In Memory of an Irish Lady

Today on St. Patrick's Day my thoughts turn to the Irish side of my family, the maternal side to be more specific, and present my great grandmother Catherine Lenore McDonald and her young family....

Although this photo needs major restoration, it is clear enough to identify Catherine and her husband Silas VanDette, my grandfather (the young man standing with his hand on his sister Maude's shoulder) baby Joesph and Laurence leaning on his father's leg. This was taken at the turn of the century in Montreal Quebec Canada. She had three other children who passed away at a young age, Victor who had  Meningitis, Arthur who caught Strep Throat at 16 and died within 4 days, and a 4 year old named Mamie that I never did find out how she passed.

Story has it that my great grandmother was a very tough Irish lady who ruled her home with an iron will that never failed her to the very end. Her daughter Maude died at 68 and never married or had a career because mama decided that was how it was going to be! I heard many tales from my mother about the way Catherine's household was run and to say she was strict in all she said and did is a vast understatement.
So the fact that she was born on Valentine's Day 1864 doesn't seem to have soften her demeanor overmuch! Still she was loved by her family and always had a little dog by her side, the last one so devoted to her that he followed her into death.
I have many photos, much crochet from her hand, camisoles and hand crocheted table cloths and these few precious items she always had with her....

A small silver pill safe, one of her many watches and a gold locket my great uncle Joesph created for her (he was a jeweler for many years at Birk's in Montreal) the initial's are C and L for Catherine Lenore. These items are laying on one of the many doilies that graced her home.
I guess on days like today (St Pat's) even though I never had the opportunity to meet Catherine in person I feel very close to her and wish I knew more about their family story. How did they arrive in the U.S. and why did she end up in Montreal married to my great grandfather? No one ever was able to give me those details and now those who might have known are long gone.
So to you Great Grandmother I wish you the very best St. Patrick's Day, I hope you are having cabbage and corned beef up there with the Saints! Hugs and Kisses from a grateful female descendant!

Tina xo

Hey It's Me Again!

I haven't forgotten that I wanted to SHARE more of my real life, not the life I wish I had, lol, so here goes reveal number one!!!

I live in a rental trailer in a "seen better days" trailer park in upstate New York. Now do I wish I lived in a lovely home in a sweet burb....well do bears poop in the woods? But life brought me here and I am trying to make the best of it for now until life takes it's next turn!

It looks worse than it is right now because everything is still in the "end of winter" condition and that always sucks. Once the garden kicks in it gets a much softer and cared for look.
One bonus: note the field in the second photo, it's a farmer's field that gets mowed a couple of times a year (feed for his dairy cows) but while it is growing it houses many birds and is lovely to look at on a summer day. I especially love when the grasses get high and the wind willows through, simply lovely! It's like a beautiful sea of green waves.

So here I am in my most recent incarnation (there have been MANY!!!) I am constantly re-inventing myself and my life and it has been a wild adventure in many ways. In a future post I will endeavor to tell the tale of how I went from having a gorgeous home in Kansas City to living in a trailer park in upstate New York and some great adventures in between!

Now what have I been working on this week? Ummmm let's see:

I know these two paintings don't even look like the same artist painted them and I have to wonder who the heck I am channeling some days, :)
In the second one I used actual fabric pieces applied with Mod Podge for the dress she has on. I relied heavily on texture medium for the first sweet lady. 
Today I am planning on working a little more on a few fabric collages I have started and then I may sit at my craft table with my watercolor paper and gouache paints and see what I can come up with. 
Because of the life I have led I tend to be very interested in women's lifes and the struggles they have been through to arrive at the place where they find themselves now. Sometimes I look at very old photos of those lovely, noble women who came before us and I so wish I knew what they were thinking, what their hopes and dreams were and did they come about before the end of their lives. Ahhh well, more food for thought.

Enjoy your wonderful weekend and have some cabbage and corn beef for the Auld Sod, I think this weekend we are all Irish in our hearts!

Love you....
Tina xo

SEWING THE WEEKEND AWAY

A busy happy weekend....

Making more of those sweet textile brooches and now I am assembling a mini quilt that I am going to hang in a unique way so stay tuned for another of my creative but slightly wonky ideas!

                                                         LITTLE HEN

                                                         BIRDIE BLUE

                                                        BIRDIE BROWN

I decided to combine fabric and paint to accomplish the effect I wanted. I found I really like working with paint on fabric that way, such a change from canvas! And then being able to embellish it with embroidery thread is quite exciting. 

