The enticing smell of Easter chocolates always brings me back to my childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. My mother delighted in making an Easter Basket for me each year that was just loaded with all kinds of goodies. What a treasure hunt it was to dig through the plastic grass to uncover the various treats!

There was one candy in particular which was quite dear to my heart and tasebuds – and it seems from what I have read on the internet, other transplanted Cincinnatians also recall Papas cream-filled  Easter eggs with great fondness. The Papas confectioner is still located just across the river from Cincy in Covington Kentucky, but unfortunately for those of us longing to re-experience a taste of home – they do not have a website on which to order the treats.

They were so familiar to me not only because they were a well-known local seasonal item, but I actually sold them for a fundraiser, too, through participation in Camp Fire Girls. I remember flavors like opera cream (unctuous vanilla and my favorite), french cream (swooningly smooth chocolate), maple nut, cherry nut, and others I cannot recall specifically. The chocolate coating varied with the cream fillings, either milk or dark chocolate.

SO – I set out this year, as I have intended to do for many years – to make some homemade cream eggs, just to see if I could. I’m pretty adventurous in the kitchen, there’s not much that intimidates me, especially in the area of making sweets of any kind. I’m no expert by any means, but I do have years of active home experimentation/experience.

I used a recipe from the internet, printed below, for the centers, choosing this one because it did not make a whopping big batch. Then I dipped the creams in my favorite dark chocolate, about a cup of chips, melted.

I did temper the chocolate for good measure, by microwaving it till it was melted thoroughly, then adding a small handful more of chips to cool it down, stirring them in till melted, then reheating the cup in the microwave for another 20 seconds to make it liquid again. The purpose of tempering, for those who don’t know,  is to keep the finished candy’s coating nice and smooth and as glossy as possible.

I kneaded  some chopped walnuts and a dash of maple flavoring into about 1/3 of the finished opera cream centers  since my husband is a maple lover, and kept the rest vanilla flavor. I “marked” the maple creams by drizzling some extra chocolate over the tops in “stripes.”

And voila! Homemade Easter cream eggs!

OPERA CREAM EGGS

The dipped creams - messy but wonderful!

Dipping the creams using a fork.

"Marking" the tops of the maple creams with a drizzle of more chocolate.

Desk-turned-sideboard.

Getting remarried (as I did in 2003) means combining [disparate] home goods. Didn’t really end up with a complete dining room set, so out came the paint brush and a few tools, and the table legs, mismatched chairs, a small new unfinished-wood  liquor cabinet all got painted and distressed in a soft black for a not-at-all-formal dining area. But I still needed a sideboard of some kind for more storage.

I really hate it that furniture costs as much as it does, and I hated that I had an old desk hanging around with no place to live besides the garage. These two factors caused me to re-purpose that desk into a new sideboard. I’m no master carpenter or anything, but it turned out to be very useful, and not too bad looking!

It had a black formica-type top, so <check>, that was in the general color scheme. It had three drawers on one side including a fairly deep file drawer – <check> good for storage. A shallow drawer on the side where one’s chair goes – <check>, but that part of the desk was open – no back or side. Okay, so that had to be enclosed.

I used plywood panels to enclose the opening, covering the spindle-style legs. I added wood strip runners inside the new enclosure so that shelves could be installed and screwed into place. I raised the whole thing onto rounded feet for a little more height, added some fluted wood molding to the front sides to fill it out, and narrow molding around the formica top. More of the same soft black paint, new hardware, and now it houses my flatware, bone china, and collection of autumn-themed stoneware. New life for an old piece that I had when I was a kid!

Instead of file folders, now china and serveware.

Flatware instead of pens, pencils and paper clips...

Original spindle leg of desk now hidden by plywood and molding

Improvised TV cabinet from 2 separate pieces unified with color.

Sometimes a little creativity is needed to get what a woman really wants – to hide the television!

The TV is the center of attention in our living room, unfortunately for my decorating dreams! So I came up with a compromise a while back, so that it can be hidden at least SOME of the time. I’m of the opinion that electronics are ugly…

Mark had brought to our marriage the bottom cabinet that he actually built a long time ago. It’s still very serviceable – the DVR, cable box, tuner, etc. sit inside. I wanted the TV to be able to be out of sight, though. What to do?

