High-Tech vs. Low -Tech...

I received an email a few days after Thanksgiving from Sinopia Pigments. This was just after "black Friday" and their opening line was-

"Now that you have taken care of your high-tech cyber Monday gift shopping, its time for your low-tech artists on your lists..."

This really stuck in my head and I thought about it for several days...I had been struggling over the decision to purchase an iPad or similar tech gadget. I really enjoy my MacBook computer and 4s iPhone and thought it would be nice to add an iPad to the family.  I thought I could justify the purchase to make choices easier for my clients.

But that Sinopia ad kept playing over and over in my mind...."low-tech artists.."

High -tech gadgets or low-tech tools...which direction is best for me?

BOTH!

First things first, I published a new book of updated work for clients to view. I have found that on initial meetings with prospective clients, they can be overwhelmed with the 9000+ photos on my computer! 

They love looking at photos on an electronic screen, but this is like looking at a magazine...there is not always a  personal connection.

They want something they can hold and touch. They respond well to a book! This is the first thing I give someone to look at. It has enough photos that they can see my style and then, if needed, the computer can provide other, more specific shots.

So, for now, no iPad in my future. Just a new self published book through Apple and my three year old MacBook to drag around. High- tech or low- tech...I think artists still lean to a simpler, old- tech style.

A Wonderful Collaboration!!

I have a weakness for hand painted ceramics done in true Italian style....
Gina of Art and Alfalfa is my weekly "fix"for photos of beautiful painted ceramics! She is a gifted artist that lives in the middle of an alfalfa field in Utah.

Gina creates beautiful ceramics and conducts workshops for students wanting to learn the ancient craft. She recently had some of her work displayed at the Springville Museum of Art! I was immediately drawn to the large platter she did. Gina sells her work through etsy and I signed up for a platter to be painted.

A design was chosen for inspiration. Several things were" tweeked", a reference to the Medici family, my family initial and some "artistic interpretation".

My armorial  plate was painted, fired and re-fired  again with gold and sent to me! What to put on it? What about my marzipan fruit from Bologna, Italy that was brought back so carefully?

Or maybe some salted caramel cookies with sugared fruit jellies?  What? Did your eagle eye spot some differences in the two photos? There was a flaw from the firing of the first plate, so, I ended up with TWO! How lucky am I?

How does my new Italian serving set look with them? Pretty fantastic, I think! I picked them up at an estate sale this week!

I just love that each time I received a plate, it came with a lovely letter from Gina on her custom stationary!

These plates are the perfect size for entertaining or displaying on a shelf.

And her colophon on the back makes them very special to me! Thank you so much Gina!

Flea Market Finds.....

With the holidays upon us, I hit the road today to attend a nearby flea market. This market is quite large and just as diverse with everything from almost edible potpourri......

to Santa Claus!

Lots of architectural salvage to dig through......

and way too many cute doggies to distract me!

One booth had acres of fauxed wooden plaques that they would personalize on the spot with your name or favorite quote.

But what really caught my eye were these french linen night shirts.

Their detailing with all those pleats and hand stitching! I had seen these at the Alameda flea market in San Francisco and regretted not getting one. This time, I would not let one get away!

These linens are also known for their perfectly stitched initials, always in red; located somewhere on the garment. Here is a little history behind the stitches-

The trousseau was often comprised of numerous sheets (twelve was common for a wealthy family), numerous dish towels, hand towels, napkins and tablecloths patiently and meticulously embroidered. To mark these linens with one’s initials was an inherent part of every young girl’s education. And in fact the sampler, or “abcdaire,” was the pride of each little girl who arrived in the adult world. On a swath of cloth, she embroidered in needlepoint the letters of the alphabet as well as the numbers from zero to nine. The initialled letters of the “marquoir,” or the family stamp, were always “blood red,” a symbolic reference of the young girl’s destiny as a woman. Why red? Because red was also a strong and durable dye, resistant to multiple launderings and one that could be easily seen. Before the era of chemistry the colorant widely used was “common madder,” or “rubia tinctorum.” Common madder belongs to the vast plant world family of rubiaceae, quite a remarkable family in that it also includes the plants that produce coffee beans and quinine. A perennial plant, common madder has evergreen leaves, tiny yellow/white flowers and reddish black pea-sized berries. However, it’s in the roots that the pigment is found that is the source of the dye known today as alizarin. 

Unlike the refined art of embroidered linens, which was realised in white on white, the stitching of these red letters had a purely utilitarian role and was executed in a simple cross-hatched needlepoint. The letters served to organize sheets that were made in pairs of a top and bottom sheet, and next to these letters, small numbers were often also marked. These numbers were a kind of rank that allowed the sheets to be alternated equally between washings but they also served as a kind of accounting as the family linens had a very great value. And very often a young girl marked her linens with her own initials to distinguish these from those of her mother and grandmother. Sometimes too she inscribed the name of her town or village. (source)

Be sure and hit your local flea markets and gift shows this year and support your local craftspeople! Thanks to Tenny Roche' for her passion with antique textiles and her wonderful booth at Canton Trade Days!