yard to brighten it up, break up all the green, and have a comfy, cool place to sit.

It's margarita season, y'all! And, though you can't use your Shop Local koozie to carry your marg in, you can knock back some of our favorite rita recipes at all this summer's pool parties in practically any container (we like a great Solo cup!).

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Vintage AdWatch from Elle Décor (June 2012) with this beautiful ad for Restoration Hardware showing off their standard rustic chic look and featuring a gorgeous deconstructed fainting couch.  Deconstructed furniture is a unique look and not everyone gets it...but in the right space with the right material (burlap, linen) it can look AMAZING! Come stop by Clutter for some great deconstructed pieces in store now and talk to us about how to make them work in your home.

Get To Know: Sam Bryer

We Facebook stalked local artist, Sam Bryer, for awhile.   Nothing crazy...no Single White Female moments...but we drooled over her art, fawned over her beautiful website (SamBryerPaints), and saved up until we could own an amazing SB original (see "The Patriot's Wife" below).  Now, she has graced Clutter with three (THREE!) original works and we are happy to have her in store and to highlight her here.  Please, get to know a little bit about the ultra talented Sam Bryer:

Sam Bryer

Owner, SamBryerPaints.com

Artist, Creator, Poultry Enthusiast

CLUTTER FURNISHINGS AND INTERIORS: When did you first start painting?  What inspired you to make art?
SAM BRYER: I really can’t remember a time when I didn’t make some kind of art. I was lucky to have a mom who indulged my creative impulses no matter how messy or involved they got. She kept a whole cupboard filled with cheap art and craft supplies and let me go to town whenever I felt inclined. We didn’t have a TV, so I spent most of my free time reading and exploring the neighborhood, and then turning the things I read and experienced into art projects. I didn’t do much painting until college –  the huge variety of mediums and techniques was kind of overwhelming before I took a class that showed me what you could do with them.

CF&I: What draws you to the world of elegantly painted chicken portraits?
SB: People have a lot more in common with chickens than you’d think. I discovered this when I moved into a house here in Savannah that came with its own batch of hens. They are proud, curious critters with unique personalities and complex social structures. They are also hilarious and sweet. Since much of my work right now uses humor to comment on how people perceive themselves and each other, it wasn’t much of a leap to use chickens as stand-ins. Using animals to depict the characters I observe around me allows for both a broader audience and broader interpretation of the images and symbolism layered into the portraits. There is also something really fun about juxtaposing classical techniques with absurd and unexpected subjects.

CF&I: What is your favorite medium to work with?
SB: It varies depending on the type of art or image that I am making, and if I am completely honest, my mood swings as well. I regularly fall in and out of love with entire aisles at the art store that are specific to one medium or another. At the moment, I really dig the immediacy and versatility of acrylic, as well as the challenge of using it in a way normally relegated to oil painting. 

CF&I: Who are your artistic influences?
SB: I think the narrative component to my work has been highly influenced by the old-school illustrators and painters that I was exposed to as a young artist. Arthur Rackham, N.C. Wyeth, Thomas Hart Benton - I spent many many hours immersed in the worlds they were able to create with a couple of well placed lines and brushstrokes. More recently I have found Claes Oldenburg to be inspiring on many levels. He’s never been afraid to make art that is both smart and fun.

CF&I: What artist, past or present, would be your dream professor?
SB: I would have loved to have Georgia O’Keefe as a mentor. One of the very first documentaries I ever saw was about her life and art, and it made a huge impression on me. Not only did she know her way around a paintbrush, she was incredibly intelligent, articulate and ambitious, and she managed to stay true to herself throughout her career. Plus, I suspect her classes would include a lot of spontaneous field trips into the desert.

CF&I: What is the best thing about going to school at SCAD?

SB: That would definitely have to be the folks I have met. I’ve had the opportunity to learn from and work with some pretty amazing artists.

CF&I: What is your guilty pleasure?

SB: Watching dance competitions ­­­– especially anything involving hip-hop or break dancing. As far as I’m concerned, people who can dance well are magical beings sent to make the planet more interesting.

CF&I: Describe your work in five words.
SB: More than meets the eye.