BOTTLE TREES AND BLOOMS

TRILLIUM........

Worked outside all day today, clearing a new spot for a future project. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a clump of Trilliums on the edge of the woods. With their three clear white petals they always remind me of the Trinity. So perfect that they make their appearance at Easter time.


BLEEDING HEART........
                                                                              

This is the first of my bleeding hearts to come up. Still not much color but it's coming. So it's a good thing I

have my...................................................................................

 BOTTLE TREES!!.........        

      

I love my bottle trees!! I have two smaller ones but I am hoping to get a larger one made this year.

bottle trees were originally mostly a Southern thing I think. But now can be found almost anywhere.  It was "believed" that the bottles would attract and trap evil spirits. The only way the spirits could get out would be for the bottle to break

   

ALSO.......I want to say thanks to Joy for the mention on her blog . I was perusing the comments left on another  blog and saw HER comment.......her blog name is almost the same as mine so I clicked on over and introduced myself. She is in Canada, has a space in an antique mall, and is a lover of vintage . Check her out!

LAMP PIECE GOES TRIBAL

I have been researching primitive, tribal jewelry, trying to get that feel in my own work while still using recycled pieces and using  some of the bits and pieces I have picked up over the years while out junking around.  I have been studying the work of Ramona Solberg and going thru photos from  last years vacation to Wyoming and Montana.  In Cody at The Buffalo Bill Museum, they were having a special exhibit on Plains Indians. The clothes, the beadwork, all amazing. I couldn't take any photos in there, but I could sketch. And I made notes of color combinations, patterns, anything I could think of that could be used as inspiration when I got back home and was working on something.

When I found this lamp piece a couple of weeks ago in Phoenix I bought it knowing I was going to try to use it in a necklace. From studying things at the museums, I have no doubt that if a Native had found this piece laying on the prairie some where, it would have been used for something. Maybe a handle , maybe to decorate a weapon, but for something. So I tried to keep that in mind as I worked on this piece. I also made this a bit longer than I usually do, thinking more 'breastplate". Suprisingly, although it felt heavy and awkward while working on it, it isn't heavy to wear.  But it is big, and is definitely not for everyday wear.

I remember thinking while in the museum that the Native Americans were the original recyclers. They didn't waste anything . Two things that I saw that were my favorite examples of that were.........a warpaint kit that had been made out of a small shaving bag. (I think we can figure out that story) and the other thing that stuck with me was a beautiful deerskin shirt, painted, quill work, beadwork, and what at first glance I thought were small round mirrors.They  were actually pieces of tin cans that had been cut into small circles and sewn onto the shirt. It was stunning.  I am quessing that a can  was just something that was not to be wasted. Boy do we have a lot to learn!

  

Besides the lamp piece, I used some old steel cut links from my stash, two Tibetan prayer beads, and two carved Himalayan beads. ( at least I was told that's what they were) My sister Terri (an amazing bead artist ) gave me a huge stash of glass beads, silver beads, all kinds of fun stuff when she decided her eyes were done beading. The white beads are from her, made of bone. The closure is once again from  Industrial Chic.

OK, what do you think? Go ahead, I can take it.........Tribal? Primitive? Too Bulky? Sick of the Industrial Chic closures? Weird? Can't figure out my reasoning?????................. ( Keep in mind , I COULD take this apart and make a weapon :)   The beauty of this is I COULD take this apart and redo, or rethink the whole idea. So I welcome your comments and critique.

AND THE  MOST IMPORTANT THING OF ALL:  My grandson, Matthew........who will go junking with me at the drop of a hat, loves art, loves The beatles, and plays the drums, just turned 8 this past week.  Anyone that wants to wish him a Happy Birthday can do so in the comments at The Tin Palace Project.

Thanks!!

British Royal Commemoratives

              

The April issue of Romantic Homes did a short feature on the british royal commemoratives being issued to celebrate the upcoming wedding of prince William to Kate Middleton. I have been collecting British commemoratives for over 20 years and thought maybe you would like to see some of my favorites.

This is the messy cupboard most of them live in. Guess I should have straightened up the clutter............

Queen Victoria.............

To commemorate her Diamond Jubilee Year,  1897

                                                                              

I found this one in Canada,( one of my favorites)

                A pitcher issued in Memorium of King Edward VII
                                    born Nov 9,1841, died may 6,1910

  King George V                                                                      

             King George and Queen Mary..to commemorate their Silver Jubilee
                                                      1910-1935
                                                                          

   Edward, Prince of Wales, the coronation that never took place, however...the
   commemoratives had already been sold. (can you say Wallace!?)
  
King George VI                                                 

                              King George VI..."The Reluctant King"..coronation
                                                 May 12, 1937
                                                                               

                 Queen Elizabeth I                                  
                                  my personal favorite royal                         
                                                                    

                      Queen Elizabeth I ...... as a young girl                          
                                      (this is a newer mug)
                                                                            

                                 I like the ones with  Margaret on them

Queen Elizabeth II

                          Teapot  featuring Elizabeth when she was a child
                                                                         

             To commemorate Queen Elizabeths' coronation                                    
                                                     
A lot of these I have never seen before in antique stores or in researching them. I purchased some of these from an antique dealer that told me they had been in a storage unit in Canada for years and became available when the owner passed away. There were a lot more that I would have liked to have bought IF I would have had unlimited funds!!! For example....a Princess Margaret one....very simple, sort of a pottery like mug. I think I made the mistake of letting my excitement show.....all of the sudden it wasn't for sale.  LESSON LEARNED!!!