I hope everyone had a happy weekend? I just wish that Spring would get here as I feel a little worn out with the cold and ice this year. I will be so much happier when I can mover further South and be closer to family and warmth.
Starting this week I would like to borrow a page from other blogger's books and get a little more personal about my self and my life in my posts.
Sometimes it is hard to share details and reveal grubby bits but I don't want anyone to ever get the impression that my life is all sweetness and light. There is struggle and agonizing and all that jazz and I don't want to feel that I have to hide the circumstances of my life and that sharing some of it will cost me friends. 
I care about each person I connect with here and some of you are VERY special to me. I have read your honest posts about your lives and envied your courage and now I feel it is my turn to stand tall and be myself, warts and all!
I treasure you all and hope I get the chance someday to meet you in person and give you a big hug!

Love to all 
Tina xo

Textile Art and New Directions

I have wanted to stretch my wings into textile art for awhile now and this Spring I decided to give it a try and see where it took me, these are my newest experiment and they are available in my Etsy shop (see right side-bar).

All the materials I used are VERY vintage, even the thread is over 60 years old.
In the last one I used a small silk medallion from a collection my great uncle had as a boy at the turn of the last century. I have been told they were giveaways in boxes of product like oatmeal.
Next I am going to work on some little mini quilts and I am toying with some unique ways to display them!!! Stay tuned for more fabric fun!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

AWESOME SHOW!

But cold, cold, cold! Even the old Federal Building that now houses the Cultural Arts Center was freezing, we even kept our coats and boots on!
Even so it was fun and I even sold a painting, which is always a plus in my book, and met some fabulous people.
Let me introduce you to just a few of the local artists who keep life interesting here in the North Country:

 My friends Julie and Kendra!
Julie makes wonderful benches from old headboards!
Kendra is a retired executive chef who writes for a local magazine doing, what else, restaurant reviews!

 And here I am, awfully cold, but looking forward to a great day!

                             Our display, with my paintings and Julie's benches.

Here's Judy, a lovely watercolor artist and on the board of directors for the North Country Council on the Arts! She and her Husband Rich work tirelessly to preserve Plattsburgh's historic heritage.

And this talented lady (on the right) is Anne Rooney whose beautiful woven scarves and home decor items are to die for! The other sweet lady was buying one of Anne's creations!

This amazing photographer is Bobby Ziemba who takes incredible and very nostalgic paintings and then prints them onto canvas and mounts them like a painting. The one to his left is a photo of a local one-room schoolhouse that is still lived in today. It looked so real I almost had to reach out and touch it to assure myself it was a photo!

Here is adorable Shawn, a wonderful artist and huge in the printing industry locally. Her illustrations, which grace many greeting cards, are beautiful and colorful and capture the local flavor perfectly!
(her buddy in the back is a plaster statue from the Strand Theater which is under renovation)!

A new friend here, may I introduce Tim Palkovic who for many years painted scenery for the local college. Now retired, he has started on a new path painting local scenes and writing for a local magazine. He and his wife are a great couple and definite asset to the art scene.

This lovely lady (last name Snow) makes the most amazing spices combos for all types of recipes and I bought a bag of her corn pudding spice and her special meatloaf spice mix! Do I have to say I am dying to try it soon?
The two girls with her are her nieces and sadly I never did get first names as we were all so busy chatting with guests!

Adorable and multi-talented Stephanie Dejoseph. Her precious designs are so warm and made with such love and skill that....well you should just visit her Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaMiaDesigns





Sadly there were a few people whose names I didn't learn but whose photos I am including here.

                                          A sweet couple who do metal art

          Awesome lady who made the most creative bags I have seen in a long time!

Who does not love dangling earrings? This wonderful woman fits the bill with her creative offerings!

And I have to include a photo of the lady who is the director of the gallery and the organizer of this show, her first and may I say a huge success!!!
Meet Shawna Armstrong (on right) and her assistant (whose name I missed, sorry), congrats ladies on a wonderful show!

Because of the cold I never did brave the out of doors to get a few photos of the buildings facade which is awesome but this May there is going to be a show featuring quilts and textile arts and I am planning to participate. The weather should be much more compatible with roaming the grounds for photo ops so I will be sure to get a few then!

Hope you enjoyed this visit with the local art community and didn't get too bored with my ramblings. Hope you are safe at home and keeping warm! Love ya!