Art as Inspiration at Michaelian Home
Inspiration refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or other artistic endeavor. It comes from the Latin inspirare, meaning "to breathe into". Inspiration can come from many different sources, the Greeks believed it came from muses or gods, something outside themselves. This belief of an outside source started to change in the 18th century towards an inner source when philosophers entertained that inspiration was considered a product of the mind, or ‘winds’ within the mind.
Later in the modern era, psychologists studying the creative process believed that inspiration was the result of the individual’s subconscious or, even deeper still, Carl Jung suggested that the ideas sprang from the collective unconscious. While humans throughout time have sought to describe the mechanics of the creative process, in the end, all we know for certain is that without the hard work and dedication of the artist, the inspiration, no matter where it comes from, would languish unfulfilled.
Since 1920, Michaelian Home has sought to capture the inspired endeavors of artisans around the world. Frank Michaelian began to travel to China, India, Persia, Africa, and Europe to build his rug manufacturing and importing business. When he traveled to these places, he acquired art material of many styles and mediums. Over the years this constant traveling and artwork purchasing built into a grand collection of inspired works. To this day, Michaelian Home still uses original artwork as the inspiration for all of their products.
Michaelian Home suggests themes and concepts to their network of artists. The artists then present original artwork back to Michaelian Home which is modified so that it can be translated into a rug or pillow design. A craftsman then takes the design and creates the resulting hand hooked rug or needlepoint pillow. From newly submitted artwork, Michaelian Home will be adding 3 new pillows, an Atlantic Crab, a Dolphin and an Octopus to its Nautical Collection. These new designs evoke the richly colored life of the seas. It is a realistic inspired vision of sea creatures resting on a sandy bed with seaweed and coral. The companion pillows were also inspired by original art and went through a similar design process.
Since each piece is handmade, the opportunity to expand on the idea, to make the texture and color fit within an existing collection, or modified it into a particular shape or size, ensures that the final designs are unique and are truly a collaboration of inspired minds from around the world.
The story of Frank Michaelian and Michaelian Home
In the autumn of 1922 Frank Michaelian arrived on the overnight steamer ship from Shanghai and entered the port of Chefoo on the northeast coast of mainland China. In the previous year, the twenty five year old Michaelian had established the woven rugs carpet manufacturing and importing company Michaelian and Kohlberg. Michaelian was to later become one of the first Americans to establish carpet exporting offices in the Middle East and India, but early on one of his ambitions was to introduce and train needlepoint carpet weaving skills to artisans in mainland China. Michaelian set up a weaving center in China and between the years of 1924 and 1937, he produced some of the finest examples of needlepoint carpets ever made.
In 1937, with the Japanese invasion of the Chinese coast and the hostilities taking place between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung, Michaelian was forced to leave China. History though does have a habit of repeating itself, and with the opening of China in the early 1980's, he started to import many of the same products. And now, steeped in the tradition and heritage of this industry legend, Frank Michaelian's renowned artistry and unparalleled quality continue to be the hallmarks of Michaelian Home. Jason Sumner, the grandson of Frank Michaelian and the owner of Michaelian Home, has been involved in the home furnishings business since 1981, just three years after Frank Michaelian passed away. And so the legacy continues. Michaelian Home is a company with many accomplishments and it uses all of its prowess to produce designs that are unique to its brand. For instance, the clever decisions on colours and shapes are taken with savvy understanding of what works and what doesn¹t work, what is beautiful and breath taking, and what is familiar and inviting.
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