I managed to slip in an afternoon visiting our county fair a few weeks ago, just before I left on my trip. It was a bittersweet visit as I've spent the last ten years very involved in the fair in many ways. First with my kids and 4-H. Over the years our entire family entered crafts, art, flowers, projects... I had a good natured rivalry going with several friends and neighbors over who would take home the most ribbons each year. Most of all, I was part of a core group of people who helped with judging and helped put up all the displays in the main Exhibit Hall. I'd worn lots of hats and been offered several different official jobs through the years, but I always preferred working for free as a volunteer, for the sheer pleasure of it.

A few years ago, however, the fair underwent a major shift in organization. It wasn't the first time. They happened every few years. (Another reason why I liked being a volunteer and staying well out of the small town politics of it all.) But this time something happened, and a lot of regular volunteers fell through the cracks. Despite phone calls, memos, face-to-face reminders of what needed to be done, we were shunted to the side. The irony is that for two years in a row I got frantic (and rude!) phone calls at the last minute crying for help and asking why we weren't helping. Uhm, yeah. Like I really believe you didn't get or remember three visits, two notes, and a dozen phone calls. Sigh. The end of the story was that I made the difficult decision last year not to bother even trying to participate as a volunteer. I did, however, still enter some things in the fair, took home a few ribbons. This year, I knew I was going to be gone, so I did nothing, entered nothing. It felt like saying goodbye to what had been a very important part of my life.

It seemed like a number of other regular exhibitors had also decided to retire, or perhaps just take a hiatus, from participating. There were a lot of empty exhibit tables this year.

I was pleasantly surprised though to see a lot of quilt entries. I was less pleasantly surprised at how they were exhibited. Okay, I was more than just unpleasantly suprised by it. I was seriously annoyed. I spoke with a few people who said that the fair board had no one to organize the hall and had thrown things together themselves at the last minute. Uhm, yeah. I could tell. And remember, they still had a number of volunteers that would have been happy to do it for them - I wonder how much it was a situation of big fish in a small pond not wanting to share what they thought was their territory?

Here's how many of the quilts were displayed.

Yeah. It's laundry day! If I had entered a quilt and found it squashed up and trailing on the dirty floor - I would have been livid. I was annoyed as a fair goer because of course I couldn't SEE the quilt. The best that could be determined was whether or not I liked the colors the quilter used. And I do like the brown and pink colors of the quilt in the first basket.

A few quilts were hung like the ones above, but most of the quilts ended up folded and layered into these display cases. Not much of an improvement over the baskets. I was itching to take some of them out and unfold them so I could SEE them because there did seem to be quite a few interesting quilts. Speaking of.... I really liked the one hanging on the right above. I liked the scrappy but cohesive look of the trellis pattern done in multiple greens and the pure colors of the stars.

This quilt took Best of Show. Very traditional but that's to be expected at our fair and the workmanship was really good.

The machine quilting was probably the most creative part of it - I thought it was lovely. And unlike some quilters, I do like earth tones. I don't work in them very often, but in the right mood they appeal to me.

This was all I could see of this quilt, folded and hung above a display cabinet. But I liked how the brown color scheme made a busy pattern seem peaceful. I bet the same person quilted this quilt and the Best of Show quilt.


In case you can't tell what this is, it's a handmade rag rug. I thought it was really beautiful but again, if I'd entered it and come in to find it being all stretched out of shape by being displayed thrown over who knows what, I'd have been seriously pissed. I hope the owner of this rug complained and got it moved for the rest of the week.

I liked the browns and brights combined. And the great folksy stitching. This was one that I would have really loved to see in it's entirely. (That doll, by the way, was just sitting on the floor.)

Ditto on this one - why they didn't choose to hang it up? I don't have a clue. (What's that you say? They were clueless too - ? - ha!) Of course I immediately thought of Jaye's many dotted adventures.

This was the local quilt guild's group quilt. I was on the committee that designed the pattern for this quilt and, although some decisions had morphed or changed since the first draft (most noticably, the background color), still, I think it turned out really lovely. I've been taking an unplanned hiatus from the group - a year? Two years? Geeze, I can't remember the last time I went to a meeting. So, that design meeting was my last and only contribution to the making of it this quilt.

