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Peacock’s Nest, located in Easthampton on 47A Cottage St., offers a vast variety of ways to cultivate and celebrate creativity with classes for all ages and abilities, art gifts, kits and traditional and custom henna body art.
Owner Lauren Grover has been a henna artist for over 30 years and wanted to create a place where people could come in and experience art for themselves.
“What makes us unique is the level of creativity that we offer not just in the things that we sell but inviting people who come into the store to take part in creating something,” Grover said.
Currently in the store, they have Polish paper cutting wall art and cards by Laura Geryk, Pride phone straps, lanyards, and chain mail jewelry by Jan Andrea Handmade, chocolates by Willie’s Cacao, positivity cards by Carolyn Roust, seashell jewelry and art by Mermaid’s Baubles, polymer clay earrings, hair clips, bookmarks and more by Mad Dash Studios, and zero-waste weaving bags, sachets and tassels by Hawksong Weaving. Plus, paper quilling and henna by Grover, a bunch of her happy plant friends, various lotions and skin care she makes, along with diamond painting kits.
Henna art is a traditional art form that involves applying a dye made from the henna plant to the skin to create intricate patterns. Grover was the first henna artist in New England to offer this ancient art form to the public at festivals and events in 1993. Since then, she has expanded and included glitter tattoos and face painting.
Studying the history and traditions is how Grover got started in henna and it’s one of the things she’s still very passionate about. “My background is very much in the historical traditions of henna, so I love anything that has a story to it,” Grover said. “I really enjoy talking to people and working with them to come up with something that’s specific to them, but still taking into account my background of all of the henna traditions.”
When Grover does henna, she feels a kinship with the thousands of other people also doing it today, and the billions of other people who have been doing it for the past 3,000 or so years.
“I am part of a tradition, even if it’s not one I grew up with. I think it’s amazing how this one plant connects people all over the world, from so many different ethnicities, religions, and other backgrounds,” Grover shared. “It’s always used for celebrations, so it’s a connection of joy. When I do henna for traditional events, like weddings or religious celebrations, I love hearing stories about their henna traditions, and then when I’m just doing pretty, modern floral designs at a music festival, I tell my clients about these traditions. Humans love art, and we love stories, and we love connections. Henna is where all that comes together for me.”
When Grover was traveling around to different events, her henna business was called “Paisley Peacock.” She asked her friends for name suggestions — if she were to have an actual store — to which one suggested “Peacock’s Nest” and Grover thought it was great.
She found out later that peacocks don’t actually have nests – they just gather twigs and leaves or what happens to be easily available into a protective area and that is where they lay their eggs. Once Grover found that out, she thought the name was even more perfect and wanted to expand on the name of the store.
Grover said a lot of birds put a huge amount of time and effort into building super fancy nests, and those are wonderful for them. There is absolutely a place in the world for super high-end, technically brilliant art that comes from years of study, but sometimes, she thinks that’s all people see, and it can be intimidating.
“Peacocks use whatever they have on hand, and they make it work for them,” explained. “Their nests don’t need to look like anything in particular, they just need to please the peacock. The kinds of art I do, and the kinds of art I teach, are like that. I want people to really feel that it’s possible for them to take some paper strips or string or some other ordinary materials, and without too much training, make art that pleases them. Art is for everyone. It can, and should, also be from everyone.”
Something Grover found from talking to a lot of people is they don’t feel like they have a personal access to anything creative or anything artistic, so having a space where she can bring people in and invite them to test their creativity is what she wanted to do at Peacock’s Nest.
Some of the classes offered at Peacock’s Nest this fall include a Sailor’s Valentine class, Victorian art where designs are made with seashells; a jewelry making class and a visible mending class. Grover will be teaching paper quilling and start on some classes to get folks ready to make items for holiday presents.
Grover shared that she enjoys teaching and being a part of a class where everybody is learning something. “It’s very satisfying about holding something in your hand that you made,” Grover said. “Even if it’s something simple like a pair of earrings or a scarf. If it’s something you did that you put a little bit of yourself into; being able to wear that or use it is very satisfying and I want to share that with more people.”
PEACOCK’S NEST IS LOCATED AT 47A COTTAGE STREET IN EASTHAMPTON AND OPEN WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY FROM 11 A.M. TO 6 P.M. OR LATER, AND MONDAY AND TUESDAY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. FOR NEWS AND UPDATES,
VISIT PEACOCK’S NEST ONLINE AT PEACOCKSNESTSTUDIO.COM OR ON FACEBOOK, FACEBOOK.COM/PEACOCKSNESTEASTHAMPTON.