From Toilet Paper Wrapping

A man* walks into my office peddling some merchandise, and pulls out of his jean pocket a small shell cameo wrapped in toilet paper. The design was a little frog on a leaf and the workmanship was amazing. I knew I had never seen anything like it before anywhere, and I have done my fair share of traveling and visits to art galleries and museums. "Who made it?", I asked. The answer, a Wounaan Indian friend. It was not for sale. Since I wasn't interested in what he was selling, that meeting was over. The door was left open for the gentleman to return in case there was something else to offer. ( I always try to leave the door open if I can.)

Six months later. The man returns with some silver jewelry that he had cast from a mold based on the cameo I had seen previously. It was awful, too clumsy, too heavy, impossible to wear. We started talking about the frog cameo I had seen (now destroyed) and he told me the story of how he used to live on the Islands and exported shells to Italy for the cameo trade there. Knowing that the Wounaan Indians from the Darien Rainforest Region of Panama had tradition of carving in cocobolo wood and tagua nuts, he thought they should also be able to make cameos. So he set out to find a carver. It took several months of trial and error, lots of broken shells, before he could claim success. He showed me a couple of pictures of cameos carved by his Wounaan friend that had been set in gold and they were impressive. Gorgeous is a better word to use for them. That evening I showed the pictures at dinner to two guests who are professional art restorers, and they both placed an order on the spot. Voilá, a cameo business was born, just like that.

*name reserved by request

Following the Yellow Brick Road

The stories told my previous blogs "From Toilet Paper Wrapping", "From Panama to Tucson", and "Beverly Hills Missed Out" are just the beginning of the adventures of Rainforest Design®. There has been many a day when I have felt like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, following the Yellow Brick Road. Every encounter has proven to be invaluable in providing some clue as to the route to follow. I always try to pay close attention to the signs I perceive along the way.

After Beverly Hills, it was on to the Big Apple for an appointment with the buyer at Tiffany's. Elaine Rohrbach had made the contact..she had sold to Tiffany's before, so it was reasonable to assume we would have our audience. Not so. Got to the appointment and the buyer said they didn't need any cameos. So we were summarily dismissed without Tiffany's seeing the marvels we had brought with us.

We had another appointment with the Metropolitan Museum which happened to be showing a wonderful exhibit called "Cameo Appearances". The Gift Shop buyer thought our cameos were excellent, but, unfortunately, the Met Gift Shop only sells reproductions. Our Rainforest Design® cameos are all signed, hand carved originals.

With the time remaining in New York, I decided to walk Fifth Avenue on my own in search of a potential client for a New York launch of Rainforest Design®. The best option seemed to be Bergdorf Goodman with their selection of designer jewelry, so I got the name of the buyer and called. She wasn't available for an appointment, but said I could leave photos, which I did, and could speak to her later to get her opinion of them. I think we must have talked on the phone for at least twenty minutes, and the bottom line was that she liked them...but needed to see them on the fashion runways of Paris or Milan first before she was willing to give us space in her showcase, even if on consignment.

So, I came to the conclusion that fashion is not born in New York City, but originates somewhere else. The Yellow Brick Road was leading me to Europe, and the task now was to find a way to get to Paris or Milan. (To be continued)