resurrection fern

Curtains of Rain on a Saturday Afternoon

The purpose of this post was to show you the items I bought at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition on friday. I could have spent thousands of dollars on some incredible art but still have a few children to put through university and hope to have a few family trips in the next year so I had to put my cheque book under lock and key. Here is the vintage book purse I told you about made by the very talented Noelle Hamlyn and her sister helped with the sewing of the lining and zipper.

Because she doesn't waste any parts of the books she also sells these great pins with vintage illustrations and print. They were a steal at 2 for 5 dollars . She even through in a few freebies for my daughter.

I am smitten with this egg vessel I purchased from Courtney Chapman. It wasn't even for sale , she was holding her business cards in it but ask and you shall receive. She said it was from a series of eggs she did for her thesis in fine art at the Ontario College of Fine Art and Design. Thanks courtney and doesn't it look fantastic with some of my nature treasures tucked inside.

Finally a little ink and watercolor drawing of a british naval ship by Dan Rocco, an art student.

Some of you wondered how all this art eye candy would inspire me from the comments on yesterday's post . Well it didn't take long for me to be so inspired by Suzanne Carlsen's incredible embroidery that was so small and detailed to attempt to sketch my little friend with a needle and single thread.

It was tough going because my underpaid model kept wandering off exploring.

I did manage to finish my little snail embroidery. The fabric is from lara cameron.

I also worked on a few colorful mushrooms.

The rain was coming down so hard I had to move the table into the middle of the porch and edgar thought he was a mermaid cat again.

I did manage a short walk to the library to pick up a few books for planning our vacation and I found some beautiful nuts that had fallen off the tree with the rain.

I passed this sign and thought it the perfect end for this post. Have a peaceful day.

My Picks at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

There is nothing like seeing some fantastic art on a warm midsummer's eve to motivate and inspire the tiny little infant artist in you. That is how I felt after spending last evening at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Now this is art shown outdoors not all season outdoor art just to clarify. I want to share with you my favorites and no surprise they weigh heavily in the fiber art category. I am going to show them in order of my seeing them because I collected their cards and kept them in the same order as my photos. I hope I get them all correct . First up a very colorful, imaginative ceramic artist Nicole De Brandandere a student from St. Mary's , Ontario.

Next another ceramic student artist from Toronto, Ontario Courtney Chapman. . I just loved the organic simplicity of her work and am very happy she sold me her little "egg" that she was holding her business cards in. I will get a picture of that later when the fog lifts.

Now I was especially smitten with the work of this next artist. Her name is Noelle Hamlyn and she is fiber artist from the Toronto area and studying in Chicago. I think she is someone to keep your eye on. She makes art , some of it functional out of vintage books using every last part of the book even the spines . Her sister explained this to us as how the aboriginal people kill an animal and then not wasting anything use all the parts of the animal to sustain themselves. I purchased one of her book purses and again I will try to photograph it later to show you. I loved her sculptures.

Next I want to show you some very imaginative ceramic vases and I really apologize because I can't seem to find a card for this artists name. If anyone recognizes them please email me so I can add the name.

These buildings were made out of paper , pigments, wax and other components . Bekki really liked them and again sorry but I can't recall the artists name. I guess my method of organizing pictures and business cards isn't working afterall.

Now for probably my very favorite canadian textile artist. I was so inspired by her work and dream of owning a piece one day. She has really motivated me to improve my embroidery skills and try to reduce the scale and work with single threads and smaller needles. I better go for an eye examination first. I almost forgot her name is Suzanne Carlsen.

Next up toronto textile artist arounna knounnoraj.

My daughters thought that last one looked like one of my snail friends. Next is another fantastic embroiderer Kate Jackson. I really loved her artists statement.

We really enjoyed chatting with art student dan rocca. I purchased a little drawing of a british ship he did. This photograph is of his large piece titled the minotaur's labyrinth .

And another art student jessica rode. I recognized the cellular structures in her art right away.

This next artist was so talented. Her name is Holly Farrell. Unfortunately her art was way out of my price range.

Aren't those books beautiful. If you live in the Toronto area the show is on today and tomorrow. If you are an artist you should submit an application for next year it is a fantastic venue , right downtown only a block from the Toronto Eaton's center and then maybe I will stop by and chat with you next year. Thanks to all the artists that gave me permission to photograph their work and took the time to talk with me. I also found out about another art show in Toronto that I will have to check out called Women's Work at the rebecca gallery .

Maria, Matte and Rob

You might be wondering why maria , matte and rob are all in the title of this friday post. Well besides being on my short list of favorite artists and amazingly nice people, yesterday I received mail from all three of them. Don't you just love that rob ryan tape on his little package. What's inside you ask? A few weeks ago I had a look at rob's blog and he posted that he had some calendars to give away if you sent him a self addressed envelope . I thought I was too late and I couldn't include postage on the envelope being from canada but I sent it anyway. A few days later he said on his blog that he was all out of them so I sighed but yesterday my envelope returned to me with a beautiful little laser cut calendar inside. Thanks so much rob and so you know what a great guy he is he even bought the stamp.

The large box contained Deborah's birthday painting by matte stephens . It is a picture of bear monster in NYC . This was such a cool coincidence since matte didn't know that deborah and I were taking the train to NYC for a pre birthday trip . He also had no idea that she and I voted the chrysler building our favorite . I love how the top of that building and the bear's teeth match. Thanks so much matte . It will find a place of honor on deborah's art wall. Did you know that matte and his wife have moved out to Portland, Oregon and he is having a show with a personal appearance at velocity in Seattle very soon. If you live out that way you should definitely go see him and please say hello for me.

