Tons of new items posted!

You can find loads of new items in both my craft shop and my vintage shop on etsy.

Vintage Rotary Phone Clock - JUNKMARKET Style

I have another featured project on the Junkmarket Style website.  Check it out!

Vintage Rotary Phone Clock - JUNKMARKET Style

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Girl's Afternoon Wine & Chocolate tasting with a side of SHOPPING!

Click on the image for a larger version.

Handmade in the Arcade

I will be plying my wares at this event.  The vendor list is most impressive, I am excited to participate!

Buttons!

 

Did I mention that I make buttons?

 No?  Well I do! 

Check 'em out! (I even made some Halloween ones!)

Tea Lights Part 2

In my previous posts about the lanterns that I make out of vintage tins, I mentioned a free standing version. (as opposed to the hanging swag/pendant/chandelier lights I had made previously)  Here are some pics of the ones that I have completed so far, I am pretty pleased with them.

Dia de los Muertos Skulls

I have always been fascinated by Mexican Catholicism.  I find it rich and beautiful, a glorious blend of the native pagan beliefs and traditional Catholicism.  The imagery and tradition move me in a way that I have not experienced with any other aspect of Christianity.  Not the Sistine Chapel, nor Byzantine murals, nor the countless other Christian art & artifacts get my blood pumping like the bejeweled, brightly colored images from Catholicism south of the border.
The celebration of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead or All Souls Day as it is otherwise known)  has always been one of my favorites.  I enjoy the idea of honoring and remembering those friends and family that have gone before us.  I am also captivated by both the Christian and the pagan aspects dating back to Aztec celebrations honoring ancestors and the "Lady of the Dead" the goddess Mictecacihuatl.  The flowers, offerings, paper banners and boisterous celebration is the way I feel we should all look upon those we've loved and lost, not with despair, but in celebration of the love they have given us and the life that they led.

Sometimes I feel like I am coopting the beliefs of others for my own amusement.  Having had no real religious upbringing I am equally fascinated by the philosophies and imagery of all world religions and I try to treat them with respect and love when using said imagery in my work.  Sometimes though a little cheeky humor creeps in, but I think that most people everywhere take themselves a bit more seriously than they should.
All this is leading to the fact that I found paper mache skulls at Michael's (already discounted and it was only the 5th of October!  What is the world coming to?) so I bought an armload and started painting.  I have to say I really enjoyed myself, it was fun to just jump in and let the images and colors flow.  My only regret is that I didn't consider what I was going to paint more, I am not much of a planner.  Traditional artist poo-poo such methods and I see the value in planning, but it just takes the excitement and inspiration out of it for me.  I think if I had stuck to a common theme they may have turned out better, but I wanted each one to be distinctive.  Hopefully the next round will be a bit more polished.

Antiques at the old country store

Carter's Creek Station in Columbia, TN is another one of my favorite places to shop. Owned and operated by Linda Jones-Lloyd, it is a wonderland of the old and unusual. Every time I visit my grandmother in Columbia (which admittedly is not as frequent as it should be) I stop by this old country store in the middle of nowhere. My mother and I are often the only visitors when we're shopping (no worries though, they do alright) so it's as though you're exploring a place that no one else knows about. The shop consists of a 100 year old general store and "The Granary" which is across the street right on the tracks where they unloaded deliveries from the trains oh so many years ago. There are several rooms filled ceiling to floor with every era and kind of antique imaginable. Everything from fine Victorian furniture to primitive pie safes to mid-century modern kitsch are represented and affordably priced.
Generally speaking "The Granary" contains the over-flow merchandise or things that are maybe a little too junky (my favorites items, by the way!) for the antique store proper. I find it handy to have my digital camera with me so that is there is something without a price tag I can snap a picture and show it to Linda when I walk back across the street. (it beats awkwardly trying to describe it and where it's located in relation to other items) Linda, the owner, is a doll and as funny as they come. I once weathered a tornado in her shop and the entire time she was cool as a cucumber, cracking jokes and talking about the fortitude (or lack thereof) of the building we were in. She is often out of the store at auctions, estate sales, yard sales and the like, but not to worry the folks she leaves in her stead are just a kind and helpful and Linda is always available by phone to help price anything unmarked or find something she set aside for you. Once she gets a feel for items you may be looking for she often adds them to her shopping list and brings you back treasures from all over the Southeast. It is not merely her finds in the store, she rents booth space to several people adding to the eclectic flavor of the store.
There's almost always something I have never seen before at Carter's Creek Station. Things both sweet & traditional and that which is funky & bizarre. Over the years I have purchased an adult tricycle, countless furniture items, Indonesian Buddha heads, architectural findings, dolls, jewelry, men's ties, crocheted doll panties (yeah, you read that right!), the list goes on and on, but suffice to say that there's plenty to choose from and the price is always right. I challenge you to not find something you want to take home! I always find some treasure (more often than not several treasures) there every time I visit, not to mention that the bucolic setting and a profusion of eye-candy, make it a must see if you find yourself in the area.
Carter's Creek Station Antiques is located at:
2984 Carter's Creek Station Road
Columbia, TN 38401
931-486-0405

