Social Responsibility: Ecological Content

When companies say they are “green” or “eco”, to me this means that they are using ecologically sound materials, ingredients etc. in order to make their product (or at least it should mean that). And this is terrific (under regulated- but terrific).

But what does it mean for a product to be ecologically sound AND have an ecologically sound message? That is harder- because what kind of message can organic pureed pears have besides “mmmm, yummy”? or organic combed cotton P.J.s besides, “mmmm, soft and cozy.”

Certainly, we understand that ecologically sound products send a resounding message to the world and to our smaller communities about what kind of world their purveyors hope to live in and what kind of place we as consumers when we purchase them, want to leave to our children and the animals with whom we share this magnificent earth.

When we, at Lillunia, talk about an ecologically sound message- we know that what we create is uniquely situated to deliver a powerful message about our hopes and goals for the environment; because our content is ecologically sound. Every image we create, every subject matter we fall in love with and then lovingly portray sends our message to the babies, children and parents who live with our art.

Our message is a simple as it is powerful: Nurture the world that nurtures you. As a company we live by 3 simple principles in order to do this: Illustrate, Illuminate, Elevate; by illustrating for our children that the world is filled with nurturing families in the wild, we are able to illuminate their imaginations and their intellects, with the precious goal of elevating their sense of self in a great human and animal community and instilling in them an understanding of their vital role in our collective future.

We LOVE that we can do this. We are so lucky and thrilled to share what we create with you!

www.lillunia.com

Lillunia Art in the Nursery

We are thrilled to share with you, some beautiful nurseries that feature Lillunia Art.

Enjoy!

hayden's koalas and olivia's koalas are installed in Ava's nursery (Central Park West, Manhattan (NYC))

lily's lions, liam's lians, lola's lions and anya's Giraffes are featured in Sebastian's nursery (Chelsea- Manhattan (NYC))

all three lions are hung in a row above a love seat near the crib...

anya's giraffes in a cozy corner of sebastian's nursery...

anya's nursery picks up on the warm earthy tones from emily's elephants and sophia's vervet monkey to complete its tranquil African theme (East Hampton, New York)

Please visit us at www.lillunia.com see all of the images shown here, and our collection of animal-family themed nursery art and accessories.

Ava and Her Koalas: Some Inspiration

We installed Hayden's Koalas and Olivia's Koalas in a beautiful custom nursery on the Upper West Side of Manhattan this past weekend. A cherubic little one-year-old named Ava has the most charming chocolate and petal pink nursery: so unexpected and cozy.

We are always thrilled when we watch the munchkins interact with our art for the first time- never solicited or prompted- they always have amazing reactions.

Ava was immediately drawn to Olivia's Koalas (a huge focus image of a mother Koala with her baby on top of her head). Ava was transfixed…giggling and pointing and speaking her still incomprehensible language of excitement. The image framed was nearly as big as her crib and we hung it directly above.

Ava's reaction to Hayden's Koalas was entirely different. She started pointing to the Koalas in each of the 4 images in the frame. With her tiny little finger she pointed and said "mama" "baby" "mama" "baby" as she

worked her way around the images. Her mother and I chimed in asking "where is the mama" "where is the baby" "which baby is in the tree" "which baby is sleeping" – to each question she responded with e giggle and pointed to the correct image; Truly inspiring (with no wires or animation or digitized voices)!

Of course we believe in what we do and in what we create, our goals and the people, animals and principles we hold dear- BUT we feel overwhelmed with satisfaction when we see that a little child understands, in her own sweet and perfect way – just exactly what we mean.
please come see Hayden's Koalas at: and Olivia's Kolas at: http://www.lillunia.com/-FOCUS-SERIES-ART/Olivia-s-Koalas-p63.html
and Hayden's Koalas at: http://www.lillunia.com/-ART/Hayden-s-Koalas-p57.html

The Little Bears That Could: Real Generosity

For as often as I am driven completely mad by my fellow humans and want to swear off the species entirely- I am consistently taken aback and overwhelmed by the decency and genuine kindness I find in so many people.

Lillunia is a young but mighty company and we are so grateful for the wonderful reviews and press we have received so far in our brief lifetime. Our work is currently being reviewed by The Eco Chic (www.theecochic.com) … and yesterday they sent us an e-mail. They let us know that they had received our work…and had some very kind words to say about it. Then to our surprise and delight, the generous woman writing the email asked for our permission to allow them to use the art for a silent auction at her church…as they are trying to raise money for Haitian relief efforts.

I can’t tell you how I felt…so touched by her gesture, so honored to be a part of the relief, as well as feeling the great satisfaction in knowing that something we created was being used in such a noble way.

The “things” we create…children, animals and art included—we send off into the world and hope they will do something wonderful- affect positive change and bring happiness…and, in this case, something we created has done exactly that.

Thank you The Eco Chic for being wonderful and generous and making us feel happy to be human.

you can find ashley's bears at: http://www.lillunia.com/-FOCUS-SERIES-ART/Ashley-s-Bears-p69.html

www.lillunia.com

Why Content Counts: Art Changes Lives

There is no question that we humans have a profound effect on our shared planet and have made some pretty brilliant and some pretty stupid decisions over the past several centuries.

We need to attempt to learn from both the good and the bad. And I think many of us try to do this (challenging as it is with all of our other responsibilities).

