Each Little World

Thank you ...

. . . to everyone who came to hear our talk, "Asian Serenity in a Midwest Garden," on Friday at HopsiceCare, Inc. as part of Olbrich Botanical Gardens' annual Home Garden Tour. And to those who came down to MMoCA early Saturday morning for our presentation on "Collecting as a Couple." We especially want to say how surprised — and pleased — we were to note a number of our friends in the audiences; folks who already are familiar with our house and garden and who actually paid money to hear our presentations! We even re-connected with the realtor who sold us our house, thus making the garden possible.

We also want to let everyone at Olbrich and MMoCA know how honored we were to be asked to be part of the program for such respected Madison institutions. Both days, everything was organized and ran smoothly, and all the people we dealt with were helpful, thoughtful and friendly. It made our events more fun than work.

On Friday, I said that big trees, shade and lots of green are the ingredients I consider necessary to create a serene garden. At the time, I did not realize how many of the gardens on the Olbrich tour embodied that statement. 

We loved the garden that celebrated Black Walnut trees with breathtaking specimens whose limbs almost touched the ground. These gardeners had no trouble creating an oasis under such majestic beauties and we had a great time talking with them about the best way to build a teahouse/meditation space. We discovered the perfect house color to complement orange daylilies and I was entranced at the gardeners who went to the effort of creating beautiful table settings and bouquets for the dining areas of their decks. 

We had a lot of lively conversation with collectors of every age and interest while we all partook of a summery buffet breakfast before the Art Fair on Saturday. We're looking forward to more talk about textiles, teabowls and collecting with you at MMoCA's First Fridays and upcoming openings.

Thanks again for making our marathon weekend such a success and a pleasure. But now that it's over, we're looking forward to getting back to the garden and feeling free to spend an afternoon daydreaming!

Clare Leighton

When I first became interested in gardening in the mid-1970s, there were few books on the subject being published in the U.S. Thus most of my early garden book were all purchases from second-hand bookshops. My favorite local source was Paul's Books on State St. here in Madison, a model of everything one wants in such a shop: tons of titles, knowledgeable staff, wood floors and shelves, and a window filled with plants, art and alluring titles.

One of my favorite finds from Paul's is "Four Hedges: A Gardener's Chronicle," written and illustrated with wood engraving by Clare Leighton. I'm fortunate that I happened upon a 1935 first edition for only $8.95. The reasonable price reflects the fact that there is a hand-written inscription inside the front cover: Carrie Ashton Johnson from Bertha / August 24th, 1936. (Any readers recognize those names? An aunt or grandmother from Wisconsin, perhaps?)

 

 

I mention "Four Hedges" — the opening chapter is pictured above — because the book has just been re-issued by Little Toller Books, an imprint of Dovecote Press which re-publishes classic titles about nature and rural life. You can find used copies on Amazon or buy it new (free shipping) from the UK Book Depository for only $15.26. 

 

When Leighton wrote "Four Hedges" she was a novice gardener but a highly skilled artist. I admit that I have only ever read bits and pieces of the text over the years. Though it's delightful, it was Leighton's wood engravings that spurred me to purchase the book. For much of his art career my husband has done wood cuts and wood engravings, so the book seemed like a must for our garden library — and the perfect gift for him.

The Jan./Feb. issue of the magazine "Antiques" featured an excellent article about the illustrations Leighton did for the Wedgwood china company in the late 1940s. The firm commissioned a set of 12 engravings depicting New England industries to be reproduced on a series of Wedgwood plates. The project took three years of research and execution. 

The scenes Leighton chose could be considered farewell messages as they depict American life on the cusp of major changes. The images on the plates resonate strongly with me because they show industries that were also once critical to Wisconsin: ice cutting, cranberrying and logging. We are still a major producer of cranberries and lumber. 

This is the back of the plate pictured above. Anyone who has seen white pines of almost any size or age can understand Leighton's description and just imagine those ancient forests that went sailing around the world. 

Remodeling: the finishing touch

We both love textiles: African Kuba cloths, Japanese ikats, Paisley shawls, Chinese emboideries, Lao scarves — and especially antique Persian rugs. We dreamed of someday being able to add beautiful rugs as accents on top of our new wool carpet. The weekend before Thanksgiving Mark suggested we visit David Ward at Stony Hill Antiques in Madison. Over the years we've found a wonderful Kuba at David's along with African masks, jewelry, books and paintings. The shop is eclectic and an afternoon digging around while we gab with David is always fun.

