Tis the Season.........for Birthday Parties and Round Top, Texas!

You may wonder what birthday parties and Round Top, Texas have in common.

In my world, a lot.

My younger daughter was born on March 30, and each year I am faced with the dilemma of when to head over to Round Top and when to celebrate her birthday! Dealers begin setting up in the surrounding towns and at different shows around mid March, and then continue on into the first weekend of April. Each year I plan a little differently - sometimes to go early and "hit the fields",  as we say, and some years I go later, and go to Marburger Farm and the original Round Top Show. 

Both of these images were taken from a fabulous website with the best guide to this season in Texas.

The Cactus Creek Daily, edited by Texas native, Fancy Smith, is full of great tips on antiquing as well as other design and decorative info. Check out the website for a great read!

Did I mention that March 30 is also our anniversary? So, every spring it gets just a little touchy as to exactly when Mom heads out to go antiquing.

So, first things first - this weekend we celebrated my daughter's 16th birthday.....shhhh.... I know the 30th isn't until Tuesday, but we decided a Friday night was better for a party than a Tuesday anyway.

I set up tables and chairs on the back porch,  flung an assortment of cotton tablecloths over them, and finished them off with a few candles and Gerbera daisies in shallow, round pots.

With the help of my talented and creative friend,John Phelps, aka "JP", we had a true southern dinner for 30 teenagers - complete with a roaring outdoor fire and lots of tunes. We served fried chicken, twice baked potatoes, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, and drop biscuits with chives and bacon. As JP called the event, "Hannah's Carbo Load Birthday Dinner".

Oh, and carrot cake with cream cheese icing and a vanilla cake with chocolate mousse filling!

  In spite of a bit too much wind, we had a perfect evening for outdoor dining and it was just cool enough have a fire. Texas weather is unpredictable and often we go straight from freezing to death to positively burning up, so it is so nice to actually have some weather that is neither too hot or too cold.

Hannah and Dad try to light the candles in spite of the strong breeze - lots of hands to block the wind!

So, a wonderful time was had by all,  and now I can think about next week and my trek over to some  the best antiquing ever! 

After waking my precious baby girl up on Tuesday morning, wishing her a wonderful birthday and of course, wishing my husband a wonderful anniversary day as well, I will head east on Highway 290, through Austin and on into the next prettiest part of Texas (next to us, the actual hill country).....through the rolling hills and on to the the fields, of wildflowers and antique dealers!

First stop will be Marburger Farms, as the it opens on Tuesday morning. Last fall I found several treasures at this show and learned of a funny coincidence after writing my following blog post, as well.

I wrote about this dealer, Mary Jackson, and about several items I bought from her. Little did I know that Joni of Cote de Texas fame, bought the clock that is in this photo. Only later did she write to me that I had a picture of her clock! We did not see each other at the show, so I guess she came along after I shot this photo and bought her clock! There are so many dealers there, though, so it is funny that she and I would buy from the same one!

I don't remember whose booth this was, but I do remember thinking that big pink iron piece on the wall was so cool. Wonder who got it and where it is now?

Loved all the beautiful things in this booth. The show is too large and the variety too vast to possibly cover in one blog post.

I snagged this photo below from Fancy, too, because Richard Schmidt  is an amazing jewelry designer whose work I just love. I bought several pieces from him a year ago and look forward to visiting with him and his lovely wife again. 

You can find Richard on the square in the actual town of Round Top during the shows. He and his wife are delightful and so, so talented. I learned of his work originally from my sweet sister in law, Tanya!

Photo  Richard Schmidt Designs website.


As much as I love all of the venues during this antiquing season in Texas, I am sentimental about the original Round Top Antiques Show. I have shopped it for years, helped my dear friend and seasoned antique dealer, Barbara, with her booth for many years,  and sold at the show in the red barn a few times. I always love seeing the show and it never disappoints.

Photo by Tre Dunham in Texas Homes and Living

 My good friends, Randy Nicholson and Joe Dobbs, always set up a spectacular booth, and this one a few shows back was a showstopper. I wanted these wonderful horses, but they were already sold and going to Belgium!

There are those who believe that the only true treasures (aka bargains) to be found are in the fields and not in the organized shows. To them I say,  you really, really do not know what you are missing. There are so many dealers from so many places who set up in the various shows, and there are as many different styles and antiques as there are dealers. 

The Round Top show is no different. Yes, you will find the very early, very expensive, museum quality American antiques at this show, and those certainly have their place in the hearts and homes of many collectors, but you also find the vintage, the quirky, the trendy. There are some amazingly talented dealers who set up the most beautiful and creative booths and I love seeing every bit of it!


