I have long admired antique picture frames. They can be so beautiful, ornate, and well-crafted – sometimes their beauty exceeds that of the artwork within (!) or adds another dimension of texture, pattern, and interest to the piece as a whole.
With that appreciation in mind, I’m beginning to put together a new project that I’ll be excited to share in the near future…
275/365: vintage frames & pictures
Have the world and eat it, too.
260/365: world on a blue plate special
Abandoned houses are a childhood fascination I never outgrew. As a little girl riding in the backseat, I craned to get a closer look of the empty farmhouses. They were my landmarks on the drive to my grandparents’ house in rural Minnesota.
I loved to imagine the stories of the families. It was deliciously sad, mysterious and unfathomable that people would leave their homes to be slowly reclaimed by the wild. I always wanted to peer through the window or step inside to see what they’d left behind.
256/365: porcelain doll
is not gold. Sometimes, it’s silver.
255/365: silver assemblage
I grew up singing ‘How much is that doggie in the window?” and wanting to buy every one I saw. I’m not sure that puppies in windows even exist these days – a good thing, no doubt. But I can’t wait to find the one with just the right waggly tail.
And I do hope that dog is for sale.
252/365: ceramic dogs
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
from ‘Vitae Summa Brevis Spem Nos Vetat Incohare Longam’ by Ernest Dowson
241/365: lamplight and flowers
As a rather discouraged perfectionist, I often delight in the bit of mayhem, disarray, erosion, and decay that marks accidents, nature, life, antiques, people, art.
There is so much order and artistry in this piece: the measured ribbing, the graceful strokes of calligraphy and the vibrant, expressive figure of the crab.
And, then, there is a hole. In the umbrella. Allowing just a little bit of water or sunlight – exposure – to filter in. That’s what makes it interesting.
216/365: umbrella with calligraphy & crab
Once upon a time, I was a fifteen-year-old girl with a fervent devotion to reading Vogue. I think I truly believed that my grown-up self would inhabit those fanciful outfits, from the tip of the afro to the toe of the $1,000 shoes. And maybe someday I will. The fanciful part, anyway…
206/365: mannequin, bejewelled
Pure whimsy, compliments of my gig with Urban Cottage, a local vintage shop with a knack for creating readymade still lifes in their shop displays.
190/365: bambi/narcissus
I have never eaten a banana split. I always thought it seemed like a good way to ruin a perfectly good ice cream sundae. Too many ingredients.
I do, however, delight in highly specialized dishes, especially when they mimic the form of the food they’re meant to serve.
179:365: banana split bowls
avant garden 365 