MIA UPDATE--MIRACLES and more

Those of you who have followed this blog journey for a while know that my youngest grand daughter, Mia (center), was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 2 1/2. And you followed along the scary journey of her healing. Last night she spoke at the Opening Ceremony of the LA Art Show which was a benefit for St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Tennessee. Mia, as you can see, is doing amazingly well: she's smart and happy, loved by everyone, an up-and-coming basketball player and adorable hula dancer--miracles every where you look. We are all so grateful to St. Jude's for the miracles that are wrought by their care.

And my favorite client, Robert Vargas (a world renown muralist), was also at the show demonstrating his amazing talents and donating all proceeds from the sale of his works to St. Jude's. 

Next Up------

I try to keep current with design trends and I religiously read AD Online as it's a great source of information regarding what is happening now in design, as opposed to 18 months after photo shoots happen-- the time lapse for most print magazines. Tonight I opened the AD email and saw the name of new clients who had purchased a chair from me just a few weeks ago.

Of course, I wondered if our chair would show up in the photos of the house. And guess what....

there it is--the purple glove makes the room perfect--nothing boring here. Although credit wasn't given for the chair's source, it's a super pick-me-up just to spot it sitting pretty.

Last, but not least.............

We scored today. The French iron butcher's table was not a sleeper, but it's coming home anyway.

The Swan Console was a sleeper

 and it's coming home, too.

The little steel table and the large abstract enamel were both amazing sleepers

And they're coming home.

And last, but not least the large steel garden sculptures 

are making the truck. I know these guys are pretty funky, but I love them.

All-in-all, it's been an amazing day!! And I think I feel like this

Well, I'm off to bed......need to make it to my auction  early tomorrow to pay for everything and make sure that Roberto loads up w/o issues.

Sending blessings for the week-end.

Prayers that the "shut down" ends tomorrow and prayers for the restoration of our nation.

Mary & Jones & Cole

WEDNESDAY AGAIN!!! (and) I'M LOOKING AT MORE IRON TABLES??

Well, besides the iron table base (coming up later), there was this very large--perhaps 48"h x 18"w copper enamel art work. I love this piece and I think we'll buy it. There's a bit of damage, but I think that our restorer, Debra, can fix it. It reminds me of the works of Antoni Clave, my favorite 20th c. Spanish artist who was a cohort of Picasso and Miro.

Next up for possible snag:

G adores this table/console. It probably dates to the 1980s and is beautifully created. The cast brass swans are weighty and finely detailed. The element that is truly catching my eye is the brass bevel that is set into the thick glass top-and let's not forget that gorgeous black lacquered plinth. Very Palm Springs. This will not be a sleeper.

And now for my sleeper of the day.....at the front of the "pile" is this French wrought iron table. I think that it might be a late 19th c. butcher's table used for displaying choices pieces of meat. (But I'm not really sure)--at one point it probably had a marble top which I'll replace with smoked glass. The shelf at the bottom was used for additional cuts of meat or sausage (I think).

I love the deep natural patina and the unusual bombe form--look at the curl of the feet. I know that the iron is pretty rough, but it has so much character. With Roberto's sure hands giving the table a little love, it will be perfect.

Next possibility--probably a yes--is this little steel table. We both love it--it has perfect form and proportions and it's simplicity makes it super appealing.

There is this amazing Bustamante coffee table which we will not be bidding on. At first glance it looks fantastic and a true winner, but studied in detail--not so much. Check out the damage to the brass paneling--tons of dents--it looks like some one got angry and instead of kicking a wall, kicked the table.

Of course there is one lot that is pulling at my heart strings

This gentleman is beautifully painted. The photo does not do the paintings justice......maybe he will be a sleeper, too.

Oooooooops, almost forgot, we love this trio of iron brutalist abstract sculptures. They are great and huge!!

Ok, maybe one more lot

I love this set of four scolloped English mid-19th c. plates and they are all in great condition. Who can pass up English Imari?

Well, it's off to bed........need to get up super early and get out the door--something I seem to have trouble doing lately.

Blessings for the day......

Mary & Jones & Cole

MORE ABOUT TABLES......

Two weeks ago I purchased this pair of very dirty and awful-topped tables. You could just barely make out the cast brass phoenix head finials and paw feet.