Two old friends, and one time Fredericksburg locals, Ed and Michael, have the fabulous shop, Leftovers in Brenham, Texas...just down the road from Round Top.

Photo from Leftovers Home and Mercantile, Brenham, Texas


They also set up in the big red barn, part of the original Round Top Antiques Show, and always have an amazing booth full of unusual and fabulous finds!

I could go on and on about all the great dealers and shows I am about to visit, but it is late and a girl must get her sleep to build up endurance for the antiquing journey.

Stay tuned for a report when I get back, and thank you to those who read this far and never give up on me when I don't post for days on end. Life gets in the way sometimes, but I do love this blog thing when I can get to it. 

Good night, but not good bye.



 

Musings about Life and Coincidence

Earlier today I was catching up on my blog reading and was amused when I read Joni's latest post on her new collection of beautiful cream ware AND about the clock she bought at Marburger Farm last week for her kitchen.

Joni has exquisite taste. I love seeing what she does in her own home as well as in her client's houses. While I have a true appreciation for the style she loves, I have quite another style.

Mine is quirky, eclectic, folky, maybe even funky (okay, weird). I can't define my style other than it is colorful, casual, sometimes Southwestern, some Mexican and Italian, but not always...... more farmhouse than formal..........I love what I love and that is just me. We both love antiques and share a fanatical interest in design. As different as our personal styles are, we keep stumbling upon similarities between us.

In case you have not read before, I was once married to Ben's (aka Mr. Slipper Socks) brother. Had our timing been a little different, Joni and I would have been sisters in law. As it happened, we found each other through blogging!

The amusing thing about her post was that I had snapped a picture of her clock without realizing it when I took this photo. You see, I loved a lot of the things that dealer, Mary Jackson, from Colorado, had in her space at the antique show. She had a great variety of Southwestern items as well as a very nice collection of paintings and lamps, mirrors, silver trays, folk art pieces, and one particular fabulous old French clock.

I bought several items that just spoke to me from Mary. My choices are not the even close to being similar ! This old, hand carved from one piece of oak, Indian, is a great example of hand made folk art. He just needed to come back to the hill country with me! Do you think he is to redundant standing in front of the painting?

The other item is a very old iron planter with a water bird sitting on it's side. Perhaps a type of heron? Anyway, the planter is painted and resembles majolica in a way. Do not ask me why - I just love it! Sometimes I am attracted to things now that I know in years past, I would have thought were ugly as sin! This piece is one of those things. Like I said, I just love it!! Go figure.



Here she sits, posing on the hearth before taking her spot on the coffee table.......for the time being. You know how you have to move new things around to see where they fit best........and then of course, move them again when the spirit moves you!

Now she has a birds' nest in her planter to keep her warm. She is quite unique, isn't she?

Next I will tell another story on Joni that I could SOOO relate to. It involves the falling clock and some falling pottery (at my house!) - if you haven't done so, read her post about the falling clock here.

Bird Love with Geoffrey Gorman, Duane O'Hagan, Billy Hassell, and Liz Steving

My wonderful new bird sculpture, "Alba", with her nest, created by Geoffrey Gorman, from the Jane Sauer Gallery in Santa Fe (I know, ya either love him or ya hate him - I love him!) inspired me to look around my house at all the birds I live with.


Oops, a dog on a wonderful Brunswig and Fils fabric I picked up once at Warrenton during the Round Top antiques fair................. now back to birds................


This tin bird is part of an assemblage created by Liz Steving, featured at other times in my blog.

This is an amazing painting by artist Billy Hassell. I have had it for a number of years and never tire of it.


One of my tramp art treasures that I also acquired a number of years ago. It is a favorite of mine.
I put different things in it. At times it has had some of the many bird's nests that I have collected, other times it might have shells in it. Right now it has some mystical herb bundles picked up in Taos, New Mexico.

Here we go - this is the same fabric from above. It has all sorts of creatures on it - I could only buy a few yards of it, so I made a window shade and covered a bulletin board with it.

An old Mexican blanket in my entry hall chair - looks like it's birds again!

My treasures from our last trip to New York - of course, when choosing my John Derian plates I was drawn to the ones with birds.


A sweet pillow from a favorite Nashville shop near Vanderbilt and Belmont
Universities called Pangaea.

Another John Derian plate, this one a Target edition that sits in my kitchen - love it!

I have collected old crockery, jugs, bottles, you name it..... over the years, both to keep and for re-sale, and it's no surprise, some of the ones I have kept have birds painted on them!

