Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Studio update, and better late than never, the Easter display.

My last blog post was April 18, more than 3 months ago. I had likened my life to a 3 ring circus; Ring #1, moving my studio, Ring #2, landscaping the yard, Ring #3, making new sculptures.

Ring #3 quickly went dark as I had no time or space to work on anything.

Ring #2 had a few moments in the limelight but my wife did 99% of the yard work. She did an amazing job, it looks fabulous.


Ring #1, the easy-peasy, quick-as-a-flash job of moving my upstairs studio into the garage took me by surprise, it turned into an overwhelming job at times. Ring #1 became its own 3 ring circus!

Inadequate shelving was taken down with new shelving replacing it and doubling the available shelf space; it filled very quickly. The garage doors were insulated and new weather stripping replaced the old weather stripping. I went through my vintage department store drawers, 18 of them, one at a time, purging and organizing each drawer. The sorting, organizing, and purging was also happening upstairs in my studio. The upstairs items were assimilated into the drawers in the garage.

The unwanted items were sent off to Salvation Army or to the Victoria Operatic Society.

I didn't post pictures or have anything to say because at times it was like watching paint dry, I was progressing so slowly.

Enough about the studio, it is almost completed. This is my overly late post of this year's Easter display.


This year I pulled out some of my favourite pieces from my Easter collection.


The blue plastic rabbit was mine as a child. The purple and yellow tea-cosy with hand-painted wisteria makes a great backdrop for the celluloid friction toy and the ceramic salt and pepper shaker rabbit couple.


The chenille rabbit standing on the box that once held a large chocolate covered candy egg is a favourite rabbit, I have a soft spot for items covered in or made with chenille.


The two ceramic figures although not Easter are Spring and so they have been making appearances each year on the mantle. I picked up this vintage flower basket last year and turned it into a landscape featuring the two figures.


In behind the ceramic vase of a little girl sitting on a fence, is an early chenille covered rabbit head that once belonged to my Mum. The body is long gone, it may have been a hollow chocolate egg.


The cardboard train with plastic eggs is Australian. The net bag with plastic eggs is possibly some of the first plastic eggs sold in Canada as the label tells you to "LOOK! They're plastic!"


Two chocolate moulds and two rabbits each pulling its own cart are on the lower ledge of the fireplace. The front rabbit and cart is silkscreen printed wood, the other is printed on very thick cardboard.