Thursday - Saturday 10 am until 5 pm (sometimes later)
Sunday 1 pm - 5 pm
Monday - Wednesday by appointment call 931-270-0720 or 931-619-1072

cool stuff, weird things

So I may have mentioned before that I have work for sale at a shop here in Nashville, formerly known as the Crystal Dragon it is now known as Cool Stuff, Weird Things (new website coming soon) a name which conveniently came pre-painted on the side of the building! Located in an older (and some like myself would say charming) shopping district, this shop is a great source for funky stuff, affordable finer thrift and art. (if you're an artist, stop by the shop with some work and see what shakes out) You can't miss the fiberglass Elvi (Elvises?) that flank the door as you drive down Charlotte and that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the strange and unusual you can find here. Vintage & antique furniture, home decor, art, kitschy collectibles, garden decor, vintage clothing and so much funky stuff I would wear out the keyboard on my laptop listing it all, you get the point. Just check out the pics below to see what I am talking about.


The large birdbath & the companion urns are not for sale, but it is a welcoming little vignette as you walk in.















There are several of these round, tiered tables FULL of treasures like cookie jar cottages and Godzilla!

















A vintage chalk piggy bank (although it is spelled "pigy bank" on the pig's belly) carnival prize makes me grin every time I see it. And that golden nekkid lady is sure to class up your joint should you decide to adopt her.












A wood & metal glider swing makes a comfy spot to sit back and admire Elvis #1.

Matched set of vintage lawn furniture with a beautiful spade leaf design is sure to please, but I am more intrigued by the cardboard Bluto peeking out from behind it.


Cool Stuff, Weird Things is located at:
4900 Charlotte Avenue
on the corner of 49th & Charlotte
Nashville, TN 37209
If there is no parking to be had on the street, feel free to park across the street at the park, there is always plenty of room and there's a crosswalk with a traffic light right at the corner they're on.

Hey, you should join their Facebook fan page!

I won!!!

I won first place and have the plaque and vinyl banner to prove it! Thanks to everyone who voted for me, I was as shocked as anyone could be that I got first place. My friend Jeff Bertrand got 3rd, he is a stellar artist and as I told him, "I look forward to getting my ass kicked" by him next year. My friend Jon won the Biggest Geek superlative and my friend Ramb0 Samb0 of the Nashville Roller Girls won 1st for Most Athletic, beating out The TN Titans AND Nashville Predators TEAMS. Like all of them, combined, PROFESSSIONAL athletes could not hold a candle to the hard-hitting, fast-skating, ridiculous work-out regimen having phenom that is Ramb0. I could go on and on about all my groovy friends that won (like Blackbird Tattoo & Gallery taking home 3rd after only being open for 2 months and the Piper family cementing their food legacy on the east side with a couple of 1st place wins) but I will spare you. The Yazoo brew was especially delicious due to its ice-cold free-ness and the buffet was a bit of a let down after last year's spread, but still delicious. In a bit of redneck, beeriness I shouted out the window as we were leaving the tourist are of downtown, "I'm number one! Wooooo!" and was pleased to get a chorus of random "Wooo's!" in response. It was a good night.

OK, I didn't make this, but I wish I had!

These are from the fine ladies at The Junk Gypsy Co. who are a little bit country, a little bit rock-n-roll deep in the heart of Texas. They bring cowboy, Mexican and bohemian/gypsy aesthetics together into a shop that makes me flip my lid every time I go there.





Check out these jugs here.














and these bowls here.















Oh & while you're at it check these & these out, too. You know, just go through the whole site, it is chock full of stuff that I want, that I need, that I MUST HAVE!!! And you'll love it, too! These ladies truly uphold the meretricious lifestyle!

When it rains, it pours! Luckily I like to play in the rain!

I have been invited to the Toast of Music City awards banquet which means I have placed in the top 3! Thanks to everyone who voted for me for Best Local Visual Artist, I am thrilled to place for the 2nd year in a row! I will update everyone with the final results. (and likely a review of the tasty buffet and free local brew)

I have a featured project!

