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Post by pooka on Jun 4, 2017 11:57:34 GMT -5
I woke up this morning after a grueling Saturday night, after the reopening of the new dining room at work Thursday. I sit enjoying my occasional coffee, & contemplate my little treasured trinkets that make my life bearable. The cup I'm using this morning is a bit quirky. It looks almost as if something crawled up & made little burrows to inhabit. The spoon is from the old Vendome Hotel, which has long since fallen to the wreaking ball. My little old pewter tray bears an old late 30s or 40s Sunbeam cream & sugar set, & mid 30s Monarch Plate silver plated sugar spoon to round out the ensemble. Peaking out from the right is a recent acquisition. A 1930s green Greek key Mc Coy flower pot that was a buck & a half the other day. Thursday, I splurged on something that would be right at home with any model C stove from the 50s. It's what we'd call a mid century modern dining or desk chair. I spotted it Wednesday, but hesitated. I went back Thursday morning hopping it was gone, but it wasn't, so I blew the $10. The seat needs a more appropriate fabric than the old brocade that would be more at home on a 40s couch, but that's a hunt & project for another day. This is a local piece from a bit east of me, made by the Jasper Cabinet Company, founded about 1904. Not quite as high class as a Heywood Wakefield one, but still a quality & classic 50s style piece. I took it upstairs to pair it for the moment with another chair I picked up a number of years ago. Someone was throwing it out with their trash, but I couldn't bear to see it go to the landfill. It has what I think is the original pale green textured vinyl, so I need to find a piece of green canvas to redo the new chair to compliment it. As you can see from the rest of the room, I have rather eclectic taste. It runs the gamut from the possibly civil war era office chair that again some had out for the trash, to the teens or 20s vanity table that I'm using as a desk. It's lined with my collection of 1930s chrome staplers. I can't seem to pass them up at a buck or two at the thrift store. Buy them at an antique store, & they're ten or twenty bucks. The blinding chrome & copper desk lamp is from the 30s too. The window are overlaid with two pairs of English stained glass that I got from three separate eBay auction years ago. I've got other stained glass hung over most of the windows to cheer the rooms. The elephant is a poster from The Epcot Center at Walt Disney World that was having an exhibition of treasures from The Forbidden City in China when I visited there many years ago. It was the first time the Chinese had allowed it. In the corner is a collection if bells mostly from Forbes Bells of California. It was a company run by a woman starting in the early 1900s. She specialized in mission bell from the various Spanish missions along the The El Camino Real or Kings Highway along the California coast. She started by producing historical marker bells along El Camino Real in 1906. Some are still there. Others have been reproduced & replaced to mark the Spanish mission road. Hung above them are three bark paper Mexican indigenous paintings. They appealed to me because of the bright colors & their primitive nature. Amongst the mission bells are a few others. One is from Russia. A couple are Liberty Bells. One from the Sesquicentennial in 1926. As you may note, the Spanish & indigenous Native Indian patterns have recurred as time has gone by. I recently had a run of that at the thrift stores. I don't know if someone was redecorating or what, but I pick up several things from different places that all followed the theme. This one is a vintage Pendleton wool throw that usually go for between one & two hundred dollars. I got it for $3. This is just one of those cheap Mexican rough cotton blankets you see a lot, but I'd never seen one with such a striking pattern. For now, it's great on my leather desk chair in the now more sticky hotter weather. This is a cotton one from L.L. Bean. A quality one that makes me feel more like I'm living larger than on my modest income. My art collection grows still. This black & white print pairs well with another I already had. As time passes, these are starting to fall into groupings for eventual permanent placings. This one is a bit off the mark for me, but it drew me in with it's color amid it's starkness. I'm not so into modern art, but you can't resist that which the eye is dazzled by. It's a commercially sold print, but I like it anyway, plus it's nicely framed. Even as time passes in a modern fashion, my mind falls back to a notion as old as time itself. Someone recently said my refuge looked like a wizard den. Perhaps I am a wizard of sorts. By that I don't mean not one of mystical feats. I am one who over time has gathered that a wise man is not one who is necessarily endowed with deep knowledge. But rather one who is knowledgeable of what he does not know, despite that which he does know. Quite frequently, the wisest of us is those who see clearly the simplest things that other pass by without a thought. The rising of a new crescent moon amid the passing storm clouds. The texture of a raw silk shirt against the skin. The dappled morning sun filtering through the shade of a favored tree. The song of the mocking bird in the morning & evening. Amid the hustle & bustle of the racing hours of the day, who but the wise take note of these. We dash from here to there in our day to day rat race, but rarely do we stop to contemplate the nature of the passing clouds. Such a pity we overlook the beauty that abounds around us in our race through time.
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Post by vaporvac on Jun 5, 2017 11:33:49 GMT -5
Thank you for allowing me this little glimpse into your life. I love seeing how all the treasures I've seen you collect over the years fit together in a seemless, cozy way like a a curiosity cabinet writ large. The chairs look so happy as a pair, but the blankets steal my heart. My PICC crime recently gifted me two bark cloth paintings. I plan to hang them near a huge one I bought in Mexico years ago fromt eh artist that is quite different from the norm. I hope they look as at home as yours.
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Post by nana on Jun 5, 2017 14:47:33 GMT -5
I agree with Vaporvac. You do have a collection of things that create a unique and holistic vibe when taken all together. Your house is like my idea of how a garden should be: only have things you like and allow them a little freedom to find their niche.
The chair on the left displays its Windsor chair genes, standing in front of one of its ancestors as it does, but the one on the right clearly wants to be the chair of the future with its sideways slats. You're right about the brocade. Too grandma-ish. And that is an absolutely fabulous clock! Wow! You have a good eye, Pooka!
