Sweet Serenity ... my growing collection

My collection of Madonna statues began with a wall hanging of Mary that belonged to my mother.

(click any photos to enlarge)

It hangs in my studio office along with this beautiful cross swag that I purchased from the lovely Lori at Katie's Rose Cottage a few years ago.


Over the years my Madonna collection has grown to include planters and statues found at second-hand stores. The one thing they all have in common is the sweet facial expressions... a sense of calm, of knowledge, of wisdom. I love how each artist or sculptor uses their own distinctive style to capture that sweet serenity...


My most recent thrift store find...



There are chips on baby Jesus' hand and on Mary's nose... Neither detract from the beauty of this statue.

Amanda saw this planter in a consignment store last year and bought it for me, knowing I would cherish it. I do.

The gold is worn along the edges of her veil in one area... I wonder if someone rubbed a finger along it while saying a daily prayer.

Chips on the halo add to the character and charm of this statue, found in a New Hampshire second hand store a couple of years ago.

One of my all-time favorite movies is "Under the Tuscan Sun," starring Diane Lane as Frances Mayes. At one point, after moving to Italy, Frances talks about her relationship with Mary. I love that piece of dialogue:

"Signor Martini wants me to have faith. Something I've never been good at, and now I'm even worse at. Not that I don't want faith. I'm jealous of the believers. But as a fallen-away Methodist, I do not expect to emerge from all of this a Catholic, although I admit some interior juggling is going on. To my surprise, I have become friendly with Mary. It started the night she stood by me through the storm, knowing full well I'm not a Catholic. Yet, somehow, she seems more like Mary, my favorite aunt, than Santa Maria. Aunt Mary is everywhere here, her calm presence assuring us that all things will go on as they have before."

Mmmm... a calm presence... That's how I feel about my little collection of "Mary's, Aunt Mary's, Santa Maria's, Madonna's" ... they are, indeed, a calm presence.

Happy Monday, everyone! And thank you ALL for the wonderful birthday wishes for Courtney!!!

Donna

All that glitters....

...is not gold... but it may have been brass at one time!

(click any photos to enlarge)

Since it's Halloween month, a black cat post certainly seems appropriate! This is one of my favorite photos of my handsome Mr. B (who also happens to be my current banner)... I had a few of these 5x7 antique brass frames, and a while back I decided to transform one of them into a sparkly silver frame. (Check out Tales from an OC Cottage to see how she recently 'glittered' up some frames - they turned out great!)


So I got out my 'glitter bowl' which is full of glitters, shimmery paints, prisms and whatnot, and got to work... I sealed the frame; let it dry; painted it a shimmery silver; put on another coat of sealer and while that was still wet, I sprinkled silver glitter over the frame... (I got this "German Glass Glitter" from Lori at Katie's Rose Cottage - it's great stuff!!! I have a lot of Christmas projects I'm going to be using this on!)


Anyhow, sometimes things don't turn out as planned... I love the way the frame turned out, but I actually think the old brass frame brought out the gold in Mr. B's eyes... So I put him back into the brass frame that I hadn't painted...


And then I found a perfect photo for the new sparkly silver frame - a favorite photo of the girls from the early 90's, printed out in b&w... Sometimes it works out even better when things don't turn out as originally planned!


Donna

Office bookcase...

I've spent some time organizing my home office this past week, including the top of my bookcase... Some photos were taken today, some last night (the lighting difference between day and night photos is amazing!)...

The bookcase itself is a $5 junktique find (the shelves are packed with books and 'stuff,' so I'll spare you looking at my stash and just show you the top!)... I fell in love with this etched mirror at Target several years ago, so of course it came home with me; the beautiful beaded "Create" sign hanging on the mirror is from Lori at Katie's Rose Cottage (I love everything in her shop!!)...


This mug, embossed with roses, was made by Amanda in a high school pottery class... she realized too late that the handle was put on upside down but, to me, that makes it all the more charming! I also love the intricate pattern on the tall table lamps, a vintage store find at $15 for the pair, including the shades!!


I have a favorite photo of my mom, along with a pair of white birds (which are actually napkin rings)... I bought the two flower prints from a catalogue (the flowers looked blue in the catalogue). When I received them, they were purple rather than "cottage blue," but I still love them...


I've had this scalloped table runner forever! For the longest time I used it in the dining room, but I really like it on the bookcase... Like so many of you, I'm always moving things around and using them in different places around the house...


Here's a "bird's eye" view so you can see the eye on the lid of the tall blue jar, which I think is so neat!! (Another high school pottery piece made by Amanda)


This is the ceramic Mary I found (from this post), sitting on top of a beautiful hand-painted, repurposed cigar box that Amanda bought for me at a lovely Cape Cod shop. The vanity tray used to be shiny gold, but I thought I'd like it better pink, so I painted over the gold... Ahhhh, so much better :)

Donna