Over the tracks and through downtown . . .

. . . to Grandmother's house we go. The Dodge Dart (or perhaps the Charger) knows the way to carry the . . .

So, it's Thanksgiving somewhere back in the early 70s and we are on our way to my mother's parents house for Thanksgiving. Yes we did go over the tracks and through downtown. My grandparent's neighborhood was a grouping of somewhat rundown frame houses built mostly in the early 1900's. Their house was a lovely golden color. I've had a certain color of paint that I've loved to use for the last several years and I'm now just figuring out why I love it. It reminds me of that house!

Upon entering, we are enveloped in a stew of scents that, well, made us thankful. My grandparents would be in the kitchen cooking up a storm. Since I was not a fan of turkey, my grandfather would go out and get me a ham. He would have a slice ready for me as soon as I appeared in the kitchen door. My grandmother would be hovering over an oven stuffed with bubbling casseroles. Staples of the South. Sweet potatoes (still hate 'em), scalloped potatoes, green beans, dressing. None of it good for you.

The table was set with my grandparent's best. Lace tablecloth, freshly polished silver, gold rimmed plates, cut-glass goblets. Even as a little child, I used all of these fine things. No little kid treatment for me.

I never seem to remember going home after the feast. No doubt comatose from all of the fat.

I can't imagine the amount of money I would be willing to spend to have another Thanksgiving dinner there.

Recently, I have been doing a few more of my house-shaped pieces.

I began selecting pieces from boxes of fall-colored fabric scraps.

I soon had a selection that reminded me of my grandparents' home.
I lightly spread on some brown paint to "age" a few of my paper beads (buttons?)

How to represent my grandparents? Birds, of course. And I wanted to include my grandparents initials. I carved a "T" stamp for Theresa and one of my map beads just happened to have the letter "G" for Guy. Why the little red square? I'm thinking that it represents two things. The first is me -- the energy I have left behind in that house. The second is the red dinette set that was in the kitchen when I was very young.

Now I am adding the filler. Trees. MUST have trees. The moon is there to pull up some of the lighter colors from the bottom of the quilt. I made the small "T" into a little house all unto itself. As a child, I never considered my grandparents as individuals. They were just Teddy and Guy. They just went together and I never gave it another thought. As an adult, I know differently. After my grandmother died, many of her belongings ended up at my parents' house. I found her diaries in the basement. Through a brief reading of one, I discovered my grandmother did indeed have her own thoughts -- not always bright, happy, pretty ones. Like an idiot, I told my mother I found them. The next time I went to visit and look for them I found that she had thrown them away. So there are all of my grandmother's thoughts. In a little dark house by themselves, never to be discovered again.

I really wanted to include a representation of their house and its beautiful dark wood door. Since I have become a big fan of text and numbers, I wanted to include the house number. Instead of carving my own, I made a trip to one of those big box craft stores and bought myself some numbers. I felt some other little dark houses were in order. My father used to live around the corner from my mother when she lived in this house. My father's house has since been condemned and torn down. His father, who left his family when my dad was young also had a house in the neighborhood. Always a dark house for me.
And I could not resist placing a paper house on this piece. So there it is on top. Like it is in my memory.

I'm hoping I did not give out too much information. Usually, I like to put up a piece and let others fill in the information for themselves. I'm not sure what to do with this piece yet. I'll just let it hang around here for a while (along with loads of other pieces).

I am putting Thanksgiving House II on Etsy.

Thanksgiving House II, 15 x 10", now on Etsy.

What's it going to be at your house this year? Turkey? Tofurkey? Lentils?

Icing on the Cake

Beads Paper Buttons
Perhaps its a case of the seven-year itch. About seven years ago, I stopped doing my paper and fabric collages on board and canvas and started working exclusively with fabric (although I might add paint to the fabric). Now, paper is back in my life again and this time I feel it is going to stay. Will it remain a "bit" character or will it eventually play a larger part?

At this point, I am using paper as an embellishment on my quilts. Yes, I know the word embellishment is a bit of a bad word in the world of art. So?

And then there are beads. I have loved beads for quite a long time now. At first, they were little glass beads. Then they got a little larger and became a more important aspect of my quilts. Then they got stranger -- plastic, resin, celluloid, and now, paper. I love spending an afternoon rolling up paper beads. Aren't those black sunburst sequins fantastic? What about those elephant beads?

So, of course now buttons have to make an appearance. I'm especially in love with vintage mother-of-pearl buttons. I found two large ones I received in a collection from my mother-in-law. I originally intended on holding on to them forever and ever. But then, one of my pieces demanded such a button. I added it and proclaimed it perfect. Then another piece demanded the other of the two buttons. Then they were gone. Now, like a lonely lover perusing personal ads, I cruise Etsy and Ebay for old buttons. And maps. My obsession with old maps continues.

