Upcoming trip

It's very exciting to be looking forward to a trip that combines music, art and food all rolled up in a package of great architecture, history, story, and warmer climes. I am going to New Orleans for Christmas for a short stint to discover new restaurants, new outsider art, be dazzled by history and Anne Rice stories, hear some off the cuff jazz and blues, see the swamps in an airboat, explore antiquities and discover the artists who do their work with their hearts and their eyes and then their hands. I hope to return with great pictures of places and new art from all sorts of artists to share with you.

I wish you all the best for the holidays ahead- with family and friends around you who make you forget the trivialities you seem to focus on and who will warm your souls with feelings that are the most important to better your health and well being. Enjoy!

Gift Giving and Shopping- Must be the Holiday Shows ahead

Hi Friends:

Well, if you have a passion for searching for the perfect gift that is not off the rack then visit the Wilton High School's Field House on Sunday, Dec. 5th for the Wilton Holiday Antiques Show from 10-4 with early buying @ 9:00 AM which will include a continental breakfast in the admission price. This is a fundraiser so check it out for a little special something for your tree, family, and friends.

Let's not forget that tonight is the first night of Chanukah. At my house, I make sure to do a meal of roasted chicken with latkes and applesauce which my family always looks forward to every year. Of course, when they were young, they looked forward more to the gifts they got every night, but now, as they are considerably older, they cherish the tradition of it and it holds a special place in all our hearts. Tonight is the first of the 8 nights so for safety's sake, please make sure you don't leave your candles unattended. We watch them burn down to the last flicker. Actually, by the end of the holiday I have had to clean the wax out of the candle holders at least a few times.

Now, on another note, a non-sequitur, and I know this is out of context (consider it a stream of consciousness), but I have to share with you (excited to do so) the fact that I am collecting more and more objets for my next project which is another outside piece, maybe another spectacular mailbox but could turn out to be a large birdhouse. I have been to a few shows, consignment shops and also stopped to shop a vintage toy resource online where I have accumulated a number of fabulous items; ie. vintage toy sail boats, nautically inspired jewelry-pins, necklaces, and rings, and ceramic dishes with sailing motifs. But the most fun I had was yesterday in SONO at Beadworks on Washington Street where I took a small tray and went through the myriads of beads and charms they have displayed and assorted by color and material, subsequently finding an unbelievable trove of beautiful pieces which I can use to combine with the tiles, ceramics, jewelry, vintage buttons, shells and sea glass I have amassed. So excited! Can't wait to update you!

All those out there reading this, if you see a small Neptune figure or even some plastic or metal lobsters and octopus, I am on it! I am still searching to buy small sea creatures. Comment below if you know where they could be hiding. I will make sure to stop at the Maritime Aquarium's gift shop to see if they have that little stuff to help me fill in the gaps.

For now, watch for additional posts about shows because as I get word of them, I will be sure to write it here.

Wednesday- Nov 17- A Look Ahead to the Weekend...

A favorite of mine, in terms of finding great buttons, vintage jewelry and clothing, is an event called
Vintage Clothing, Jewelry, Accessories and Textiles Show @ Danbury PAL Building located
at 25 Hayestown Road in Danbury,CT. It's hours: Friday night, 11/19, from 5PM-8PM, Saturday and Sunday, 11/20 and 11/21, from 10 AM-5PM with $6 Admission charge.

I have always looked forward to this event for lots of goodies and finds at good prices before the dealers get their hands on things and mark them up. The show is repeated in the Spring/Summer so I can rebuild my inventory in fabulous baubles and art when I find it dwindles down. If you are an avid follower and collector of antique jewelry and artifacts, this is a small show but with very selective wares packed into an easy venue. It is definitely worth the trip. Ask them for their best price and I bet you get it.
See you there!

Follow up on Mailbox pictures- Thursday- Veteran's Day

Hi everyone!
I did, indeed, take pictures of the new mailbox at the end of my driveway as promised.
Kathy came over today and secured all the pieces after that nasty weather from last week. Some of the flowers, birds and leaves can get "squooshy". She treats the creation like her "child" and I know will watch over it like a Mother Hen to make sure it stays as beautiful as it is right now. I really appreciate the attention.

Please enjoy the pictures above for the final result of all our labors.

