Road Trip: The Incredible Jane.........

Sometimes, when I angst about not being able to travel to CA or WA or TX where so much of the hot antique/art action is, I forget there are places to explore in my own backyard.

Nestled near the old downtown area of Gainesville, GA is the most incredible shop, and the most incredibly talented metal sculptor named Jane Taylor.

I practically hyperventilated when I saw this place from the road.......now this is my kind of stuff.....rust and metal and BIG junk everywhere! Then when you pull in the drive and start to focus on the unique metal sculptures of every type....everywhere.....it's just amazing!

My photography does not come close to capturing the experience of discovering the magical wonderland of creativity in metal that you'll find here......

.....from a trumpeter and child.......

.....to a trellis with gramophone and shovel-head flowers and leaves.....


.....to a wonderful ballerina......

(check out all those details)


(love those door knob knees)

.....to a spider in a web......

....to a collaged metal bench.


There are also huge wood creations and architectural structures.....


And then INSIDE the cottage are more creations!

The above shelf is my favorite piece!

Awesome chandelier.....one of dozens--all so unique....

Cool button bouquet....

There's so much to see!

I changed my mind...this shelf is my favorite piece!


Well, maybe this angel is my favorite piece.....oh gosh...I love it all!

How cute is this adorable little kitten--one of two--that Jane had just rescued the day before! She has no tail...believed to be part Manx....and is so sweet! It was hard to not take her home with me!! Jane is hoping to keep the two together and find a perfect home for them!


I was so disappointed that my photographs of the GIANT yard flowers made from shovel heads, the angel on the roof, the 4' ant made from metal chair backs, the trash can cat, and many more didn't turn out.....I really need a better camera!
But you should see this amazing art, and meet this talented artist, in person anyway. (Jane is open Wed. through Sat.)

I really wanted to go.......

My son has embarked on his journey through Central America WITHOUT ME!

I really don't know why a 24 year old guy wouldn't want his mother to tag along on his 3 week adventure!!! What's up with that? So what if this particular Mom is a paranoid flyer....... afraid to eat or drink anything while traveling for fear of getting ill......thinks she would contract a tropical disease with every mosquito bite......would suspiciously eye every local male as a bandito who would kidnap and ransom unsuspecting Americans.....shudders at the thought of staying in super cheap hotels....etc.... etc.....(I'm really not that bad......um...well maybe a little)

OK, so he is a really SMART kid to leave his mom behind!



But I can still travel with him via texts (if there is a signal), a few phone calls, and very tiny pictures from his camera phone (he travels so light--no camera), and I must resort to view stock photos from the internet of the places he has been and is going, until he returns home and downloads all his phone pics. I follow him on google maps, and read about all the interesting places he will see.......



He began his journey in Belize and did lots of diving......then trekked into the jungle to wander around in caves.....then explored Mayan ruins.....then traveled via bus to Flores in Guatemala to see the ruins of Tikal......now he is headed to Antigua, and I do not know where else....then eventually on to Honduras to dive some more on Roatan.....



Yes, I am pretty nervous for his safety traveling alone, and I worry a lot, but I know he is having the adventure of a lifetime, and I trust his care to God....as I have every day of his life.

AND.......I have made him promise to take me on the next trip!!! (Yeah, right)

July show photos......

Lakewood show is underway, and we're thankful for our sales today---the summer months are unpredictable, so we never know what to expect.

These corbels sold in advance, and I already regret not keeping them! What was I thinking? Those would have been killer on my mantle....this business can really be torture!!


Martha's cool punch cups on polka dot ribbon really made the gazebo area shine!! They just didn't photograph very well......but her French design ice cream table set looks so cute....


The corbel mirror will soon reside in a General's home (he's currently in Afganistan, but retiring soon)! I'm very proud.......and thankful for the technology of the camera phone!

I had this junk garden at the last show, and loved how the Sedum bloomed right in time for this show!

I'm loving this green concrete piece of Martha's..........oh the torture!

Last minute projects for the Lakewood show.......

I've been pondering on these dresser mirror frames for so long......but I finally decided to stick with the chalkboard use, even though it isn't very original! It's just such a hot seller, and since I don't have one yet for myself, if it doesn't sell-- I'll just keep it!!


With our Lakewood Antique show starting Friday, I only had a couple of hours today to get a few projects done, and this lamp collage plant stand was one of them. I was just having a little chippy/rusty fun--can't go too long without dismantling some old lamps!!

Don't forget to stop by the show this weekend and say HI!

50 Best Blogs nomination......

What fun!........I'm excited and honored to be chosen as one of the "50 Best Blogs For The Avid Antiquer" at Photography Colleges! I'm thrilled to be among such great company! I have no idea how my blog got picked, and, just like when Google picked me for "Blogs of Note" earlier this year, I didn't realize it until friends told me! (I wondered why suddenly I was getting 500 visits a day from all over the world!) Anyway, I'm a grateful blogger......