I have newer ones, one cute Charles cup(when he was a child) I unfortunately dropped and broke. Lots of Charles and Diana, Andrew and Fergie, etc.  To me the newer ones lack the charm of the old ones and are almost cheap looking. But that won't stop me from hunting down at least one William and Kate!!

Will you be staying up to watch the wedding? I know, corny, but I probably will. Nobody does pageantry quite like the Brits!!  ( I wonder if Rachell Ashwell is going to watch??)

ARIZONA ROADSIDE SHRINES......AND JUNKING FINDS!!.

ALONG HIWAY 85................................

A roadside shrine along Hiway 85, heading back to phoenix from Tucson.

We made a big loop on the way home because I had read that there were several shrines right alongside the road on that route. There were, but some that were supposed to be there weren't any longer. It made for a loooooong ride back, but here are some of the shrines we saw:

This was actually in a small cemetary that was right next to the road.

In memory of a 14 year old boy

Not a grave,  a memorial

Shrine to St. Jude

Altar of St. Jude Shrine 

And finally.............................

Phoenix has no stortage of good vintage shopping. Thanks to Dawn, I had a very nice list of good places to go!  She has done such a good job of profiling and listing them on her blog that I am not even going to attempt it. If you are interested I hope you will hop over to her blog and check them out . I didn't buy a lot.............had the suitcase issue to contend with, but I did manage to find a few things.

An old photo albumn for art projects, one baby shoe (I couldn't resist)

old pocket watch, garnets, crucifix, and 2 tintypes ...all for jewelry  projects.

That brass piece is a lamp part....pat. 1888.

Ammonites, Trilobites.

Labradorite........my favorite!!

Saw lots to inspire jewelry design on this trip. I am thinking......

BOLD...........CHUNKY

SIMPLE.........BASIC.

ETHNIC.....TRIBAL

Stay tuned!!!!!!!!

FYI.......If  I could have fit them in my suitcase.......there were some hauntingly beautiful old Mexican doors, shutters, simple hand hewn furniture,  etc, that would have made the trip home with me!! 

.

"TED' DEGRAZIA

GALLERY IN THE SUN.......................................

The entrance to the gallery

I just got home from a week long vacation spent in and around the Phoenix, Arizona area.  Lots of junking around, finding new shops to explore (thanks Dawn) spring training, golf for my husband , bead shops for me....with visits to family mixed in. (Hi Dad)  One of the more interesting places we went was..........DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun . Located in Tucson on about 10 acres......it features a gallery of the artist  Ettore "Ted" DeGrazias work, with both originals and prints available for purchase. The gallery space itself is a piece of art.  There is a room  where his easel is set up with his paintbox, boots, and other personal items that help give you a sense of the man behind the art. The  room where his paintings depicting Christ and The stations of The Cross hang, with a recording made by DeGrazia playing, explaining each painting is very powerful. Aside from that, the most interesting feature to me is his original house, a chapel, and the surrounding grounds. I couldn't take photos in the gallery ,   but took some outside photos that I think will show you what an amazing place this is, and why it has been placed  on the national Register of Historic Places.

Entrance to the chapel, painted metal flowers that to me looked like cactus blooms 

The chapel has an open roof

The altar up front....where people  light candles and leave tokens in memory of loved ones

( we did as well ) 

Murals on all the walls painted by DeGrazia, rows of wooden benches, and another smaller side altar. 

Smaller side altar area just inside the chapel entrance.

Exterior of original house

Original stovetop and oven in house......Great tile......

                                       

This photo is on the wall (sorry about the glare) and shows Ted with his car out on the desert loading wood.

 

How would you like to cook on this? There was a photo  that showed several people gathered around this (or one exactly like it) for a meal. Under the ashes is a sheet of corrugated metal sitting on wood. 

Eye candy.................................

I love old repairs on things, and this wonderful old pot has been glued, and wired together, and finally hung up in a tree as art. 

OK, I seriously love this, and probably have to crib the idea...just horseshoes hung on chain.

A "stack" of stones, next to DeGrazias' gravesite.........there were pennies and other tokens left on it.

Ettore "Ted" DeGrazia

June 14,1909--September 17,1982

In 1976 DeGrazia engaged in a protest against inheritance taxes based on assessed market values of his work. He claimed the IRS ruling made him "a millionaire on paper and my heirs will have to pay taxes for which there is no money." In his well publicized protest, DeGrazia rode horseback into the Superstition Mountains and burned 100 of his paintings.

If you visit DeGrazia Gallery In The Sun I think you come away with a real sense of who this man was and what was important to him. The fact that he designed and built the place probably contributes to that feeling. Although I can appreciate his art, and his talent ( music, ceramics, sculpture ) , I think I myself would have appreciated his interesting personality just as much if not more. 

If you can go............................do it!!!!!   You won't be sorry!!