And now look at how beautiful the tables became after some intense TLC from Roberto and new black glass tops.

I love the cast brass detailing!!

Each of the table legs forms the profile of a phoenix--a design element prevalent in the Art Deco Era. 

And for the finale reveal of the Maison Bagues Coffee Table.................

Not too shabby (If I do say so--myself!)

We had five strait days of rain, glorious rain!! Of course the house flooded a bit--sand bags are a great invention. The pond in the park next door flooded, with the park and the street becoming one triple sized pond........the ducks, geese and pelicans loved it.


Blessings for the rest of the week.

Mary & Jones (needs prayers please) and Cole.

COFFEE TABLE CONTRAST

I am always amazed at what we choose to buy and how it all fits together. Case in point:

Last week I bought this stunning Maison Bagues (found one just like on Christie's website) bronze table (new black glass on order)

This table is super structured and  purely neoclassical.......and then, we fell in love (G fell first as I was still focused on structured pieces) with this table. Both tables are  about the same size, both are created with metal--but so  diametrically opposed in energy.

I loved the "Memphis" feel of the modern table matched to the rough stone top. Of course, we bought this one, too (but from a different auction house that usually only sells traditional pieces--you just never know what will show up and where). It will go perfectly in front of a mid-century leather sofa acquired a few weeks ago and I'll place the French Art Deco black cameo glass vase on it.......

I haven't quite figured out where to place the Bagues table--but the perfect spot will open up.

It rained all day (grateful) and it's going to rain the rest of the week--we desperately need this to break the drought. 

I need to get off to bed. No more tables for me this week.

Blessings for the week.

Mary & Jones & Cole

ON TO 2019.............

By nature I'm not a minimalist....but I have read that in order to bring in prosperity one must make space for the new blessings. So, with the goal to bring in blessings, I intended to follow the prescription of tossing 27 items a day for 9 days.........I was pretty good the first 3 days and dutifully tossed 27 items each day. And then I discovered that if I tossed (cleaned out) my "Inbox" of 27 emails (most of them asking for political donations), this project could be pretty simple. For 3 days I tossed many, many more than 27 emails/day.........today, I didn't toss anything. The problem is that now I have to go back and start on day one of the 9-day prescription. Thank goodness my "Inbox" has many thousands of emails to delete.
2019 has started out with a bang......we've sold a lot  (which always makes me feel blessed) and last Thursday's auction was huge.
G and I previewed on Wednesday and spotted a few things to buy. We could have "left bids" on these items, but you need to be present at the auction to truly reap its benefits. (I have been lagging at auction--not really going because I've been watching my pennies) I could feel in my bones that I/we were going to be very successful last week and we were......and I was there at 9:15 to make sure that I saw what was coming out of the pile. (The auction house makes a huge pile of items that are judged to be of little value to auction at the beginning of the auction.)
This amazing BRONZE coffee table frame came right out of the pile

Luckily for me, I just happened to recognize the table--a French Deco Coffee table by Maison Bagues (attributed). The cast bronze palm capitals appears to retain a bit of their original gilding. Roberto cleaned the table on Tuesday and a tempered black glass top is on order---super chic.
I must be on a black-roll--the next purchase was this pair of late 19th c. (I think) Chinese Famille Noire Garden Seats.  Any Famille Noire object is very desirable; so this pair of seats is pretty unusual. One needs a small repair which does not alter the value of the seats.

And last up is again black--a dealer friend came in with a large lot of textiles. The minute I spotted these Bark Cloth panels, I knew that one had to be mine......it took a lot of convincing for her to sell me just one panel.....the panels were never in direct sunlight and after all of these years, are in nearly mint condition.

This is going to be a bit of a stretch for me, but I'm going to make some pillows from the fabric. My perfectionist tendencies cause my pillows to be quite expensive to create. Also, I don't know if there is a market for this type of pillow.....we'll see.
Fortunately, tomorrow there is nothing at auction that attracts my fancy.......I still need to restore, clean etc. and then take photos and get everything posted on line.........yes, it's definitely work.

Jones seems to be doing a little better, but still isn't himself.

Sending blessings for 2019.

Mary, Jones (prayers please) and Cole