I didn't really expect that we would find a rug to our liking since David generally stocks contemporary Iranian rugs. U.S. trade barriers have kept the supply of rugs coming into this country an on-again-off-again situation. When the last embargo ended, rugs poured into the U.S., meaning there were lots of rugs at reasonable prices for consumers, if not as profitable as the dealers might wish. A new barrier on rug imports from Iran by the Obama administration went into effect at the end of September, so prices are likely to rise again. We started flipping through David's rugs, took six home to see if they would work in our rooms — and kept five of them!

This pair of pictures shows before and after of the front entrance hall. The ceiling was torn out of this space so we could insulate it and change the heat vent and lights. We also swapped out old linoleum flooring for ceramic tile. Luckily neither the old floor nor its adhesive contained asbestos. We had to send samples to the state lab for tests, and asbestos would have meant major abatement issues and costs.

Another view of the space showing the paint colors: the walls are "Coastal Fog" like the stairwell walls while the doors are "Woodcut" like the display wall in the strairwell. The rug adds the punch the area was lacking and also helps to tie the wood tones of the stairs themselves to the rest of the design.

We brought home a couple of rugs that were very similar in color and style, hoping we might be able to use them together in one room. We love the look of overlapping rugs that we've seen in books and magazines and were hot to try it ourselves. That idea worked but not with the pair of rugs we anticipated.

We realized that two rugs in this space worked only if they contrasted in style and scale, as this pair do.

The rugs really tied the whole look together, giving it a polished aura that the room lacked before — something that was not apparent to us until we brought in the rugs and put them down. We also brought in an antique English Windsor chair and a Thai rain drum to finish it off.  

The pair of pictures above shows the corner bookcase wall before and after. The ceramics on top of the new bookcase are all by Bill Farrell of Galena, Illinois; one of our favorite potters. 

 

So two rugs in the library and one in the front hall. Where, you ask, did the other two rugs go? They went into other rooms that were not part of the remodeling, but felt like completely new spaces with the addition of these delightful rugs. You can see one in front of the couch in the living room and the other in the red sitting room. As a final note I should mention that these five newer rugs cost about the same as the pair of small antique  Kurdish kilims we bought elsewhere a few years ago. David Ward's rugs turned out to be a very big bang for the bucks!

 

500 paint colors here.

We pick the wall paint colors here.

We begin teardown and construction here.

Putting it all back together here. 

Christmas spirits

I like to decorate the house for the holidays but our taste runs to angels, cherubs and putti rather than Santa figures. The oldest is a small (below, 5 in./12 cm.) hand-painted china angel, complete with my name on her hymnbook. My mother's best friend from college made this figurine as a baby gift when I was born.

During the year she lives behind the glass doors of our china cabinet. But at this season she gets to come out and join the most impressive spirit who lives at our house: a Burmese (Myanmar) Buddha head from the 18th century. It's life-size, made of gilded stone on a brass base.

The newest angels (below) are this pair from Swedish designers Bengt & Lotta. This year I decided to use tall candles to play up the angels short stature (just over 4 inches/10 cm.). They are only one of the many delightful designs by this Swedish pair available at Madison's Century House. 

This folksy angel of painted wood and tin is a another Scandinavian figure that we found 15 years ago.

Our wooden putti with removable wings (below left) works equally well for Christmas or Valentine's Day. We've had this Italian figure for 20+ years and have never regretted splurging on it when we were first married. We have a few others but don't put them all on display each Christmas. That way we appreciate each of them in turn.

You can also see another of Mark's recent drawings taped on the wall above the buffet. The house is covered with new drawings making the space more arty and less Christmasy!

Seasonal art

During the winter of 1983/84, I got a wonderful poster from the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission celebrating the holiday traditions of all the ethnic groups who settled in our county. Once it was framed, I began to put it out every December to officially start the holiday. You can see from the first image (below) that eventually it was joined by all whole wall of holiday art. 

Turns out the wall above the longest bookcase in our newly re-modeled library (more on that soon) is a perfect place for displaying art. Currently it is showcasing 12 holiday-themed pieces including antique lace, drawings by me and Mark, new and old photos, woodcut prints, and 19th Century St. Nicholas stickers. Below (l-r) is a drawing of "Christmas Crows", a photo of me with Santa and the antique stickers.

Further down the wall is an angel drawing by Mark (done on our first computer using the mouse as a drawing tool) and a little lace skier. We're using the top of this long bookcase as a platform to display all of our toys that we have from childhood as well as the toys we periodically give each other as gifts. 