The mother in me has to say it though...quit smoking!
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Post by pooka on Jun 6, 2017 2:38:35 GMT -5
Most of the time, when I buy something, it's because I like it & will find a place for it in time. Sometimes I do. Sometimes it just gets shuffled around for years never finding it's niche. As vaporvac said, "like a a curiosity cabinet writ large". My house is certainly that. Some of it is just plain junk though. I have a thing for clocks. I don't know why. Some are rather ordinary, others not so much. That one is one of my quirkier ones. In most things, I have an eye for the uncommon. Usually it's for vintage things, but anything striking, new or old will get my attention.
I watch home renovation shows where the decorator is accessorizing a room with meaningless knick knacks for a certain "LOOK". I guess that work for some, but not for me. I don't have a "Style". My house is not a store window hawking a certain fashion or product line. I do look for high quality oft times. That's what drew me to my little model 74. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before & rarely since too. I suppose my style might be described as juxtaposed eclectic. I could have an ancient Egyptian figure on a colonial table next to a post modern chair if I liked their looks. I could appreciate a room done with all period correct items, but that's just not me. My mind can wrap around any culture, time period or style in small doses. It just has to please my eye. Sometimes it evolves into a theme of sorts for a few pieces. Rich colors, pattern & fabrics will draw my eye if they aren't too busy. Furniture has to be comfortable as well as eye pleasing. Hand crafted, be it masterfully done or somewhat folk art like are a plus. I love handling a piece & think as if I'm in touch with the craftsman's hand.
I've quoted William Morris before where he said, "If you want a golden rule that will fit everybody, this is it: Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." I tend to lean hard on the beautiful side myself. I live & die for beauty, but I can see it in things others would see as trash, so go figure. Everybody's brain work differently I suppose. Some minds work on a very basic, & perhaps primitive level, while other are constantly reaching for the limitless expression. Mine is obviously the latter.
At this time in my life looking back, I wonder of how I saw life as a young man looking forward. I ran across Neil Young’s Classic ‘Old Man’ song. He wrote it about a old caretaker of the Broken Arrow Ranch he bought as a young man. It was the first home he bought after achieving some financial success. How differently we see things from either end of the equation. The old man had a dim view of rich young hippies at the time apparently.
P.S., nana, The smoking thing is a foul & filthy habit of long standing. I did quit for a year a long time ago, but alas, I picked it back up. It's one of my few faults. My dad smoked Camel non filters & died about eight months older than I am now, but that's not what killed him. As it is, I'm probably living on borrowed time as it is given my heredity. Only one of my fathers brother lived many years older than I am now. What will be will be. I doubt smoking will have much to do with my demise. I've lived my life on my own terms for the most part. Lets hope it's a quick parting, if not by my own hand as dark as that may sound. I've lived a life of highs & lows, & seen a little of the world, but It'll never be enough if I lived ten lifetimes. I've loved & been loved & lost. What else could I expect of my span. I live one day at a time, & don't look forward too much. For me, today is enough. Asking for more would be an extravagance.
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Post by pooka on Jun 7, 2017 3:39:06 GMT -5
Well I thought the hunt would be long a arduous, but here we are. I was up late unwinding after a rough night, dozed, then up again for a snack of scrambled eggs & toast before some real rest. Refreshed, I went out in the early afternoon to the Goodwill five minutes away for a turn about the place. Picked up a few necessities & something for work. Dove into one of their big warehouse baskets that they bring out filled with textiles like sheets, blankets, pillows & such. Came up with a pillow that struck my fancy to add to the collection. down near the bottom, I spotted some fabric that might work for the new chair. I dug it out, & it was a quantity of raw cloth cut from a bolt & tagged for an order that apparently went unused. The tag said The Arvin Company, Eighth & Dalton Streets, Box 14315, Cincinnati, Ohio 450203. Having a zip code tells me it's from after 1963 when the code was introduced, but maybe not long after that. I could find no info on the company. It's 3 5/8 yards. Way more than I need for the little cushion, but maybe I can use the rest for another couple of 50s easy chair I've got in need of a redo. I couldn't go wrong for $1.50 for the lot. It's a green & yellow stripes in shades that straddles the pale green of the other chair. A thoroughly modern pattern that seems to fill the bill, & I think appropriate for the 50s era. I was hoping for a cotton or hemp canvas, but this appears to be a hard wearing, rough textured stripes of a synthetic fiber, possibly polyester, so we'll try it out & see how it works. nana, you commented on the other ancestor chair behind the left modern one. Those are some children's chair that were here when I moved in. The one you noted has got to be the oldest, but who knows where & when any of them came from. They were just stacked up there awaiting a proper venue. I pulled them out for some glamor shot, despite everything in that room being covered in dust from disuse since my brother dogs have passed on. The chair in the center back is a rocker. I suppose I should find a place to hang them, or find some kids that would cherish & use them, but they are a part of the house as strange as that sounds. The center pillow below is the new one. It looks like an artist was testing sample shaded a dash at a time in rows. A nice splash of color to add to the mix. A side note of the two in the center back. I've had one for many years. Then, when I went out to Seattle some years ago to pick up a car I bought. Right before the turn east to get on I-90, I spotted a thrift shop, so I stopped for a bit before the