Chair envy

I feel I must tell you that I want to divorce my kitchen table chairs.

I began the whole affair 10 years ago, when cash was slim. They were heavy, vintage cherry chairs from a church probably. The yard sale had 10, I bought 4 but quickly regretted my slim purchase and they were gone when I went back for more.

I painted them, had cushions made and they are so 10 years ago.

Enough about them.

I think about new chairs more often than I should. My table is a farm table and it stays, for sentimental reasons.

The idea of mixing it up with something modern is very tempting.

Here are a few choices that I have considered.

The toile is the linen fabric on the large curtain covering a sliding glass door in the breakfast area.

If I had to choose today, I would choose the Eames chair although not in pink.

The trouble is that five years ago I would have said, "Over my dead body" to those chairs. As a child of the '70s I have a love/hate thing with mid-century pieces and my fear is that I would tire of them.

I have thought of taking a cue from the toile.

 

 I love, love, love Chinese Chippendale chairs.

 The thing is that the scale could be a problem. 

Have you ever been seated at a table where there was barely an inch between the chairs and even though they fit were just too tight? I don't want that.

I think my best choice at the moment is something from Louis land.

The oval backed Louis XV chairs are my first choice at the moment.

I have gone over and over different sassy color choices in my head but keep returning to this idea.

I really want to use my silhouette fabric with impact (i.e. not another pillow) in my house.

I can't stop thinking about this combination of classic chair with unique fabric.

Now I just need a money tree to make it happen.

Art kharma

I love discovering artists that are new to me.

I had the pleasure of several conversations with artist Liza Hathaway Matthews and scored a short interview.

1. Have you always made art? If so, what kind?

I have always been a painter but did take a hiatus for a bit to have children and I worked for years as a fundraiser for United Way of Central Maryland. I continued to dabble in it through the years but I have just gotten back into in the last three years. I now have a wonderful gal who represents me, Oriet Milmoe.
2. Which artist's work inspires you most?

I have always loved so many artists but Warhol, Frankenthaler, Wolf Khan, van Gogh, Monet, Manet and de Kooning have been a few of my favorites. Their use of color and light is always so perfect!

3. Do you collect art by other artists?

I have very different art in my home that are a very different representation of local artists varying in  landscapes, abstract figurative pieces and sculptures. One of my favorite pieces is a very large painting that my mother did for me that is an oil painting of a beautiful barn scene done in a snow setting. The colors, light and mood of the scene are a show stopper. That is featured in our living room! My mother is a wonderful artist that mainly is a still life and landscape artist. She really inspired me as well as my daughter to get back into painting three years ago.

4. Do you have works of your own that you are keeping because they are meaningful to you?

I have a few pieces that hang in my houses but that always changes as they are all for sale. :) One that recently sold that was in my front hallway sold this fall that was really my favorites but it went to a wonderful home and to a family that I adore.

Gazebo

5. Where do you paint?

I paint in a lot of different spots in my house depending on what is going…sometimes in my kitchen, greenhouse or with very large pieces in my garage.

6. What is the most gratifying aspect of your artwork?

When painting it is something I get completely lost in with a thought or a picture of a landscape, interior or image that has inspired me. I may start with a direction but usually it will go a whole different way. It can be very satisfying to just let go and see where it all ends up. I know I have finished a piece when that complete excitement over the piece comes over and I know I have gotten it! As my husband and kids say "walk away mom, just walk away". My husband and three children are my biggest fans and continue to root me on as well as be brutally honest. I love that! I have an 18 year girl senior, a sophomore girl and a sixth grade boy. I paint amongst the complete chaos of family life, love it!

7. Where did you grow up (city, suburbs, rural) and how may it have influenced what you paint?

We live a one street over where I grew up. We are in a wooded area that is beautiful and always an inspiration to me. My recent piece' meadow' was inspired from the sunset that occurs every day as the sunset goes down on our street which is called Meadow Road.

Meadow

8. Do you have a favorite brand of brush, paint, or other supply that you can't work without?

I use many tools when painting from brushes, palette knives, charcoal pencils sponge brushes, crisco oil, right down to my fingers. Anything in my kitchen is fair game! My pieces can range from 24 x 24 to 48 x 60. I am currently doing a series that is small (24 x 24) abstract landscapes. I do work part- time for NPR as the Major Gift Director. It all makes life very interesting!

 Many thanks to Liza. I love to introduce you all to artists' work that you may not have seen.

Your weekly dose of CL snark

You keep loving the snark, I'll keep writing it.

I usually start these fun little trips to bitchy-land with daily perusal of the "furniture" category of my local Craigslist. Most of it is boring ugly stuff but sometimes there is something to take note of.

