Wild Muse Notes

I first ran into this weird little doll about four years ago, close to when we moved here from Boston. He lived in a glass case in one of the local antique markets. I’m not really a doll person per se. I don’t collect them and I didn’t often play with them when I was little. I was always more interested in books, then and now. I have a few of Kerry Kate’s lovely odd hand painted dolls, who now keep company with the formerly lonely vintage Palestinian rag doll. I think I had a Blythe doll once upon a time but I wasn’t attached enough to her to swear that she existed.

For some reason I became obsessed, absolutely obsessed, with the above pictured odd little antique bisque doll from (I think) the late 1800s. He has no eyes, no hair, messed up ghoulish little teeth, and wears a threadbare roughed up outfit comprised of a jacket that is clearly too small and big pants – voluminous felted wool pants – with Dutch wooden shoes instead of feet. I would go and stare at that doll every time we went to the antique markets hunting for books and talk myself out of buying him. He was expensive for an unfinished bisque doll and I’m not a collector of things. I don’t collect objects other than books related to my work.

I think I drove C.P. McDill crazy over that doll, fussing about the doll, obsessing about the doll, informing him repeatedly that I wanted the doll. I have no idea why I wanted it and I’m sure he was completely baffled. This went on for a few years. That’s right. Years! When Erzebet came along on one of our trips to the market (when was that?) and was shown the object of my obsession, she said “Hah!” out loud “You just want that doll for the BIG pants!” I just lost it laughing and could not stop. From then on the doll was known as the BIG pants doll. Shortly after her visit, I decided I should stop obsessing and just buy the doll. So off I went to collect my doll.

Of course, he was gone.

Gone!

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A hat tip and thanks for the reminder to wise and inspiring friends Donna, Karen, Lisa, and Nin. I’ve been re-focusing and that is certainly a helpful mantra. Magic, Art, and Beauty. That’s what it’s all about. Thought about calling this post “Magic, Art, and Booty” (as in the booty from treasure hunting) but that could be taken the wrong way.

I’ve been deeply immersed in the wondrously weird little world of my crow’s nest studio, much more appealing now that C.P. McDill helped me re-organize it and found a way to make it reasonably warm. Another important part of “gathering mojo” for the working mode has been treasure hunting for dusty old books and their pages. I guess this replaces beach combing and gardening since I do tend to switch to antiquing in the winter months.

I’ve also been listening alternately to two amazing internet radio stations, both of which I highly recommend. My current favorite is the recently discovered Ancient FM which plays medieval and early music. I also madly love the ambient otherworldly atmosphere of Drone Zone at http://somafm.com/ and not just because they occasionally play tracks by yours truly although that is always appreciated. Both stations have a nice flow to them. I am rarely taken out of my own zone or distracted from what I am working on.

The photograph (above) is a corner of the studio arranged with newly adopted books and cheese crates, along with an antique paper cutter, restructured wooden cigar boxes, and more books from the last successful raid.

Gorgeous book from 1905 illustrated by Will Carqueville.

This is not only a nicely tattered old book. It’s actually a useful music lesson primer. I’m beginning classical guitar lessons next week so it’s just what I needed.

Oh yes! Peacocks and columns.

No idea what these are! Embroidery cards?

Last but not least, deep in some arid desert is a cool cave, an abundance of life within finding refuge from the brutal noontime heat beyond. Small luminescent creatures dwell on the walls of the black interior, making unintentional constellations to delight the eye.

Size: 6″ x 6″
Mixed media: oil, paper, ink, and varnish on canvas.

That’s all for now. I’ll be in the cave.

While sorting through the old books at the Horticultural Center, I picked up a musty old tome which I thought was a history of gardening. It turned out to be a book about alchemy and the construction of various types of stills. Most chapters focus on use of plants by the Puritans of New England for herbal medicines and tonics. However, it does occasionally veer off into herbal lore and “the chemical art” of the early alchemists. The book was in rough shape, water damaged and falling apart so the scans are not so nice. Of course, I had to offer up a few bits of it, since this blog threads together the subjects of my fascination – art, old books, gardening, and alchemy. Included among these tattered pages, is a hand drawn map from the 1600s of the area where I now live and work. Sadly, it was too faded and ink smeared to scan well.

“The fifth chapter deals with the sum total of background knowledge applied by the settlers to their task of growing, distilling, and preserving all they would need for both meate and medicine. The sixth deals with ‘the meate’ and the seventh with ‘the medicine’ for which they felt sure so many plants were intended”. – Anne Leighton

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Found and constructed objects. Charms for making, to keep the connection between hand and heart, to inspire a light touch and unburdened memory, a simultaneously focused and detached response to a wild flow of ideas and an overwhelming abundance of materials. Finishing a work of art is all about letting go.

Patin’d silver metal bezel and chain and vintage charm. The image is a hand painted paper tile is an original work of art comprised of vintage paper, ink, and oil paint glaze to resemble the palimpsest of illuminated manuscripts.

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Never say never. I proclaimed the last rose of autumn and suddenly my garden exploded with new flowers late into the season surviving two nor’easters. They did not, however, all survive the rabbits who indulged in a rose petal feast early this morning. Silly rabbit. Tricks are for the kids. I can’t complain. The garden is beautiful even as it fades and ah…comes back and then fades again.

Sometimes we have to say goodbye though. I said farewell and all that to one of my favorite works titled Rabbit, pictured in a new frame chosen to match a lovely new home. This has been a running theme for the past few weeks. I wonder if the “rabbits” are trying to tell me something.