long drive ahead into the uncertain journey ahead. There I found the other one that was the exact same fabric as the one I had at home. I bought it for some back support for the drive not realizing I had it's mate at home. Strange how the stars cross when you least expect it. The twin mini daybeds these are all piled on, I bought for the dogs so they could see out the window when the door was closed. The air intake for the furnace is bellow that window, so I needed something that wouldn't block the air flow. I want to move them to the basement once I shift things around & put some of my redone 50s chairs there instead. I've been on a tear in recent mouths buying pillows to sooth my eyes as I pass though this room when I check the mail. Otherwise I almost never use the room since my brother put Mac, one of his dogs down, & took Ruby to stay at moms old house leaving me alone. They would always sit on the couch where they could see out the front door. Ruby would sit on the left, Mac on the right. Mac would scratch & itch. That why the cushion is torn. I had a blanket there, but his back nails wore through it. As I said, I love rich & colorful fabrics in small doses. Rough & rich textures are a plus too. My leathery hands still are very sensitive to the tactile feel of things. Though my hands soak in hot dishwater six or seven hours every workday. They are still very sensitive to the feel of everything I touch. The poor couch was nice when I first got it at the St. Vincent De Paul thrift store for $35. Time & dogs have taken their toll. It needs some help at this juncture. A good cleaning & a slip cover may be in it's near future. I don't want to get rid of it, because it's so comfortable to sit & sleep on. The desk is probably the most presentable corner of the room right now, though it was piled high with junk mail not long ago. The blotter is new. I'd wanted one for years, but never found one that struck my fancy til a couple of weeks ago. This marbled paper one wowed me into submission. It reminds me of the inside cover pages from century old books. The door knocker matches the old original lock set on the door, but I never got the courage to drill the hole to mount it, so there it sits on display til it's time comes. The chair, as shabby as it is seems to predate all the ones from the late 1800s to early 1900s that all have cast iron swivels & mechanisms. This one is all wooden but a few screws. It even has a wooden tongue that works as the spring so it rocks back. Someone had driven a bunch of screws into it to fuse the seat in place so it wouldn't rock back. I've never been able to trace it's origin, but it's very old. It would be in the landfill if not for me. Here's a couple of parting shots to end this aimless rambling. this is my favorite of my stained glass windows. Restrained yet stylish. This is a glimpse into the seat of power at the heart of the wizard den. It is the center of my universe from where all my knowledge flows. It is surrounded with art, art pottery, clocks, clutter & color. That's also a more restrained leaded & stained glass window sash hung in front of the window with green glass bottles behind it.
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Post by nana on Jun 7, 2017 5:22:31 GMT -5
That is a great fabric for that chair. Those little children's size chairs are adorable and I think you're right, they all belong together. They kind of show a nice evolution of styles. You'd have a tough time anyway finding someone who would give one to an actual child to sit on nowadays, everyone seems to go for that awful plastic little tykes stuff. My neighbor sets her old chairs by windows and uses them as plant stands. Just be careful when you water so they don't overflow their saucer.
Sorry about the cigarette scolding. I know you're a grown up and make your own choices! It's just a pet peeve of mine--I hate it when I walk around town and see kids I know from school smoking. I can't help myself, I have to give them the lecture. Some of them have the grace to look a little ashamed. Every last one of them says they could quit if they wanted to. I just feel so sorry for them.
I love that not only do you have so many collections, but that they are curated as well! You try to find the history and provenance of things to put them into context. With Chambers being the central point around which the other things orbit. Very cool!
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Post by pooka on Jun 7, 2017 9:57:24 GMT -5
Plant stands are a great idea for the tiny chairs, though I have few indoor plants anymore. The oldest one is getting a bit too big for the old vanity stool I'm using now. It needs to be lowered because it's leaning to get the sun right now. I must be doing something right, because it flowers in the early months of the year, then bears seeds. It's still got it's seed fronds in place as I write. This started in a six inch pot many years ago. It's about due to be re-potted in the not too distant future. This pot is about as old as my house. I do the cigarette scolding to kids at work, but they are just kids, so I feel justified, since smoking isn't cool anymore like it was when I was younger. Here's a legacy piece from back then meant for your back yard barbeque picnic table. There's a pocket on the back for a pack of smokes & matches. It's never been used, & I'm not going to start. As you describe, I curate my things, because that makes them more than mere things to be acquired, used, then discarded as much of our modern stuff is today. We throw our money at it, use it, then throw it away. What a waste. I collect things for the duration. Why spend good money after bad. Spend wisely first. then you only spend it once. Then enjoy it for a lifetime. If you tire of something, sell it or give it away to have another life in someone else's hands, like our stoves. I'll finish with one of my wizard hats. Every wizard needs at least one. I've got a whole collection of those too. some are rather ordinary. This one, not so much. It leans more into the witch doctor realm.
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Post by wizardoftrance on Jun 8, 2017 9:27:40 GMT -5
I'll finish with one of my wizard hats. Every wizard needs at least one. I've got a whole collection of those too. some are rather ordinary. This one, not so much. It leans more into the witch doctor realm. Wizard hats? ohhhh... ahhhhh....