I thought this was a nice, and different, take on the.... the... oh dang, I can't remember the name of the technique - where you fussy cut and make kaleidoscope blocks. Anyway, I liked it.

Not a quilt. Not even in the same exhibit hall. These two fine gentleman were entries in the Scarecrow competition set up in the floral building. I thought they were very funny. In case you don't get the joke - the shirt reads "Vote for Pedro". Still don't get it? Well then, I guess you didn't see the movie.

Did you miss me? Didja, huh, didja!? Well, I've been off having grand adventures. I'll have you know, having fun is a lot of work! Too much to do to fit it all in each day of my holiday, so something had to go. Uhm, yeah. That would have been this blog.

But, I'm back now. With lots of ideas and pictures.

First, a show and tell post. I was up and down the Pacific Northwest all last week. All sorts of treasures came home with me. Books, new pretty things to wear, chocolate. I'll try to stick to just photos of art related finds for this post.

The first weekend I was gone I was at Faerieworlds 2007 with my daughter-in-law Lisa, my granddaughter Joli, and Lisa's two sisters. There were all sorts of tempting arts and crafts to buy. And when I say arts and crafts, I don't mean it in the belittling combination phrase "arts and crafts" (why does that phrase have a negative association, anyway?), but in the purer sense of the words individually. Wonderful creative pieces of art. Unique and finely designed crafts. I mainly took away ideas, trying to pace myself in the spending department (although, ahem, towards the end of the trip I kinda made up for the slow start).

I did buy this small mirror. The mirror is on the other side and the back of it that you see here is small enough to hang around your neck and wear as a pendant. Of course I had to buy the pirate one. Lisa bought one from them as well that was a perfect memory piece of our time at the festival. Perhaps when she gets back home she'll take a photo of it and post it on her blog for us.
The artist was one of three women, if I've got it straight, who had a booth called Magpie's Daughter. (wonder why it wasn't Magpie's Daughters?) Unfortunately, they don't have a website. They sold beautiful collage jewelry, art dolls, and handmade books and journals. This was the sign hanging at their booth. I posted a photo of their booth, which looked more like a gypsy tent, in my post about the festival over on Beach Treasure. Tou can see pics of the girls costumes there as well. Now I'm curious about their name. And, aren't the birds in the photo ravens or crows? The magpies I know are black and white with long tails. Are there different kinds of magpies, some of them all black? Now I'll have to google stories and myths about magpies.

The second day of the festival I attempted an ocean fae themed costume. This is the necklace I made. Okay, so I bought the trim already made at Walmart and just tied it around my neck. It still made a great necklace.

I did make this small wreath for my hair though. After the first day of the festival, we were bursting with new ideas, so we stopped at the only thing left open on the way back to the motel, a Walmart, and raided their craft and fabric department. I saw something similar done with flowers so I tried to duplicate it. By the time I had all the supplies in front of me, I couldn't remember all the details of the wreaths I had seen and so I just ended up winging it. Simple, but after struggling to make it, I liked how it came out and it ended up being comfortable to wear. If you click to make the image larger, you can see the curlicue wire and beads that stuck up from it.

The next day I found this lovely beaded dragonfly for sale and he happily alighted on my wreath.

Fast forward to this last weekend and I stopped by a quilt store in Ashland called Quiltz. I really just wanted to browse while waiting for hubby to arrive (he was meeting me for the weekend) and to use their bathroom. But then I found this new line of Halloween fabrics and I couldn't resist.
Because you all know, if there's something I don't have enough, it's Halloween fabric! SNORT! It's all from one line except the one autumn leaf piece on the top of the pic.

I also bought a bit of this panel-ish print and the accompanying moon print.

Annnnnd, these lovely sparkly blacks! The one on the right is for quilting, the print on the left might find it's way into one of next year's faery costumes. The bright fruit on black on top I bought because I thought Lisa should have some of it for her bottle block quilt. (which, now that I think about it, she has yet to post any "in progress" pictures of her blocks on her blog)

At the Goodwill store in Ashland I found these wonderful large remnants. The apple print is a heavy cotton quilt fabric, the red is something silky and slippery, I assume a poly blend, with a pretty embossed floral pattern. The green in the top righ corner is actually a corduroy and last but not least the large floral is a knubby cotton upholstery piece. I might make the red into a scarf. The apples might make a nice Mabon altar cloth. Have no idea what I'll do with the rest of it yet.

