Category: Uncategorized

La Rue (The Street)

A few years ago, I went to Toulouse Lautrec and Montmarte, a special art exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. My friend Cindy and I spent a good afternoon meandering through the exhibit. I was bedazzled at the beautiful paintings and lithographs by various artists, many, I’d never even knew existed. I turned one corner of the gallery and there, hanging completely solo on a huge wall, was La Rue. The colors are amazing in this piece of art. I was especially taken with the woman on the left in the foreground holding the basket with the green gingham lid. If you click on the picture and enlarge it, notice she is wearing brown polka dot stockings. Fun! You can just sense the hussle bussle on the busy, mid-day streets of Montmarte.

This huge composition was a litho done to advertise a poster company. The class types of people is diverse from working-class women-a nanny, a laundress, maid and delivery girl along with male manual laborers mixed in with bonneted upper class and a business man wearing a top hat. I would say this litho spans 4 ft tall by 6 ft wide. It was truly beautiful. I hope you enjoy it, too.

I would have airy, cheesecloth curtains on the windows that looked just like these…

The walls of my special art room would have vintage look wallpaper like this, and I might just have a dress like that hanging on the wall….after all, we all need some lovelies to look at now and then, don’t we?

My wide, multi-purpose table would be like this, so my artistic friends could sit at the table and join me in a special project. Of course, there’d be a fireplace just like that one to keep our toes warm on those cold, winter nights when we lost ourselves in the joy of artmaking.

I would have a long wall of built in shelves just like this to house all my favorite books and of course, there would be a sofa like this one to curl up on if I just wanted to page through books seeking out inspiration. No art studio would be complete without a place for the cat, and my attic abode would have several baskets and pillows for my special feline friends.

I wish I had a place to call my own-a place where I could keep my supplies apart from my home. I long for a finished attic room, with old, vintage wallpaper in aqua and white. This attic room would have sunny windows with cheesecloth curtains and they would open up to the breezes swirling about my house. I wish i had a place to call my own, a place where I’d be free to dream up new art, an escape to where my thoughts could process. I wish I had white vintage cabinets to store my fabrics, paint and other dabbling supplies and a long wall with cubbies to house my most precious books and my lovely skeins of colorful yarns. I wish I had a big vintage table with a comfy chair on wheels so I could spin about from here to there in a flurry of creative frenzy. I’d fill my attic room with music and immerse myself in all things colorful and pleasing to the eye.

Attic rooms remind me of being a young girl. I had an attic playroom in the home I grew up in. It was magical, a bit dirty and somewhat cold, but I loved it because it was mine. I do long for a place that feels cozy-like being a girl again.

Maybe it’s the cooler weather setting in that’s giving me a feeling of wanting to retreat to a warm, creative nook. Maybe it was Granville’s old homes that set my heart a-flutter. What ever it is, I wish.

Over the last week I’ve been reminded of things I really love, and I’ve discovered some new things. May I share them with you?

Fletcher, as you all may know, is my favorite cat. I love him so much more when he exhibits his true sense of humor.

This hat starts awaking the knitting bug in me…

I love the dress next to the aqua wallpaper. It reminds me of Tiffany box blue. Wouldn’t this wallpaper be lovely in an attic bedroom? What I wouldn’t give for a room like that!

This knitted-looking basket texture seriously sets my heart skipping a beat. I wish I could find thick yarn just like it. I would knit up all kinds of things that looked like these baskets.

Fancy, colorful, textural yarns are catching my eye these days. Doesn’t this just beg you to reach out and touch it?

My absolute favorite apple, now in season-the Honeycrisp. Delicious, perfect and overpriced. Worth every bite.

This guy was killed in a propeller accident a few days before this photo was taken. When the photo was developed, the men verified it was a picture of the guy who had died just days before. Looks like he showed up for the picture regardless of the fact he was dead. Very eerie.

I can’t resist this one, folks. It’s Halloween eve and I have to put this out there. How many of you have seen or have people in your family or have friends who have seen a ghost and have an authentic story to tell? I’m on the fence about this, but to be honest I think I’m about to hop off the picket and into the graveyard and admit I do believe. I’m a big fan of Ghost Hunters and enjoy watching the shows. I’m always hopeful I’ll see something that helps me cement the fact there really are ghosts. I’ve been pretty impressed by some EVP readings I’ve heard on some episodes and also by some other things in the show that point to the possibility of a ghost being present.

Personally, for me, it’s difficult to think there aren’t ghosts. It’s a fact the Catholic church participates in exorcisms, which points to the fact there are demons, so if there are demons, there surely can be other types of paranormal spirits out there wreaking havoc on common people. At least I like to think there are.

