March 9, 2012
I could use a little help in finding a way to describe my work; there must be a better way of presenting it than “vintage inspired art from the South of France.”
A good description will help me see where my work fits in this overwhelming outpouring of arts and crafts online. I need a niche, a little corner in the arts and crafts market I can describe in a by-line, a place where people who love what I love will find me. ” The frenchness of my subject isn’t really what draws me to it despite the fact that much of my subject matter comes from french flea markets.
As far as subject matter goes, I love eccentric collections, worn out things that have outlived their usefulness, eccentricities, objects that tell a story, have a history, things that have been mended and patched. And so do thousands of other people buying and selling on Etsy. The difference is that I sell an altered print of one of my drawings of a vintage object, rather than the objects themselves.
Yesterday, while photographing my latest altered prints, it occurred to me that my pieces are just the right size (mostly 5” by 5”and 6” x 6”) for those charming little vintage arrangements one sees on mantelpieces and small round tables in home decor magazines. The photos below are an effort to show the pieces in a home environment.
How I long to hear some fresh ideas! I’m so tired of trying to work this out on my own. If you send me an idea I can put to work, I will, with deep gratitude, send you a 5”by 5” altered print of the stack of three Moroccan bowls….mounted. It’s currently in my Etsy Shop.
March 1, 2012
I’ve been looking for a way to hang a flat masonite panel. I spent a morning looking in hardware stores and lumber yards but is was in Michaels, a big craft supply emporium, where I found the perfect thing. It’s called a doll pin stand. I looked at the doll pin stand, (not knowing what a doll pin stand is) and saw the solution to the hanging problem. It does exactly what I want it to do, it holds the panel 3/4 inch off the wall and accommodates a hanging nail. The shadow gives an idea of how the mounted print floats above the surface of the wall. I’m putting them in my Etsy shop. Don’t miss them.
February 19, 2012
Anthony Trollope, a nineteenth century English author with great insight into human character wrote:
“His mind was not capacious, but such as it was it was his own, and he knew how to use it.”
What I like about the quotation is that it reminds me that it isn’t the tool, but how it’s used that’s important.
pen and ink, 6"x6"
I found this early 20th century iron at a French flea market. It’s no longer well suited to it’s original purpose; better versions have come along since it was made; but it does make a perfect doorstop. Each door at La Cascade has its own vintage iron doorstop to prevent the violent slamming that happens when the Vent d’Autan rages down the valley. Southern Franc e is often windy because the pressure systems over the Mediterranean and the Atlantic blow back and forth in an attempt to strike a balance. So the iron isn’t particularly impressive as a tool, but I was delighted to find it because I knew exactly how I wanted to use it.
