Autumn Splendor

Autumn colour,

rusty leaves.

Here's a couple of turkeys that survived the holiday.

A pre-Christmas view of red and green.

Happy Thanksgiving

Giving gratitude for all blessings received.

Fabulous Shoes

Several years ago Margot made me these 

great coppery high tops

 and I wore them so much they literally fell apart.

But one of the wonderful things about being married to the 

founder of and creative genius behind  Sassy Feet is
she's always happy to make me a new pair!

These are the latest. Van knockoffs from Payless,

painted Neopaque Brown, then stenciled in
  Lumiere Super Copper using

Tim Holtz's new Burlap layering stencil.
And she distressed the soles  with Ranger Adirondack  ink.

And the crowning touches?

Custom stitched laces and

a distressed embellishment
 rescued from the original pair

Aren't I a lucky girl?!

Life on the Coast

Feeding time at the harbor on an early evening in Morro Bay.

From the Bookshelf

I came across this delightful book at a library book sale and was charmed by the wonderful watercolours and tale of a seaside journey in Northern France.

From Amazon - Just across the Channel lies a different world, the north coast of France, celebrated by generations of painters and writers, from Eugene Boudin to Marcel Proust. It is a world of picturesque fishing ports like Treboul, of genteel resorts like Cabourg, which Proust called Balbec, and where he fell in love with Albertine and of old-fashioned sea-side towns like Saint-Marc-sur-Mer, the setting for Jacques Tati's "Monsieur Hulot's Holiday". Glynn Boyd Harte evokes this lost domain. Setting off from Wimereux, he journeys unsystematically westwards, painting madly-turreted villas, pre-war garages, their walls plastered with old advertisements, cafes with their red-checked gingham table-cloths, sea-side stalls, with rubber tyres and buckets and spades, and fishmongers' slabs covered with oysters, mussels and langoustines. He stays in elegantly faded hotels with bizarre wallpapers. The book finishes in an end-of-season sadness as the last visitors depart, the hotels are closed and shuttered and the long autumn shadows creep across the empty sands.

Not an area of France that one hear of as much as Paris or Provence, but one that provides rich inspiration for the author's pen and paintbrush.  I think you'll enjoy this.

Around the World in 80 (and more) Pieces of Ephemera

 Oh boy!  Talk about a big surprise!!

 What happens when a good friend

 goes on the trip of a lifetime?

A 'round the world cruise?

 She brings you back an entire gift bag of ephemera!!

 Stamps, coins, receipts,

 tickers, brochures, maps.

 business cards, boarding passes, luggage labels!

As Michelle Ward would say "How cool is that?!"

Museum Monday - Tate St. Ives

We had the pleasure of visiting the Tate St. Ives Museum on our trip to Cornwall in 2006. We walked up and up narrow streets and then suddenly came out to a view of the museum with the ocean sparkling with sun pennies beyond. In the fiction-induced world I live in I like to think that this museum is what followed the gallery Lawrence Stern and his fellow artists started in that time between the wars.  For all of us who have read Rosamunde Pilcher's The Shell Seekers, know that Porthkeriss is St Ives.  

The three-storey building, designed by architects Evans and Shalev, lies on the site of an old gas works, overlooking Porthmeor Beach. It was opened in 1993, the second regional gallery in the Tate Gallery network.

An extension to the gallery has been proposed in response to the large numbers of visitors the gallery attracts, with the aims of providing better education spaces and accommodating larger works of art. The plans have met with fierce objections from some parts of the local community. On 20 July 2010, Cornwall Council successfully bought the land for the proposed extension from the Penwith Housing Association which has pledged to use the money to build more homes for elderly people in the town.

Lawrence states that the new artists "will come to paint the warmth of the sun and the colour of the wind." It was a joy to wander through St. Ives and recognize so much from Pilcher's novels, and to sit in the museum and be surrounded by glorious art that fulfilled  his long-ago prophecy. 

Saturday Suitcase Score!

photo courtesy of ebags.com

On a wonderful whirlwind trip to Portland Oregon a 

few years ago I was able to score really well!

This lovely bunch of loot came from Collage on Alberta Street.

A little bit of everything mixed media.

 These charming cast iron birds in wire nests were

found at the Japanese Gardens gift shop.

 Back on Alberta Street - beautiful handmade cards

 from  Six Days Art Gallery

 I try to send them to people, but haven't

 been able to part with any yet!

A fascinating old shop, across the river - full of old photos, 

vintage maps and long-ago correspondence.

Copper letters from Oblation Papers and Press.

And vintage wooden alphabet blocks from 

a quaint antique store out of town in Troutdale.

Vintage Score

My goodies from last Sunday's hunting and gathering 

at the Remnants of the Past Vintage Show.

Wonderful button sample cards, distressed metal crosses,

A very tiny coin purse and

an even tinier walrus pin.

Copper (not rubber) stamp of

a myriad of headgear.

And... delicious detritus found in the field

on the way back to the car!

Remnants of the Past

Had a glorious time this past Sunday

at Remnants of the Past Vintage Show.

A fantastic gathering that happens twice a year, spring and fall,

and is held at the Madonna Inn Event Building.

The weather was glorious and the vendors were out in force 

with thousands of delightful choices.

 We spent most of our time at the outside booths,

 where things can often be a better bargain.

Got some Christmas shopping done,

and found some lovely little treasures to add to my stash.

Fun to fall into conversation with people about their wares,

finding out the back stories and fascinating histories.

Gathered lots of good ideas - for art making

and for ways to display well-loved pieces.

Bling, rust, worn stone and softest silk,

a riot of textures and colours.

Eye candy to the max!

 Always a highlight of the season and never disappoints!

Come back on Thursday and I'll show you 

what I brought home to the studio!

Life on the Coast

Waiting for the tide to rise in Baywood Park.

From the Bookshelf

Did you want to be a graphic designer when you were a kid?  Create ads, invent logos, come up with just the perfect image to promote a product?  If only this book had been around then.  Chip Kidd presents the hows and whys and wherefores of graphic design in a down-to-earth style that captivates all ages.  The graphics, as you would expect, are superb and the writing style fresh and clean.  With the holidays coming up this is an excellent choice for any artistic type on your list.  I loved it so much I'm sending a copy off for a favourite birthday girl.

Score at the End of the Road

 A trip up a narrow rutted road on Sunday

 brought us to an estate sale down a dirt driveway.

A few very choice vintage items,

 just waiting for the perfect assemblage.

And enough $$ left to go enjoy a scone and a latte!