TV Lamps Ahoy!

Today was the first time I've been out antiquing since last December, and it was a fun pick-me-up for a gloomy, rainy day.

I considered embarking on new territory and driving up to Essex, MA (I'll try another weekend), but decided in favor of training it out to Cambridge.

Arrrrrgh! I unearthed a third TV lamp to add to my collection: a wonderfully tacky Pirate Ship.

Pirate Ship TV Lamp – coincidental that I found this on a rainy day?

I especially like the hole perforations, which make it different from most other TV lamps. The bottom says "Made In Japan," so I'm guessing this dates from the 1950s or 1960s. It was a bargain, reduced from $35 to $28.
I placed it above my kitchen cabinets, but may move it if I find a better spot. I think it may be too high up to really see it well.

I also saw a few other TV lamps, including this great Stallion, marked at $78 – a bit out of my budget.

This Gazelle was cool, too, priced at $58.

Happy vintage treasure hunting, maties!

I'm Dreaming... of a Giant White Butterfly

I'd dreamt of doing a large-scale art project for quite some time, and this year I finally completed my giant butterfly ornament.

The inspiration was my vintage butterfly Christmas ornament, currently hanging in my kitchen.

I started with two round cotton canvases I purchased from an art supply store.
They measure about 19 3/4" in diameter.

Getting the acrylic paint color right was my first challenge. Matching vintage colors is especially difficult (have you ever looked at the colors in a vintage tie?). I mostly used Azure Blue, but when you look at the ornament in certain light, it has a green tinge. So I mixed in Light Turquoise.

After painting both canvases, I applied acrylic gloss medium to add shine.

Next, I drew the butterfly on paper to create a template for both sides of the ornament.

Template Stage 1

Template Stage 2

I used painter's tape to hold down the template, then traced it in pencil on both painted canvases.

Then, I painted the butterflies in Titanium White.

Painting Stage

Mistake/imperfection alert: Instead of painting, I originally applied Elmer's Glue then white glitter, but the glitter dried more clear than white, so I painted over the glitter on one side, reapplied Elmer's Glue, then glitter one more time. Yikes! Arts and crafts can be really hard work!

Glitter Stage

After the glitter dried on both sides, I had to figure out how to seamlessly fuse them together. I already had Weld Wood in the house, so I used that. It's rather toxic (make sure you open a window) but it does work as a permanent adhesive.

Before fusing the sides together, I also had to decide how to hang the ornament. I broke off part of a wire coat hanger for the cap hook. I bent it with plyers and inserted it inside a jagged-type picture hanger, then hammered this to the inside edge of one of the canvases.

I thought of painting a silver/grey crown onto the blue canvas, but didn't want to ruin the integrity of the circle. Instead, I made a small paper crown and used that (it's tough to see in the photo, but it's there).

Lastly, I bought a white tension curtain rod, climbed a ladder, and placed it in the middle of my kitchen skylight. I bent an ordinary wire coat hanger to form the ornament hook and, voilá!

My butterfly ornament was free to fly!

Final Installation

Seeing Stars... and a Giant Butterfly (please excuse the kitchen clutter).

A Very Vintage Christmas 2013

While most of the world seemed to "cut back" on excess consumption this year, my vintage Christmas collections continued to grow, starting with my giant vintage Noel candles.

I normally don't shop on eBay, but these were priced well and in really good condition so I went for it. The flames pop off to reveal 15-watt bulbs.

The backs say, "Carolina Enterprises, Inc. 1973."

Back in the 1970s these were "hot" – often appearing on suburbanites' front stoops or on either side of the front door – along with large C9 Christmas lights decorating bushes. (Those of us who are vintage enough will also remember the trend of covering your front door in usually red or gold foil and placing a spotlight in the yard to shine on the door).

I decided the candles would fit well on either side of my fireplace.

Also new and vintage this year is a C6 pinecone light I found at Brimfield. It probably dates to the 1920s. This photo isn't great, but the light is actually covered in chipped green paint.

It's the light at the far left on the mantel greens.

As I've been doing for quite a few years, my live Christmas tree is imported from South Windsor, CT. This one is especially tall – about 7 1/2'.

This time I used vintage C7 lights because I found some new figurals. My favorite is the Cat & The Fiddle, which I found on ebay as part of a lot.

Vintage C7 Cat & The Fiddle milk glass light. Most likely dates from the 1950s.

I also found this snowman at Brimfield. Along with the cat, this is usually difficult to find.

In addition to lights, I found vintage gift wrap and ornaments at Brimfield this year.

Vintage 1970s? gift wrap. Note the unusual design along with the black, red and gold color combo.
The bells are marked "Germany" on the caps – unfortunately, I broke one trying to hang it near the top of my tree :(

More vintage gift wrap (same bells as above).

Happy Vintage Christmas to all... and to all a good light!

MFA Day – Exhibit B

The second exhibit I viewed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston was the fun and lighthearted Hippie Chic. Though I was just a young child during the '60s, I can certainly appreciate the colorful fashion and classic rock music of the period. Totally groovy, man.

Women's outfit designed by Barry & Yosha Finch, circa 1970.

Though the styles shown at this exhibit were primarily couture – many from British designers of the period, like Ossie Clark –  the bright colors and mix of fabrics are instantly recognizable from countless magazine covers and knock-offs people wore back then. Velvet, Qiana, ruffled "prairie" dresses, caftans, bell-bottom pants, fringe and crazy ethnic patterns were all represented.