The last parcel was from maria ribeiro of kjoo fame. She and I have become flickr friends and I think she is one of the most talented textile artists ever. I really feel like I am wearing a very special piece of art when I have one of her pins on and so many people stop me and ask about them. She sent such an amazing parcel .

There is a beautiful red felt purse from morocco with little bags of wool and even a needle to needle felt with. She thought deborah and I would have fun designing and decorating it. We definitely will and red is one of my favorite colors. Inside the three little cloth envelopes are a work of art posing as a brooch, a ring and a pin. The art brooch was a special surprise she designed for me inspired by the art of guess who, matte stephens. Since I started this blog and flickr my life has been blessed with so many special coincidences like this one. Thank you so much maria, I love everything so much and so will my daughters when they see them. That brooch is all mine!!! I couldn't help but take some pictures of the works of maria and matte together . Unbelievable don't you think!!

Even the cats can't take their eyes off this amazing art.

Have a wonderful first weekend of April.

One Euro

Last year I went to the flea market in Vienna and there was one stall where everything was being sold for only one euro . Most of the things were very dirty , smelly and water damaged but something caught my eye. I spotted a box, with some flowers painted on it in the rural austrian style. It was filled with something but I just gave the gentleman one euro and made off with it. I didn't look at it again until I got back to the hotel later that day. I loved its beautiful worn appearance.

I looked inside and it was filled to the brim with items that one would keep in a sewing box.

I removed every item and studied them closely.

I am sure you can imagine my reaction to what I found inside. The box alone was worth far more than one euro but the contents are priceless. My favorite things are the little hen pin cushion that looks like it was made by a child perhaps as a gift for mommy or oma and the little brass needle case. You should click on this photograph to see everything in detail because they are worth a closer look.

The little cloth eyeglass case in the upper right corner was even filled with a variety of wool that might have been used for darning or repairing sweaters.

Little Mothers

No this isn't a post about pregnant young women but it is about russian stacking dolls , Matryoshkas, which I have learned the best translation is "little Mothers". I grew up with a few of these dolls in my home since my father was born in St Petersburg Russia to polish parents. I loved to play with them and I imagined that they had made by hand in Russia for many , many years. I was quite surprised to read that the first russian Matryoshka was made in 1899 in Sergiev Posad, a small monastery village and a great center of toy making located near Moscow. The inspiration came from Japan, as so much of our modern crafts do, with a japanese nesting doll named Fukuruma . One of the most talented artists in the toy workshop , Malyutin sketched out the first matryoshka and an an eight piece doll was born.

I have collected a few of these dolls over the years but my oldest daughter , Tamara, has become a serious collector. I wanted to share some of her collection with you. A few of these are dolls I have given her . Only one was purchased new at a craft fair and the rest were found at thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales. We make up little stories about them . Some of the little mothers are childless when found or sometimes children are found with no mothers. The funniest ones are those mixed families where the children are actually different , obviously originating from different mothers but they still fit together although sometimes with a little more difficulty, like an allegory of modern families. I took these photographs on a recent visit to my daughter's apartment. The light quality wasn't the greatest but it does set a nice mood for the collection.

This next picture is from my sister Helen's collection.

Then back to Tamara's with a picture of the textile version that the very talented sara made . She also designed a beautiful little pin for my daughter that you can see on her flickr pictures. She also has a beautiful art piece from tiel .

. I love the work of irina troitskaya and would love to purchase one of her fantastic sets to add to her collection .

Have a wonderful start to your weekend. It is definitely finally starting to feel like spring here in the great white north. The robins and redwing blackbirds have returned, the snow is melting and small patches of grass are visible . I even saw some real pussy willows yesterday. Tomorrow I will do a spring post about some real live "little mothers". Sorry I forgot to insert sara's textile dolls photograph earlier. Oops!

How I Became an Art Collector

The other day I was reading a post by holly of decor8 fame about buying affordable art for your children's rooms. I loved seeing all the different artists see choose and I left a comment about how my children love getting original art work as gifts for special occasions like Christmas and birthdays. They sometimes even ask for a specific artist that they have come to like through flickr or etsy or reading blogs. I in turn really love buying them art and love to see how they use it in their own personal way in their space. I came to realize that my children have become art collectors. Here is a picture of my youngest daughter's art wall although it has changed a little since this picture was taken . Her art collection includes emily martin , kup kup, lisa congdon and sugarloop Then next is a picture of some of my next youngest daughter's art collection including the work of matte stephens, cathy campbell and lisa congdon.

Then a picture from my oldest daughter's apartment showing her love for the textile art of sara lechner

Well the art collecting gene must be genetic . Either that or I have a very strong influence on my children . I started collecting art when I was a quite young. I saved my money from summer employment and then I went to an art gallery that had opened in the Byward Market of Ottawa and in 1976 I purchased a piece of art titled Vase ritual by Norman Laliberte

I still love this art piece. I knew nothing about the artist or whether or not it would be a good investment . I paid about 200 dollars for it , a whole lot of money for a student at that time. I have never regretted my decision. I now know that he is quite an accomplished artist and that this painting is now worth a lot more than what I paid for it. Original art can be a great investment. What art have you been beautifying your world with?