Glorious Restoration {Part Two}

Did you miss {Part One}?
It’s rather an Eliza Doolittle of end tables, scavenged ragged and unbecoming from the Covent Garden gutter, unsightly, unseemly and rough around the edges (in the most literal sense of the word). But now it debuts freshly sheathed in glossy white, ready for the romance of screened-in porches and Victorian sunrooms, so perfectly suited to dwell alongside white wicker chairs and clean white linens.Snapshots from the restoration: 1. Glossy finished tabletop 2. Behr high gloss enamel in Ultra Pure White, 1” nylon brush for details and 2.5” nylon brush for table top 3. Fully restored table 4. Super fine steel wool (#0000) for smoothing surface between multiple coats of paint Natural Historie

Good Things Come in Little Envelopes

I just finished this darling little batch of miniature envelopes for my Etsy store, Natural Historie. I started using historical and geological maps as backdrops in my photography to reinforce themes of history and natural history. Now I’ve moved the pattern to the foreground and the results are lovely, old fashioned and whimsical. So perfect for notes, place cards or gift tags.1. Little works in progress; printed cardstock cut to size and scored 2. Finished products; petite envelopes and single cards prettily packaged 3. Detail of button closure; hand stitched miniature buttons and twine 4. Finished envelope

Fresh and Floral

For this duo of gallery width 12 x 12 canvases I chose a calming light blue paired with fresh bright white. The motif was inspired by the silhouetted look of photograms, also called photogenic drawings (2. Center). I love that such an old fashioned photographic process yields such clean and modern look.1. Finished acrylic paintings 2. Inspiring designs 3. Sponge brush for even paint application in background, small round nylon bristle brush for details, drawing pencil for sketching outline and palette

Glorious Restoration {Part One}

There it was in a flea market with a circa-1800 copy of Moore’s Poetical Works resting upon its nicked and dilapidated tabletop. It was two hundred pennies shy of free and utterly hopeless. A decorative molding that had once encircled its round rim was lifting off, forsaking an ingrained layer of dried wood glue, and its overall shabby state had been hastily remedied with a coat of beige spray paint. But spotting this little end table was love at first sight.Snapshots from the restoration: 1. The toolbox 2. Removing a thick layer of dried polyurethane from pedestal foot with wood file 3. Sanding wood putty repairs on tabletop 4. Pedestal base partly sanded

Sense and Sensibility

Romanticizing history is a lovely habit of modern cinema. Renditions of the past flicker on theater screens purer and simpler, at once rustic and refined, complete with organza ball gowns, demure puffed sleeves, ethereal walks through forested dales and the solitude of gray dawns. Quite frequently, after brief episodes of contrived misfortunes, ironic misunderstandings and condemning circumstances, the plot line slows to a halt at an onslaught of happily-ever-afters and tidy resolutions.

But there is something poignantly real about the bittersweet ending, too often cast aside in favor of the trivial giddiness of the knight and white horse conclusion. It does not purvey the myth of poetic justice – for we do not always get what we deserve – but renders a portrait of true resilience. For Miss Austen, resilience is courageous and resolute, a woeful sacrifice of romance for livelihood.

Image courtesy of 2 Entertain, Production Company, Becoming Jane.