Saturday, March 7, 2009

antiques, prints & orange tulips



red tiffany lamp 

my morning pages 
 
a lot of art glass 
tiffany lamps 

Just got home from the first DC Spring Antiques Show at the Convention Center. It was a grand affair with exhibitors from all over the world but mostly from the USA. I was dazzled by two print dealers who had great woodcuts. These prints aren't easy to find on display in our museums in DC. So I was in heaven looking through the bins and at a few that were framed on the walls. many were made in the early 1900s and were nicely framed in quarter split oak that goes with the furniture of the Arts and Crafts movement which was strong back then. 
We also admired glass and pottery and lots of paintings jewelry and furniture. Keith found and fell in love with an ox blood red glass cut vase by Lalique that was about $27,000 we think or maybe it was 10,000 but either way too expensive for us to consider buying. We did see some nice things as low as $195 but even so nothing we had to bring home. I really enjoyed looking and thanked all the vendors but we could see they were disappointed that we and most of the visitors were not buyers... My mom got the free pass  and gave it to me to use  but we noted that  no one seemed to be paying at the door when we came in. While I was there looking at the prints I was invited to a Capitol Art Fair on April 4& 5th so I am looking forward to that show! More prints to admire. Wish I had some print pals here in DC to go with me. Keith likes block prints and was asking me to make some more of my own today.   I was wowed by prints by Arthur Wesley Dow, Bertha Lum, Gustave Baumann, Rockwell Kent, Milton Avery and many others! I saw full color woodcuts a plenty in this show but one that sticks in my mind. It was a Rockwell Kent wood engraving of a "tree feller" or a lumber jack with an axe,  that was a wood engraving in three colors: black, white and a light brown for the middle tones. I don't know why it stuck in my head except his designs and technique is really worth  $4,000 a copy for an original wood engraving of that 8x10 inch size. 

I was in Manassas last week for a visit and got some photos of my morning journaling with the big orange parrot tulips Keith sent out this week. I got home and had a long dentist appointment on Friday then rested for the remainder of the day. Tonight we have the clocks turn back so I may try to go to bed early. I find it is so hard to get adjusted to the change in time when it springs forward. 

1 comment:

Frederick Nunley said...

Marianne from Holland says that the deco pottery looks like it was done by Clarice Cliff a famous pottery in England! Wish I had stopped to ask about it but I knew I couldn't afford any and we were tired. I just liked the style and the primary colors.