Pillow Love and Adding to the Fabric Collection

Lately I've been embroidering and making fiber collages on some pillows I've made using "new" condition vintage handkerchiefs. They're fun and airy and have a really summery feel-- there are more in the works and they'll go in the new Etsy shop which I will be opening sometime over the next month or so. Details soon to come! There's a 20% off sale in my shop now, 'til June 7.

Black corduroy, fringed linen, crewel upholstery fabric, brushed cotton, polished cotton, 

vintage eyelet pettticoat

 Beat up Battenburg lace tablecloth--the stuff of dreams!

Must take advantage of yard sales before it gets too hot around here to even venture outdoors after 10 am. My daughter picked out some great Motown and jazz records at one, and I scored all the sewing goodness including fabrics and trims above at another for $1!! Makes up for the overpriced local estate sale/auction companies who will remain nameless here.

Hope your thrifting adventures have been wonderful this weekend. Check out Her Library Adventures for more inspiration!

Sewing "Antiques" Collection

This is the bad news--that's all I have. I don't even have enough white buttons to fill a Mason jar.

The good news is, I get to collect more!

However, I have quite a collection of vintage fabric and trims... And I'll show you a couple things I've made from them recently in my next post.

Stormy Weather

"Nor'easter", 30" x 40", oil on canvas with found objects.
© Deborah Jaouen 2010

Only fitting that objects that got washed around in the North Atlantic should end up as part of a piece called "Nor'easter", just a nautical sounding name for a storm driven by a northeast wind. We get them too in Virginia, but for me the name evokes New England, which is where I found all these now attached pieces.

Just Broaching the Subject

Recent acquisitions

Are most artists into collecting stuff? To me, that's part of of who I am, although it's often a love/hate relationship. Sometimes I envy those who don't create because their lives and homes seem simpler. But they do border on sterile, at least that's how my life would seem if every thought and action didn't somehow seem to involve making something. I'm not going to lie, making money is among those thoughts (and on a good day, actions). Mainly a question of survival/freedom so I can create!

One of my favorite quotes (albeit deliciously cynical) is from Frank Zappa:
"An artist is someone who makes something from nothing and sells it for a lot of money."