I love this one with the peacock, bought at Round Top, from one of my all time favorite antique dealers, Toni Perkins.

Another old crock with a sweet little song bird .......................

I love the amazing things of nature - bird's nests, wasp's nest, leaves, butterflies, shells.........I am in awe of the intricacies and details in something like a wasp's nest. I don't like wasps, I am always intrigued that they can build nests like they do! Birds are really amazing, building different shapes and sizes of nests, using different materials, depending on what kind of bird they are.




Two antique French weather vanes given to me as gifts years ago, one from my mother and one from my very dear former mother in law, Mary Webb (as in Joni !) . Both were picked up at a wonderful little French antique store in Houston, the name of which escapes me now. I loved them and both mothers surprised me with them, not knowing the other had the same idea in mind. Thank you to both for lasting treasures.


Another favorite little piece of tramp art, a wall pocket, this one has carved horse heads and on top, little carved birds!

I used to have a huge collection of old mercury glass, but have sold it at antique shows over the years. I kept my very favorite pieces, though, and they just happen to have birds painted on them! The pair, with the white water birds, were the first pieces I ever bought. I am very sentimental about them as they came from Martha Waldie, another all time favorite antique dealer. Martha was from Dallas and died several years ago. She had an incredible eye and was a well respected dealer in Dallas as well as in New Mexico, and of course, at Round Top.


As if I don't have enough pillows........this little hooked jewel came over during the red photo shoot and just never went back to the store!

Last, but not least, my birds perched on sticks, created by Duane O'Hagan of the Taos Blue Gallery in Taos, New Mexico. I just love his work, and if Geoffrey Gorman is too funky for you, these little guys will just steal your heart! As for me, I love them all!!

New Slips, New Bed!

A while back I mentioned that I was going to get new slipcovers made for my jumbo wing chairs. They have moved from house to house with us. They are too big and often awkward to place, but oh so comfy for pulling my legs up in and snuggling in by the fire with a good book, or a good glass of wine. They were one of the first pieces of furniture my husband and I bought together, and I have one friend who reminds me fondly of the days when we would sit in "the chairs", sip wine and talk for hours while our girls played - only on Friday afternoons, of course! (ignore the random items in the dining room - I was in the middle of playing with my pillows, furniture, etc. when I snapped this photo!)


So, inspired by Joni's post about Mimmi O'Connell, who often uses lots of casual fabrics like ticking, I designed new slip covers for two sofas and the two chairs using a blue ticking. I love ticking and the way that it mixes with so many styles - country, contemporary, Southwestern,and more.

However, the chairs have ended up in the bedroom, and the red leather chairs from the bedroom have landed in the living room. The scale of the big chairs fits the bedroom better, and while I would eventually like the look of a sea grass rug and all ticking in one room, this will suit us just fine for now.



Meanwhile, I had been intending to do a post on a wonderful store here in town called Villa Texas. They have great gifts, tableware,linens, and all things Italian. Much to my dismay, and on the other hand, quite fortunately for me, they have recently decided to downsize and move to a smaller space.

Consequently, they have had an incredible sale going on! I fell in love with this custom designed iron bed several months ago, but just hadn't made the big decision to go for it, financially speaking. Well, good thing I waited, because it was on sale for 40% off - need I say more?

Obviously I need to re-think the art above the bed - either that or remove the giant picture hooks still in the wall!

I do think that in the future, and in the new house that I hope to design,(more on that soon) I will want to have linens just a little bit dressier -maybe some linen, some matalesse? What do you think?

Paintings, Pottery, and Pumpkins - Artists Debra Gunter, Otis Dozier, and Ford Ruthling

If you know me, then you know I can get a little tangential at times, especially if I am excited or really interested in something. One thought or idea leads to another and soon I am wondering aloud "Now why am I telling you this?" or "How did I get on that subject?"

So, here is my new painting, still unframed, propped on the mantel, and sharing it with you will lead us into art and fruit and back to Mexican pottery (which I never really finished due to extreme frustration!)

My very talented friend, Debra, is the artist. The painting has been on display, along with other fabulous pieces by Debra and a few other talented artists, at a local bakery and cafe for a while. I fell in love with it months ago and tried to resist buying it (for practical reasons, like my house is full - silly me!) but, alas, it waited for me until I just couldn't resist any longer! If you noticed details in my earlier photos, you may remember a lovely bluebonnet painting hanging over my fireplace. It came with my husband when we married (one of those package deals - he married me AND my daughter; I married him and his animal heads , furniture and HUGE stereo speakers), and while it is a fine painting, it is too predictable and traditional for me, and has been moved to the hallway leading to our bedroom.

