A UNIQUE  - art gallery: 

refreshing modern works interpreted in the palette of colored silks and wool.

"Modern art -- that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.” --Baudelaire

To combine the jewel-like color and aspiration towards the infinite that is modern art with the immensely fine crewel-work known as chain stitch is to produce a work of decadent utility. That's an oxymoron, we know, but there is no better way to describe these fabrics and cushion covers, heartily chain-stitched in wool or silk in heart-stopping color and sheen. Soft to the touch and crisply bright and bold to the eye, these cushions and fabrics can be used with virtually any type of furnishings. The fabrics can be used as wall art, throws, or table scarves.  

Kashmir Handicrafts’ line of decorative, embroidered accent pillows is pure art in chain-stitch. Browsing the cushions category of the Kashmir Handcrafts website is like browsing an art gallery. These embroidered cushion covers are a 15th-century handcraft finely honed into contemporary art. The designs of the pillow covers are a mixture of art across the centuries worked into the finest Kashmiri craftsmanship the world has to offer. 

The floral designs take ancient motifs and translate them into modern art. From traditional motifs like lotuses and the tree of life to fanciful flowers perceived only in the imagination, modern Kashmiri artisans have created refreshing modern works interpreted in the palette of colored silks and wool. You see water lilies on royal ponds, hidden gardens, and wild nature portrayed in heart-stopping color and sheen. Flowers have always conveyed a deep meaning to people throughout the ages, and these artistic representations, interpreted into art for accent cushions, have much to say.

A brilliant artistic niche among the pillow covers is the gallery of designs inspired by abstract artists Gustav Klimt, Wassily Kandinsky, and Alfred Gockel. Baudelaire told us, "Modern art -- that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.” To combine the jewel-like color and aspiration towards the infinite with the immensely fine crewel-work known as chain-stitch is to produce a work of decadent utility--lush works of art handcrafted into embroidered toss pillows.

A third niche is the pillow covers inspired by Native American tribal art. As rich in symbolism as they are in color, these cushions can create a focal point in your décor that will raise the very vibrations of the room, the home, in which they are displayed. 

Soft Kashmir (cashmere) wool is produced in an eco-friendly manner in the cottage industry and turned into an all-natural throw pillow by chain-stitching 100% wool onto 100% cotton backing. Chain-stitch embroidery is a finer form of crewelwork. Much of the wool in the modern floral designs are stitched with an aari (ari), a hooked needle that creates a deeper, more rustic-looking texture. Many of the cushion covers are stitched in art silk (rayon) which gives a light-catching sheen to the background of the design. All of the thread used in these creative accent pillows is hand-dyed. Soft to the touch and crisply bright and bold to the eye, these decorative pillows can be used with virtually any type of furnishings.

This cottage industry employs whole villages and enables them to keep a nearly lost art alive. These mountain handcrafters are trained their whole lives in this art which is purchased fair trade by Kashmir Fine Arts and Crafts.