Introducing Pearl

This elegant lady has been waiting patiently for some months now for me to put on the finishing touches. Her hand has shown up in a few shots but she longed to be presented in a more complete fashion. She began as an uninspiring white resin form but, of course, that could never do. She is decoupaged in antique book pages which are further distressed and then stenciled. She's a glamorous gal draped in layers of faux pearl and dons a vintage brown velvet hat. She now happily joins the motley troupe of other decoupaged mannequins who reside in my basement/studio.

Re-Purposing Part Two

Once you begin to look at objects in a new light, the possibilities can truly emerge! This lovely oil lamp base became the perfect photo holder. The lamp's wick slot serves to hold the photo beautifully. The original photo is of my grandmother, Oeda Burkeen. It was taken in 1937.

A Sense of RE-Purpose

As an avid collector, yard sale enthusiast and passionate decorator it is inevitable that I end up with bits and pieces of things just because they strike my fancy. I have said more times than I can count, "I can do something with this." As life has it, I don't always get around to doing that elusive "something." But recently a box of discarded mismatched glass candle holders caught my eye. They're the type that maybe once belonged to a decorative fixture and are somewhat useless on their own as the bottoms are not flat. I had a vision of adding chains, jump rings, beads and baubles to re-purpose them into hanging candle holders. Here is the first one, hanging from an iron stand. Voila! Reduce, Re-use RE-PURPOSE!

Memorial Day

May we always remember and be thankful.

Collage for Melissa

My most recent collage was received today by my childhood best friend, Melissa. She and I met shortly after we began first grade together. We lived close enough that we could walk to each other's houses and we spent endless days together making mud pies, riding bikes and walking to the corner store to buy candy. We laughed, we sang, we imagined.

As life would have it we gradually lost touch for many years. Babies were born, loved one's passed but there was never a time that I didn't think about my sweet best friend. Only recently have we reconnected and it feels so right to have her back in my life. Melissa had requested that I make a collage for her in an Asian theme. In honor of a friendship renewed here it is. Melissa, you're beautiful inside and out, you sing like an angel and I can't wait until we can "play together" again!

Gypsy Style

Treasures past and present. The cigar poster is from a trip to a Paris flea market (oh, to do that again!) the butterfly sequin top is a recent find, covered bottles from German flea markets and various framed prints from all over. Gypsy Style suits me just fine!

Week-end Treasures

Look how far thirty dollars can go when you hit the right yard sales. I had loads of fun racking up these terrific bargains over the week-end!

Busy Days

It seems as though there are never enough hours in the day! As warmer weather (finally) is upon us here in the Northwest my days are becoming busier. The Thrift Shop I run is at it's peak during the spring and fall seasons. Business increases to a very hectic pace and keeping up with customers, consignors and volunteers definitely takes it's toll! Warmer weather also means working hard to establish some sort of lawn on our rocky outcropping and adding to the flowers in my backyard border. Best of all, this time of year brings an abundance of tag sales, garage sales and flea markets. I can, without fail, be found perusing these sales every Saturday morning adding to my eclectic mix of home decor accents. All of this to say that I will most likely begin to rely more on photos and less on words during the coming months. I don't know if any of my photos are worth a thousand words but here is a lovely tulip that called out to me this morning.

Outdoor Style

I love the look of outdoor elements inside the home. Romantic and reminiscent of airy palazzos with crumbling statues and rambling vines, outdoor themes can definitely work inside the home, too. I'm always on the look out for garden statues, attractive terra cotta pieces and old iron fencing. I enjoy fancying a forgotten garden, a secret and mysterious hide away worn by time.

My treasures may never recreate this imaginary scene but I certainly enjoy the thought!

Exotic

My idea of the perfect day has me strolling through a crowded outdoor bazaar. I am rummaging through piles of brightly colored textiles, stacks of intricately decorated pottery, beautiful trays of inlaid wood and plush hand-woven rugs... I can even smell spices wafting through the air....What is it about this exotic scene that speaks so loudly to me? I love using treasures that we have gathered from around the globe to decorate our home. There is nothing I love more than the look of the eccentric world-traveler's den. Bookcases laden with a curious selection of oddities, framed maps, supple leather armchairs....

My husband became quite the personal shopper for me as he trekked to parts of the world I will most likely never visit. Rugs from Turkey, carved masks from Djibouti, shawls from Oman, I will always treasure these special gifts and each finds it's place in the melange that is our home.

Happy Easter

So much to do on this special day; assembling Easter baskets, cooking the meal, tidying the house and, of course, preparing the decorations. Easter may not rival Christmas as the top decorating holiday but it is a welcome opportunity to display symbols of the season. I keep it fairly simple but enjoy using glittered eggs and fresh spring bulbs on table tops and window sills.

Another holiday another opportunity to beautify your surroundings and elevate the simple to the sublime. Happy Easter!

Hands

We work with them, create with them, comfort with them. Along with birds, hands are one of my most used images. But why? There is something intimate about the image of a hand, the tactile command center of our bodies. With them we explore our world. When I use hands in my collage work they are almost always the focal point. Hands seem to draw the eye in. They are familiar, you know something like the back of your hand. They are symbols of a caring nature when you lend a helping hand. They are congratulatory in applause, respectful in a salute, serene in prayer. Our hands could tell many stories of children raised, meals cooked and days of hard work.