Pick up the tissue, Slob!

Generally speaking, I am sufficiently grossed out by the faceless cooties of strangers lurking in upholstered furniture. Thanks to this listing I at least have an armpit AND a face to go with the pestilence.
$50 is way too much for couch cushions full of that guys stinky gas, don't you think?

I simply must show you the text of this listing.

Do you have family gatherings but never enough seating? Are you also drawn to bright dramatic colors? This is the table for you! It's your statment piece. Get the family talking about something besides themselves : ) The table top has a hand painted quote from English novelist Dodie Smith. About the family- " That octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts ever quite wish to."
The table has a formal feel but very casual at the same time. $150 or best offer 

 If you buy this table the family will definitely be talking about something other than themselves.

 

Me Tarzan, you Craig.

This is a listing for jungle decor with a plethora of pillows depicting animals, an oil lamp with no oil (above) and two coconut monkeys. The listing explains that one of the monkeys is missing an eye.

Now we all have to resume our search for a pair of coconut monkeys with intact eyes. Darn!

Last week's CL post poked fun at a less than appealing listing for a daybed and the accompanying yucky mattresses.

Oh Dear! Did they read my post?

Here is this week's tidy listing for what appears to be the same bed (in the same area too) minus the squalor and stains.

I'd love to clean up Craigslist, one snarky post at a time.
I think I will pick on a different city next week. I like it here and I don't want to get kicked out. But, seriously that octopus table!!!!!

Awesome Etsy finds

HERE

I found a few sellers recently on Etsy that have made my wallet go into hiding. I mean serious good stuff!

This seller  has trays for everyone, from the uber-girly to the the more sedate. I love them all.

HERE

I often post about art here but somehow leave out categories that I love as well as paintings on canvas.

I need sculpture in my life. Andre Tourette has gorgeous pieces and surprisingly affordable prices.

 HERE

 HERE

I bought this one by Finn Kelly

The son of my friend Sally Kelly, has his own Etsy shop of artwork. Many of his abstracts evoke a similar feeling to his mother's and are interestingly quite sophisticated.

HERE

HERE

Two more quick picks.

Edmond Lacoste

Elizabeth Chapman

Thrifty Thursday

I was looking for a tray in a local thrift store, any color because I was planning on painting it. I never see good trays.

I did come a way with a few goodies on the cheap.

The blue and white bowl is most likely on its way to my bedroom which is pale blue and white.

It definitely needs an infusion of Chinese blue and white porcelain.

These fetching little things are staying close by in the kitchen. I use little bowls like this for condiments regularly.

I got two of these hammered brass vases.

I like the repetition of the orb theme in different textures.

I believe everything was under $10 bucks combined.

I just wish they had a tray!

Do you like hunting for goodies in thrift stores?

Pretty paperwork

Maybe you have already seen this free printable monogram but I thought I would pass it on. 

In my efforts to stay on top of the piles of paper in my life, I have created binders with folders to keep things organized. The thing is that they need to be out in view quite often.

I commandeered this binder from my son, who was just accepted into his college of choice yesterday which is no small feat for him. I digress, my point is that this binder has seen better days so I was thrilled to add this sheet so that I am not embarrassed to have it lying around.

On another note, project side table aka my January goal has hit a snag. I am hoping to have it sorted out by tomorrow.

Craigslist for dummies

I got a great response to last week's post  "Craigslist fun" where I said mean things about items posted locally. I have more mean things to share. Craigslist for dummies, meaning if you are looking at the Fredericksburg, Virginia Craigslist you are dumb.

Lucky for you, I am dumb.

Here's how flushed away an hour of my life looking for a fantastic brass and glass coffee table.

Hand restored? To what? Its non-original F-ugly color apparently.

Second floor suite 208, I was in that psychiatrist's office. Birds are gone though.
Honestly the chair is not awful but it is not MCM either.

 I have no idea what makes the lister think these are French. Maybe they smell funny.


I was starting to feel guilty about saying so many snarky things and figured I would end on a nice note. I found this metal daybed that looked like it could be romantically styled with linen or toile.

Two things about the listing stopped me in my tracks. Was it too much to ask to tidy up that 20 square feet? I mean really...if you are going to virtually invite the whole world in to your little corner of squalor, at least put on a show of decency.
The second part was that in the text of the listing, they graciously offer the nasty stained box spring and an even nastier mattress that they did not photograph, but they assure buyers that it is totally gross.

OK here it is the really good thing!

 

$300 bucks HERE and they didn't turn it into a kegeratoror or offer anything weird as a bonus.
Wish I had a spot for it