Valentines Day Surprise!

A couple of days ago I had a really nice Valentine's surprise when I received a copy of the luxuriously high-end magazine Atelier and its companion magazine Arcade. I had been email interviewed a couple of months ago about lovespoons and their eminent suitability as Valentine's gifts and had submitted a couple of photographs to journalist Shaily Bhusri, so I knew to expect something about the lovespoon in this month's edition.

However, the arrival of these gloriously lavish magazines was really very, very exciting!

The magazines are gorgeous and it is a genuine thrill to see my spoons rubbing shoulders with glamourous Bollywood stars, haute couture, cutting-edge architecture and some of the most remarkable 'Valentine's Day red' footwear that I have ever encountered! For a guy who is accustomed to chipping away day-after-day in his little dust filled hidey-hole, appearing in a magazine directed primarily at India's jet set seems very surreal!!

But I am more than delighted for both the attention it brings me AND for the fact that someone has taken the time to realize the wonderful romance of the lovespoon tradition. This year I had sent out literally dozens of 'promo packs' to media outlets across North America trying to solicit some interest in lovespoons as a suitable subject for coverage at this 'most romantic time of the year'. From my neighbourhood community paper, to the New York Times, I canvassed everyone I could think of.

Alas, no-one showed even the faintest interest in the subject. The lovespoon, it seems, is no competition for annual tales of overpriced chocolates and flowers.

So that is why it is doubly gratifying for me, that thousands of miles from its home, on the other side of the globe, the lovespoon tradition has received this one moment of glittering celebrity!

My sincere thanks to Shaily Bhusri and Atelier Magazine for their kind permission to use their material in my blog!!