GETTING BETTER AT THIS PHOTO THING

I have taken advantage of the "Mercury in Retrograde" January to just be. I'm not completely convinced that Mercury (the planet) has any effects on business--but there is a huge correlation for me. Supposedly, Mercury-in-Retrograde has a negative effect on decision making, communications and other technologies........?? Anyway, as soon as Mercury "went back to its usual", business picked back up.

In the meantime, I've been practicing a bit on my photographic skill base (which is minimal) and I do think that I'm getting a bit more proficient. Take a look----

Pair extra large bullicante & somerso Murano fruit

These three Steuben mid-1950's art glass pieces were designed by Donald Pollard. Steuben has gone through a slow period, but it seems to be returning to favor. During the mid-century, with a change in creative direction, Steuben created some of its most beautiful pieces which were influenced by the Art Deco and Moderne aesthetics. It's clarity and refractive qualities are unparalleled. In the 1930's, Corning Glass (which had acquired Steuben) developed a new glass formulation entitled 10M which allowed the full light spectrum to flow through the glass. It is a tragedy, that this icon of American glassmaking and craftsmanship has ceased to exist. My mother had a few pieces of 1950's Steuben which I still treasure. When I lived in NYC, I loved to walk past the gorgeous Steuben Fifth Avenue showroom to experience the beauty of this art in the modernist expansive setting it was intended to inhabit.
Here are pieces that I've been practicing with:
(1) small bowl 7.75"D x 3.5H

(2) Rare footed pedestal bowl 10"D x 5"h

(3) Large pedestal bowl 13"D x 6"h

Footed Pedestal bowl in delicate and in excellent condition.

This final piece of Steuben is quite large (13" diameter), clear and sparkly and heavy.

It looks like we are going to get quite a bit of rain today. I love it, but the drive to Pasadena just might be a bit treacherous.
I haven't been on the hunt the past few weeks, however, these great, beefy 40's-50's carved oak horses just happened to walk in the door. The cerused original finish is one of the elements that made the lamps so appealing to me. I will have the lamps fitted with new brass electrical fittings and wiring and then they will be set to go. The total height once reworked will be about 30"-32", including shades. There is a small mark on the forehead of the left horse--I think Roberto can fix it. If not, then I won't worry about it.

I need to brush Jones and get him ready for work--he loves to go and he has lots of friends that come to visit.

Have a great Sunday!!
Mary, Jones & Cole

JONES AT WORK

I haven't written about Mr. Sassy Jones lately. He definitely needs to go to the Groomer (next week). Yesterday, he had enough of being restrained when he could sniff amazing food being consumed just a few feet from him and he was letting me know what a bad owner I was.

Trying to be good--just look at that focus (on my brain)...

Well, she does not understand my English--I'll try pointing......

Ahhhh, come on, Mom....just one bite...............

Jones wishes you the best of 2016--and Happy Dinners.

Mary, Jones & Cole

RAIN--SNOW--DOGS

I am so grateful.....rain and snow have finally come to Southern California. After years of praying for rain and a good winter snow pack, it has finally arrived. We still need a lot more to recover from our 4 year drought; it's happening.

(I grabbed this photo from Google images which said it was from the San Bernardino Mountains??) Jones looked a lot like this when he was a puppy--except he was black and started turning blue when he was about a year old. Sweet memories.

Now, on to important things like Venetian stemware. I am not talented photographically. I could put it on my to do list of things to improve on, but it just doesn't inspire me that much. However, when I happen to take a photo that turns out to be half-way decent, I feel a little rush of pride. The Venetian stems that I bought on Thursday (without previewing them--and that's a no-no) turned out to be pretty good--wish there were a few more..... Today I took a few shots of the stems (after I had polished them with Windex)

Not too bad. The stems are really pretty--I love the cobalt blue of the coupes and the mouth blown twisted balls forming the stems.

Claudia Strasser, author of The Paris Apartment, has challenged herself to revamp, refocus and increase the revenues of her business, The Paris Apartment, in 2016.

I love Claudia's blog and this challenge is exactly what I needed to inspire me. I had already planned to redo shop and expand a bit; Claudia has reinforced my gut motivations. Thank you, Claudia, for this 365-Day Challenge. I will be following (perhaps imitating) your daily posts and progress.

Hope that your 2016 has been great so far.

Blessings,

Mary & Jones & Cole 

HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR

I've been hibernating just a bit...........

To get a head start on 2016 Roberto and I spent  all of Tuesday and Wednesday taking down, taking apart, taking up rugs, moving to a new additional little space, painting, etc. Of course, after we took everything apart (with the exception of the back wall), then we really had to hustle to put everything back together.

Here are a couple of "before" shots of one section

And here are the results of our (Roberto's) work

Still have pictures to hang plus fine tuning, but most of the heavy lifting is done. I love the new gray color with hints of blue. The art work will stand out much better. I moved most of the 18th c. French pieces to the new space; so now there is room for the pieces to breathe a bit......'til I start filling it up again.

I went to my Thursday auction today....there was tons of stuff!!! But with the auction house having been closed for about a month (and I have had serious auction/buying withdrawal symptoms) there were also tons of people and competition. I was determined not to walk away empty handed, but only managed to buy some blue stemmed Murano glass ware....some days are like that; so I will just save my pennies as I know that there is ALWAYS more next week.

I hope that everyone had a relaxing Christmas and New Year's day. Jones and my Holidays were great: lots of cooking (I'm almost back to my former self)--made my traditional black eyed peas and ham shanks to ring in 2016. For me, 2015 was one of those growth (translate traumatic) years that I will not repeat. My eyes are set on 2016 as I'm determined that it will be phenomenal in every way.

Sending blessing for the New Year.

Mary, Jones & Cole