A Serendipitous Conversation~Koan Connection Reveals A Few Mysteries and their Clues: Jewelry, Gardens, and Books
Do you love discovering a very special something ~ that “aha” that will surprise and delight and tell a memorable story?
I do. So when I discovered (turns out re-discovered) my recent Ladies Who Lunch Conversations guest, Janet Mavec, and that she incorporates multiple measures of mystery wrapped in the art of books, gardens, and jewelry with abiding resonance, it was a kind of hat trick that possessed all the trappings for a splendid Conversation.
I had been seeking a special jewelry designer to showcase in time for the holiday gift-giving season and a leap ahead kind of jewelry trend forecast to Valentine’s Day. The search was a particular challenge because I was looking for a woman who shared a certain design aesthetic and ethos.
It was a kind of extraordinary good karma that I was, in essence, "reunited" to Janet and her Janet Mavec Jewelry and her design essence.
I was initially drawn to Janet because of her stunning jewelry collections.
After Janet agreed to be a Ladies Who Lunch Conversations guest, and while doing my pre-show research I became more familiar with Janet and her background ~ not only her jewelry.
It was then that I discovered that I had already met Janet. At her Bird Haven Farm! On a garden tour! What were the chances? (“Birds” of a feather?!)
I was completely energized by this serendipity.
I recalled the beauty of the grounds, the exuberant edible gardens, that sexy spring-fed reflecting pool.
With nature as her muse, Janet Mavec has built a most successful relationship connecting her gardens to her jewelry art ~ rooted as it is in nature. You’ll find apples, leaves, nuts, and of course, birds.
There’s no doubt that giving jewelry is a very meaningful and intimate symbol of love, appreciation, and promise.
Jewelry is love.
Designing jewelry is a very romantic career, the way I see it.
And I wanted to learn more about the art of designing jewelry. And what inspires a jewelry designer. That the inspiration was nature and gardens ~ my curiosity was ignited.
Janet Mavec: Jewelry Designer
I'm so very delighted to bring you this engaging Conversation that explores Janet's early career as an antique jewelry dealer, to running a thriving Madison Avenue shop, to her process of designing and creating jewelry crafted with meticulous detail drawn from the natural world (see my Eel ring and earrings I show off in the videocast) to managing her family's Bird Haven Farm that boasts a Fernando Caruncho design!
I’ve long admired Señor Caruncho’s contemporary landscape art infused with an almost sensual spirit. One look at Janet’s reflecting pool in an elegant kind of courtyard that she explains was designed to be the center for her Gatherings when entertaining at home and you see what I mean.
All that garden beauty is as close as Janet’s yard. She is inspired by her gardens and her dreamy country estate, Bird Haven.
Janet describes how: “There is an individuality to antique jewelry that I wanted to capture when I designed my own line. As a New Yorker, I value individual style, but as a native Midwesterner, I’ve always needed to keep it real. So I created a line of sculptural jewelry rooted in nature, and I worked like a madman to keep the price in the $100 to $300 range—say, the cost of a nice celebratory meal, not a mortgage payment. Just enough of a splurge to feel like a sneaky treat for yourself.”
Janet explains where she has her jewelry made and why the facility is located in the Ocean State. And what materials she uses.
Janet goes on to share her passion for creating jewelry collections that connect her customers to the world of nature. “Our pendants, earrings, bangles and bracelets are crafted with meticulous detail drawn from the natural world: Acorns with cross-hatched caps, doves with carved feathers, delicate curled string beans.” And Eels!
You’ll love hearing Janet’s story about the mysterious world of eels they discovered at Bird Haven and their connection ~ maybe yours ~ to the Sargasso Sea…
Two other breaking news items I'm thrilled to share is that as part of our Conversation, Janet announced that she'd just finalized her participation in the Garden The Garden Conservancy "Open Days" garden tour, scheduled for June 14th, 2025.
Enter that date in your Calendar ~ You don’t want to miss this garden tour. It’s truly that spectacular.
I had the pleasure of taking a Bird Haven tour from a “before times” special May day.