I had a provincial-style dresser that we were not using that was on a base with legs. I removed the base, which left the bottom of the dresser open. Then I took out the bottom three drawers and removed the supporting runners inside the frame. I left the 2 shallow drawers at the top for DVD storage. Then some tag-sale shuttered closet doors were cut to fit and hinged onto the frame for doors to cover the telly..

Some decorative carved wood medallions from a woodcraft store were added for a little flair. I sanded and painted the two pieces a lemongrass color, applied a glaze to “antique” it, and was quite pleased with the results! (I only wish the speakers also fit inside, but alas!) The open-bottomed top got set on top of the horizontal cabinet and voila!

Electronics are inside! Yippee, don't have to see them! Can't get a larger TV though.

The base of the dresser was attached to the frame below this point, so it was pretty easily removed.

Cheap wooden medallions added to help pull the 2 cabinets together

Same design medallions but a little larger in scale for the bottom cabinet.

Old damper found at a flea market - I liked its form.

I collect some odd stuff for my artwork. Not only am I am inveterate collector of all kinds of craft supplies – everything from paints to wool roving, sequins to charms, glues, stickers, you-name-it.

But then I collect bits and pieces of rusted hardware (that I may have unearthed in the garden), old bottles, various small figurines, beat-up silverware, driftwood, interesting rocks, old keys, watch parts, acorns & seed pods, sardine cans, wine corks, broken jewelry, and belt buckles, to name a few. Any one of these may become the “perfect” embellishment I’m looking for at some point.

One of my favorite bits in the stockpile is a very rusty damper (for a stovepipe), and I will find a use for it…eventually. I keep trying to work it into every piece I start on, but it’s fairly large heavy and hasn’t found its true home yet.

Then there are the things I pick up in a thrift shop, or at the dollar store when I can’t locate the right recycled item – such as the bag of plastic toy snakes purchased the other day to add some dimension to an image of the Medusa inside a pocket shrine. You wouldn’t think some goofy plastic snakes would be exciting enough to become a treasure to me, but well, that’s the way it is. You can see the result for yourself, how I used them. Of course their garish colors had to be altered some; which is why assemblage is also called “altered art.”

What kind of items do you collect to use for artwork? What is the weirdest item you have saved?

Cut-up plastic snakes got painted and glued inside a pocket shrine to give the image some dimensional "pop."

Image is from a painting by Caravaggio...with fake snakes added.

And now for something completely different…

Per my last post, I have been using my jobless time to employ myself in the making of some new art shrines. For those who aren’t familiar, these mixed media or assemblage pieces are based pretty firmly (though not exclusively) in Latin American devotional art…that being said, though, there is great variety in the types of shrines. Despite the fact that the themes stem from religious (largely Catholic) sources, there can be a good dose of folk belief mixed in, too.

Of shrine types, there is the retablo, literally “behind the altar”, usually based on saints or other biblical miracles/ themes; ex voto, short for “ex voto suscepto”  or “from the vow made,” a votive prayer/offering from a worshiper seeking grace, or in thanks for receiving grace such as surviving an accident or being healed of an illness. Then there is the nicho, the small box or enclosure for one of these, though the word also refers to the entire shrine itself.

In my interpretation of such shrines, I use non-traditional themes that appeal to me as well, such as goddess awareness or even more mundane subjects like sewing. The concept behind the art object is one of getting more centered or connected in oneself through the visual and tactile observation of the shrine. The shrine is a little reminder of a feeling or state one wants to stay aware of,  the way certain music, say,  may be similarly evocative.

The fact that these objects are linked to a long, long history of art based on spiritual themes is fascinating and inspiring to me. After all, if one looks at it in historical perspective, probably the vast majority of art of all forms (visual art, music, theater, etc.)  is based on some kind of religious/spiritual theme, whatever that religion or spiritual system may be. I make no judgments on those systems, but pick and choose the ones that are meaningful or even have a whimsical appeal to me. Myths, miracles, iconic symbols, folk wisdom, inspirational words -  all are valid subjects.

The larger retablo shrine I'm currently working on

I'm fascinated with the symbolism of the Archangel Michael, who appears in Christian, Islamic, and Judaic traditions.

A non-religious theme - on the importance of our BEE friends

Pocket shrine featuring the goddess Athena, also a fascinating symbol of multiple aspects of femininity.

View of my worktable with many projects in progress. At least the table is covered with paper to keep it from being totally wrecked!

Now that I’ve shown viewers some of the organization of my art space, thought I’d show (what appears to be) the disorganization of my worktable when I have a project(s) in progress.

