ojai blog - news and events in the Ojai community

Ojai Tailor

this just in from a reader...

Jacques the Tailor at Ourovoros Gallery in Ojai

Ojai resident Jacques Malkhassian is now offering his expert tailoring services for men and women at Ourovoros Jewelry + Art gallery, located at 323 E. Matilija St. #112 in Ojai.

Trained in Paris, Jacques has over 50 years of experience as a professional tailor and he has custom made suits for many celebrities, including Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Magic Johnson and Charles Aznavour.

Stop by the gallery to see this world-class tailor at work. Jacques has a selection of suits which can be fit to your size or he can custom design clothing, suits, dresses, anything you would like. You may also bring him clothing for alterations.

Ourovoros is open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6, and Sundays from 10 to 3. For more information, please call 805-640-3700.

Ourovoros

Ourovoros says:

We're having a huge sale at Ourovoros Gallery & the Bali Trading Co. in Ojai, 30 to 50 % off on all the furniture and sculpture!!

Come check it out at 323 E. Matilija St. #112. For more info, please call (805) 640-3700.

Meet the Men of Ojai

Meet the calendar models & give the gift that gives!
The Men of Ojai 2007 Calendar "Liberation"
Calendar Signing & Artist Reception

This Saturday,
December 16th  6 to 9pm
at Celtic Carma Salon
34 North Palm St. Ventura, CA 93001
805.798.0929   www.majiquephoto.com

Expecting moms - check this out

Renee Mandala, MA, CD(DONA), CLC, certified lactation counselor and doula is offerring FREE 15 minute breastfeeding consultations on Tuesday, December 12 from 1 - 3 pm at the Mother's Guild in Ventura. Call to reserve a space at 805-667-2115.  The Mother's Guild is a retail store well-stocked with everything new moms and babies could need and want.  It is located at 3130 Loma Vista Road, Ventura 93003.

Holiday Open House at Fibre Arts

Fibre Arts Design Studio invites you to a Holiday Open House on Saturday December 16 from 2-5pm.

Share the holiday spirit, view our student art show, win great prizes, and give the gift of creative experience to your favorite person this holiday season.

this looks fun!

Couple new jobs in town

Check out OjaiJobs.com for a couple interesting new positions at the Ojai Music Festival...

Ojai artists online: Ojai Originals

I received the following press release - check it out, nice website.  Vicki's Soaps make a great Christmas gift, hint hint!

Ojai’s Artistic Treasures Can Now be Found Online

Nestled in a valley below the Topa Topa Mountains, Ojai is a thriving community of creative people.  Painters, potters, actors and musicians have long settled in this special place to enjoy its unique beauty and energy.  However, many local artists and crafts people may only show their work at their studios once a year or perhaps at the weekly Farmers Market. In order to share their art with the world, Ojai artisans have now come together to form an online store called OjaiOriginals.com. You can now discover what is being created in Ojai, right on the web.

Founders Carolyn Fox, David Reeser and Margaret Nies are enthusiastically spreading the word about the new store. Carolyn is known as a painter, her husband David as a printmaker and Margaret is a crafts woman.

Says Carolyn:

“Over the past 20 years we have enjoyed discovering the wealth of artists and crafts people in the Ojai Valley.  Many artisans in Ojai have wonderful work that can only be seen on studio tours or at special events.  With this realization we decided to create a collaborative website to share the artistic riches we have in our “backyard” with the world. After several months of hard work, www.OjaiOriginals.com is here and happening. Dave is doing the web design, I am coordinating the artisans and Margaret is our marketing advisor and contributor.”

Ojai Originals is now ready with the first selections of Fine Art, Quilts, Jewelry, Ceramics, Lamps, Pillows, Soaps, Wearable Art and Cards. This month David Reeser's vivid woodcuts will be featured. David is a classically-trained painter and consummate printmaker who uses traditional techniques to create distinctly modern works of art. His art shows how organic form and gestural lines move and interact in an energized space of color, producing motion, emotion and light. His woodcut prints are made with the subtraction technique, where a light color is printed then the block is cut away and the next darker or contrasting color is overprinted. The prints are made up of between eight and fourteen layers of color.

You can view them online at www.OjaiOriginals.com or see them in person through January at Ojai Digital (home of Ojai Originals) 451A East Ojai Ave. in Ojai.  

