It's Back in the Saddle Again

Wow. I have been on a whirlwind since landing my most awesome job with Everything with the House in September and completely neglected my most awesome blog. Resolution Numero Uno--keep up with your creative spirit this year. Museums, concerts, ballet, and blogging. Just because you work like sixteen hours a day, no excuse for drying up all those artsy juices. So here we go again...hello! Sunday was a visit to a wonderful exhibit of vintage wedding dresses at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The first dress you see as you approach the exhibit is a stunner from the 30's with amazing ivory silk train cascading down a set of stairs built for the exhibit. I played a fun game of guessing the era of each dress, which was super fun. I was rather general in the 1870-80's period...need a bit more schooling in that. But am honing my eyes as far as the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. There was a dress from the 1700's that was a darker tapestry floral and an Empire gown from the 1830's--very Josephine. An avant garde gown composed of latex gloves, a Paco Rabanne designed with "dog tags", as Jim, my significant other described it. One note: women were very slender back in the day, or else were on intensive diets pre-wedding in order to squeeze into this form-fitting dresses.

A New Job

excitement! I just starting my new job this week. I am working at an online estate auction company, Everything But the House. My first day was spent at a fabulous estate, the Longacre/Gruen home in Clifton. I went to the preview with Jim and Condy last Thursday and was completely overwhelmed by the history and breadth of the items in the estate. The home was full of art and wonderful collectibles from all around the globe, but best of all, killer vintage clothes! I will share more of these treasures as I  photograph them. I helped pull the various orders together, while ogling the varied and eclectic items this family possessed: human skulls, stone printing presses, bronze fountains, paintings, a steinway piano....check in for more on my job and this estate.

Blonde on Blonde

I love Bob Dylan. And I love Edie Sedgwick. A muse. Lithe and androgynous.  And I love that Bob loved Edie. But used her, in a way. Just like Andy Warhol did. Anyway, her style was amazing. The doe eyes, lined in black. heavy false eyelashes. Chandelier earrings. Black tights. Big vintage furs. I am posting my "Edie" coat on Etsy and will share here.

Ancient History through Photography

I found these old photos of children while antiqueing years ago. Where did these children live? The first photo has plants that look Southwestern. Maybe this was Texas or New Mexico. I love the little double-breasted coat and the hat the lad has on. The second photo is so charming in the creamy sepia tones and especially the pose the little girl is striking with the floppy brimmed hat. The third has a mysterious, atmospheric feel...it looks like the child is on the edge of a very deep abyss.

I Love Patti

Patti Smith is just the coolest. My kind of artist--androgynous, sensitive, not afraid to express her convictions, wild in a good way. Just saw her movie and loved it. I think the name is Dreams of the Heart. I will check that out. Anyway, her book Just Kids is pretty amazing, too.  Patti has had alot of tragedies in her life, with losing Robert Mapplethorpe, her husband, Fred and her brother. She never stopped creating.

Ancient History

In June, my sister Cindy and I went on a rescue mission. Saving old photos and memorablia from The Old Lawton House. We scooped up several stinky boxes of photographs and other ephemera. I haven't had a chance to even look at them since our initial sorting-out and they are still in my car. But today I had to retrieve something out of the car, and happened upon a primitive little wooden box with yarn, shells and other trinkets saved. Found these two images which I dearly love. One is of a twisted tree--very strange. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but it is really bizaar. The other image I think is one of the mighty oaks that lined the drive. A pretty girl with a straw hat and a white dog is posing in front of the tree. We always called these oaks the "Snake Trees" because of the abundance of black snakes that habitated there.

My Westwood Mansion

I have loved living in my Westwood home. It is a fabulous Queen Anne Victorian built in 1903. The entry parlor is one of the amazing features of my house with it's inlaid bordered floor, hand-painted English tiled fireplace, oak-columned stairway entrance, and toweringGerman executed stainglass window. I love the inlaid tile porch with it's meandering design snaking around the circular expanse. The house has a tower and I will never have a house with a tower again!