Corbel Madness.......

I FINALLY got another one of these corbel mirrors done--about a year after I made the first one (and promised someone that I would make them one.....I'll never do that again-sorry Jody!).

When I put the first one in the show, I had--no joking--about 20 people that seriously wanted one (at 265.00 a pop no less) so I thought I could find more of them, or 4 matching ones....which was my first mistake. It is extremely hard to find 4 matching antique corbels! And of course the expense is staggering--4 of these babies will cost you between 160.00 to 260.00 for the set, and that doesn't include your hardware, mirrors, and time.

Around that same time I did find more of this style, but when I got them home they were slightly different sizes, and wouldn't work. Anyway, I decided to have a friend cut some from 2" lumber, thinking how much cheaper they would be.....but discovered it took an enormous amount of time to cut out, file and sand the imperfections out so they would look old, and then comes the problem of doing some sort of paint finish (that would never come close to the patina of the originals)---all of which drives the price high because by then you have 10 hours of work in them!!

So I lost interest, and these got pushed aside, until recently.......

.....I was shopping in Monroe at HODGE PODGE, and was so surprised to see that Wanda had 4 more of my non-matching corbels, and she kindly let me bring in mine to compare on the chance they might match hers, to make 2 sets, and they actually did!!! So I'm back in corbel mirror production......

I secure the backs with a nice sturdy frame if I have one that fits, it is easier to use that as a brace, but brackets and wood strips work too. Below is one of the ones that I had cut....it had to be pieced because of the wood widths available.....

Below is a view of an old and new one (I made a smaller template to fit the available wood widths).....I'll put together the other vintage set first, then attempt to do the new ones with some sort of comparable vintage finish (I hate doing the finishes--I once built a great big 2 door jelly cupboard, which took a long time, but then I spent days--probably weeks-- attempting to paint and antique it---- I must have tried 10 different finishes until I got an authentic chippy look on it, and then I needed to get about 1000.00 for it to cover my time and expense! Which didn't happen by the way--shoulda kept it!) If the vintage-look finish doesn't turn out on the new ones, I'll do them chippy black or ???

In the midst of summer doldrums........

.....I need a little inspirational wind to fill my sails, and off I'll go.....

Between recovering from a bad virus and summer vacation fun with Kayla, I have totally neglected my work and blog! But with the reality of upcoming shows, and exciting new ventures on my doorstep----it's time to get this boat moving!

Feeling almost normal again, I managed to get in some junkin' this week, and of course it's all about the architectural!

I also used up some of my junk-on-hand to make more of the teapot wall planters that I have done previously. I absolutely hate to work on stuff I have already done before and prefer to work on new ideas, but I had lots of requests for these, and I needed an easy jump-start project......so this was it.



These are pretty fast and fun to make.........I liked this one the best.......

I hope I can keep things moving and get lots more done......but my mind keeps wandering to visions of biking, snorkeling, traveling, and swinging in a hammock under a palm tree! (My son is going to Central America next week for a 3 week diving vacation, and I am soooo jealous!)

It might be harder than I thought to get out of these doldrums after all.......

The thrift experiment......

On the trip down to FL to visit my Mom, I always break up the tedious drive with backroads and junkin. Well, this time we (Martha came with me--she is the queen of thrifty shoppers) decided to stick to thrift stores and only buy things we can get "dirt cheap"! Everything in these pictures cost from .25 cents to a few dollars --with a couple of exceptions.

The problem was that it soon became evident that even in the middle of NOWHERE the thrift stores now think they can charge HUGE prices for everything!!! This blows my mind!

So we checked out some antique stores too, and that's where I found this mother load of old hardware in the below pic. The nice man who owns the shop invited us down to his basement filled with treasures (someday we'll go missing) where we spent the next hour blissfully rummaging around. I LOVE vintage hardware, and I came away with a big box of it for very little money. I'm imagining all sorts of collage projects using these treasures....

Below is the other junk (I passed up tons of great stuff that was not in my "dirt cheap" price range) that I got only because I had a definite plan for all of it, and it cost very little--some will be made into the tin flowers I took orders for at the last show--and some will go into the junk gardens. (I bought the wood pieces because they were .50 cents)


(I have no idea why I liked this photo so much, but it gives me an idea for a future project.....)

SO, while it seems everyone else finds great stuff in thrift stores, I can't say that I do----I find better stuff these days in antique shops in out of the way places--they seem to have given up charging high prices, and are just dumping stuff because of the economy---of course there are always those that charge too much, and seem OK with never selling anything in their museums!