Loominarea

Just listening to Helena Brana, founder and CEO of southern California- based Loominarea, speak about her rugs, it is almost as if one is transported into nature for a few moments. She has a passion for the natural world and through her Tibetan wool and Chinese Mulberry silk hand tufted and hand knotted rugs she shares that passion for nature with her clients. Helena’s goal for the rugs is to create tranquil almost surrealistic environments evocative of nature in her clients’ homes. “Our rugs are made to inspire,” she says. That same concern for the well-being of her customers extends to the artisans who make the rugs. She wants to empower them and says she knows GoodWeave® can help her do that.

Growing up the Czech Republic and studying business, political science and then finally interior design, she admits she had not paid much attention to the potential of rugs. It was, however, when she moved to California that she discovered the power a rug could have in a room. “I said ‘Oh my, everyone has area rugs’. It was new to me and it was something I really really liked!” Already a sought-after designer in stylish areas such as Newport Beach and Beverly Hills, she turned her talents to rugs and launched Loominarea.

Her rugs, she says, are “dreamy and calming.” She points to the silk and wool, Alluvial, inspired by the nearby Pacific Ocean, its waves, shifting shades of ocean blues and endless moods. Though the series comes in four different shapes even the shapes themselves are unconventional. The edges of each rug whether rectangular or round are undulating like the waves at the ocean’s edge. “You might say our rugs are dreamy and Zen-like.”

Arboreal takes us to an entirely different eco-system. This time the forest. Helena, a practitioner of the Japanese pastime of forest bathing, shin-rin yoku, says Arboreal’s abstract leaf shapes and palette of gentle greens suggest the different textures and shapes one sees in the forest. And, of course, for her the rug is entrusted to reach the ultimate goal; creating that same calm mood in the home. “Nature just makes us feel better emotionally and I want to transfer that feeling into the designs.”

Origin, once again in silk and wool, is Helena’s personal favorite and is inspired by a hauntingly beautiful dreamscape of desert and canyon, with which she is fascinated. The almost magical landscape of Antelope Canyon, the sacred land of the Navajo, is reflected in Origin’s color palette, pale pink, dusty rose and earthy tones. The rug’s colors suggest the shifting tones of the almost magical canyon and the rug’s design is an impressionistic reference to the million-year-old patterns of erosion in the canyon. Helena Brana clearly believes in the important relationship of humans to the environment and in our relationships to one another. “Things should be equal. I want everyone to get what they deserve and what is fair.” Her alliance with GoodWeave, she says, helps achieve that goal. When Helena was a university student studying political science, she had every intention of saving the planet, she says laughing and continues, “I didn’t have the personality to save the Amazon but at least I know I am doing something good to help by being a member of GoodWeave.”

For more information go to: https://www.loominarea.com