And finally, an impulsive stop at a little art supply store in Mt. Shasta City. I left, after a long and affirming (that there are good people and good ideas afloat in this world) conversation with the interesting man at the counter, with some new toys. And yes, I know, the next step is to actually USE them. First things first. Still painting walls and rearranging things, hello! And, that's what I'm off to do right now. I'm in the middle of alphabetizing and shelving books on the shelves I relocated to my studio. Geez, now that I've moved my desk and fiction collection into my studio, someone is gonna think I'm just being a copykat. Not true. Not even after it just dawned on me that I also stole someone's brown and apple green color scheme. Sort of. Although, I might repaint the brown wall a nice dark wine red. So there! Not copying.

I FINISHED IT!!!!

Just barely, but I finished it yesterday. Whew! I can't believe I really did it. Now picture me dancing about - oops - never mind, I don't want to knock over any more cans of paint. Instead, Cyper-High fives all around!

Y'know how I said I was as much excited as I was nervous to do the second wash layer? Well, apparently I was lying. I spent most of yesterday looking at the big wall, the wall that I hadn't even done the first layer on yet, and then finding something else I needed to do first. I hemmed and hawed all day until finally I just put on my big girl panties and marched out to the living room and did it. For some reason the BIG wall intimidated me a lot more than the other sections.

I forgot to take a photo of it before adding the second layer but it's just as well. I stepped back and took a good long look after the first layer was applied and wasn't very satisfied with it. I took a break, sat and watched a bit of t.v. with William, and stole looks at the wall every five minutes or so, until I'd gotten a good idea what I wanted to do with the second layer to correct some of sections that didn't work for me. Too, I reminded myself that the long wall will have a huge cabinet smack dab in the middle of it plus artwork and other furniture, so it's not like the larger patterns will be visible.

Here's a photo of as much of the long wall (about half of it) as I could get in one shot.

After finishing the first layer of the long wall I felt beat. I think it was emotional as much as physical. But the thought of having the process waiting for me when I woke up the next morning got me back on my feet. I decided I could at least do a small section of wall with the second layer, just to get a start and to break through my nervousness. I started on a small strip of wall just around the corner from the long wall and then worked my way across the long wall, balancing some of the areas of light and dark that had particularly bothered me. I kept working, one section at a time until suddenly (a long while later) I was surprised to find myself finishing up the last few feet of wall on the other side of the room. I looked at the clock and it was just around midnight.

Here's a another photo down the length of the long wall, taken this morning with more light in the room and a flash. It doesn't really look as tan as in this photo, nor is it as deeply golden in the daylight as it is in the photo taken last night under the light of the overhead light.

Here's another photo taken today of the other side of the room that's a bit closer to the real color. Although, the "real" color is sort of a moot point as it looks different all the time as the light changes in the room. You can probably compare this photo to the one yesterday of the same walls with just one wash layer applied.

It's hard to see the different colors in the photos. You notice it more in real life. Or rather, it's more noticable to me. The affect just adds more depth and complexity to the wall rather than to make particular colors stand out. Which is what I wanted. I think if you double click on this up close photo, you'll be able to see the separate colors. The second wash was a medium terra cotta.

Of course now I'm eyeing it and seeing all sorts of other things I could do to the pattern. I could fill in some of the lighter areas and make it more subtle. I could add "veining". When I first decided I wanted to do a faux pattern was studying the different types and patterns I could attempt, I had to remind myself that I didn't really need to take it to the next level of difficulty because I a) I was going to be covering quite a bit of it up again and b) I wanted fun, funky, and (relatively speaking) fast. True then and true now. So. I'm done. Today I can start gathering up painting supplies and putting furniture where I want it. My two new bookcases will go in so I can even get rid of some of the boxes of books.

Of course I still have that one small section of ceiling to finish. And I haven't finished the painting in the dining room, or started on the hallway or kitchen or William's room or my bedroom.... STOP! I finished this room and I'm going to let myself savor it for a bit. At least for the rest of the day.

