An Interview with Kaari Meng of French General – By Barbara Martin

When I first met Kaari, it was a very cold January day with the wind swirling through the streets of lower Manhattan. I had spent a few days at the NY Gift Show and was excited to explore the independent shops in the West Village and Soho. Once I walked through her doors, I was transported immediately to the south of France.

As editor of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion, I was lucky to do a number of features with Kaari. I hope everyone remembers the fabulous feature in December 2008. Kaari and her family went all out to decorate their home in signature French General style.

I hope you’ll enjoy my interview with Kaari.

Barbara Martin: What’s your latest news or project you’d like to share?

Kaari Meng: We’re designing fabric for Moda – which has been a whole new learning experience – I love seeing some of our 18th century French florals reproduced in soft shades of pinks and reds! Our new books, Handmade Soirees and Treasured Notions with Tinsel Trading are both due out this year from Chronicle Books and finally…. We’re off to France again this summer – our Chateau Getaway Deux is a creative week of workshops and elegant French living at Chateau Dumas!

BM: Retail has certainly changed since I met you at the Soho store. Would you explain for the reader how the last 8 years have effected French General and its branding?

KM: I think we knew early on that we wanted French General to be something different than a retail store – we wanted to inspire people to surround themselves with old materials they could create with. Over the past six years, I decided to blend my everyday schedule and creativity with an idea that would bring in an income but not feel like work. For us, French General is constantly changing – probably because I have a very short attention span!

BM: I’m sure everyone knows that you’ll be at the Spring 2010 Home Companion Workshops teaching a number of courses. Have you been to St. Louis recently?

KM: I haven’t been to St. Louis since we drove through it on a family road trip 35 years ago!

BM: Are there any St. Louis landmarks you hope to visit while you’re here

KM: I am interested in seeing Through the Needle – a quilt and sewing exhibit at the Eugene Field House.

BM: Is there anything special you hope to accomplish during your ME Home Companion Workshops?

KM: I hope to meet and be inspired by all sorts of wonderful crafters! I love this new trend of creative workshops – bringing women together to craft is such great energy!

BM: Did you study art or design in college?

KM: No – I studied Political Science at University of San Francisco and later, I took jewelry workshops at FIT in New York City.
I think what I do has been greatly influenced by my parents and brothers and sisters – we were always encouraged to create.

BM: Has your career taken any detours since you started?

KM: I have tried to stay focused about what I want to do – it may take on different shapes – but at the end of the day I want to feel creatively fulfilled.

BM: Has digital technology been an aid in the development of your business?

KM: We couldn’t change our location as often as we do if it wasn’t for our website. Our website is open 7 days a week – all hours – which is much more than I can say for our brick and mortar shop! (We’re open Monday’s from 11-4!)

BM: What computer skills would you recommend for artists/designers if any?

KM: I don’t have a whole lot of computer skills – I leave that up to my husband – our web master – Jon Zabala. I believe in everyone doing what they do best to keep a business running.

BM: What gives you the most joy from the creative process?

KM: Designing environments that make people want to create something beautiful. Bringing together old materials that can be re-used and made into something beautiful.

BM: If you were to give advise to a talented and driven 17 year old artist what would it be?

KM: Put a bit of yourself into everything that you do so that everything you do is your own unique craft.

BM: Do you think creativity is inherited?

KM: No – I think we are all creative – some of us find the creative thread easy to follow – others need to be guided.

BM: Is there something special you’re looking forward to during the Workshop weekend?

KM: Seeing old friends and meeting Mary!

BM: Thank you Kaari.

Barbara Martin is the former editor of Mary Engelbreit’s Home Companion Magazine and is now heading up the new MEHC Workshops along with Mary. You can meet Barbara and Kaari in St. Louis at the first ever MEHC Workshop next April.

Here’s the latest fun thing going on with the Home Companion Workshop—— if you sign up before December 1st, you will be eligible, along with everyone else who has already signed up, to win a very rare, complete set of Home Companion magazines in a set of hand-painted (by me!) magazine storage boxes! Here are a couple of photos of storage boxes I’ve already painted so you can get an idea of what you’re in for. I’ve signed all the issues as well, for good measure.

 I also want to show you a wall in my studio at home where I hang some of my most prized possessions, including 3 FABULOUS Linda Solovic pieces.

Linda will be one of the instructors at the Workshop and if you can still get in to one of her classes, I highly recommend it! She has an eye for detail, color and design that I just can’t get enough of.

I can’t wait to try one of her projects. Linda and I often run into each other at flea markets, where I’m buying some useless item that I’m going to have to find room for on some already-jammed tabletop, while Linda is buying teeny, tiny things— buttons, charms, plastic doll heads, rubber animals, scraps of ribbons— that she then incorporates into her beautiful, patterned works of art, that I and tons of other people can’t wait to get our hands on!

So sign up now, maybe win an entire set of MEHC mags (where, in one of them, you can see Linda’s whole house and studio!) and get to take Linda’s classes and learn how a master does it.