Back in 1982, just after my father died, my mother and I had what I would consider a form of contact with my father’s spirit. My mom and I were sitting on the floor of my bedroom going through a box of his possessions. Above the doorway of my closet hung an air freshner in the form of a stained glass butterfly (Remember Sparklers?). My mom and I were on the floor just in front of my closet, under the butterfly. While we going through this box, we suddenly heard a violent tapping noise and we looked up and the butterfly was banging into the moulding of the closet door. There was no breeze to cause this, it was just doing it by itself. It scared us both, but we sat there, heads up watching it. I said to my mom that it must be dad trying to get our attention. If I remember right, I said something to the effect, “We see you dad…we hope you are okay!” It was bizarre. A few days later, the hospice nurse came to our house to finalize papers and pick up her things. We mentioned this incident to her and she seemed very calm about it. She said, from working around dying people, she sees this kind of thing a lot. She believed it was my father signaling us. The one thing I will never forget is when she said, “It’s funny how it was a butterfly. He’s showing you he’s free.” That gave me such peace. I was happy, even though I missed him terribly (and still do).

After that, I never had any other contact with him. Maybe he went right to heaven. But if it was my dad, he succeeded in what he was trying to do-to let my mom and I know he was there and he was okay.

Do any of you have a story to tell? Please tell me below in the comment section of this post.

Happy Halloween!

I’ve been overwhelmed with an urge for simplicity, to pare down and focus on the things that are really important. I wish my life wasn’t full of bull sh__tty distractions that keep me from doing the things my heart is yearning to do-create. I’m being driving by an art urge. There are some things in my life that are preventing me from taking a seat at my sewing table and letting my creativity flow. You know what I think is one of the things in my life that is robbing me of focus? I believe it’s clutter. My house isn’t insanely cluttered, but I am still shuffling and sorting through the possessions my mother in law owned that we now have and are debating on what to do with. I do have more things than I need. I want to purge my possessions. From now on, I’m only going to keep and maintain things in my home and closet that I truly love. Objects that make my heart happy are the only things which will endure under my roof. If they don’t make the grade, they will make the donation bag. Realistically, I don’t want to waste time in my life on things that I don’t care for. I believe I’m placing the blame for my inability to focus on clutter because as I sit and and try to create, it’s difficult to ignore the chaos around me. The thought of the garage so loaded, I can’t get 1 car in it bothers me. What’s important here? The cars should be in the garage, out of the winter elements, but instead, I have a bunch of CRAP loaded up in my garage that I don’t want. It consumes my thoughts. My husband is the bottleneck in my dilemma. If it were up to me, all this excess would have been long gone a long time ago. He hates to part with things.

For the future, I have adopted a new philosophy about objects and clothing. This new domestic ideology should ultimately, help me to save money. I will purchase less because I want less. An item will have to really knock my socks off to come home and live with me and take up my precious home space. I seriously have to ask myself “Do you really need it?” Can I live without this? ( of course I can.) Will this item have a positive affect on me or my life?

This new outlook leads me to these 12 life goals I’d like to adopt. These are entirely personal, and my husband isn’t even aware of them. I feel it’s best to keep these announcements to myself, so if I’m not successful, lest I hear “I knew you couldn’t do it!”

1. Spend less, much less.

2. Purge unwanted possessions and actually want less.

3. De-clutter my living space, garage and basement.

4. Drive less, stay home, save gas.

5. Walk the dog on a daily basis (this exercises me more than Lilly)

6. Cook more interesting meals for my family and eat healthier.

7. Write every day

8. Read, read, read.

9. Make art on a weekly basis.

10. Use up my fabrics and craft supplies before I buy more. By doing this, I purge excessive stash and spend less cash.

11. Live simpler with less. What is important is family, spirituality, friends, books, writing (blog), making art, comfort and contentment

12. Take control of my finances and be more responsible about money.

I once heard about these monks (I think they were Tibetan, but I can’t say for sure) who set fire to their dwellings every 7 years or so to rid themselves of their possessions. I believe this was to enable them to reduce their reliance on material things and give them the ability to begin anew, with nothing. Somehow this made them feel more at one with God, (at least that’s how I think they would feel.) This ritual kept things simple and sparce. It enabled them to have new beginnings without a lot of baggage. Sometimes I look around my basement or garage and think back to those monks. It makes me wish I had a match. I would almost welcome the chance to start over with the help of one little spark. (I would, however, not do this, I’m not crazy, nor am I an arsonist, but the Zen thing is very compelling to think about.) When I get this thought, I ask myself what would I do if I lost all my worldly stuff? If, afterwards, I got a new nest, how would I feather it? The possibility of it is secretly delicious to me. I do think I would be a bit of a minimalist. After all, I’ve already learned my lesson.

Ahh…so much for the easy way out.