And, maybe the biggest news of all ~ drum roll, please ~ Janet revealed that she has a book about her Bird Haven Farm and gardens soon to be published. Slated for release in September, 2025, with Rizzoli New York Books, THE leader in beautiful publishing. (I'll always cherish my The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook book signing at Rizzoli when they had their beautiful, iconic bookstore on 57th Street, in Gotham. Sigh....🙏)
And if that’s not groundbreaking anticipation enough, wait, there's more.
This soon-to-be-released garden book is about Janet and her husband, Wayne Nordberg's 100-acre, BIrd Haven Farm ~ so doesn’t it seem only natural that they should have Ngoc Minh Ngo doing the artful photos?
Arguably, Ngoc is the best ~ a world-class garden photographer, known for her intimate and dramatic storytelling of nature and stunning gardens 🌸🌺
According to Ngoc’s bio: "Ngoc's images have been published in such publications as The World of Interiors, T Magazine, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Cabana, and House & Garden UK. She is the author of three books, Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature; In Bloom: Creating and Living with Flowers, and Eden Revisited: A Garden in Northern Morocco, all published by Rizzoli.”
Her work has also been featured in Elle Decoration UK, Martha Stewart Living, House Beautiful, and Garden Design. She is the author of In Bloom: Creating and Living with Flowers (Rizzoli, 2016) and Bringing Nature Home (Rizzoli,
I’ll add that Ngoc also created the gorgeous, delicious photography for my friend and co-worker, Sarah Owens’ books: the James Beard Award-winning, Sourdough and Heirloom Cookbooks
Mark your calendars yet again, and note the pre-order. Janet’s Bird Haven garden book is going to be a keeper that you’ll luxuriate in owning and being inspired by.
** I'm so proud and excited to note that this is the second time we've had the good fortune to announce a book release on Ladies Who Lunch Conversations!
And speaking of Books ~ listen to our Conversation as Janet unlocks another mystery of sorts.
And that is her special link to Nancy Drew!
See, Bird Haven was once the home of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams*, author and publisher of the Nancy Drew series.
In our Conversation, Janet reveals to us where Harriet's spirit lives on in the house... 😉
It’s an astonishing tale that is also linked to the Wizard of Oz.
It’s no secret ~ Bird Haven is brimming in magic!
Here’s a few photos from my garden visit where Janet was kind enough to share some of her photos and the legacy of Adams’ girl detective, Nancy Drew, that we all grew up being inspired by ~ what with her smarts, courage, and independent spirit.
I can’t resist buying Janet’s Nancy Drew Key jewelry piece ~ the "key to the answers" that Janet saId inspired her to create it.
(And hoping that someone gifts me the Eel bib necklace to go with my Eel earrings and cocktail ring…)
There's so much to unpack in this Conversation. I know you will enjoy this videocast so much.
Please drop us a comment and share here and/or on the Ladies Who Lunch Conversations page. (That’s been viewed by nearly 17K)
And be sure to Follow us there for more inspiring stories.
I can honestly say that giving Janet’s Jewelry collectable and wearable designs, inspired by nature, is a timeless, enduring heirloom for you and/or your loved ones.
It’s one of my favorite Duchess Picks.
Thank you so much, Janet. You are so inspiring.
And so are your gardens.
As a related aside, I thought y’all might find this interesting:
*From Ms. Adams 1982 obit: *Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, who wrote nearly 200 children's books including many of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series, died Saturday evening. She was 89 years old, and lived in Pottersville and Maplewood, N.J.
Mrs. Adams wrote books for more than 50 years that were read by generations of children. She wrote under the pseudonyms of Carolyn Keene, for the Nancy Drew stories; Franklin W. Dixon, for the Hardy Boys; Victor W. Appleton 2d for Tom Swift Jr., and Laura Lee Hope for the Bobbsey Twins. She was working on a new ghost-story series the day of her death. The four pseudonyms were shared by other authors.
Mrs. Adams was with her family in Pottersville watching ''The Wizard of Oz'' on television for the first time when she suffered a fatal heart attack.
In her books, Mrs. Adams portrayed an innocent, affluent and secure world. Nothing more shocking than an occasional ''gosh'' escaped the lips of her heroes and heroines, and no crimes more heinous than theft or arson marred their sunny, if adventure-filled, lives.
Garden Glamour is to be found in so many of life’s artful pursuits….