 

The two drawings below (graphite, colored pencil, watercolor and ink) were newspaper illustrations. I did these drawings with a handwritten text in lieu of photos and printed text for my holiday columns in the early 1990s.

A crocheted radish by Leslee Nelson (above) joins a handmade teddy bear (below) nestling a felt critter by Mary Wallace of White Dove Farm and gorgeous hand-painted wooden alphabet blocks by Tracy Higgs. 

A color woodcut advertises an artshow in Washington, D.C. by brothers Thom and David Feild, my dad's 1943 Christmas Day menu, and Mark's "Happy Halley Days" celebrating Halley's Comet in 1985. The toy duck in the middle is the model for the "Halley Days" illustration. The 2-D art ends with a pair of photos: our Wisconsin garden in the snow and my sister's Vermont house in an equally snowy landscape.  

The 3-d figures include our collection of quirky characters made of everything from papier mache to bone.

Pot portraits

During the winter our collection of wood-fired pots reside indoors. Some are lucky enough to find a home in the main rooms of the house, but more than a few are forced to spend the cold months in the garage or basement. So it's always a thrill to bring them out onto the deck when warm weather arrives. This summer — for the first time — Mark moved all but four out of fourteen pots off the deck and into the garden. Limiting the decorative objects in the garden to stone — and stoneware — gives the garden a sense of cohesiveness and lets both the pots and the plants shine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pots range in size from 12 inches to 36 inches in height. The pots in images 5 and 8 are from Southeast Asia, the rest are by Wisconsin potters including Mark Skudlarek, Tony and Renee Gebauer, Michael Schael and Don Reitz.

Tagged, and for sale

The Artful Shopper is selling out. Well, to be exact, she's downsizing, de-accessioning, depleting her stock. And she's not alone; Mark is doing the same. So we're looking for new homes for art, antiques, baskets, garden and art books, decorative accessories, tea bowls, textiles, hats, a dhurrie rug and whatever else we unearth before the end of the week. 

The sale runs 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Friday, May 14, and Saturday, May 15. The on-line map to the Orchard Ridge Rummage Sale can be found here.

Three African pieces (above): Ligbi/Djimini mask, Cow mask from N.E. Nigeria, and Goli mask.
 

What we do know is that any reasonable offer will be accepted. Stop by to say hello, browse and buy. Among the offerings will be lots of ART: acrylic and oil paintings of varying sizes and styles; figurative charcoal drawings (life class!), woodcuts and other prints, posters, studio ceramics and African masks. 

You know us; every picture tells a story and every piece has provenance:

This Art Deco accent table is also a sewing table (below) that holds spools of thread inside the top along with trays for scissors and such, plus two drawers for storing supplies. Originally purchased in the late 70s or early 80s from Michael Port's Vintage Interiors when it was in the old Washington Hotel. 

A set of four ladder-back chairs with new rush seats. Purchased in the late 1980s from Jim Dennis, Emeritus Professor of Art History at UW-Madison. The chairs just didn't go with his Frank Lloyd Wright house. But they're perfect with this big country basket from a Bauer & Beckwith sale when they still lived on Madison's east side.

Two-part lanterns suitable for deck or dining table, candles included. The bottom half of each makes a nice pedestal for sculpture. Also a pair of tall brass candle sticks and a big brass scoop. 

A curvaceous French-influenced side table with decorative wood inlay on the top and brass detailing on the top edge, skirt and legs. Needs restoration work or a tablecloth. 

Two hand-colored prints of "Limestreet Ward" and "Cripplegate Ward Within and Without" in London. Early to mid-19th century re-strikes from older plates, nicely framed and in excellent condition (better in person than this photo). Also from England, an untouched, unused terracotta tulip motif wall planter from Rookes Pottery in Derbyshire. Purchased in the late 1980s.

 

A trio of metal purses to me; lunch boxes to you.

Assorted African items including a woven basket, a gourd bowl and a leather and fiber hat. In the center of the picture is a Fon Abike vodoo mother and child figure, partly made out of a sock. Purchased by a Haitian friend in a market in Mali not open to tourists. Also a Fulani loom and shuttle bought in 1982 in Mali, used in weaving cotton and wool blankets. 

And still more art ...

 

 
And that's just a bit of what we're selling. 

Mark's sister — who will be joining us for the sale — is closing her booth at the Columbus Antiques Mall and will have lots of items, especially vintage and antique china, including Lenox, Syracuse, Buffalo and McCoy.

