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Sunday, September 11, 2011

My Mentor

If you bounce around the blog
world or have ever been to
where I have a shop
you've met my friend,

Or you've stopped by because you bounced
over from Molly's "Market Monday" link party where she encourages us to share our latest projects!

This is the first time I
have participated, so thank you
for stopping by!

Molly, also part of Chartreuse, 
is an incredibly talented 
artist, a really good friend and
one of the two people in the world
that makes me laugh the hardest!


Take a look at some of what
Molly has created and you'll see
what I mean:
The girl has talent!  




But more than anything, 
Molly has been an inspiration to me.

She encourages me.

She believes in me.

I never thought I had any artistic
talent, but Molly taught me to 
believe in myself, to reach deep 
and draw upon
that which defines who I am:
  
the pain, the joy and the sorrow.

So, I may not have the same talent 
as Molly does, but I am thankful to her, 
because without her encouragement 
and her faith in me, 
I never would have picked up 
a Sharpie marker and created this:



I know, amazing, isn't it? 
  
And to think I have had 
absolutely no formal training!

Incredible!!

Can't you just feel the JOY 
coming off the "canvas"?
The sense of flight, 
the raw emotion, 
the realistic portrait of
an American family on 
a summer day! 

Juxtaposing with 
the oppressive, down-trodden 
emotion of the dog, so 
clearly haunted by
being defined as  
"pet quality only"
his entire life!

I really do think I nailed it 
on this one!


People often say to me, 
"Gail, how do you define your art?".

Am I an impressionist, like Claude Monet, a surrealist, such as Salvador Dali, or a realist along the lines of Da Vinci?  

My answer?

I'm not sure.

My art career is still in it's 
infancy, I don't know where it will lead, therefore,
I hesitate to define my style. 

What do you think?  

I know what Molly thinks:  
The girl's got talent!   

(Now, go back and tell Molly I said hi!) 

(Limited edition prints available this weekend
in my shop at Chartreuse and Co.)

Remembering

Love to all!

Friday, September 9, 2011

The Possibilities!

I've been looking for an interesting
auction to go to this weekend and
found one where this house
and barn will be sold.



I absolutely love
the stone house and the thought
of opening that beautiful barn
for monthly sales
leaves
me breathless!   

Hmm, maybe I should go,
just to check it out, right?



Friday, September 2, 2011

Road Trip Report

My "assistant" and I drove to my
home state a few weeks ago to visit 
family for a few days. 
  
While we were there we hit
the road with my mom to
shop my favorite source for the 
industrial salvage 
furniture and lighting 
I stock my shops with. 
This is me with my friend, 
(whose name shall remain anonymous to protect my source!)  
one of the creative geniuses

who take parts 
like these








do a lot of this:

  
and turn them into this:















They also 
create these 
fabulous light fixtures:







The best part?

It's the real deal
not the cheaply made
reproduction
imported industrial style furniture
popping up everywhere these days!


It's all made from
reclaimed, salvaged parts and 
I love it all!


Curious about what I picked up
for my shops?


Make plans to check it out at:


The Kramer Angle
at 
Chartreuse and Co.
in Buckeystown, Maryland 
(open the third Friday - Sunday of every month) 

Wild Rose and Co. Marketplace
in Walkersville, Maryland 
(open Tuesday - Sunday) 

and at my next 
Barn Show 
in Gambrills, Maryland
(October 7th, 8th and 9th)  



 My "assistant" contemplating a vintage stool! 
 
  My mom doesn't always "get"
industrial style but she's my
biggest fan and I love having her 
with me on buying trips! 
 


Wednesday, August 31, 2011

55


55!

That's how many drawers
the cabinet I picked
up at today's auction has!
My cubby/drawer addiction
is not getting any better.

I'm completely fine with it.
Every girl needs a vice
or two........

Friday, August 26, 2011

Tip Time


 
Hello!

Looking for me today?

I'm over at
my friend Cassie's
fabulous blog

offering tips 
on my favorite
pastime - 
auction hunting!   


If you just came 
from there
thank you for visiting my blog!


I hope my auction tips were helpful and
you're inspired to attend one soon! 
I also hope you'll take a look around,
get to know me, and consider 
following my blog - I'd love
to meet you!


I'd also love to hear
your auction stories!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Message from Heaven?

By now you've heard about
the earthquake that hit
the east coast today, right?

We definitely felt it
here in Maryland
and this is the only
damage we had.

It's one of my favorite 
photos of my dad doing what he 
loved; the color guard
with the American Legion Unit 
he belonged to. 

What's actually funny about this
is for the first time
since he died eight years ago
I forgot
the anniversary of his death,
which was two days ago.

Do you think he was trying 
to tell me something!!??

Subtle, Dad, real subtle!  

point taken 

Posted by Picasa

Here We Go!


I'm not one of those
moms that celebrate when
their kids go back to school.

I love having my kids
home with me and mourn
the return to 
alarm clocks, lunches,
homework, practice schedules
and carpools.

If I was more disciplined 
I'd actually
home school my kids so
our schedules would be 
more free form.

But I don't have the personality
for that and my kids
don't have the personalities to
stay home with me all day.
(Which is a nice way of saying we'd kill each other!)
 
They're much too social for that.
They need their peeps.
(And I need a quiet house every now and then!) 

So in between sourcing 
new products for my shops,
hitting the road for
the bigger pieces,
supervising homework,
volunteering, 
driving carpool,
and working my "real" jobs
things are going to get 
even crazier around here!

Whew, I need a few more
weeks of summer... 




Friday, August 19, 2011

Shop Chartreuse This Weekend

We're open this weekend
at 
and if you take the 
drive up to 
Buckeystown 
this is a bit of
what you'll see 
in my shop,
The Kramer Angle.









Ying & Yang

Wow, I can't believe it's been over
a week since I last posted!
So much has happened since then!
Joys and sorrow.
The ying and yang of life 
has never been more evident 
to me than this week.

The only thing you can do 
is celebrate what you can and 
pray for everything else!   

I hope your week was wonderful!