A Letter To Our Husbands

Dear Michael & Royal:
It's okay that you NEVER read our blog because last night we learned that Richard Shumway reads it all of the time, so there! And if you had been paying attention, you would know what the h*ll these vintage salt & pepper shakers are all about. We love you anyway.
Rebecca & Anne

Ps. Read the installment prior to this one and solve the S&P mystery.

Dale & me

Honestly, I was skeptical. I've never been a huge Chihuly fan and the politics around the property at the Seattle Center seemed sort of crazy; so I was ready to be underwhelmed. Guess what? I was totally wrong. Not only is the museum space well laid-out and terrific for events, but Dale Chihuly's glasswork and personal collections are nothing short of astounding. I most liked the PNW room with the Native American baskets and Pendleton blankets and Edward Curtis portraits. Who knew that Dale was such a collector of everything? He must own an entire storage building in Tacoma to hold all of his stuff: vintage tvs, accordions, radios, toys, cameras, blankets, baskets, and on and on.

The photos in this post are from the Collections Cafe. Dale designed the display tables and practically everything else on the lot. I think I'm going to dust-off my vintage salt & pepper collection and find a suitable display spot. Thanks Dale.

More Collections

I took these pictures last week before Anne started blogging about collectables. A birdhouse collection, what a great idea.--R

Great Grandma Agnes

 

My Great Grandma Agnes was a painter. She painted  Folk Americana scenes with dreamy, simple colors. She started painting later in life, and was quilter and embroiderer in her early years. There are many more of her paintings, this mini-collection is my aunts. My mom and I just spoke about trying to get all the paintings together for a showing. More to come on that..

Mom's Art Collection

I wanted to share a collection that is special to me.. This is my mom's collection, can you figure out the common theme?

Collections from Apt.therapy

 

The way you display is so important!This one is so organized,thx Apt.Therapy for your great pics

How do you even dust this collection? It is one step away from hording, no? Does a good collection also have to show some restraint? Is part of the allure of a good collection knowing when to stop? At what point of collecting is the mass  of the whole group taking over the beauty/interest of the individual object? How much can our eye take in at one time? This reminds me of the exhaustion I feel in museums after 1.5 hours. 

There are limitations to what we can accurately see/think  after visual/brain overload. I find that my clients are equally as flustered as I feel in museums after spending 3 hours at a tile showroom, or a slab yard, or a big box store. Their sense of time, space, money, and rational thinking is gone after 1.5 hrs! We seem to have far too much input for the human brain to handle and maybe collecting things is one way to make order out of the chaos of the 'stuff' around us. Thoughts?

Collections

 

Let's chat a minute about collections. I think people have cast away the thought of collecting in a mad craze to reduce all clutter in our modern lives. I hadn't seen a well-displayed collection in the home of my peers in a long while!. But in the spirit of welldoneblogs' original mission; beauty was discovered right under my nose at a friends house 10 blocks away.  This lovely collector had these in a pretty cabinet that was not dusty and highlighted the simplicity of these little porcelain princesses. I had that feeling. That tiny, eensey-weensey feeling of stress suspension brought on by viewing beauty that I constantly search for.

This week I will be posting some pics of collections I have seen. I am interested in how the collecting of objects can soothe the soul. Is there sanity in repetition or peace in finding "like" objects in the wild world we live in? Is it our natural curiosity and need to uncover mystery that makes us search for "sets" of things? Has Ebay and Craigslist created a new accessibility to the obscure that supports the collecting mindset? What are you collecting along the way?