The Reason For The Season

This holiday season celebrate in good fun and lively spirit with Ojai’s Merry Merchants   in Downtown Ojai. The Merchants Committee of the Ojai Valley Chamber Commerce is planning something special for you every Saturday in December before Christmas.  Many stores and restaurants will be open til 9 p.m.  The Poppy Fountain in the Arcade Plaza is the gathering spot for the following events -

At 4 p.m. Saturday, December 2nd multi-cultural seasonal tales will be told to delight and enthrall children of all ages.  Bring a blanket to sit on the lawn and listen to Julie Tumamait, Ron Rowe, Buddy Wilds, and Ricki Horne telling Native American, Christmas and Hannukah stories. At 5 p.m enjoy the official lighting up of the arcade plaza’s inner courtyard.

On Saturday, December 9th, the activities will feature our furry friends with a dog parade and contest sponsored by Noah's Apothecary at 3:00 p.m. Judges will award prizes for Best of Show, cutest, funniest, and most festive.  And at 4:00 p.m. you are invited to romp with your special Bowser on an agility course complete with professional instruction.

Don¹t miss a Community Sing-a-long on Saturday December 16th at 4 p.m. Bring your voice and the Ojai Valley News will provide the songbooks with familiar carols.  Sing with members of the Nordhoff High School Chorus, Youth Symphony, and Community Chorus.  Kids from Jewish Community of the Oaks will join in with Hanukkah songs and a menorah lighting to follow.

It¹s to be a party scene on the last Saturday before Christmas, December 23rd.  Cruise downtown to see and be seen, shop, snack, and schmooze with the Merry Merchants of Ojai.

Some of the December highlights among our participating merchants:

• Rains Department Store plans some great specials during December.

• The Lavender Inn on Matilija Street plans a cookie exchange party on Dec. 16th

- bring 4 dozen homemade cookies, and go home with a different selection

  after enjoying hors d’oevres, cranberry martinis and eggnog.

• At Around the Corner/Plush Surroundings on South Signal Street, a different artist will be featured at receptions each Saturday.

• Next door, Firehouse Pottery's Clay School will host a student pottery sale on Saturday, December 2.

• Donate money to buy a goat, cow, camel, or sheep for an African Nomad family

and receive a print of a Leslie Clark painting at Nomad Gallery.

• Visit Ojai House, and Soul Centered on North Montgomery for refreshments and in store specials.

• Stop in and see what¹s happening at Kava Gifts, Tottenham Court, and finish

with a nightcap and live music at Movino.

• Have a chair massage at Busy Babes, watch hair demos, and get into the act with real retro fun at the “Eyelash Party” on Saturday the 9th.

• Also on December 9^th, at Firehouse Pottery you can make pinch pots with Dusti Pelow and watercolor note cards with Patty Van Dyke in a Holiday Workshop from 3p.m. to 6p.m.

• The Feast Bistro will take 10% off your dinner check if you show them your

receipt from anything you¹ve purchased at Busy Babes.

• Get a free jewelers polishing cloth from Human Arts Gallery when you show a
  receipt from your purchase at Human Arts Home.

Stay in Ojai this holiday season, keep your sanity, and support all your favorite shops.  Remember the “Reason for the Season” - Enjoy the symbolism and meaning behind our traditions, create memories, celebrate the things we have in common as well as our differences; participate in our very special community.

For more details call the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce 646-8126 or contact individual shops and restaurants.

******

Visit Firehouse Pottery's Clay School first annual students' holiday sale on Dec. 2nd and make pinch pots with Dusti Pelow and watercolor note cards with Patty Van Dyke in a Holiday Workshop from 3p.m. to 6p.m. on Dec. 9th

Lost Doggie Found in Matilija

Do you know me?

Found in Matilija Canyon
October 30, 2006

Black and White Male
No Collar, Sweet disposition, well trained

Call 805 646-6983 for information

For Ojai Poetry Lovers

Poet and GTD techno-guy Robert Peake was featured in an Ojai Valley News article recently...read more over at Robert's site...

When Robert Peake moved to Ojai from Los Angeles nearly two years ago, he thought he was leaving behind a thriving community of poetry readings. Then he discovered a monthly reading series at the Bell Arts Factory in Ventura. "Apparently the series started in June. I went to the July reading and was blown away," Peake says, "The commitment to poetry in that room was easily on par with other series where I have been featured, such as the World Stage in Los Angeles and Beyond Baroque in Venice."