Monday, September 27, 2010

Monday-Sept 27- The first of many reflections on my past artistic project

Recently, a friend/client told me that they sold their home and were moving to another town nearby. I knew they had been looking to do just such a thing, but I privately hoped they and their entire family would stay in the beautiful home that we all did together. It was a wonderful project we embarked on.
It started when they first contemplated buying the house and I went on the House Inspection with them. As we spent so many hours there waiting for the inspector to do his thing, crawling into every seam of the house, we discussed all the ideas we had to make their new home a reflection of the prospective new owner, THEM! So much came out of that first, virginal run through as we all looked at the project from different eyes.
After that, I sat down with all the information that had been spewed out, and organized it into an understandable and worthwhile endeavor with a budget and with a time frame for doing the pieces of the house, all prioritized. They hired me on as designer/project manager/fiscal overseer and general hands on director of the project which lasted approximately 2.5 months in order to get them into the house. It ended up that I stayed for almost 6 months to finish up all the details, concluding in staging a beautiful Xmas celebration that year for all family, business acquaintances and dear friends, debuting their new digs for everyone to see. We all were proud of our efforts as even their children actively participated in the styling of their personal spaces. Now, sadly, about 10 years later, although the house has held up to the changing trends by being a classic,warm and intimate residence with my artistic touches,the photos tell the tale, depicting the aging of the family and ultimately all the children leaving their comfortable nest for their own futures.
I have included some pictures of details I just took before they leave the premises. I bid them all a fond "adieu"- the children I created there (my art) and their children and family members who I hope I will get a chance to help create the same ambiance in their homes as time goes on.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wednesday- Sept 22- Helpful Fashion Hint

If you collect vintage buttons to any extent, although I am not necessarily referring to the extremes I go, then sometimes you will find a way to pull them out and use them to just update a new purchase like a sweater or coat or even an old garment needing a lift into the new millenium. I just scored a fabulous rust wool challis paisley cardigan coat with faux fur cuffs and collar but it needed something on the front as the closures were hidden hooks and eyes. Voila! Out came the veritable scores of large antique button cards I have amassed in my collection, and I found a number of them that would look exotic and right for an artistic touch to place at the top closure.
Whenever I take out my collection of buttons and small costume jewelry pins and things, my mind goes crazy with ideas of how to use them in my home. As you can see on the pics I have up on the site, I have applied them to painting frames and also mirrors, ad infinitum. I load them up by category (color, size, quality) and one by one make my composition- using my trusty hot glue gun. Recently, I was in the Berkshires over the summer months, and went to a crafts fair where a vendor was wiring them together into jewelry and hair ornaments. She had scads for sale and I suggested she make small hair combs with buttons and also earrings with post backs as I had a resource years ago called Once Again (sadly,no longer in business) who did it very successfully. This young woman up in Pittsfield is beginning her foray into the world of arts and crafts and if you are interested, you can find her business Buttons, Buttons, Everywhere!@ http://www.atomsatwork.com/.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Upcoming Antique Show

If you follow upcoming shows for the Fall and Winter, this blogspot will be the best place for you to check for interesting vendors and events as I have been frequenting these shows for many years finding eclectic items for clients through my Interior Design business in CT. I have made many business friends and acquaintances who send me email with their info which is meant to generate interest and excitement. One of those people is Jamie S. who has a web store for recent finds: www.rubylane.com/shops/jamiesantiques. For instance, aside from a vast collection of Victorian and vintage designer named/signed jewelry, Jamie has things like Art Deco marble stag bookends, lipstick red Venetian glass and Lucite sixties lamps, just to name a few.
September 25-26 Sat. 10-4, Sun. 11-4, is Antiques Weekend @Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, 73 Kahdena Road, Morris Township, NJ- www.aadnj.org- check it out if you have the chance! It is Outdoors under tents.
If anyone out there has connections to other local showings that all of us would be interested in finding out about, please leave me a comment/post so that everyone can see it.
Tah tah for now...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sunday evening

Hi all:
I did indeed go to the Cord show in Patterson, NY today. It took about an hour from here but the weather was really pretty and lots of farmstands to stop by on the way up Route 22. I was on a mission. I was there looking for small items- jewelry and porcelains- for the new mosaic mailbox in progress. First, I found a trove of small china thimbles with birds and flowers painted on them as well as a cloisonne one- all for $2 a piece! What a find! I also picked up a number of small jeweled pins of birds in flight and bugs, dragonflies, butterflies, and even a precious owl- in gold and rhinestones. The best item was 2 lovebirds/bluebirds sitting on a branch that looked almost cartoonlike in painted metal. What a fun thing for the side of the box among the branches of tile and sea glass. I am thrilled!
Can't wait to post pictures soon of the progress the box has made from start to finish.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Friday and what the weekend ahead brings...

Hello Friends and Family:
Thank you for visiting my new blog, even though a spelling error had escaped in my previous spelling of cloisonne.
I am really excited to start to share with you what the future will hold regarding antiquing events in CT and NY, visiting local flea markets and consignment stores for discarded treasures, and my enthusiasm with taking a workshop by a recognized artist in RESIDENCE= Ron Pokrasso @ the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. If you don't know about this small jewel of artistic pursuits, please visit them @ www.contemprints.org and see their current  exhibit featuring the work of Grace Shanley and Ron Pokrasso called: Recurrence of Memory. This show continues from September 16 through November 6. Don't miss it if you are near Mathews Park in Norwalk!
Tonight at sundown starts the Yom Kippur holiday and ends tomorrow evening with a break-the-fast meal. On Sunday, Sept. 19th, I will be going to the Cord Show event called the 3rd Putnam County Antiques Fair and Fall Plants and Produce Sale. It is an indoor show in Putnam County if you are interested visit their website @ www.cordshows.coms and get on their email list for their schedule. They send coupons for discount admissions. Anyway, I have a few vendors I have done business with at this event- specifically, Cherished Treasures owned and operated by Marcia C. who furnishes fabulous quality vintage jewelry for every part of the human body and who has a deep knowledge about provenance and resources available. See her for the most comprehensive retro jewelry and accessories that are trending NOW! The hours are 10-5 but get there no later than 2:00 PM as a lot of the booths start packing up by 4:00. I have found resources for my vintage buttons there as well as small pieces to add to my mosaic art projects.
As a matter of fact, yesterday I culled the small crowded aisles of Furniture on Consignment on the Post Rd. in Westport and found a number of small procelain "objets" to add to my work in progress- my aviary mailbox I am looking to debut soon as the newest landmark for Bell Island.
To be continued and thank you for following my journey as it develops...

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Introduction

Welcome everyone to my new blog! Please continue to watch for a preview of the newest installation of MAILBOX ART which will feature the many diverse birds that inhabit the marshes and creeks surrounding Bell Island in an enduring mosaic of tile, found objets, cloisonnee, enamel, vintage jewelry and buttons set in a scene so unique that it stands alone as an AERIE SANCTUARY.