Yesterday I wandered through a local art gallery, and enjoyed the creativity displayed there in paintings, textiles, and pottery. Then I came home and wandered through our condo, and was awed once again by the ambience of home art and the fun of living in a personal “gallery”. Here is another mini-tour—this one focusing on some of the art and artifacts which comprise our home gallery.
Above is a shot of my Louis L’Amour bathroom. Yes, Joe and I each have our own bathroom. What a joy to have a loo of one’s own to pack with stuff! I have named my bathroom after one of my favorite 20th century novelists. Oddly enough, I do not at this point own a Louis L’Amour book but I’ve borrowed and read most of them from libraries. Perhaps someday I’ll run across a L’Amour at a reasonable price.
Pictured are a few of my ARIZONA TEA® bottles with a Western theme. The bottle with the cattle driving scene was a “once in a lifetime” find at King Sooper’s in Denver. I’ve never seen this issue anywhere else. Southwestern pictures, my home made soap, a bighorn sheep horn, a copper sheep bell, a bit of lace, an artificial barrel cactus, and photos of family members with horses fit nicely into this bathroom cranny.
Meanwhile, out in my garden is a Western steer’s skull—just waiting to be cleaned up and added to the bathroom decor, Georgia O’Keeffe style.
Partially pictured above, in the lower left corner as you face the screen, is a unique bit of home grown art: two large clay pots joined bottom to bottom to create an hourglass effect, and mosaic tiled with Native American symbols. I think one of the symbols is a Harley® thing. It’s orange and black and it has wings. This gem was purchased at an up-north rummage sale for all of $2.00.
Pictured below in the same loo are switchplate covers decoupaged by my artist niece, Nancy, who lives in Colorado Springs. Beneath the switchplates you can faintly see a painting of sheep, probably set in the Hebrides, unearthed at some antique shop back in the fathomless mists of time.
Our neighborhood abounds in funky finds. In fact, the hanging art pictured below was purchased from a local recycle artist who has named her business FUNKY FINDS. On this hanging wonder you’ll see an assortment of glass bottles, bells, beads, a butterfly, and even a die left over from a board or dice game. The herb (catmint, I think) in tandem with the art is a snippet from my garden.
Behind the funky find is a poignant, tinted photograph of my mother at age three. The photo was taken in 1899. On the small shelves to the right are some of my parents’ toothpick holders, and a Royal Doulton® Mrs. Tiggiewinkle which Joe and I bought in Beatrix Potter country—the Lake District of England.
Below, you will see an answer to the question, “What does one do with those boring kitchen cupboard doors?” In past homes I have removed them altogether, as cupboard doors make a house look new—and who would ever want that!?! Also, I’ve been known to paint the cupboard doors, to liven things up a bit.
When we moved here and I mentioned removing the doors or painting them, I could actually see Joe wince in his chair. Finally it was Joe who said, “Why don’t you decoupage your art on them?” So that’s what I did, and we both like the result.
Finally, the gallery pictured below is an integral feature of most every happy home I’ve ever visited: The Refrigerator Door Gallery. How precious is children’s art, nestled among snapshots and assorted fragments of family life! 🙂