Debra's painting is so colorful and full of that Mexican influence that I am drawn to. I love her style and palette.


This is a painting by an old Texas artist named Otis Dozier (1904-1987). He was part of a group called the "Dallas Nine". They were recognized in the 1985 exhibition entitled "Lone Star Regionalism" at the Dallas Museum of Art which payed homage to the abundant and uniquely Texan legacy that this group cultivated and sought to pass on. He has become quite collectible over the years and there is a wealth of information on him as well as the other painters. (I could do an entire post just on this group.) I bought this particular painting from his estate and am very fond of it. It may seem redundant hanging in my living room with Debra's painting, but I love that his was done in the 1970s, in his older years, and hers completed just a year or so ago, in her early years of painting. I seem to be drawn to fruit as subject matter as you will see in my other collections.


Just a glance at a bowl of vintage stone fruit(surprise, Italian, not Mexican!), old blue stone grapes, and a Mexican burnished pot from Tonala. The tin floral arrangement is also vintage Mexican.


As my girls say, "Random, Mom" , but here we go. What do you do when the creative urge hits and you are totally "losing it" with anything related to the computer and you just have to do something new in your own home, right now! (tell me I am not the only one with this disease!) I usually re-arrange furniture or start designing pillows! Last week I was in San Antonio for an art class and had a little time afterwards to wander through a few fabric stores and poke my head into a Pottery Barn.

Let me digress........(see, I told you) A few months back Joni (former sister in law, new friend and blogging queen, Cote de Texas) and I had an email conversation about my frustration with my living room. I moved into this house, threw everything together, and then ran out and bought new pillows - Thomas Paul, big, bright trendy colors - and thought they would mix in with what was already a variety of styles. I wanted to buy something from my friend who had just opened a new shop called "RED" (fabulous store - visit it at www.redinfred.com) and I wanted a breath of fresh air - something different and new. The mix just never felt right, though, and I realized I have to be true to my style, regardless of what is "fresh and new". Joni provided clarity and we talked about tying colors and fabrics together in a room - basic stuff that I forget in my excitement and impulsivity sometimes.

Okay, back to the pillows. I found a great looking, inexpensive cotton/linen woven fabric is a blue and cream animal stripe. Loved it - bought a few yards. When I walked into Pottery Barn I spotted these great floral linen pillows - what do you know! they work perfectly with my new fabric. Talk about immediate gratification! No fabric to order, good looking linen that cost pennies compared to anything in a showroom...........

I got back to Fredericksburg, called one of the workrooms I use, and voila! new pillows. Did I mention the burlap end pillows from Pottery Barn that I added a strip of the blue/cream fabric on to customize the look? For today, I am very happy with the results.


Look! over there in the wing chair......one of the great pillows from "RED" that just doesn't work in my room! It is gone now, and actually the wing chair is going to be slipcovered in a blue and white ticking to get everything back on course with "my style"! (and yes, there is that bluebonnet painting, too)

Oops - there I went again. I actually took this photo to show you the Mexican fruit banks in the old carved wooden bowl on the coffee table. (Surprise, those are old Mexican tin candlesticks on the table too!) The fruit banks are from the 1920s -1940s and are from Tlaquepaque, Mexico.


These vases are some of my absolute favorites! When I was first attracted to this pottery, someone called it "Mexican majolica". I don't think that is any sort of official name, but the glaze is similar to English and French majolica, as I mentioned in a previous post. This is referred to as drip ware in the books on the subject, and is from Oaxaca. I am crazy about the applied flowers on the vases!


This is the photo of the plate rack in my breakfast room that just refused to publish the last time I discussed Mexican pottery. It is a mix of old and new pottery from different regions. I have gathered these pieces for years from all over the place. At times I have grouped my pottery by color, sometimes by style and region and sometimes by function - like all of the teapots together on a shelf or in a hutch. I thought about regrouping for this post, but decided to keep my pictures and information general at this time.


Finally, I plan to surround this original print ("Cows Have an Inner Light" / "Remembering my Grandmother - Frieda Maurer") by Ford Ruthling , 2001, of Santa Fe, N.M. with Mexican plates. I have not finished, but wanted to include the photo of my upstairs hallway, painted in bright melon and home to yet more colorful, vintage drip ware from Oaxaca, Mexico!

If you are interested in learning more about Mexican folk art or any of the artists I have featured, I am happy to refer you to great educational sources for more information. Just let me hear from you!