I recall a day so many years ago sitting with my great-grandmother and my mother on a porch swing, my tiny "Mama Burkeen" sitting between my mother and I. She was by this time almost completely deaf so we communicated this day without words. As we swung gently my mother held one frail hand and I held the other. Words were not necessary as my great-grandmother's contentment was nearly palatable. Even then I knew that simply being with us in that moment in time meant the world to her. Mama Burkeen smiled peacefully and my mother spoke softly to me, "Think of all these sweet hands have done."

I did think about it, for a very long time.

Another Make It Monday

I like to contribute to the weekly challenge at gomakesomething.com whenever I can. Even if it is just a "quickie project" like this one, I feel that I've accomplished something. And that's not a bad thing for a Monday! This week's challenge theme was hats. Of course I managed to make a bird part of the fun.

Switching Gears

This has been Spring Break week and I have been fortunate to have unlimited time to create. That was exactly my plan! As a departure from my usual subject matter, I made this latest collage as an ode to Rock 'n' Roll. Those who know me well know I have a passion for many types of music. Here is my collage tribute to Rock music. Rock On!

The Collector

How does it begin? Innocently enough most often we begin to collect things. One becomes two and then we find ourselves seeking more. But why? What is it about certain inanimate objects that speak so loudly to us? Objects that we must hold on to simply because we enjoy having them around. Collections that inspire and enhance our surroundings don't need an explanation.

Perhaps the collector collects because she enjoys the very process of discovering that perfect addition to the collection. The thrill of the chase so to speak. It's what drives many a collector out into the fertile hunting grounds of thrift shops and yard sales. Collections need not be expensive or exotic as long as they bring joy!

A few things that bring me joy; white porcelain, vintage suitcases, old buttons, seashells, foreign postage stamps, maps, cookbooks, pewter and silver, bird figurines, textiles and linens, antique handkerchiefs, vintage Christmas ornaments, cookie cutters, lamps, transfer ware.....

Creative Spaces

My friend Kim and I were posting back and forth the other day about our respective creative spaces. Particularly about how messy we tend to be when in the "creative zone." I did not share with her that creative spaces had been on my mind a great deal lately and even the topic of my next blog entry. I don't have a real artist studio but I am lucky to have at my disposal an entire unfinished basement to create in. There are drawbacks, chief among them chilly temperatures in the winter. I've soldiered through many a creative stints until my hands became too cold to cooperate! Often, I'll drag materials upstairs to the dining room. I can't help but feel I'm creating a bit of visual chaos when I relocate to our main living space. It is the basement where I am the most free creatively. Free to be messy, free to walk away without cleaning up, free to have multiple projects going on at once! It's certainly not always pretty but it's where you'll find me when I have met life's other demands.

"Above All Humble"

I thought it might be fun to see how a project progresses through a few stages of it's development. I began this self-portrait collage as part of Make it Mondays weekly challenge. I had never done any sort of self-portrait before and was a little stumped on how to begin and what to include. It felt odd focusing on my likeness in a project! As with any collage, I began with backgrounds. I chose a map of Kentucky (my home state,) photocopies of antique letters from my great grandmother (some date as far back as 1858!) I also added a page from a botanical book as well as bits from an old Farmer's Almanac. All background images were sanded and distressed. Next I laid on an old black and white head shot from my theatre days (yes, it's 20 years old!) Behind the photo I used two circular atlas images and on top I placed all the fun birds and flowers. I had so much fun choosing the flowers and birds. I decided to include a bit of symbolism in that the crowned bird on top is the very common raven. All the other "fancy pretty birds" are placed below the raven's image. That was my shot at paying tribute to being above all, humble. Various text clippings were added and finally I finished by adding rubber stamped images. I don't know if I'll ever do another self-portrait but thank-you Make it Mondays, if not for the weekly challenge I would have totally missed out on this very fun project.

Home Sweet Home

A vase full of fresh flowers, a framed snapshot that brings back happy times, children's drawings...these seemingly small touches make a house a home. While my home is not by any means reminiscent of a magazine layout (you can tell that by the pet hair and stacks of magazines strewn around) I do love these personal touches that make our home cozy.

In fact, home is where I almost always want to be. Home is a haven from all the distractions of the "outside world." Peaceful, comforting and, at times, slightly dusty. HOME, I LOVE YOU!

Gorgeous Paper

I don't know how many people get as excited as I do about beautiful paper. Everyone has their own creative triggers, I suppose. I recently received my first order from a great company called Hollander's, the largest retail source for decorative paper in the U.S. They boast a stunning variety of decorative papers, over 1600 styles to be exact. From marbled to silk-screened and delicate handmade papers to breathtaking Florentine prints,

it was was with extreme difficulty that I narrowed down my final selections. By the way, the Florentine prints figured largely into my first order.

Checking out was a breeze. When one of my papers was out of stock I was called immediately to choose an alternative. The customer service was amazing, especially for a company of its impressive size. My order, expertly packaged, arrived within the designated time. At last I could see and touch it for myself! Pure delight. My papers were just as amazing in real life as they appeared on the web site. Many of my selections are worthy of framing as-is, true works of art.

If you are into fine paper as I am visit Hollander's at http://www.hollanders.com/

Variations on Themes

Why is it that certain themes seem to show up repeatedly in an artist's work? Maybe it is because there is that certain something that just keeps on giving and providing more and more inspiration. Birds show up regularly in my collages. I don't have an explanation for why I love to focus on birds in my work, but I do so on a regular basis. I even decoupaged an entire mannequin in a "birdy fashion." I suppose the why doesn't really matter just as long as one continues to find inspiration. For now, my birds will continue to soar!