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Post by pooka on Jun 8, 2017 13:26:29 GMT -5
I've also been known to wear the fools crown too. In this life we're given to wear many different hats & play many roles. Often we're forced or feel compelled to wear masks to hide our true selves. For a time I wore a mask while dying inside. The song of Roger Waters of Pink Floyd was my mantra, though it was of the effect of the horrors of war that we dare not show or speak of. Paranoid Eyes (Waters) Button your lip. Don't let the shield slip. Take a fresh grip on your bullet proof mask. And if they try to break down your disguise with their questions You can hide, hide, hide, "I'll tell you what, I'll give you three blacks, and play you for five ..." "Ta! You was unlucky there son" "Time gentleman!" Behind paranoid eyes. You put on our brave face and slip over the road for a jar. Fixing your grin as you casually lean on the bar, Laughing too loud at the rest of the world With the boys in the crowd You hide, hide, hide, Behind petrified eyes. You believed in their stories of fame, fortune and glory. Now you're lost in a haze of alcohol soft middle age The pie in the sky turned out to be miles too high. And you hide, hide, hide, Behind brown and mild eyes. "Oi!" I found I could no longer breath from the suffocation of it & burned the bridges to the past self & started anew. There was a new freedom to it, but the trials of life really never end. They just bring new challenges & pitfalls. We live one day at a time & face that which we are confronted with as we encounter it. I now wear any hat I wish. If you don't like it, don't look. I no longer care. I think what I want, & am as I am. I seek conflict with nothing & no one, but I won't be cowed by anyone. But freedom doesn't bring a new kind of prosperity. Free will can cut both ways. I live as best can even if it is in the shadows on the fringe or in poverty. Some respect me for it. Other may deride me for it. I don't care. If you like me, draw near & I will give you honest council. If you don't like me, flee, for in conflict with me, I win or die. This dragon will not be trifled with. Not any more. I hate to relay this kind of dark & shadowy message, but truth sometimes is unpleasant, but it is liberating. Better to die in the light of freedom than live in the darkness of the slavery of false-hoods. I wear the hat that pleases me when I leave the house. I find they make people smirk & smile. I don't care if it's from revulsion or amusement. A smile is a smile. What better vocation in life than to spread that around. The last couple of summers, I've taken to collect silk & linen shirts. Not the slinky & shiny kind, but the raw & unrefined type. Their coarse & nubbly weave has a raw character that pleases me, & they breath like nothing else. I could go a month, wearing a different one every day, so in a sense, these are my wizards robes. They often make people smile, but they are a luxury meant just for me. Only a few at the right end of this pic are cotton & linen blend. One is 70% hemp. Only one is all cotton, but it's the nubbliest of them all. I took to peel the grandma fabric off of that chair seat & look what I found. The original fabric. It's much more old fashion than I'd of thought. As you can see, both the old & the older are sun bleached. The old cloth was blue & green, but the blue was all but bleached away. The older linen like fabric was a pale yellow & yellowish sandy color with a blue-green & blue flowers. It had worn through at the front, so that's why it was recovered. I would have expected something a bit more fashion forward, but there is a sort of stripped background, so my new fabric is taking a hint of the old, but embracing the modern. Perhaps this old fashion fabric was a way to sell these trendy chairs to an older crowd. I'm sure there was multiple choices of fabric depending on the buyers taste, trendy or traditional. The seat was screwed down with wood screws. I'm going to put in some T-nuts, so I can use machine screws. I may have some. I'm going to have to dig around to see.
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Post by dwayner2 on Jun 8, 2017 19:52:22 GMT -5
"Hung above them are three bark paper Mexican indigenous paintings" Pooka, I picked up two of those same type Mexican paintings years ago but have never found the time to frame and hang them. Their bold and bright colors just jump right off the paper (bark). I'm not much into modern art but I've seen just as many beautiful modern art pieces as I have classics. Years back I was lucky enough to go to MOMA in New York and I was blown away. Several Picasso's and some new artist who works in pencil. Many, many others too but what was probably one of the highlights of my life was when I entered a room there, looked to my right and there on the wall was Van Gogh's "Starry Night". I never expected it was there and was awe-stricken to have been lucky enough to see something so famous and beautiful. Not as big as I always imagined it though. I too have a strange fondness for a particular thing in life...vines. I don't know why but I find all vineing plants interesting and cool, probably because they can take on any shape they want, limited only by the environment (or support) around them. When I purchased my land several years ago I made sure not to kill or clear out all the poison ivy vines growing up the oak trees. My neighbors think I'm crazy but I've never been affected by them much if I touch them and they're the ONLY thing on my property with orange and red color in the Fall. I often think to myself that I must have been a vine of some sort in my past life...Shirley McClain, what do you think? Well Mach12, Chuckie and Metrowmn can attest to my smoking habit. I think I left a trail all the way from WA to TX last month starting with a big pile at Mach12's work shop. I've recently been trying to cut back and so far so good. I actually quit for one year but like an idiot I picked it up again. Guess we all have some bad habits, those that affect ourselves and those that make others unhappy. I'd rather be around a happy smoker or drinker than a grumpy or pessimistic person in the best shape of their life. Like that guy says in that song..."I know more old drinkers than I know old Doctors". And like you Nana, even though I smoke, I tell every kid who will listen they are an idiot for smoking and I have never given one to someone under 20. Company not included Pooka (or me). www.google.com/search?q=starry+night&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS748&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjh6rOjya_UAhUT8WMKHbIBAa4Q_AUIBigB&biw=1034&bih=728#imgrc=5IkFLrx4KoN2XM:His painting "The Red Vineyard" is also a favorite of mine.... www.google.com/search?q=van+gogh+the+red+vineyard&rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS748&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9pdPiyq_UAhUVwGMKHS5YArUQ_AUICigB&biw=1034&bih=728
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Post by wizardoftrance on Jun 9, 2017 0:13:27 GMT -5