Here are a couple more photos of the living room after I got the base coat on all three walls. (The fourth wall is an accen wall and already painted a dark brown.)

In the photo above the differences in color are just from the light coming through the window and falling on the wall.


This photo shows the paint more evenly. It all looked so clean and fresh, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to "attack" it with more colors. I procrastinated for hours before I could get up the courage. I finally rallied just about sunset.


Oops, that's not a photo of the walls. How did this sneak in here in the middle? Rosie sleeping on top of a stack of pillows - she's such a princess. The pillows show my color scheme quite nicely.


So, here is the room with the first wash layer applied. This photo was taken with a flash. ( The "color" you see on the ceiling is just a reflection, by the way.) This layer is a chocolate brown flat paint (it's only a flat paint because I happened to find a can of it already made up and discounted - the next layer is a satin finish, like the base coat, so the whole thing should be scrubbable) mixed with a glaze. I applied it with a brush and then immediately rubbed it in (rubbing some of it off and some of it stretched and thinned into the wall texture) with a damp rag. None of this "blotting" with a rag - I don't really like that effect. And no sponges - blech - the sponge techniques I've seen all looked dated to me. When I say rubbed in immediately, I do mean IMMEDIATELY. The paint/glaze mixture seemed to dry almost on contact. I worked in small sections at a time and quickly.

I hadn't realized how much texture there was on my walls until it showed up with the wash coat. I knew it would look different on the wall than it had on the brick and I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleased at how well the original texture worked with the wash. It was a lot closer to what I pictured in my head than I thought I'd get.

Here's the other wall, this photo taken without a flash. I got tired and didn't get the third, and longest, wall done. I was surprised at how much muscle it takes! So I'll do the last wall today and then, since I don't have to spend the afternoon at the market like I did yesterday, I am really hoping to continue right into applying the next layer.

I was so nervous, but I really like the way it looks, even now only halfway done. William looked skeptical as he watched me working. He didn't say anything until I declared I was finished for the night and then he looked around and announced "It looks Mexican." If you'll recall, he made a similar comment earlier in the project. And since teens aren't known for their subtlety - he would have had no problem announcing it flat out ugly - I'm taking this as a compliment.

I know from having done the brick walls, applying the second wash makes a huge improvement, so now I'm at least as excited as I am nervous to do this next and last stage.

Here's my living room with just the ceiling and one wall painted.

I managed to get the entire living room base coat painted yesterday. I even got all the trim and shelving painted as well, in what was left of the quart of semi-gloss after William knocked it over, spilling most of it out onto the hardwood floors. This is the SECOND quart of paint we've lost to spill during this project! I dropped the first one. It's so hard to work around all that furniture - but there's simply no place left to move it out of the way. So I just moved it from one side of the room to the other side to do the ceiling and now it's all pushed to the middle. William pulled back the plastic over the couch last night and watched the big screen t.v. (inside the tall cabinet) from just a few feet away. That can't be good for your eyes.

Of course I'm not finished yet. Now it's time to do several layers of "wash" over the gold.

I started out using the rest of the quart of paint I'd made by combining two different colors together to make the color I wanted as the base. I tried to finish one whole wall with it (what you see in the photo above) as I knew that I might not get an exact match when I asked them to make up some more. It turns out I was right, the first color had more orange in it than the second batch, which was more of a pure gold. So I had to repaint the one wall all over so it wouldn't look wierd. But, since I'm going to add washes over it anyway, I let some of the first color show through the second coat. It was subtle but nice and I figured it was like getting a head start on the shading.

The irony that I was painting my old smudgy walls in order to create a clean surface so that I can then create the look of "old smudgy walls" was not lost on me. I've been so excited to get to this point and now, staring at all the freshly painted walls, it's intimidating to think of "messing it all up".

So far today I've been busy with dog issues and now I have a few other tasks to check off my list before I can get back to the painting. Hopefully I'll rally later this afternoon and, deep breath, start "messing it up".

Layers

I took this photo in my rhubarb patch the other day. It's pretty much the same colors I'm playing with inside my house. Maybe I'll have to blow this up, frame it, and put it up when I'm done with my paint layers.