I meant to post this when it was fresh (and I was closer to the top of the page) but I am a featured project on the Junkmarket Style website. Mine is the posting that is currently second from the bottom. This is the finished product of those tea tin lamps I posted while in progress a month or 2 ago. I still haven't wired their table top counter parts, for I am lazy. (or some might say working 4 jobs, very busy)For those of you that have not seen the website/magazine it is a wealth of projects for recycling, reinventing and reimagining flea market finds and out & out junk. I like the website a lot because it invites reader contributions so you get some great ideas, get to see beautiful things and a lot of people just post the awesome junk that they have discovered.

Is it just me...

or does this piece of art pottery STRONGLY resemble Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors?

I mean, that's why I bought it in the first place, mainly to see if it would turn to me and say, "Feed me, Valerie!" and I would then be tasked to find human sacrifices for my unholy pottery master. I also figured "what the hey" based on the mark on the bottom of the vase, U.S.A. 106. Now I have been told (by someone who is by no means an authority) that some McCoy pottery is marked with just USA and no mention of the McCoy name. I could almost buy that in this case as the item is that minty green they seemed to favor so much and they seemed to be fans of that strangely organic fluted vase type thing. However 48 pages of images from my Google search later I have not found any proof that McCoy ever marked anything with just a U.S.A. (nor did they seem to leave the bottoms unglazed as this piece is) nor can I find a comparable shape. If anyone has ever seen a piece similar to this I would love it if you could tell me more about it. My free time is so limited that I am unable to go to the public library and look at their books on pottery. (if only the public library was open at 11pm!) But I am sure that somewhere in the annals of history someone recorded a vase as odd as this one. Even if someone is familiar with the mark or can confirm/deny with assurance the whole McCoy marked with only a USA that would be great. It would put me one step closer to identifying this beauty. I am normally not too concerned with the collectibility of my purchases, but if Antiques Roadshow has taught me anything it's that art pottery can surprise you and I would love it if like my Van Briggle I have again purchased s very collectible piece on the cheapy-cheap! Two in one year would be great!

I apologize that the mark is not more prominent in this picture. My "photography studio" consists of me taking pieces outside into the direct sunlight because my camera is pitiful. Unfortunately in this instance it all but washed out the contrast in the markings.

And I mentioned Google, when I search "McCoy art pottery" in quotation marks, why then do you give me Hull, Rosewood and Van Briggle? I thought the quotes were supposed to eliminate similar, but not EXACT matches! Harrumph, I'll let it go because you have been super useful in the past, but you're on warning buddy!

UPDATE: Thanks to the ladies at Gathering Spriggs /Gathering Vintage who at this weekends vintage & artisan market had a similar piece that sparked a conversation with these learned ladies. It is most likely Shawnee pottery as they marked their pieces the same way and are partial to these stylized organic shapes and do not generally glaze the bottoms of their pieces. Thanks ladies, mystery now mostly solved!

Hey kids, VOTE FOR ME!

So this is a horrible stab at self-promotion, but if any of you feel up to it, please vote for me in the visual artist category of the Toast of Music City. I took 3rd last year and would like to try for 1st this year. (but placing again would be SUPER) More than anything this is just useful in lending weight to my work when I am shopping it around to stores and galleries. The site doesn't care if you are in or around Nashville, so anyone in the world can vote on this one. You can vote once per day, per browser.

Here are some fresh assemblages and vintage items that will be available at the next Walden Artisan & Vintage Market coming up this month on June 27th & 28th at the Walden Building. The Walden Building is located at 1900 Eastland Avenue across from Rosepepper. There will be tons of art, crafts & vintage of every stripe, check it out.

Lobster Princess $30

Mary Shrine $25

Cross Shrine $25

All Seeing $50

Fire King gilded dishes (11 pieces) $28 all

Decorative trays hand painted in Limoges, France $15 set of 3

Pair of hand painted china cups from child's tea set $12 pair

Demitasse cup & saucer $8

Set of 4 hand painted glass party set $25 all

Beautiful glass tray with flower transfers $15

Green pressed-glass pineapple toothpick holder $8

Green "controlled bubble" glass owl $10

Ceramic head vases $15 each

Westmoreland glass owl with jewel eyes $10

Westmoreland blue milk glass bud vase $12

30's ceramic creamer $8

Lemon yellow glass candy dish or face powder container $12

Amberina Native American themed glass toothpick holder $10

Saddler robin's egg blue teapot $10

Milk glass candlesticks $12 pair

hand painted Bon Ami ad from old general store $15
hand made stand with vintage components $15

Faux Amber necklace $10

Ceramic S & P with hand painted flowers $8 pair

I will have quite a bit of vintage that is not listed here in addition to many new (and LARGE) decorative pieces I have made, but yet to photograph. Don't miss out!