Well Mach12, Chuckie and Metrowmn can attest to my smoking habit. I think I left a trail all the way from WA to TX last month starting with a big pile at Mach12's work shop. I've recently been trying to cut back and so far so good. I actually quit for one year but like an idiot I picked it up again. Guess we all have some bad habits, those that affect ourselves and those that make others unhappy. I'd rather be around a happy smoker or drinker than a grumpy or pessimistic person in the best shape of their life. Like that guy says in that song..."I know more old drinkers than I know old Doctors". And like you Nana, even though I smoke, I tell every kid who will listen they are an idiot for smoking and I have never given one to someone under 20. Company not included Pooka (or me). If you ever make up your mind to quit... they don't call me the wizard of trance for nothing. I have been doing clinical hypnosis for many years and stop smoking is much easier than you might ever imagine. I always say... if you want to smoke, that is your business... if you want to quit... that is my business. sedaliahypnosis.com
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Post by pooka on Jun 9, 2017 3:37:51 GMT -5
Good for you wizardoftrance. There are many people who really want to quite, but just don't have the resolve, or are weak willed, & can't focus their mind enough. As I said, I did quite for a year back in 1983 cold turkey, which is the best way. The first week or so was a bit nerve wracking, but it passes. I've read that the cold turkey method works best because it's unpleasant. Your much less likely to pick it back up after suffering through the pain of quitting. The patches, gum & other aid that try to make it easier, but make it easier to pick it back up. There are many things in life that are best done the hard way. You learn the skill or the lesson, & it makes more of an impression on you. You can try to teach a child not to touch a hot stove, but the lesson may not stick. If they touch a hot stove, they remember the pain & anguish, & they will never do it again. Pain has distinct a way of focusing your mind like nothing else. dwayner, here's another post from a couple of years ago were I talked about my art collection. It shows close ups of those bark paper paintings, & a few others. I have always been attracted to primitive art that local people create to please themselves, as crude as it may seem sometimes. I also have some Mexican paintings that are done on paper made from tree bark. They currently hang in the living room. They use strong primary colors & have a great visual impact. And also they are relatively inexpensive as I do almost all my shopping at thrift stores. I have a quirky taste when it comes to art. There is some things that are considered fine art that I just don't care for. Then there is cheap souvenirs art that is hand crafted that I love. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a Rembrandt as much as the next guy, but I will never be able to own one. I am a incessant collector of that which pleases me. Be it a fine art print that I got cheap to a crude painting some unknown person painted looking at some run down out buildings from their kitchen. I buy what I think is beautiful in my eyes, & not what others tell me is beautiful. Value is in the joy that viewing it gives me, & not in the price in dollars & cents the marketplace put on it. Here's another of my recent acquisitions by some unknown artist. It may seem crude, but it pleases me & was a steal at $4. The platter in front of it is an 1850s English transfer ware that I agonize over getting, but gave into the $4 price. Truly, I would go hungry & be homeless for the sake of beauty. I guess I'm a crazy philosopher who is a starving artist at heart, although I have no particular talent in art myself. This is my greatest buy that I talked the thrift store down from $20 to $10. I was lost in that far away look of that native American maiden wrapped in a blanket seated on the painted pony. It's only a print & not an original, but it's beauty captured me on first sight. I was fractured for days waiting for it not to sell before I made an offer. Call me mad. I just don't care. dwayner you lucky dog you. I'd love to be able to experience Van Gogh's genius up close & in person. Some time back, I happened on a book of the letters between Vincent & his brother Theo at the thrift store by chance. They are quite compelling to read. There are many books of his letters, but this is the last couple of years or so titled "Van Gogh" by Pierre Cabanne. I highly recommend it. We might have an image of Vincent as someone who was rather unhinged, but quite the contrary. He seemed to be quite lucid, & has a very sharp intellect, & definite ideas of what he wanted to accomplish with his work. We might call him driven though. We shall never really know what malady that afflicted him with the fits that would come & go. We have been taught that he killed himself, but even that is in somewhat of dispute. But aside from that, he didn't die right away, but lingered on for a few day. Long enough for his brother to travel to be at his side at the end. It's been reported that his last words were, "The Sadness Will Last Forever." Only he know quite what he meant by that. The Starry Night is one of his greatest works, though he had many in that last flush at the end his his life, when he seemed to finally find his muse. His earlier work didn't have nearly the power those last pictures did. I've heard it said he painted with a furry of a man possessed using a palate knife, & not a brush frequently. I'd love to see an exhibition of the works from that last few years. They have a raw power like no other, even given their crude nature. We see prints of these, but the the genuine article has a texture that make the image almost three dimensional. The Red Vineyard you reference was the only picture he sold during his lifetime a few months before his death. It was sold to a fellow artist Anna Boch, the sister of Eugène Boch. Both were friends of his. According to Wikipedia, it sold for 400 Belgian Francs (equal to about $1,000-1,050 today). Vincent also painted a portrait of Eugène Boch during this last period too. They say great art elicits strong emotional reactions from those who view it. You may love it, or hate it. If you're indifferent to it, it isn't truly great art. We are all drawn to different styles & types of art. Some just don't care. That's a pity, but we are what we are, & like what we like. You can educate people about art. You can't make them love it. There's lots of what's considered fine art that doesn't move me, but I can appreciate it. I'm not a great fan of more modern art, but there are exceptions. It's not visible in any of the pics I posted, but near the corner to the right of the window, there's a print of an image of a Picasso sculpture of a guitar. Not my favorite, but My brother dabbled in guitar playing, because a buddy of his was in a band. You say you have a thing for vines huh. Maybe that does say something about you. Poison Ivy is quite long lived, & as you say, has quite striking color in the fall. Maybe it it says something about you that means you have a tenacity to hold on & endure. I think I read somewhere locally there's one in Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve that the guide point out on tours. They've calculated from it's size that it's a couple of hundred years old. There are some truly ancient trees there. It's never been cut. It's the largest stand of virgin timber inside a city limits in the country. For whatever the reason, the city grew to surround it. Now it's a state nature preserve. When I was little, there was a dirt road that went back to it, & some sort of service road that cut through it, Part of the old Wabash-Eire Canal cuts through there too. We use to ride bikes on trails all through there. I don't know about the Shirley MaClaine comparison, but she was quite a corker, wasn't she, & not to be ignored.
