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!

Oh Goodwill Outlet Store, where have you been all my life

I went to my local Goodwill Outlet Store and let
me tell you, I am in LOVE! L-O-V-E! I can't wait to get paid again and go back!
I was so moved by the experience, I wrote an "ode":

Oh Goodwill Outlet Store, how I love thee, let me count the ways:
1 is for random plastic heads
2 is for antique lookin', mirror-covered jewelry boxes
3 is for bizarre ceramic African sculpture
4 is for the massive amounts of roller blades that
I didn't buy but made me giggle when I imagined Lady Fury (of the Nashville Roller Girls) calling them "Fruit Boots"
5 is for the various and sundry bizarre metal objects that I DID buy
6 is for the plastic (decent) recorder I found right after telling someone I could play one
7 is for the Muppet Movie & Great Muppet Caper soundtracks I bought
8 is for the dozen, groovy, nautical themed apertif glasses
9 is for the surly cashier in the wheelchair that couldn't bring me down with his bad attitude
10 is for the Bald Man's Grooming Kit novelty in its original box
11 is for all the awesome stuff I had to throw back
12 is for JUNK BY THE POUND!!!


w00t!
Man I had to walk away after going through only 6 of the dozen or so miscellaneous item bins (not to mention not even getting to clothes & linens). That place could become a habit, a bad habit. If I were more of a clothes horse it could get even worse!! Buying junk by the pound is a glorious and highly addictive activity. The people-watching is good there, too. It's funny to me the things that people are there after (and will knock you down to get!). There were half a dozen mothers with children in tow (kids clothes, blankets and decent toys), a fellow in a medical mask (because of the dust? swine flu? SARS?!?!) who obviously had his own thrift shop (or something similar) somewhere and was a regular (sports equipment, radios, clocks), the lady who obviously had a semi-fancy antique & gift shop (fancy wicker, wrought iron, wine glasses, candle sticks) and so many more characters elbow deep in the discards of others' lives. I love to watch what other people buy, it's almost as fun as shopping for myself...
I also discovered that "hey, hey, HEY!!" is the same in every language. There was a very zealous Latina woman next to me how didn't so much rummage as THROW things from one bin to another trying to race to the bottom, I guess. (if I had known we were racing I would have made a better showing) After I got hit with a rain of plastic toys and kitchen sundries, my cries of displeasure were heard and she moved to a bin further away to toss stuff about.
A "heads up" to any potential cart poachers out there, please be ready with a better excuse than "I didn't know this was your stuff" when I catch you taking things out of my cart. If you are going to flagrantly swipe stuff that other people have already dredged up for themselves, show a little initiative. (I guess if initiative was your style, you would have dug this stuff up yourself) Yeah I know how it could be confusing, the bins being huge, blue, plastic things longer than a person & 3 feet deep and my cart being this small, grey, mesh thing on wheels, they do look alike. I can also see how my standing right next to it with MY HAND ON THE CART might lead you to believe everything inside is fair game, but it's totally not. Why is it strangers think I'm a push-over? Is it the glasses? The chub? The lack of desire to make eye contact? Because believe me I am not shy and I will let you know, in no uncertain terms, when you are taking my stuff/skipping me in line/being rude in any number of ridiculous ways.
A word of warning to those who would swim with the sharks at the Goodwill Outlet, heavy gloves are recommended, glass items are randomly mixed in (I think mostly through people picking them from another glass only bin and deciding later they don't want them) and due to people like the Latina Loot Lobber stuff gets shifted, crushed, tossed and broken, so don't cut yourself! Nothing ruins a good day of thrifting like a trip to the emergency room & stitches!

My local Goodwill Outlet:
Goodwill Outlet Store
780 Berry Road
Nashville TN 37204

find yours at:
Goodwill Store Locator