Welcome to LFrank
October 21, 2014
Despite the ever-evolving nature of Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice, LFrank remains unique. It is more than just a store, it in an extension of Liseanne's home. 
“I started sharing our library with the neighborhood after a conversation I had with Sara Van Der Mijnsbrugge. She told me of a storefront that she used to walk by in Europe…she didn’t know what sort of business it was, but they always had an interesting book in the window, and that she would purposely walk by it, even though it was a bit out of the way, so that she could see what book they were displaying that day. It made me consider the idea of having a dialogue with the neighborhood, of sharing some of the images that inspire me. Some recent favorites include ‘Metonymy’ by Cristina Iglesias, ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ by Andrew Bolton and ‘Bulgari: Serpenti Collection’ by Marion Fasel.” 
“Near the front of the shop, opposite the incredibly high bookshelf, is a lone shelf where a few items from my personal collection live. There is a Kina shell necklace, which I adorned with African trade beads and 18k gold beads on leather, and the Gabon ebony bangle. I used to wear these pieces all the time, but now they live here on this shelf next to one of our custom Frankincense beeswax candles (my favorite, and more about them later). There is also a beautiful horn bowl, given to me by the artist and equestrienne Baby De Selliers upon the occasion of my store opening. She brought it to the party wrapped in a page from the New York Times, and filled with Satsuma tangerines. I immediately put it upon the shelf, where it has lived happily ever since. Someone had given it to her, she told me, so I imagine that one day I shall do the same, passing it along to someone else.” 
“The ancestor portrait is a traditional piece of Asian art from the 19th century. My mother-in-law was an incredibly talented decorator, and this piece had passed into my husband’s collection before we met. It depicts a wealthy merchant, and most people of Asian descent who come into the shop claim it as their own. I had been told that it is Mongolian, but these were popular across these cultures, so it’s really hard to say exactly where it comes from. It was in our house for years before I opened the store, so I especially enjoy continuing to live with it every day.”
“I started sharing our library with the neighborhood after a conversation I had with Sara Van Der Mijnsbrugge. She told me of a storefront that she used to walk by in Europe…she didn’t know what sort of business it was, but they always had an interesting book in the window, and that she would purposely walk by it, even though it was a bit out of the way, so that she could see what book they were displaying that day. It made me consider the idea of having a dialogue with the neighborhood, of sharing some of the images that inspire me. Some recent favorites include ‘Metonymy’ by Cristina Iglesias, ‘Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty’ by Andrew Bolton and ‘Bulgari: Serpenti Collection’ by Marion Fasel.” “Near the front of the shop, opposite the incredibly high bookshelf, is a lone shelf where a few items from my personal collection live. There is a Kina shell necklace, which I adorned with African trade beads and 18k gold beads on leather, and the Gabon ebony bangle. I used to wear these pieces all the time, but now they live here on this shelf next to one of our custom Frankincense beeswax candles (my favorite, and more about them later). There is also a beautiful horn bowl, given to me by the artist and equestrienne Baby De Selliers upon the occasion of my store opening. She brought it to the party wrapped in a page from the New York Times, and filled with Satsuma tangerines. I immediately put it upon the shelf, where it has lived happily ever since. Someone had given it to her, she told me, so I imagine that one day I shall do the same, passing it along to someone else.” “The ancestor portrait is a traditional piece of Asian art from the 19th century. My mother-in-law was an incredibly talented decorator, and this piece had passed into my husband’s collection before we met. It depicts a wealthy merchant, and most people of Asian descent who come into the shop claim it as their own. I had been told that it is Mongolian, but these were popular across these cultures, so it’s really hard to say exactly where it comes from. It was in our house for years before I opened the store, so I especially enjoy continuing to live with it every day.”