Mother's Day memento

Thinking of all you moms on your day ...

My father was in the U.S. Navy during World War II and served on a number of ships in the Pacific. He sent this memento to his mother for Mother's Day, 1945. I've purchased a nice shadow box frame so I can protect it and display it, but I'm still trying to figure out how to mount it as the fabric is so delicate. Feels like silk, but I know there was a shortage of that material during the war so I think it may actually be some type of synthetic. 

Getting to the point

Collecting (Part II)

HE SAID:

Recently I quoted John Bradford on collecting: "the excitement of the hunt, the find, the acquisition and the display is perhaps most akin to being in love." Since then, quite unexpectedly, I found this passage in Phyllis Rose's book, The Year of Reading Proust:

"I have reached the age when collecting is the stage on which I enact desire, for the feel of promiscuity — if that is what one needs to feel alive — is the same whether the object of desire is a man or a sprinkler jar."

  Or a hatchel.

One thing I know for certain is that you don't have to reach a "certain age" for eroticism to enter into the desire to possess an object. I vividly remember seeing my first flax hatchel, a comb for separating flax fibers. It was very like the one pictured at the top with a wooden cover. It was more years ago than I care to think about, in the basement of an antiques mall in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. Just thinking about it now, I can recreate the thrill of seeing all those sharp points as I lifted the cover. It was electric.

I didn't buy it, mostly because I didn't have the hundred dollars they were asking. But I was also experiencing a guilty pleasure, an embarrassment to admit how much I wanted it and why. I thought about that thicket of long iron points for days after. It was very much like an infatuation, like meeting someone at a party and being too shy, too afraid to reveal the intensity one's desire, to call the next day.

Eventually Linda and I met and married and came upon another hatchel, although without a cover, and brought it home with us. Her anxiety over both the implied and real danger in response to those spikes was moderated only by her interest in the process they played in creating textiles.

The hatchel was used in the third step of linen production. After the plant stalks had been retted, or allowed to rot, they went through the skutching or crushing step to separate the fibers in the stems. They were then combed by drawing the fibers through the hatchel combs. The spikes would remove the shorter fibers, line up the long soft fibers, and remove the woody debris from the stems.

We have four or five hatchels now. Most of the time they are kept in the basement where they can cause no injury. Once in a while, though, we'll bring one up and hang it in a corner, behind some furniture where no one is likely to go. And for a month or two we'll admire it for its elegant functionality, its history as a tool, and the frisson produced by those many very sharp points.

 

Picture #1 was copied from an auction site and used without permission. The rest of the hatchels are from our collection.  The largest, the double comb pictured in #2 and #6 is 40 inches long. The hatchel in pictures #3-5 is 34 inches long. Picture #5 shows the nails from the back. The hatchel in the last picture is 12 inches long and has pretty decorative metalwork. 

Like being in love

HE SAID:

Linda and I collect: Queen cups, African art, old watering cans, wood fired ceramics, Boro textiles, atonal music, rusty metal, Epimediums, fish spears, and books about collectors and collecting.

According to John L. Bradford, an emeritus professor of neuropsychology, as quoted in the New York Times, "Collecting objects, however arcane, is typically a preoccupation of the obsessive-compulsive personality, and not a disorder unless the collector "feels anxious and driven by the whole thing.'" I have to admit, I've come close to feeling that way at times. But I prefer a different characterization of Bradford's: "the excitement of the hunt, the find, the acquisition and the display is perhaps most akin to being in love."

Since Linda is out of town, I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce a new topic into the blog - objects of desire. I envision a series of posts about things, that when seen, have evoked a degree of lust and a need to possess in either or both of us. Each post will present a thing or collection of similar things that have somehow taken hold of our individual or collective imaginations and inspired an urge to acquire.

I'm hoping that through a more thoughtful analysis of an object we can gain some useful insight into this very common human behavior.

I'll start with something that nearly all of us have "collected" at some point in our lives - rocks, the very substance of the planet on which we live. What is it about stone that attracts our attention. Color, texture and weight and shape certainly play their part in seducing us into bending over to pick up a pebble and secreting it in our pocket. But I think, for me at least, it has more to do with the notion of time, geologic time. John McPhee in is book "Basin and Range" gives this example in an effort to suggest the immensity of time during which the earth has existed. If you represent the age of the earth by your outstretched arms, you would wipe out the entire history of mankind with one swipe of a fingernail file! 

It's no wonder we mark our graves with stone in an effort to extend our very short existence.