Thank you, Susan @ T-Party for your today's post-Nov 10

Please visit http://tparty.typepad.com/the_tcozy/2010/11/barbaras-mosaic-mailbox-masterpiece.html#comments for a post about my new mailbox installation. The comments are lovely and the pictures divine. I am so pleased when the neighborhood appreciates my nod towards the special environment in which we live. I am needing to keep the new birdbox maintained throughout this weather and the upcoming winter. It will be a challenge but vigilance is the key.
Art for the eyes and soul is always a good thing. Please feel free to contact me if you can think of ways I could can help you realize your art visions for home projects!

Happy hunting!

Don't miss - THE PIER ANTIQUES SHOW!- 11/13-14- Pier 94, NYC

The biggest event in the Fall in NYC is the Pier show where 500+ dealers sell 17th-20th C. Art, Furniture, Jewelry and Objects plus Fashion Alley. Look on http://www.stellashows.com/ for more info. DO NOT MISS IT!
Their motto= Be Green-Buy Vintage! Antiques:Luxury Recycling. I believe in that 2. I have always found fabulous and unique "objets" for my clients and my own private cache. Visit my friend Jamie Shenkman and Marcia @ Cherished Treasures for the best vintage jewelry finds at great 2010 pricing. Use my name if it will help! Ask to see the Judith Leiber, from Marcia and my own personal fav, Miriam Haskell, items from both booths. There are collectibles galore- handbags and accessories- which finish the little black dress with your own "panache'. Go for it!

Sunday evening- Halloween- Oct 31

I am very excited to be announcing the installation of my new mailbox "art" this week. As you can see on my blog, there is the picture of the Mermaid mailbox on the right side which was my original one. I have had it for 7 years and over that period of time, it has become a local stop for dog walkers, neighbors, visitors, and spectators, even some who directly modeled their own boxes after it. But now, I will have the most unique pictorial postal piece, using birds and flight as indicative of the creek behind my home. I partnered with a local mosaic artist, Kathy L. who worked on it with me over the last 4 months. I found/discovered/purchased objects from a variety of antique fairs, flea markets, consignment shops, and small eclectic shops and designed a way to use them in a story about birds around my home.The front of the box spells out "PAR AVION" as a metaphor and literal reference. Kathy has been a "mosiacist" (new word) for a long time and has previously taught her craft when there were classes at Brookfield. She and I met, clicked immediately and found that my vision and her craft could be modeled together into this final beautiful piece. I plan to start a business from doing these boxes, with people coming to me to design their special boxes-  with them telling me their specific "loves" and my finding appropriate objects, colors and shapes and being the artist designing the entire theme. For example, I have a business friend contemplating a start up business specializing in dog grooming and doggie day/ pet care so I suggested making her a box centering around dogs- ceramic, glass, wood, plastic and other materials that would evoke her particular needs. Anyone could think about any subject, animals and birds as well as objects, like old cars and sports, and even ART objects. The mailbox conforms with U S Postal Service rules and could come in small, medium, and large. We have protected this particular box from the freezing temperatures by using material that will neither crack nor disintegrate in the weathers- from cold to hot. All the objects on it are one of a kind, as is the design. I am so excited to introduce it to decorative magazines as well as garden shows where people who live in places where their mailboxes are safe (from vandalism) and who want an expression of themselves and their lifestyle can contact me to develop new and wonderful ways of making Mailbox ART.
Please enjoy looking at the pictures of how it came to fruition, and after it is installed this week, I will post more pictures from its proper place at the end of my driveway.

I hope you can comment on my post so I can find out what you think!

Wednesday- Oct 27th- The beginnng of Printmaking

Hello Readers!
I am back from the Center for Contemporary Printmaking and am exhausted from the first day of my 4 consecutive day workshop with Ron Pokrasso, who is teaching 8 students different monotype styles and printmaking techniques. He lives in Santa Fe, NM when he is not traveling throughout the country, and I feel blessed to be able to share in his talent and techniques, and eat up every tasty morsel of his experience.
It goes from about 10 AM-4 PM respectively, except today it lasted until after 5:00 PM as Ron shared some of his own work in his portfolio as well as some very talented class members that he has tutored in the past.

The morning was spent with some simple and straightforward instruction and Ron's working a quick  monotype drawing/painting. Then he showed us the fundamentals and let us loose in the afternoon. I became frustrated with myself as I don't do well in an abstract art class, but I am looking forward to tomorrow when he lets us in on collage and chine collage as it mixes with printmaking and painting. That is more my milieu as an artist!
Please enjoy some pictures I took of the Center and Ron in his element.