I'm still plugging away at turtle speed on my interior house painting. With our temperatures in the 100's, muggy and smoky, I'm moving slower than usual. I haven't had any new photos to show you because I haven't actually done much painting yet. And I don't really want to show you photos of the mess until I can also show you photos of the end result. However, I'm thrilled to announce that I'm on the CUSP of painting in the living room. Not the fun part yet, alas, but the ceiling. But hey, it's progress.

The walls colors will all be COLOR but the ceiling flows between different wall colors so it had to be something that would work with everything. I chose a color that's just a shade more color than the "Country White" that we originally painted all the walls and trim when we moved in here twelve years ago. Country White is basically a creamy white. The new color is called Arnica (have no idea why - is the Arnica flower white?) and if you picture French Vanilla Ice Cream, you've got it. Not only will the trim and ceiling be "French Vanilla Ice Cream", but eventually so will the kitchen cabinets, which are currently an aging, yellowing stain. I've debated leaving them stained or painting them for YEARS, not ready to make the leap, but now it suddenly seems the unquestioning right thing to do. But I won't tackle them until I've finished this first project with the walls.

That's it for me but if you'd like to see some creative fabric projects, check out my daughter-in-law Lisa's blog and also her sister Elena's new blog. They're both working on their costumes for the fairy festival we're attending in about a week. I have hopes of making a costume too but I'm beginning to think it's going to be hard to even finish my wall projects before I leave, much less touch a sewing machine.

I'll leave you with a photo I took yesterday.

Storm brewing

I'm a big fan of Shabby Chic decor but...... does it really work here?

When I was in San Diego earlier this month, us girls walked around Coronado. We do this almost every time we visit, enjoying the beautiful and exotic gardens and expensive homes, pretending to buy this house or that one. Here are some of the more artsy photos I took on this visit.

They almost look like a V of birds, trying to fly away.

Orchid? What is this gorgeous flower? And the neighboring foliage is pretty as well.

Fronds or are they feathers atop a tropical hat?

Bouginevillea? Beaucoup blossoms!

You can't really see it unless you click to open the photo, but there's a little cafe table and chairs up on that middle archway. Wouldn't that be a great place to sit in the evening with your glass of wine and a good book or friend?

I've been gone. Didja notice? The last few weeks have been a lovely blur of family and travel. My blogs got set on the back burner. I finally had the opportunity to upload all the photos I've taken recently - thousands of photos. Isn't digital photography the best thing since sliced bread!?

We were walking down a street in Coronado (Cornado Island, San Diego) and suddenly, there they were, a bunch of bananas hanging over the sidewalk. Growing on a banana tree. For those of you who live in tropical climates, this might seem ho hum ordinary to you. But to us it was Wow! Cool! Lookee there! A bunch of bananas!!!

Along with being a nice artsy photo, it's also a lovely green photo. Although I won't post photos yet, because I've only got one wall painted, I'm sure the color of my new wall is in this photo somewhere.

While wandering about the mountains yesterday, I felt the muses awaken, inspired by all the open space and natural beauty. (My muses have a much harder time at home, where they're competing with phones, laptops, teenagers...) They like it when I'm out in nature, or even when I'm on a long car trip, my hands and feet busy driving but my mind free to wander. Among the ideas generated in the fresh air and mosquitoes yesterday was this one - I want to create my own personal Tarot. And I want to invite all of you to do so as well. Therefore I'm announcing the start of:

The Personal Tarot Project

Hmmm, maybe someone can come up with a more clever name. In the meantime though, here's the idea. Once a week (I'm going to try to do one a week, although you can certainly play at your own pace, faster or slower) post a photo to represent each of the 78 Tarot cards. Do all 78 or, if you prefer, just the 22 major arcana. Go in order, follow my lead, or jump around the deck at random as you find or create a photo that fits the symbolism of each card.