Hippie women – far out, man!

Love the riot of colors! The patchwork dress in the back is by Geoffrey Beene. The green tie-dyed silk number is by Roy Halston Frowick, 1969.

Men's clothing was also on exhibit:

My fantasy hippie?

I guess I got so excited, I couldn't quite hold my camera steady.

Oh, behave!

MFA Day – Exhibit A

I finally made it out to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for the first time in years, and, though crowded, it was a great day.

I limited myself to viewing two exhibits. The first was John Singer Sargent's watercolors.

Here is a sampling, reproduced on convenient postcards:

(Clockwise, from top):
In a Medici Villa, 1906;
Corfu: Lights and Shadows, 1909;
Venice: Under the Rialto Bridge, 1909
The Bridge of Sighs, 1903-1904;

I hadn't realized he was such a prolific artist, and after my recent foray into watercolor painting, I can truly appreciate how a master used the medium.

I was especially impressed with how he created shadows. I also like how some paintings were very deliberately structured while others were more abstract (more typical of watercolor than other media).

And, since I've actually visited Venice, I appreciate that I can recognize the Rialto Bridge and Bridge of Sighs, two of that city's most iconic features (sigh).

Watercolor Memories Made

This past summer I took a one-day, "boot camp" watercolor class, which I enjoyed. This is a new medium for me, which I think I'll get to like the more I practice. What I especially like is that you can keep going over any mistakes you make, so anything you paint is never really "complete." This is probably true for just about any art form, and one of the most difficult decisions any artist makes – "Am I really done with this piece?"

This was my first watercolor attempt, based on a photograph I took of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir at sunset this past July.

Summer Sunset – Chestnut Hill Reservoir
watercolor painting, 11"x15".

Here's the photo:

Chestnut Hill Reservoir sunset photograph

I first drew a rough sketch, then painted over it. One of the most difficult challenges is learning how to mix colors to get what you want. Making the dense black parts in the center was the most difficult to achieve, and I more or less settled for brown.

I do like landscapes, but they're kind of the cliché subject matter for watercolors, so for my next two paintings, I wanted something a bit less typical and more challenging.

For my second watercolor, I found this image online.

Image of model falling on the runway

Though the colors are drab, I decided watercolors would help to enhance the subject matter a bit.
I drew this out in pencil before painting it. Getting the face and hair the way I wanted them proved to be the most challenging. Painting the shadows was yet another challenge.

Model Crush
watercolor, 11"x15".

For my third watercolor, I found this online image:

Another image of model falling on runway

This image is extremely complicated, with a lot going on in her outfit – "creation" is more accurate. There's mesh, lace, fishnet, feathers, crystals, sequins and more – as well as the elaborate headpiece.

I had to draw this out in pencil first to get a sense of what's going on.

Pencil sketch of Model Crush II

This watercolor painting took weeks to complete. To get the black, I experimented and mixed brown with blue, which worked out pretty well. The most challenging part was getting the chest portion painted because there's so much going on in that area. The areas with crystals and sequins were really difficult. To enhance these areas, I used glitter glue for sparkle.

Model Crush II
watercolor with glitter glue, 11"x15".

Up With Lighting

It takes two to start a collection, so it's official. I'm now collecting vintage TV lamps, those heavy — some say "hideous" — 1950s ceramic behemoths that used to sit on top of TV sets back when televisions were usually encased in large pieces of wooden furniture.

Egyptian Queen (Nefertari, perhaps?) TV lamp.

The Egyptian Queen is a bit unusual. I haven't even seen this one on eBay. The most common ones I've seen are Black Panthers (one of my grandfathers had one on top of his TV for many years), White Swans, Covered Wagons, Ducks, Owls, Siamese Cats, and nonfigural shapes like the second TV lamp in my collection.

Non-figural "Leaf" TV lamp.

So, you ask, who would ever want to collect TV lamps?

Me.

I do appreciate their sculptural features, and, in the case of the "Leaf" lamp, it adds a nice bit of mood lighting for a semi-dark spot in my nighttime kitchen. So, why not?

To continue the lighting theme, I also found a vintage Sunbeam alarm clock at the same local antique shop recently.

Vintage ceramic TV lamp and Sunbeam alarm clock.

The brown and orange hues definitely date the clock from the 1970s, and the alarm still works!

My other fun find at the same CT antique shop, was this lemonade pitcher and pair of glasses, just in time for summertime picnics.

Vintage lemonade pitcher and glasses.

I'm hoping at some point I can find matching glasses for the pitcher, assuming they exist.

But, the real showstopper from my antiquing day — alas, it wouldn't fit in my Honda Civic — was this FABULOUS mid-century sectional with built-in end tables!

Vintage tufted sectional. Note vintage ash tray on built-in side table.

Also love the globe tree lamp.
For this setting, I'd definitely replace the coffee table with a more organic Naguchi one,
and change the rug to something shag-a-delic.

Tufting close-up. Great colors!

I have a feeling this piece held court in some grand lady's large, posh apartment. It may have been a custom-made piece, and it looks as though people rarely sat on it. Maybe it was covered with clear plastic a la My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I'm grateful it doesn't have a clashing, crocheted throw and pillows covering the back.

Happy Vintage Dreams, Darlings!