Bird Watching at Atlanta Gift Show

Birds are a great motif for Jewish stuff -- well, specifically the dove-type bird. The symbol of the dove comes from the story of Noah in Genesis, from The Torah... or you may call it the "Old Testament." After the rain (and 40 day slumber party with two of every beast) Noah sent a dove out to find land. When the dove came back with an olive branch, Noah knew land was near. Since then the dove with the olive branch has become a common Judaic motif and a universal symbol of peace.

Birds were a very popular motif last spring and they are still everywhere at the trade shows.

I found the most beautiful bird ceramic bird tiles at the Atlanta Gift Show made in the UK. The small tiles are 4 1/2 square tiles and retail for $56 and are hand made by a craftsman in the UK.

Ibride is a French design of modern-vintage trays and furniture whose motifs range from woodland creatures to portraits of famous people as children. They are heavy on the whimsy and do boarder on kitsch but they are truly unusual and wow -- take a look at the furniture on the Ibride website. They design a tray with a bird motif called skylark:And the third set of birds I've had my eye on since the New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) last August: melamine plates from Working Class Studios -- designed by SCAD students (Savannah College of Art and Design) from my home state and now home town (they have an Atlanta campus too). These I bought (the entire melamine plate collection) and are coming to ModernTribe.com for you to buy soon because they are my favorite melamine line. Set of four will be $25.