Use old family photos or set the scene and take a new photo. Use simple untouched images, use Photo Shop to add or subtract or establish a mood, or make a collage or vignette the old fashioned way with scissors and glue. You can even paint, draw, or in some other non-photographic way create your own card. Just keep in mind that the objective is to use an image that has a personal meaning to you and embraces the symbolism and meaning of each card. Therefore, it doesn't have to be an image that follows the traditional Rider-Waite imagery and it doesn't have to be understandable to anyone else. Just you. This way each and every card - not some, or a few, or even most - will resonate true for you. Here are some examples of what I mean by personal interpretation:

• Your brother is a lawyer and you've always thought of him as being able to "cut to the core of a argument" and be able to win justice with his eloquence and skill with words. A photo of him sitting at his desk (throne), might be your perfect King of Swords card.
• Do you have a photo of a younger you, freshly graduated and about to embark into the world, perhaps with a car filled with all your worldly possessions? Methinks you've found your Fool card.
• How about the next time you are making a big pot of chicken soup for your sniffing, coughing, aching flu ridden family, have one of them hobble out of bed and take a photo of you surrounded by your messy kitchen counter and your cauldron of medicinal magic and voila, you have a Magician card.
• Things aren't going well in the studio. So instead of working on your project, you set up a scene with five troublesome quilt blocks tacked up to your project board, put your camera on timer, and pose beneath them looking forlorn and without hope. There's a Five of Pentacles card.
• Photoshop all your loved ones together around a photo of your front door to create the Ten of Cups card.
  

You can make your cards as simple or as complex as you desire. Just upload the photos raw or trim and add a title to the bottom of each card. You choose the amount of effort and spontaneity this project requires in your life. Find symbolism in photos of real life situations or if you prefer, create scenes like I did here of me, for another photo challenge last year, as The Fool. (not sure if I'll use this card for my personal Tarot or if I'll create a new one - hmmm)


When you're all done, with the magic of printers and heavy card stock, you can create your own personalized Tarot deck.

So. Wanna play? Let me know! And spread the word. The more players, the more creativity we'll generate and the more inspired wel'll all be by each other's unique interpretations. I'll create a button (unless someone wants to submit one?) and you can add it to your blog and link back to a post listing the guidelines and links to all the participants.

(Note: I'm going to be out of town for this coming week, so you might have to be patient for the button, but I wanted to get the idea up and running.)

I've been busy so not much today. A number of blogging friends are having fun with macro floral photos lately so I thought I'd show you a couple of photos of my roses I took a couple of days ago.
I know the rose on the right looks a little worse for wear but there was something really sweet about how they were growing "cheek to cheek" like this. I imagine them as sisters or best friends. One lovelier than the other but both of them sticking together, looking out for each other.

Unfolding

I mentioned my local quilt shop is closing. I went in last week and bought some fabrics at their clearance price. Only thing is, I forgot to pick up a couple of shelf units that the shop owners, friends of mine, were borrowing for their shop. Which meant I had to go back again to get them and lookie, I found a few more fabrics that wanted to go home with me. (you have to double click on the photo to open it to see the print on the bright yellow fabric)

I also got an equilter order today. I'd been resisting but I really wanted the Eiffel Tower fabric you see in the bottom row and was afraid eventually they'd no longer carry it. I couldn't decide which color I liked best, so I bought a yard of both the black and the white to use together in one project, and a half yard of the pink for some still undecided project. Isn't it cute!? I didn't read the description very thoroughly and I was suprised at how big the towers were. I was expecting them to be an inch or two high. They're more like six inches high. But I don't care, in fact I think I like it even better this way.

I bought a half yard of the branch-y, somewhat oriental looking yellow floral. I was tempted to get it in a turquoise background as well but I showed a bit of restraint. I bought two yards of the floral paisley in the top left. You can't tell real well but the background is a pretty chocolate brown. I'm thinking it will make a nice border, making blocks or some other middle with prints in all the colors of the pattern.

Sadly one of our neighbors is moving. He and my hubby have been great buddies. For years they've spent afternoon after afternoon sitting in lawn chairs in the front yard, shooting the breeze and drinking iced tea. He lived with and cared for his elderly mother, a nice woman who passed away last year. So the house and belongings are part of the estate that is finally being settled. He'll still be in the area so perhaps he'll stop by now and again, but it won't be the same as having him right across the street.

Today was the first day of the family's weekend long estate sale. I helped them move some of the furniture out to display this morning and later I went back and rummaged through all the tools and miscellaneous items set out in the backyard. I bought the wires and iron pieces to use in making art or to use as garden decorations. Except the big bowl, which I'm gonna use to make salad.

I also bought all these old windows and doors.