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Post by nana on Jun 9, 2017 5:23:17 GMT -5
As far as the smoking goes, we all have our vices. I have been slavishly watching General Hospital since 1980, the Luke and Laura days. I even learned how to program a VCR so as not to miss it. People point out to me how absurd the plots are and I happily agree and go right on watching. If I fall behind on episodes for some reason my husband tries to get me to quit. "You'll never be able to catch up" he says. Oh yes. I will. And I do. So I really shouldn't judge. "Know thyself" is sage advice and you have taken it to heart, Pooka. Plenty of folks worry all the time about how things will look to other people, and it doesn't make them any happier. As an annoying teenager I was fond of finding meaningful quotes and phrases and posting them on my bedroom door for my family's edification. One of my favorites was "You wouldn't worry so much about what people think of you if you knew how infrequently they do." I found it very liberating, especially at that age where self consciousness can be so intense. So that's how you got your name, WOT!! I kind of wondered. Any chance you could work your magic on certain elected officials to break some of their bad habits?
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Post by nana on Jun 9, 2017 5:29:23 GMT -5
I did a paint and sip at the Slate Valley Museum. The model picture? It was "Starry Night". I was kind of pleased with mine, but will readily admit Vincent's is better!
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Post by Chuckie on Jun 9, 2017 11:37:32 GMT -5
If you ever make up your mind to quit... they don't call me the wizard of trance for nothing. I have been doing clinical hypnosis for many years and stop smoking is much easier than you might ever imagine. I always say... if you want to smoke, that is your business... if you want to quit... that is my business. sedaliahypnosis.com I suddenly have the urge to get up on stage, and strut & squawk like a chicken!!! Bring me BACK, WOT!!! CHEERS! Chicky
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Post by pooka on Jun 9, 2017 11:50:25 GMT -5
That's a lovely interpretation. I would happily hang that on my wall. I have a file folder called "cool pics" bursting with images of things I find interesting or intriguing. There's a number of Van Gogh inspired things there. I'll have to dig through it & pull a few out.
All to often, the world of wonder is laid out at our feet. We have but to bend down & pick it up. Yet we seem to seek some far away unattainable unknown that we shall never reach. That's not to say we shouldn't reach for the stars so to speak. But too often, happiness can often be found in the mundane & everyday that we simply overlook in search of that which we will never have. If we aren't happy in our own skin, nothing will suffice to pacify our want.
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Post by wizardoftrance on Jun 11, 2017 1:09:09 GMT -5
I suddenly have the urge to get up on stage, and strut & squawk like a chicken!!! Bring me BACK, WOT!!! CHEERS! Chicky LOL... its funny. Understandably I get asked that question a lot. "Can you really make me bark like a dog or cluck like a chicken?" I usually try for more clarification... "I don't know, what would that sound like to you?" "You know... Buck buck buck BUCKOCK!" "Then I guess I can."
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Post by pooka on Jun 11, 2017 15:24:50 GMT -5
Pablo Picasso says BUCKOCK (circa 1938)! Art is the heart & soul of the world whether we want to admit it or not. Low brow or high brow, never has the imitation or expression have been more apparent. Take Van Gogh's Starry Night that's been mentioned as awe-striking. You see it everywhere. And Wow, look at that Van Gogh! Even Calvin & Hobbs got into the act. From the whimsical jelly bean interpretation. To the classic jack-o-lantern. How about this matchbook sized version done on a piece of old roof slate. This unknown artist obviously was taking cues from the great work. Some patient client allowed an inspired stone mason to create this dumbfounding work. He must have been driven by his worshipful laboring to accomplish this master work. Can we say Van Gato! Even in his day Van Gogh was slavishly copying from elsewhere from new influences while trying to find his muse. Japanese prints where flooding into the rest of the world from their recently opened shores. This is the original. This is Vincent's take on it. He was a man always searching for himself throughout his life. As a child of 13 or a young wild haired youth of 19 he was seeking a way in life. Even as a grown man, he was an every-man of his era. He was indistinguishable from anyone else on the street. For a time he thought to follow his father in the pulpit, & managed to go to a seminary, & was then posted to minister to miners in a gritty setting, but he manage only to live lower that the poor miners he was sent to save. Even there he was sketching the rough surroundings, which was not thought of as a proper subjects of art. His superiors decided he was not cut out for that path. He was for a time a proctor at an English boys school. There he was sent home with a few of the boys on a break to collect school fees from those who had little to pay, so he was a failure at that too. Always he was drawing. His brother Theo got him a job at the branch of the gallery he worked at in their English branch. He decided he was to be an artist & sought to follow that path. His loving brother bankroll this endeavor as he followed this vocation in earnest He studied at art school & on his own copying & mimicking the styles of the day seeking his own personal muse to no avail. It was only in Paris & later Arles where seemed to gain a footing of what he sot to capture. There he thought to open an artist's school with Paul Gauguin in the little yellow house he immortalized in one of his works. But Gauguin was only there because Vincent's brother was paying him to stay with him. His interests were elsewhere. He was more interested in himself than anyone else. Here we see Vincent captured by Lautrec one of his friends. And here by Gauguin in a portrait that Vincent described as, "Yes that's me, but me as a madman." Here Gauguin's steely gaze give away his self center conceit in his own talent. This was a gift to Vincent & was dedicated to him. You see Vincent's sketch on the wall in the right corner. Van Gogh painted more self portraits than few other artists. He was constantly looking at himself to find himself. You would almost think they are by many hands, but they're all by his own. Some are rather ordinary in a style of the day. While others have dead & empty eyes of a sculptor's Marquette. It's tough to see these all as of the same man by his own hand. The many facets of the soul of one tortured by his own obsession to find his path. This is the one of two that I've always favored. They were both done near the end of his life. They're surreal quality & glowing blue hues have always drawn me in. This is a softer treatment that is more soothing to the eye. Note the signature swirls of the wall & even his coat. This is an artist's rendering of how he may have actually appeared if photographed. He was a man in search of .........?
