At home
I've been a homebody this weekend. My mom is coming for a visit, so I used that as an excuse to do a little spring cleaning and redecorating. I didn't make drastic changes, but I moved my art around and moved a table from my bedroom into the living room and placed it behind the couch to showcase some art there. I'm very pleased with the results, so I thought I could share.
To the left is a corner of my living room. My mom gave me those two large wayangs for Christmas and I found the little ones at Cost Plus World Market. The little ones are actually Christmas ornaments. The picture is of my two oldest children when they were teenagers. Penny took it and it is one of my favorites and one of three photos in frames in my apartment. What I do like to exhibit is my art and my collections. I get tired of looking at the same stuff all of the time, though, so I curate my art. Below is a better picture of the stuff on the coffee table:
I learned a long time ago not to keep anything too precious within Kat's reach. She is a tactile little thing and must explore everything with her hands. No amount of discipline can persuade her otherwise. The tea set is hers to play with. She is always serving tea to someone in our home and loves a good toast. The little figures are souvenirs I have brought home from my travels. I collect elephants, dolls, puppets, and brass, among other misc. items from my travels. That makes for interesting art shows.
OK, funny story: I was helping my dad move from Calusa, CA about 6 years ago. We were giving away a mattress and boxspring to a friend of his. We dropped off the boxspring at her house, and I mentioned that I liked her picture. It was covered in greasy dust, but the colors were still vibrant. We left to get the mattress and when we got back to her house, she had taken it off of the wall and cleaned it up. She insisted I take it with me. I was flabbergasted! I don't know anything about this picture: how she came to have it, who the artist is, or how long it had been in her possession. I can't read the artist's signature. I would love to know the story of this painting. I realize this is a skewed photograph, but you get the idea. (Oh, and how I wish my walls were this shade of red!)
Three of these pieces are my works of art: The Ganasha Triptych and the Naga (Dragon-looking sculpture in gold). They were both in a juried student art exhibit. The third is falling apart. It is a box with a hole in it. That was the assignment in my first sculpture class. It was made out of roofing copper that my teacher got from dumpster diving, I think. Not long after it was made, my nephew threw a ball in my house, hit it squarely in the front, and it broke. Since I had already applied the patina to the surface, I couldn't tack it back together, so it has been broken ever since. I still like the feel of it, so I keep it around.
Part of my bookshelf. I'm in the process of cleaning off these shelves and reorganizing them. Right now, I have children's books scattered all over my living room. I want to separate the easy reader books from the others because Katherine is about to start reading. I'm more of an eclectic reader. I love picture books, oooh another collection, and I have a hard time getting rid of good novels. Since I have very little memory, I can read the same book twice in one year and it is fairly new the second time. I didn't photograph our movies. I'm embarrassed at how many movies I own and the shape they are in. Again, I need to do some reorganization there.
This is a piece I made at LSU when I was learning about interactive art. I like the idea that the viewer can touch my art and I like to invite them to do so. Of course, one might not feel as comfortable touching this piece, but I kind of like that tension. It is based on a story that I read of a man that went to the World's Fair when he was a kid with his Dad and brothers. His Dad gave him and his little brother money to ride the rides while his Dad and big brother went across the way to see the girlie show. He and his little brother discovered they could see the girlie show from the ferris wheel, so they spent the whole day riding that one ride. The monkies were a big hit with my artist friends, but cause for concern among the neighborhood teenagers. They are always telling me to move this into my bedroom!
The guy below was also made while I was at BRCC. My instructions were to go over the top, and I did. He has been horribly vandalized in all of the moves so he doesn't look anything like he did in his glory days. I'm still happy to have him hang around. He's fun to look at, and I imagine myself cleaning him up and repairing him someday. I also imagine myself making him interactive. I can see viewers lifting his skirt, only to be surprised by a vibrating bullet underneath!
The above is the most often view spot in my home. We are the last apartment to be seen on the tour of the complex given to potential residents. I love that idea! I take the opportunity to show off my artwork and create new exhibits for my viewers. My blinds are open most of the time, and my art is on display. I curate this little divider more often than any other space in my apartment. Right now, it contains my collection of wood carvings (another collection) and some of my tiki mugs.
Thus ends the tour for today. Hope you enjoyed a little peek inside my world.