I call myself a “messy-desk” person – it’s just the way I work, and I have often been criticized for it. I will know where stuff is on my work desk though no one else could possibly…it’s just part of my process. Doubly so when I’m working on art pieces. I’m in real trouble if I’m working on something that has to stay “clean.” Guess that’s why I prefer a rusty/dusty/rustic look to my art!

Obviously when I’m sewing apparel or working with polymer clay (or cooking), for example, I know I have to keep the work space fairly pristine, otherwise, the end result will not be good. However, when it comes to the painted, rustic, purposefully distressed items I prefer in mixed media art, that goes right out the window.

Add to it that I’m usually working on 3 ,4, 5 projects at a time, and the mess definitely multiplies! It’s a necessity really, to have several things going at once, because as every artist knows, there a good deal of waiting time involved in any one project. Waiting for paint to dry, for glue to set, is all a part of it, and though frustrating, is also a good part. Sometimes it allows the creative juices to re-set,  re-direct, or just plain erupt in an “eureka” moment of inspiration.

Since I’m using my jobless time to make a new series of art shrines, the resultant worktable chaos ensues, and ain’t it grand! As a manifestation of the mad internal pastiche of my mind, it probably would speak volumes to some of the more psycho-analytical of viewers…but I relish it!

Another project in progress within the worktable chaotica.

I’ve always been fascinated with the lovely handmade items that our fore-mothers made to brighten the homes of themselves and their families – usually employing considerable ingenuity to come up with both pretty and entirely useful items. Oftentimes, recycling materials from items on hand was a part of this activity, when money or resources were difficult to access.

Being on the tail-end of the Boomer generation, born in the fifties, I had the good fortune to still have a window into the lives of women born in the late 19th century via my grandmothers, when such activities as sewing, quilt-making, crocheting and knitting were much more germane to home-making than they were later on. As a child, I had the wonderful comfort of being wrapped in handmade quilts sewn by my grandmothers and even great-grandmothers, cuddling with colorful hand-knit or crocheted afghans, pleasantly tracing the texture of hand-smocked pillows or hand-embroidered linens with my fingers.

My mother and aunts, closer by a generation, carried on some of these endeavors. My mother taught me to sew by example mostly as she made clothing for me & my half-sisters and textile items for our home like curtains. My aunts on both sides of my family crocheted and knitted and did other crafts as well.

My first conscious appreciation of these crafts came from my paternal grandmother – that I visited every summer for many years, and who I often begged to bring down from a closet the quilt she had made for my birth so I could again see it (and which I knew would eventually come to me.) I knew from the way she described its features to me that it was made with love and had meaning beyond a mere bed covering.

Yet it was a practical as well as a decorative gift, in accordance with a tradition carried on for generations. In my case, it was not the necessity it may once have been when a family member would give a new baby a useable covering in which to swaddle it; so it remained unsullied in storage for my future. But many other quilts were in daily use at my home, where I loved to play games with myself at bedtime counting the different fabric patterns or choosing my favorite ones from among those represented.

Other handmade bits made for the home were all around me, but the quilts always did have special meaning to me even if I did not appreciate then that they may originally have been a way to make something practical and needed from scraps of fabric left over from other projects, or even from still-viable bits of outgrown clothing or other textiles. As I have grown older the fact that the women of yore exercised their creativity through the making of such items, though they were more likely focused on the practicality of their endeavors, has become even more meaningful to me.

My Birth Quilt - Made for my birth, this double wedding-ring patterned quilt has fine postage-stamp sized piecing and close quilting, with a scalloped edging. Yellow and black squares and binding tie it together. It contains over 800 yards of thread and over 10,000 fabric pieces in its execution.

My Father's Birth Quilt - My great-grandmother made this for the birth of my father - a classic blue and white double Irish chain pattern.

A Bit of a Favorite - framed bit of an unsalvageable quilt I loved when a child, it has the square in it that was my all-time fave - a scrap of a dress my mother wore to school depicting Aesop's Fable "The Crow and the Pitcher of Water"

Comforter of Thirties Fabric - In this pieced comforter inherited from my husband's family, bits of fabric looking to me to be from the 1930's or 40's (given their colors and prints) are pieced randomly onto muslin squares (crazy quilting). Many appear to be apparel fabric.