But what is it that we can learn from other creatures on the earth? Certainly we are able to look at contributions to the earth in terms beyond physical skills or mental acuity…(the same mental acuity that would allow us to essentially destroy the shared space we live in—don’t forget). Are there other attributes to admire, learn from and even emulate? Yes- Many.

Anyone who has spent time with animals does not have to be told how much joy and happiness they bring into our lives- but that is not why they are on this planet…to slavishly make our lives better places to be.

Is competing, ranking and judging the only way we can perceive value and contribution? All you need to do is watch a mother Robin guarding her nest, feeding her hatch-lings and eventually coaxing them to fly out on their own; see a mother Koala carrying her little cub around on her back or belly for months and months until s/he is able to walk, climb and eat on his or her own; or a heard of Elephants with a new calf, fawning and doting and all making certain he grows and lives a healthy Elephant life. They are magnificent nurturers. That is something we all share.

What else can we learn? Animals don’t worry as much as we do, they seem magnificently well adapted to deal with and anticipate danger (we generally run head-long into it) and they don’t fear death. Believe me; it is not because they are unaware that death happens…anyone who has seen a heard of Elephants mourning one of their dead will see something extraordinary. And this is true of many animals.

Domesticated animals become our partners and helpers, and they make as many choices (believe it or not) in the animal/human relationship as we do.

We love animals as a topic for children’s art because we know how many lessons they teach us about life and love and nurturing. We know that what we surround our children with has a huge impact on their understanding of the world and their roles in it. There is no question about this.

Lola's Lions and Lilly's Lions above can be found at www.lillunia.com

How Lucky We Are!

We, at Lillunia, spend an amazing amount of time looking at and thinking about animals and art and their effects on our children.

HOW LUCKY ARE WE?

There is no doubt, I do an amazing amount of dry, miserable paper/busy work each day...BUT, lucky me, when I have a moment, I get to re-focus on just exactly what I want to be focused on...what I love!

I have often thought, if people did, each day, what they loved doing and what they had real aptitude for- what a pristine and serene world we would all share. The reality is that many/most of us have to keep "the day job" while cultivating the magnificent kernel of joy and creative energy on the side...as a second and/or third job. Oh yes, and then there is baby, and husband and fury babies...YIKES! There is a lot on the plate.

But when we do what we love, what we have real talent for, that is the essence of a good life; the exquisite spirit of productivity and satisfaction- which I can't help but believe is the heart of what it means to nurture.

Because, what exactly is it that we pass along- that we teach and give to the next generation if not passion and conviction and the love of people, places, animals and goals to which we are committed.

For LILLUNIA: Children, Animals and Art

ILLUSTRATE ILLUMINATE ELEVATE

Ecologically Sound Toys

In many ways our media saturated digital culture drives me mad. Gone are the days when you could take a drive and quietly spend an afternoon without the cell phone ringing and the blackberry e-mailing. Gone are the days when people made "friends" looking at each other in the eye, rather then "friending" and "being friended" on line. Ok...c'est la vie- we must go with the flow (Luddite though I am)

At the same time, I am eternally grateful to be alive at a time, when medicine and science are so advanced that an ever growing percentage of people and animals in my life are ALIVE and healthy because we live when we do...breathtaking really.

That said- our time also has given us (more recently) a wonderful number of choices as consumers...and ever increasingly "green" ecologically sound choices. This is awesome.

For parents- there have been many scares in recent years about products made with dangerous chemicals. There have been a number of recalls making everyone feel vulnerable and suspicious...for good reason. The good news is that there are now so many wonderful and safe choices choices we can make when finding the right toys for our little ones.

In our wanderings we have found some really nice places to look for ecologically responsible toys.

For wonderful wood toys, we suggest having a look at North Star Toys:
http://www.northstartoys.com/collections/all-collections/

Green Toys has a terrific selection of recycled material toys:
http://www.greentoys.com/

And Tree Hollow Toys has a great mixture of all types of responsible and safe toys.
http://www.treehollowtoys.com/

We have been browsing and buying- but you need to make the decisions for yourself...we just want to share our excitement about the possibilities we are finding in this brave-new-world- options that simply were not there, or very remote just a few years ago.

As you go forward and look around..we found the following really useful checklist courtesy of: http://www.toxinfreetoys.com/general/eco-friendly-fun-4-ways-to-identify-green-kids-toys/

1) What Materials are the toys made of?
Identifying what is classified as a ‘green toy’ starts with the materials used to create that toy. Choose toys which are made with natural or easily recyclable materials. Choose toys made with:

Leather
Wood
Organic cotton
Metal (aluminum is easily recycled)
Fabric
Avoid toys made with plastic as plastic is a non biodegradable oil based product.


2) What country are the toys made in?
Surprisingly the location where the toy is manufactured has a large impact on its ‘greenness’ . Most toys these days are produced in China and as a result incur an enormous environmental ‘carbon footprint’ due to the distances travelled. A Toys ‘Carbon Footprint’ increases every mile that toy has to be transported.

3) Will this toy break in the first 10 minutes?
Well made toys are inherently green because they can be passed down and are not designed to be used for a week before they break. Select toys that are robust, made with quality materials and designed to stand the test of time.

4) Can the toy eventually be recycled?
All toys will eventually find their way to the landfill unless their components can be recycled. Some toys are manufactured in a way that allows for their parts to be easily disassembled.

www.lillunia.com