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Post by nana on Jun 11, 2017 20:29:41 GMT -5
I've always wondered if he used some kind of hallucinogen. I don't know what would have been available back then. Wasn't absinthe more than just alcohol? Did he drink that?
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Post by dwayner2 on Jun 11, 2017 21:41:12 GMT -5
I'm so busy now I can't keep up with posting here but....
I don't know if Absinthe is much worse than other alcohols but I'll research the info and get back to you on that.
Pooka, when I restored my Aunt's old bedroom set for college they were using old newspapers for the cushion for the vanity, dated WWII. It's really cool to discover little "past secrets" about our furniture and appliances. It really puts a thought in your mind of the people who made or used them....almost like you can feel their presence.
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Post by pooka on Jun 12, 2017 4:53:36 GMT -5
Absinthe was originally used as a medicinal to treat heartburn & as an digestive aperitive. Grande wormwood, one of three main herbs used in production of absinthe. It's also flavored with green anise & sweet fennel. It's highly alcoholic (45–74% ABV / 90–148 U.S. proof). It's normally prepared by dripping water over sugar cubes into the glass of it producing a pale green mixture. It's been referred to as the Green Fairy.
Wikipedia lists Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust, Aleister Crowley, Erik Satie, Edgar Allan Poe, Lord Byron and Alfred Jarry all as known absinthe drinkers. It goes on to say, Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. The chemical compound thujone, although present in the spirit in only trace amounts, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria-Hungary.
It's never been shone as harmful. It's been more it's bad reputation was spread by prohibitionists & wine makers who used it's connection with the avant garde & bohemian culture to vilify it. It's ban has only been lifted in very recent years in many places.
dwayner it's fun to think of our old things had past live before we acquired them. It's interesting to find evidence of what those past times were about. My old 1885 drysink has a note written on the underside of it's top in poor English telling the carpenter how it was to be converted from a sink basin to a drawer. I assume the writer was more at home in German given that's where many in this area hailed from at that time. I'm sorry if I rattled on a bit too much there. I've know of & loved Van Gogh since I was quite young. I could identify his self portraits since I was ten or younger. My younger brother's name is also Theo the same as Vincent's, though I haven't lived his tortured life.
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Post by nana on Jun 12, 2017 20:33:12 GMT -5
That's OK. Go ahead and digress. I enjoy the extra education, although once in a while my husband looks over my shoulder and bewilderedly asks "Is that still your Chambers forum?" I think Vincent was a little bit mentally ill. Not a raving lunatic--more or less functional, but enough so that he tried to self medicate with whatever was available to him. I'm sure you know the Don McLean song "Vincent". I always tear up a little whenever I hear it.
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Post by pooka on Jun 14, 2017 1:42:18 GMT -5
Vincent was some how different than the average Joe. I've read the he was possibly epileptic to flat out delusional. Maybe he was mildly autistic. There was a term used for a while, but discarded for being at one end of the spectrum of autism, Asperger syndrome. We might say, very highly functionally autistic. His brother Theo looked out for him his whole life, & he obviously sensed something about him. But he was loved & cherished as special, what ever you think that means. Near the end of his life Theo named a son after Vincent, & he was a favored uncle. I've also seen a piece that hypothesized he was color blind. They theorized that would account for his brash & bold colors that he used. They developed a filtering software that would show his art as different types of color blind people sees it. His "Café Terrace at Night" & others look quite regular. I just now find this has been discounted per vangoghmuseum.nl - Question #52/125 Was Van Gogh colour-blind?He was something, certainly. We will really never know. He possessed a kind of visual genius or way of perceiving the world around him. His paintings were almost exclusively done from life, & not a conceptual images he mad up in his head, though "The Potato Eaters" was. He would walk the countryside with canvases & painting supply's looking looking for settings. This was a point of contention between him & Gauguin. There are several pictures by both of the same place. Vincent's from life, & Gauguin's made up idea of what he remembered it looked like, or how he wanted it to look. They are very different. Vincent strove to show what was there in his way of seeing it. Gauguin wanted to show you what he wanted you to see. A very manipulative & calculated way of thinking & being as Gauguin was. Vincent was an innocent saying looky looky. See it as I see it. Does that make sense? To back up a bit to the chair in need of recovering, & after another jaunt to Goodwill's textile rack, I found IT!!! A set of old cafe curtains made of a heavy canvas of some sort in yellow. It has an applied blue stripe. Some one had already started to rip out the seams & pleats to reuse them for something. They made holes along the top where they tore off the metal rings that were stitched on. It's more like the kind of fabric I had thought of originally, only in yellow, rather than the pale green I had in mind. This is one intact panel hung on my back door. The curtains there have needed washing for a long time. Translation, they've been there since I moved in in 93. Here's the other panel with the seams ripped out. Note the stain along the bottom edge. I'll give it a good wash, & try to find a staple gun. I know there's got to be at least one, a green one I think around here somewhere, but it'll be a treasure hunt trying to find it. I may use the stripe since it's there. Racing stripe style, or a band to follow the slots. I may not. I do really like this fabric. The other length of fabric I'll reserve for those 50' easy chairs I've got. I was digging through my textiles & came up with these other two. They are actually heavy fabric shower curtains. I'd bought two light filmy ones, & these two heavy ones to go on a curved shower curtain rod. They all are either a matching or are complimenting color to the yellow walls. All these can be used in this room somewhere. Maybe curtains, maybe chair cushions, maybe table runners. My head is working on things I'm not even aware of. I'd hate to say I was finding my muse like Vincent. Look what it did for him. A parting shot for grandma's fabric. It's nice stuff, but even the un-faded part isn't appealing. Yeck!!! One last bit. In the article disproving Van Gogh's color blindness theory. They said he had perfect use of complimentary color usage as per artist Eugène Delacroix's colour theory that he'd studied. Here's the color star that illustrates which colors compliment one another. If I remember correctly, you use the color next to it, or one across from it. I think that's how a color wheel works.