Have to admit it, one big reason I go into a creative mode is lack of “disposable income.” I can’t afford to buy all the cool stuff I see in stores and on the internet to decorate myself and my nest, and those of others. It’s also a fun challenge to me to make my own versions of pretty/practical things.

The other side of that coin is the desire to be less of a consumer. Re-using, re-purposing, re-cycling, is a big driver in my various arts. Adding more refuse and/or new stuff to the world just does not seem like a good idea. Maybe it’s a rationalization, but it makes me feel a bit better about producing items that someone else may purchase (and thus, may then eventually discard.)

And don’t you think used items often have a nice patina about them that new ones don’t? Something about the fact that someone made use of an object, maybe even loved it, has a charm not present in a brand new thing. Obviously this does not apply to everything (underwear, for example!) but certainly we don’t always need to reinvent the wheel to satisfy our need for “stuff.”

Our fore-mothers were endlessly resourceful in making new clothing and home items out of things on hand. The concept of make-do had much to do with household economy, and a more prevalent mindset that wastefulness was wanton. I’ll be discussing more about that in an upcoming post as I show some examples of ancestral ability.

In the meantime, here are some photos of throw pillows for our guest bedroom that I re-purposed from things I had on hand.

Heart shaped pillow made from a button-front blouse

Pieced from a vintage tablecloth, centered with a vintage doily overlaying a colored bit of fabric

A pillow I already had was re-covered with pieces of a toile tablecloth that was no longer usable as such because of food stains, then layered with a charming old-fashioned doily and tufted with a covered button.

A ruffled blouse that no longer fit me became this pillow - I could not bear to part with the pretty fabric.

Ruched pillow made from a knit top I no longer wore, a bit of vintage curtain, and a collection of pearl buttons.

I seem to be focused on storage issues at the moment. When you have a bit of extra time to contemplate your surroundings, I guess it’s natural to do so. The nest comes into focus…

I have quite a collection of treasured vintage textiles, some of which were made by my grandmother or other family members, and some of which I have “found.” I took some of them and mounted them on colored felt in an assortment of white-painted frames and they now grace the wall of my craft studio/guest bedroom. I call this alternate storage because the items can be enjoyed instead of being closeted somewhere out of view.

Some time ago, I decided to display some of my jewelry as wall art, too – which again serves the double purpose of decor and storage. I covered the backing of two vintage frames with decorative paper – one with scrapbook paper and one with an overlay of a photocopied letter, attached vintage-look drawer pulls for hangers and hung bracelets and necklaces. I painted and distressed a third plastic frame from the dollar store, covering its backing with a bit of painted mesh (from an old lingerie wash bag), and pinned brooches to the mesh.

An old drawer with nifty little cubbies (that was once used to hold type-set letters) was what I used to display and store earrings. I had used this sectioned piece as wall art in the past, placing various small objects in it, and have always loved it. I did not want to risk splitting the wood by drilling holes for the earring wires, so I simply covered the whole thing with brown tulle. The tulle disappears against the color of the wood, and its netting is perfect for hanging the earrings on it.

Wall in my craft studio of framed vintage textiles

My version of jewelry storage as wall art

Type cubby earring storage

I got a bee in my bonnet, at 11:00PM last night, to reorganize my drawer of craft paints. They were quite jumbled, and I have cussed myself every time I have gone to look for a particular paint color or medium that I wanted to use RIGHT THEN and couldn’t find it.

I divided the bottles into paint, metallic paints, and mediums like sealers, blending agents and antiquing gel. Then since the dresser drawer where the paints are kept is a little hard to access because of tight space, I decided to put a dot of each color on the top of the lid so I could see the colors at a glance…certainly not an original idea, but it’s going to be a big help to my impatient self.

Like many artists, I tend to use certain colors over and over as my go-to’s (blues, greens and browns), and then have certain colors I buy too many of because I like them but seldom use (pinks and purples). But nothing goes to waste, I often keep craft supplies for years, and eventually they are new all over again to me and I use them up!

Generally, my supplies are pretty well organized, and I have used some of my recent day-job-unemployed time to refine the organization. I do have a great variety of items both new and vintage, and yet never enough if you know what I mean. I have spoken to and joked with many others artists/crafters who admit the hunt for and acquisition of materials is a rush – almost visceral, we are hunter-gatherers all, I suppose.

Some of the goods

Fabric stored in repurposed unit

New & vintage items ready for use

New & vintage supplies