the thistle in the kiss...

as a fourteen year old; do you remember stealing a pair of fish-nets from your mom? do you distinctly remember that you snagged them on purpose? maybe you did not yet sense the implications….

you were very fortunate. you engaged with imperfection daily. you were allowed to embrace the run, tear, stain…you wore old slips and army boots, you created a cult of anti-beauty and awkward juxtapositions….fully knowing that it was all, essentially beautiful. you were sincere in your love of the crooked, the unaligned and unsanctioned…. of ripped nylons and rusted chains….and their aesthetic qualities; highlighted by unfamiliar contexts.

you earned the right to look imperfection squarely in the eye and adore it’s intrinsic nature as an essential quality of high art.
………

the bits and pieces of broken jewelry that have come to our studio were all, once, purchased or given, for the love of the object itself…. here we have something much more tangible than nostalgia….we have history. we have beauty. if the missing stones, patinas of age, lingering scents and unmatched pairs do not qualify as material in their own right; they may re-emerge within the structure of a new context; as beautiful and whole.

"versace tie"

glovlette w/tag....

at the flea market

everything’s a dollar in this box…

this morning, I am sorting through piles of the tangled, the cast-offs, the broken, and the tarnished.. There’s always something that happens to me… in these places. the piles themselves are nuanced by chance …today, an old wig, broken china, and one red shoe spilling out of a patinaed suitcase tell a story ….a beauty spelled out in momentary piles….we cannot help it…we are sympathetic and animistic…we love the tragedy of history. we love to put together the pieces which are only narrative by association. we are gifted with the ability to create new contexts for objects ( and people?) thrown together by chance.

hmmm. gloves.

we were having trouble sourcing gloves which was impetus for sending out an
email requesting donations or sales from friends and family (everyone go check your
closets and chest of drawers...).

honestly, the mail carrier must have thought i was a very popular birthday girl
because for days on end packages of gloves were appearing on the door step. incredible!

truly, it is no small thing to sit in the lap of love, support and very practical
donations! my mom is champion for contacting numerous friends who found all
sorts of goodies to ship on over... there is something magical about that ripple effect.
getting materials from people who don't even know me or laamie personally is positively thrilling and heartening. it is good to be here now.

it is as though the community at large has opened it's arms and welcomed laamie and me
into bounty and has inspired new relationship with creativity.

thank you all so much for a continued interest and support....
A special thanks to our glove and bauble angels:

diane, sharon, miriam, sharri (aka aunt sharroll), suzy (mom farrar), janie (mom), mary jean, alice, pat, henrriette, sue.... (this is dangerous because i'm probably
forgetting someone)...

laam, thanks for keeping up the blog.