local gallery = holiday genius

when looking for the ideal wedding bands, my husband and I stumbled upon an amazing little gallery right in our neighborhood of north berkeley, shibumi gallery. not only did we find the exact rings we had envisioned, we also found a collection of artwork, clothing and jewelry that impressed us both. I still dream about a pair of earrings I fell madly in love with. the studio is owned by april higashi and focuses on her work, but also sells other artists from around the world, each bringing a refreshingly unique perspective.
the jewelry is truly gorgeous and it struck me the other day, while being inundated during the holidays with crappy products sold by big business boobs, that there are other gift options beyond the hideous gap flannel. granted, I can barely afford to step into such galleries as this, there are some affordable pieces in local galleries, and definitely in shibumi. so, to counter the standard gift giving droll, contemplate the local gallery near you.

artist: april higashi

artist: brigid o'hanrahan


artist: julia turner

artist: karen gilbert

below are similar rings to the ones my husband on I picked out for our wedding bands. the gallery has a wide selection of commitment rings. both of ours are palladium. mine is just a simple, thin one row of raw diamonds, similar to the first ring in the first picture. kevin's is similar to the second picture but much wider for male hands and the raw diamonds on the side are less conspicuous. we are both so happy as they somewhat match each other but also us.

artist: todd reed