Alex Tieghi-Walker

Name: Alex Tieghi-Walker

Instagram: alex_tiwa

Alex is enjoying a new life as a shopkeeper: his Northern California-based store, Tiwa Select, sells small-batch homewares, folk-art and found objects artifacts, all linked through food, dining and eating. Alex spent a period traveling the world to document agricultural rituals, to explore ecological and sustainability practices, and discover new food traditions. In the past, he has been a writer and a film commissioner.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?: Making food for people; hosting people.

Which living person do you most admire?: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for president (one day).

What is your greatest extravagance?: Things to eat, things to cook with, things to serve food on.

What is your current state of mind?: I can't wait to go back to Mexico City.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?: Moderation. Just like.. finish the bottle, ya know?

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?: I always sign emails off with "Kindest" - time to mix that one up.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?: Sometimes I would like to stop, and relax. I find it hard to sit still.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?: Managing to string all the little achievements (and determined efforts) together.

Where would you most like to live?: Communally. Not necessarily radical commune life, just sharing a garden, a place to grow vegetables, child care, neighborly support. As the world shifts and changes, we will rely on a solid community more than ever.

What is your most treasured possession?: My house. I live in a cabin built from 400-year-old Redwood beams and it means everything to me. The walls flex with the seasons, and the wood smells like a forest.

What is your favorite occupation?: Rearranging the things in my house.

What is your most marked characteristic?: Playfulness.

What do you most value in your friends?: Honesty and humour, and honest humour.

Who are your heroes in real life?: People in tune with creativity, and creativity in nature: Georgia O'Keefe, Lina Bo Bardi, JB Blunk, Luis Barragan.

What is it that you most dislike?: Missing the sunset.

What is your greatest regret?: Missing that sunset.