What's life without obsessions? Or itches?

Now on Etsy

Here are three pieces that have finally made the transition from Ebay to Etsy.

Little Sparks, 7 x 5.5"

Unseen Sea, 9 x 7"

Echo, 6 x 5.5"

I'll be adding a few more mini quilts in the next couple of weeks. Seems like a good time to trot out some recession-friendly artwork in time for the Holidays.

Made in China Made in China Made in China Mad in America

Today I did a little Christmas preview.

Our local garden center and gift shop had a Christmas open house today. They do a beautiful job of decorating trees and making every item look so appetizing. I picked up snowmen, Santas, ornaments, snow globes, and various doodads. Each had a label on the bottom that read Made in China. EVERY SINGLE ITEM. Oops, except for the item that was made in Thailand. It made me both angry and sad.

This summer, I purchased a few gifts from our fantastic arts festival. I do have many more gifts to purchase, however. I'm going to promise to do my best to purchase items that are handmade by artists that I actually know or can at least have contact with.

Do you have any favorite Etsy shops that you purchase from? Please let me know. I'm going to do a little more Etsy research and see if I can put a few more links up on my sidebar.



Thanks to Alicia, Nellie, Ellen, Lynn, Leslie and Robyn for your comments on my studio tour post. Just to let you know, the mess I began 15 minutes after I completed the video has turned into complete chaos. As usual. Three pieces started. Loads of reject piles, boxes of scraps, boxes of beads, piles of stamps, knots of threads, brushes, bottles, spools, etc, are everywhere. Aaaahhhhh, back to normal.

G Rated Movie

Well, here it is. Finally. A video of my CLEAN studio. I promised this months ago.

Back in April, I posted a video of my very untidy studio. The title of that post was
Horror Flick. A most frightening video. It should have been rated R. The new video definitely rates a "G".

And do you think that it remained that clean for long?

Here's a photo of it about a half-hour later.

More House Love

Big Brown Barn, 6 x 5.5"
For sale on Etsy

On Sundays, my daughter and I love to go look at open houses. Our town does not have the most attractive housing stock, so we were quite surprised to find three old homes full of character to explore today.

The realtors are starting to get to know us and no longer push us to give them our address and phone number. They know we are not interested in making a purchase. We're just there for fun.

We look in every closet. Inspect all basement nooks and crannies, no matter how scary looking. I'm starting to enjoy inspecting furnaces.

I mentally plant trees and shrubs. I pick a room to be my studio. I knock out walls and expand kitchens. I toss out ugly chandeliers and vinyl flooring. I lovingly retain beautiful woodwork and plaster.

Our favorite house today was in the midst of renovation. We found disused toilets in odd places -- the basement and closets. Strange. The hallways were wide. Windows were plentiful. The yard was a naked field waiting for greenery and blossoms. Each bathroom was halfway finished. One bath had the most beautiful mosaic tile floor that was original to the house. I got the impression it wasn't going to be there much longer. I debated writing a note to the new owner requesting the retention of the tiles.

I recall the house being for sale a few years ago. It sits amidst several fraternity houses. I'm sure the loud parties, vandalism, and frequent urination on the lawn by drunken party goers caused the last owners to vacate. It was a beautiful home, but it left me with the feeling that it was unloved. You can feel that in a house, I think. I definitely had that feeling when I first looked at our house. It felt cold and unloved. Sometimes it felt downright mean. I cried the first few nights we lived in our house. But it has been cared for and loved for 12 years and I think that anyone who enters can feel that.

Does your home feel loved?

House Love

Offering, 15 x 10", for sale on Etsy.

I love houses. I am obsessed with them. Always have been and probably always will be.

As a child, I used to draw layouts of houses. If I were somewhere and did not have a pencil or paper, I would find another way to do layouts. If I found a bag full of clothespins, a can full of pick-up-sticks, or a boxful of crayons, I would use them to create walls, windows, and doors.

I've always loved stories of haunted houses. Souls that refuse to leave their homes have always fascinated me. I love houses full of life and I love abandoned ones also. Forget new ones. For me, the older the better.

Houses are vessels for our lives. They hold the good and the bad. They fill up with love, anger, birth, and death. We've all read stories of the houses of widowed women that are completely filled with garbage and newspapers. Tragically, we read about houses that are repositories of bodies and bones. Most of us work to fill up our homes with happiness.

My house quilts all seem to have a little bit of darkness in them. I think that is true of all of our houses. No matter how cheerful I work to make my little house quilts, they never turn out as happy as I wish. My subconscious wins in the end.

I would love to know about my readers' houses. What is your favorite, or, if you wish, least favorite house memory?