Hello! We celebrated my mother Apple’s birthday this month, so we wanted to share a few of her favorite items, textiles, and words of wisdom. Unlike Sister, her daughter Apple Bartlett gravitated to art and retail - being a ” shopkeeper ” has always made her happy. With two of her friends, she opened the iconic store La Ruche on Newbury Street in Boston in the 1980s. John Derian famously worked there as a recent graduate of art school and their artistic connection is clear to all that know them. After she closed La Ruche, she opened “Apples”, her equally iconic store on the island of Islesboro, Maine. (Little known fact, she actually loves shopping at the gift show at the Javits Center annually.)

Her love of collage, decoupage, and painting has been a lifelong joy. Nothing makes her happier than finding a huge window or door frame to fill with magical animals and fantasy farms. What I have learned from Apple is a love of fantasy, magic and how a house can truly reflect the generations that have inhabited it.

Her creativity and ability to create magical vignettes inspires me every day and motivates me to think outside the box in Apple’s world.