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Post by nana on Jun 15, 2017 20:41:13 GMT -5
I kind of like the racing stripe, but you'd have to get it exactly centered, or it would always bug you. Oxy-clean does a good job on most stains. Mix it with warm water, and let the fabric soak for an hour or so. Test a small bit first, sometimes it can fade the color. It's good to see nice old fabric getting a new lease on life!
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Post by pooka on Jun 16, 2017 10:47:15 GMT -5
I washed it once with regular detergent. A second time with an oxygenated cleaner from work that's like Oxy-clean for dishes. I even thew in some regular bleach, but it didn't get all the stains out. I think I can get what I need with it as is. Perhaps what little modeling will appear as if it's a hand dyed homespun with variations in shades. The blue stripe remind me of old tea towels. I think your right about the racing stripe though. It's literally a racy look. A fashion forward effect for the progressive 50s.
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Post by nana on Jun 17, 2017 7:35:49 GMT -5
Is that a subtle jacquard pattern in that fabric or a trick of the light? And I forgot to mention it before, but that fireplace is astoundingly beautiful. I can put that on my dream list of things I'd do when I win the lottery. Wow!
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Post by pooka on Jun 17, 2017 13:03:58 GMT -5
I think what you're seeing is the dark stains where it was box pleated at the top, & where it was hemmed at the bottom. The most exposed areas is where they're stained the worst. It's just a plain cotton or linen canvas. I dug these out from were they'd been buried for years. I'd like to use the striped fabric on the one on the left. The one on the right needs something like a medium green. It's got splitting vinyl on it now. It's a rather odd chair. It's one piece of curved laminated plywood with four legs screwed on. It's actually quite comfortable, but it's weird feeling not having any arms. Both these were discard in need of a new life. It's just taken me years to get back to them. I dug these two out of the coal bin a while back. The upholstery's not too bad, but one needs some frame work reinforcing done. I see a 50s vibe coalescing. It's just what the fates have bestowed on me. I have what the world has placed at my feet. Most people would have stepped over them. I chose to pick them up. Oh, that fireplace is a stunner isn't it.
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Post by nana on Jun 20, 2017 17:47:22 GMT -5
PLEASE DO NOT REUPHOLSTER THOSE LEOPARD SPOTTED CHAIRS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES !!! They are too perfect the way they are! I can just hear Bob Dylan singing about how he wants to sit in your brand new leopard skin chairs. Sorry for "shouting" in all caps, but I just got a little overwrought. I'll calm down now.
You must live in the land of chairs, that people are just throwing out perfectly good specimens like that. Up here unwanted chairs usually get put into barns or attics to molder and be covered in bat poop and spiders. Although there are some good finds once in a while.
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Post by pooka on Jun 21, 2017 11:08:48 GMT -5
The leopard chairs are not well built. The frame under the bottom of one has pulled apart in the back. I can fix it by screwing in some blocking to reinforce it. So I won't have to touch the fabric. That's one of the main reasons I brought them home. It's that splash of the exotic. They just screams the wild side of the era. I'm confident that upholstery is pure 50s original. You speak of a land of chairs, behold. I was digging out chairs from where they'd been stuck & buried. These added ones had been in the kitchen in the past, but had been stuck elsewhere for a while. I need to go though the whole house & sort stuff out to put it back into some sort of order. This collection is of a man who lives alone & virtually never has guests over. These two are the only chars in the house that match. They aren't perfect, but I like them. More Goodwill gold. This vanity stool held my palm tree until yesterday. It's now on a crock & a board. It needs a cushion. Another chair saved from the dump. nana, there's so many discount furniture stores around anymore. Furniture has become a consumable, to be used up & thrown away, rather than something to be kept, & cared for. In the mean time, I'm still buying art. This appears to be a surreal or abstract water color showing a P-51 Mustang I think. It might be a Supermarine Spitfire too. I'm not sure. There's a couple of faces too, but I'm unsure if they're suppose to be anyone particular. I need to sit & stare at it for a while. It caught my eye, & I couldn't resist it's charm. It's $4 worth of fascination for me. At first when I saw it, I thought maybe it was a P-47 Thunderbolt. They built them here during the war, but they look different.
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Post by nana on Jun 23, 2017 19:41:10 GMT -5
That is a neat painting. Is it an original by an unknown artist or a print? It has a definite vibe of something that was very meaningful to the person who painted it.
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