Upcoming weekend's festivities-Oct 23rd and 24th

Planning is everything!
This weekend I am very excited and am thoroughly looking forward to my taking a mini-MONOTHON warmup workshop at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, located in Mathews Park in Norwalk. It is in anticipation of my 4 day workshop starting Oct 27-30 from 10 AM-4 PM taught by the renowned Ron Pokrasso whose work I touted a while back in another post. The workshop helps experienced printmakers brush up on their monotyping skills, introduce new techniques, and prepare novice montoypers (c'est moi!) for MONOTHON. Ron Pokrasso has been a print artist for more than 25 yrs. and exhibits his work throughout the country. He teaches in Santa Fe as well as holds classes. See his work @ http://www.ronpokrasso.com/. Taking these classes will help me to evolve as an artist using different media and skills from my previous studio forums (Isabel O'Neill and the Finishing School) as well as my decoupage and art/design venues in order to develop original art using printmaking, collage and decoupage together. Then, I plan to apply my vintage acessories, like collectible antique buttons and jewelry and the like, to the frames for individual embellishment. Hopefully, I will have pictures to share with you in the next 2 weeks as the classes spur me on to a new frontier! Tell me pleez if you like any of my new work.
On another front, there is an Antique show in Greenwich, CT- the Kiwanis Antiques Show in the Old Greenwich Civic Center on Sat. 10-5 and Sun. 11-4. See u there or be square!

As promised...

Yesterday I said I would post pictures of some of the art items I have happily purchased from the people @ Hillsdale Barn Antiques. I have also included a picture from the artist, Chris Roberts-Antieau, whose work I followed to the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD last weekend. Thought u might enjoy seeing: SCRATCHING THE WEINER DOG.

October 14th early morning...

I could not pass up the opportunity of sharing with you the excitement of a photo of this morning's first frosty air rising over my beautiful, still warm water, backyard creek.

It was too lovely to pass up with the camera in hand...

Upcoming Antique Show- October 16 & 17 and more...

Hello groupies!
Thought I would check in and tell you that this Saturday from 10-5 and Sunday from 11-5 there is an antique fair in Bedford Village,NY by the Bedford Historical Society and you can visit their website for further details at http://www.bedfordhistoricalsociety.org/.
AND, the weather has been great for leaf peeping so if you are so inclined to make a car ride to the upper Hudson River Valley, boy, do I have the place to visit! Located in the rolling hills of Columbia County, NY which borders the Berkshire foothills of Massachusetts, Hillsdale Barn Antiques is a single owned shop by Frank and RoseMarie Francis, who have over 35 years experience as dealers and collectors of mostly American art and artifacts. They have it all housed in a beautiful barn on their property overlooking the valley below and is right off the road. Please visit their website for directions as I always need to do the same whenever I take my semi-annual trip up there- http://www.hillsdalebarnantiques.com/. Be sure to get up there before Thanksgiving as they close for the winter months. Their barn features unique American Country furniture, eclectic accessories, baskets, quilts, stoneware, woodenware and 19th C. Folk Art paintings and "objets". In addition, they have a sincere passion for 20th C. Contemporary, Self-Taught and Outsider Folk Art,  featuring all sorts of hand crafted pieces made from found and recycled materials using pencils, bottle caps, cigarette packs, textiles, gum wrappers, buttons, twigs and license plates. Make it a point to enjoy RoseMarie's artwork whose naive style has garnered a positive interest and whose works can be found sprinkled in the shop and online. In fact, I am intending on sending her a few photographs of my own property and house when the Spring's first flowers sprout up so she can do a small painting, in her own style, for over my fireplace mantle. She will do custom paintings upon request on an individual basis.
In my next post, I will include one of my recent purchases made from the Big Barn for you to see how interesting some of the art really is. Discover it soon! Tell them K-art Design sent you and maybe, as an extra treat, they will take you for a tour of their home next door where the artwork is so bountiful that there is nary a free space for anything! My kind of people! Frank's collection of PEZ dispensers is by far the most significant with over 300 dating back early into the 1940's.