Everything but the two larger pieces on the left and the six-paned window in the middle are solid oak. I'm going to use the smaller windows and the two larger one-paned windows as frames. The six-paned window I'll probably hang just as it is as architectural art. The two largest pieces in the back I'd like to use as table tops. I can either do mosaic work in the lower sections or just cover the entire top with glass. Unfortunately the bad side is facing the camera, the other side is still in excellent shape. Although all of it is covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs. It'll all look a lot better when it's cleaned up, maybe sanded.

I also bought some even LARGER pieces of "wood". You can find out about those over at Beach Treasure.

David Teniers the Younger. The Art Collection of Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm in Brussels. 1651. Oil on canvas. 127 x 162.5 cm. Petworth House, The National Trust, Sussex, UK

When you hear the term "art collector", most of us think of someone who lives in a large home (or two or three homes) where they have plenty of space to display their many paintings or sculptures, purchased discreetly for them, of course, by their personal buyer traveling from auction to auction with their cell phone and auction number in hand.

At least I do. I have a vivid imagination.

But we are all art collectors whether we collect fine art or simply sea shells that we display along the bathroom window sill. Art, as they say, is in the eyes of the beholder.

The other day I was thinking about the overwhelming task I've taken on, of rearranging most of my personal belongings, and I had one of those "aha" moments when I realized that I'm not simply trying to reduce clutter and reclaim a bit of order in my life. I'm also hungry to create an environment that is both artful in and of itself and a canvas on which to display my personal collection of art. Which means thinking of myself as an art collector. And we're not just talking about finding a few walls for paintings. Nosirree. My taste in art is multi-flavored and my collection is as eclectic as you can get! Everything from Mary Engelbreit to Claude Monet, Edward Gorey to Paul Gaugin.

This path of thought allows me just one more way to feel overwhelmed! It also allows me to mentally divide my belongings into new categories.

Category A is Useful Things I Use and Need To Own. Although some of these things might also be beautiful in their own right, I'm thinking of things I need whether they are artful or not. It doesn't matter if my chopsticks are beautifully hand carved or just cheap wooden sticks from the local Chinese restaurant, I need them. And beautiful or not, mostly this category of stuff simply needs to be efficiently stored.

Category B is Non-Useful Things with No Purpose Beyond being Decorative. This category is where I need to seriously consider what my relationship is with each item. When I look at each item, how do I define it? Art? Knicknack? Tchotchke? Collectible? Sentimental trinket? Investment? Dust collector? Each of these definitions holds a different emotional value and relationship. Like people, some are cherished friends while others I simply put up with for some reason - probably not a good reason.

I have a small love affair with a book called Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. And in that book, I have a favorite segment that I call to mind whenever I'm stuck on what to do with a belonging. I'll quote it here:

The Clutter Test

1. Does it lift my energy when I think about it or look at it?

2. Do I absolutely love it?

3. Is it genuinely useful?

If you can't answer yes to question number one and at least one of the other two questions, the author asks - why are you hanging on to it? I can't tell you how many times running something through that small test has been an enlightening experience.

Getting back to my small epiphany, I realize that I want to sort my belongings, making sure that everything in Category B is something I consider beautiful or entertaining or sentimental. It doesn't all have to be art in the traditional sense. It can be some silly, ugly little thing if it makes me laugh every time I see it. It can be a lump of clay in the shape of a ..... a.... uhm....an indistinguisable lump of clay if my child presented it to me and it makes my heart feel full when I look at it.

But I want it to be art in the sense that it moves me. I don't want to keep things, dust things, find spaces for things, if I'm keeping them because they are the right color for the room or they might be worth something someday. I want to keep only those things that bind me to them in some magical and positive way.

I know that my fantasies will be tempered by reality. I live with family members who do not share my vision. I don't have the money to create the perfect home. I'm not gonna hide away the cat beds or the television. But I hope to aim high and then be pleasantly surprised at what I might be able to accomplish. And for that to happen, I must be off to do some decision making.

While I'm busy with my sorting and organizing, perhaps you might want to take a look around your own house. Ask yourself a few questions as you look about you. What items bring you a feeling of happiness or contentment? Which items make you feel stuck or sad? How can you make your environment honor your own personal collection of art?