Amber Dusick

For the Love of Originals

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest the first time I saw Rima's work.  I immediately contacted her and asked her about originals to see if any were available.  Of the several that I loved, I was lucky in that she did have a few available still.  I now own the original of The Visitors and I can't even begin to tell you how much more amazing it is in person.  

         

I highly suggest you hop on over and check out Rima's blog, The Hermitage where you'll discover all sorts of wonderful things.  Including the fact that she tells her stories from her house on wheels.    

 

You can see more photos of her lovely nomadic home (including the inside) here, in this post.  

How amazing is the internet and the Etsy community that I can purchase an original painting from a woman halfway across the world from me who lives in a house on wheels?  

If you love storytelling and folklore please do check out her blog, lifestyle and work, it is really inspiring.  I feel so lucky to have a piece of her art.  An original.  One that I can see each mark of her pencil and brush on.  Almost like I am there during the creation of it.

I can't wait to frame it and put it on my wall forever.  I have my own story about this painting as does my husband, that is the beauty of her work, you can make up your own folktale with the images - yet somehow they seem so very old and real.       

Now for the unpopular part of this post...

I don't buy prints and I think they are the joke of the art world.  I will now duck to avoid the tomatoes thrown at me by my print selling friends.  No, seriously, they all know this about me and have come to accept it, mostly.  You see, I buy art to own an actual creation of a person, not a duplicate of one.  I also tend to see art as an investment and prints (unless in rare, always limited edition cases) do not appreciate in value.  

I'm also secretly jealous of my printmaking friends.  How is it fair that they can print something from their home printer on a piece of paper and charge money for it over and over and over?  More money than I could charge for an individually, handmade wooden item that I can only sell once?  So. Not. Fair.  I write all this in jest of course, but there is truth in it too.  So prints.  I don't buy them.     

  

Originals, on the other hand, I actively seek out.  The first thing I do when I discover an artist that I like is to see if they sell originals and see if I can afford one.  The crazy thing I've found over the years is that usually, I can.  For the price of a handful of prints that are worth nothing and will continue to be worth nothing, I can own the original piece of art.  Where I can see the brush strokes, every detail in real life.  It is like owning a piece of the artist and is such a huge honor for me every time I purchase one. 

So save your pennies to purchase an original next time you have a spot empty on your wall.  You won't be disappointed!

  

Savoring the little moments...

I've been busy, busy, busy!  With three websites and an Etsy shop that needs stocking I've needed to make a conscious effort to take a few moments each day of just pure relaxation time.  Enter my tea ritual!  Every day during my son's nap, rather than rush off to work, work, work like usual, I sit down and have a cup of tea and write in a journal or do nothing at all.

  

I recently got this lovely little "Savor" tea bag holder from Etsy seller wabisabipottery and I adore it.  She has a great shop with tiny dishes that would make great affordable gifts.  There is something so simple and sweet about her work.  

  

I also got this adorable wee house dish from the same shop to hold my rings while I beeswax my wooden figures.  My rings used to get all gummed up with beeswax, but now I have a designated spot for them and actually remember to take them off.  This little dish also serves as a reminder to slow down and enjoy the process, something that gets harder to do as the holiday rush approaches us.

Speaking of holidays...next Etsy shop stocking will be Wednesday the 19th, 11:30AM Pacific!  I'm going to try out scheduled stockings for a spell and stick with Wednesdays and see how it goes.  

Our New Autumn Nature Table

I fell in love with the work of Etsy seller, MargaretJeff, and thought a table from them would make an ideal "nature table" for our hallway.  Not to big, not too small, perfect height and the table alone is a beautiful work of nature.  After a few conversations with Margaret, I finally picked the Ambrosia Maple table and it arrived this week!

   

So what is a nature table?  Well for us, it simply means a designated place to bring the outside, inside.  A reflection of the changing seasons.  This is something that is important to me to convey to my child since we live in the city and his nature time is confined to walks or going to parks.  (Unlike my own childhood in the rural midwest where I rarely was found indoors during the daylight hours)

 

So today we set up the table in our hallway and then set out on a long walk.  He carried the bag that I shared in this post and picked up leaves and acorns and magnolia tree cones and some other seed pods from the neighborhood.

Then he proudly came home and arranged his goodies on our "Natuew Table" as he calls it.

He arranged this display and I'm restraining myself from messing with it.  I want him to have ownership of it and not be afraid to play with it.  Luckily (for the artist in me) my son is very organized and likes to arrange and sort things, so I trust that he'll keep it looking pretty.  

We had a table like this when I was in 2nd grade (in a public elementary school) and I still remember discovering all the treasures that would appear there as the seasons changed.  Our teacher would bring new things in and we'd talk about what they were and where they came from.  Things like turtle shells, seed pods, cocoons, rocks and shells.  I love this type of learning/teaching and am so glad I'm able to incorporate it at home.

  

Wee Little Neighborhood Tea Towels

Here are some tea towels (actually in our house they are lintless drying towels for wine glasses) that I gocco'ed recently.  I drew the little houses inspired by the houses from the book The Color Kittens that I mentioned in my last post. 

 

hedgehogs, oh my!

How could I resist this backpack? Perfectly sized for my toddler to tote his toys around in, a hedgehog on it to match his hedgehog toys, brown and green, handmade by a fellow WAHM (that is work at home mama) and she makes her toddler backpacks out of recycled fabrics. Could anything be more perfect?

This lovely backpack is actually a Bratsack and did not disappoint. Never fear if you go to her Etsy shop and she doesn't have anything available, she is a busy sewer and should have more soon. Just like my toys though, if you want something, send her a message and let her know since they get snapped up quick. Sturdy, straight sewing and made to last. My son is a big too young for it but in a few months time it will be perfect for him to pack up his own toys and snacks for day trips. Yet another Etsy score that I'm more than thrilled about.

handmade in my home... boiled bear

This week for my "handmade in my home" post I'd like to focus on yet another Etsy seller, Loretta from spyder94, who made the adorable boiled bear that arrived in our mail today. Her bears are handknit in wool and then felted, giving them a pathetically sweet vintage look. They are about 12 inches tall, the perfect size and weight for a toddler to drag around. Since they are already felted, they are washable!

Here is the chipmunk giving the bear a big hug and kiss. The mail came during lunch today and I made the mistake of opening it where he could see me. The moment he saw the bear emerge from the package he began smiling, pointing and bouncing in his chair. I couldn't resist giving it to him right away.

(PS: yeah, yeah I know our highchair is plastic. With all my ranting about trying to avoid plastic you'd think we would have a beautiful wooden high chair, right? Nope, we aren't perfect. When this portable plastic highchair called to us from the Target aisle we answered it by forking over the mere 20 bucks for it. We may replace it someday but for now I can live with the plastic eyesore in our dining room.)