Weekend in Maryland- Oct 5

This past weekend I went to Baltimore on a visit and made it my business to visit the Visionary Art Museum which houses a collection of self made/outsider art unlike any other I have ever seen. Of course, I forgot my Coolpix camera and had to impose on a friend's use of their Olympus so I cannot vouch for the pictures I put up. Nevertheless, this is the most spectacular event because it coincides with my vision of art, using mosaic, found objects, collected memories, inspiration, and downright talent to come up with something that speaks to your very soul about the maker. To start, when I came from the car to the museum, I was enthralled with a freestanding 3 story high painted metal whirligig in front of a round building, not unlike Frank Lloyd Wright, encrusted with mirror pieces, ceramics, tile and general stuff in a swirl of glitter and sparkle, a harbinger of what was to come. The restaurant sits atop the building outside and inside hidden from view but high enough to see out over a park and possibly to the bay on the other side. We had lunch there eventually beside a bar with mirror mobiles lining its length and paper mache heads of a cow, walrus, and buffalo, all beaded, tiled, sparkled, and formidable. The food was incredibly unique and wonderful, especially the homemade pretzel balls they brought to the table hot and crusty and soft on the inside with a splash of salt and dark mustard. But I digress from the space.
When one enters the building, there is a ceiling at admissions leading all the way to the center with hanging airplanes and other air vehicles, each seemingly different but when put together, they look like a small airshow for the viewer. Then there is a shop called SIDESHOW and there I spent much time culling their art, books, fun gifts, jewelry and excess. I specifically went to this museum because of an artist I bought in a gallery in Philadelphia on a visit there 3-4 years ago. Her name is Chris Roberts-Antieau and you can find her work on her website: http://www.chrisroberts-antieau.com/- which will give you her bio and some of her work for sale, etc. Simply put, she is a brilliant collage fabric artist with a very edgy wit and definitive humor about life, liberty, and the pursuit of dogs and cats and the entire animal kingdom, including us. In the SIDESHOW shop she has about a dozen or so pieces for sale and in the museum itself 2 works which say everything about who she is- one features the devil and an angel discussing the good and bad of habits and ways of humans in a funny complex of small puzzle pieces stitched carefully by hand. The other features Howdy Doody in a wonderful likeness for those of you who are old enough to remember him and hangs next to the restrooms so you can be sure to see it when traveling to the loo. Some of the other art in this particular building, (there are a total of 3 buildings), illuminates the mosaic artists- using cracked china, glass, mirror, tiles, statues, and anything else handy.There are stories galore about how each of them was propelled to do their pieces. In the case of one such artist, his replica of the Lusitania cut in half spans about 6 ft long in perfect proportion, took 2 years to finish and is made exclusively of toothpicks and glue. I believe I read that he used just under 1 million of them.
The second building has a sculpture garden and fountain with its facing having a bird's nest off the 3rd floor, made from metal woven onto the outside of the building. You can stand inside it if you climb the stairs. A two story bird made from metal with an oversized cello for a body stands guard over the nest and then there is an egg, about 8 ft tall nearby made of ceramic, mirror, stone, and tile. The same artist made a gate to the sculpture garden and also the railing to the "pallazio" which connects the first 2 buildings.
The 3rd building is an enormous warehouse like space with oversized pieces- for ex. a 20 ft high remembrance of Divine done in paper mache and a totem of carvings of Morrison, Joplin, Lennon, and Hendrix. There were a great many small automaton pieces for you to interactively push buttons to make move and were incredibly intricate, tongue in cheek in their delivery. The reason I even knew about this incredible spot was reading that this was a place to see more of Chris Roberts-Antieau's work but I ultimately found so much more than I ever expected.  For me, it was an experience I won't forget and was so apropos to where I am in my art process right now.
I can't wait to show you the pictures of my new mailbox which I will be posting soon and will be installing the first week of November outside my house. It is so indicative of where I want my art to go in the future with combining all the ideas of these mosaic artists and my own vision: humorous and also creative, into a free standing piece. In the meantime, the woman, Kathy, who put it all together for me, and who has worked diligently to improve and also implement my vision has a website- http://www.lovemosaics.com/- which you can visit at your leisure. She told me that I expanded her artistry and molded it into the piece we have completed of which I know she is very proud.
Below see some of the pics I took of the Visionary Art Museum and hopefully it will stimulate you to go make a trek to this place very soon and get inspired like me!

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- 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/.

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 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 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...

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.