My Latest Newsletter

Click HERE to read my latest newsletter. Note too that an error is in the part about Emma. She was not my first featured doll in the Early American Life's Directory of Traditional American Crafts, she was the second. Hannah was my first.

Happy 4th of July!

Season's At Seven Gates Farm is a wonderful coffee table book produced by Country Living in 1996. It chronicles the beautiful home of designers, James Cramer and the late Dean Johnson. I love this fourth of July scene of all of the darling little blue garments from years past both from children's wardrobes and dolls.

Exquisite Queen Anne Woodens by Kathy Patterson

Words alone cannot describe the craftsmanship of doll (and Santa) artist, Kathy Patterson. Kathy has captured impeccably the making of Queen Anne wooden dolls. Her ability to carve is unsurpassable. I am grateful that she has offered to instruct me in the how of creating such dolls, and in attempting it, I have put my carving knife away for a while. This is an art form that has wooed me for many years. I will have to stay happy with merely sculpting out of Paper Clay this style, a little longer.

The first doll is right now on eBay for all of two more days. The last doll just sold on eBay for $2, 350.00, and worth every penny and even more so. This style of doll, if old, can command from $16,000.00 up to $160,000.00 a piece. Lucky is the buyer of any of Kathy's incredible creations.

I've highlighted her name to direct you to her blog, and again, here it is in it's wonderful and perfectly appropriate other name, Babes From the Woods.

Some of her dolls are featured in the current issue of Early American Life, which is the annual and the 24th Directory of Traditional American Crafts. Click on Directory, then on 2009, and then on Toys or Dolls.

Enjoy the works of a dear, dear friend.

Fire Board Time!

I did this Fire Board when we lived in Ohio, for my older sister who still lives there in good old Cincinnati. It is in our 1833 home in Lynchburg, Ohio for the picture in this view.

Summer time is when fire boards were properly put in front of fireplaces so as to keep out birds and other pests now that there would no longer be a need to build a fire.

I love this picture. It is a copy of a very old one which I found in a book called Techniques in American Folk Decoration by Jean Lipman. It was in black and white so I had to make up my own rendition of color. I chose what would look best in my sister's home. The original one was from an early Pennsylvania home.

Log Cabin

Isn't it sweet? Oh to have such a simple and pleasing homestead. That shall be my next goal.

Visitors on My Balcony

Just outside of my Art Room, I was out on my balcony this weekend, tidying up and enjoying the view of my little estate below. My cat, Samantha Clawdette, AKA, Sammy, peeked out to visit. I approached her with my camera, when lo and behold, along came my dear little, two year old (will be three in July), granddaughter Grace Elizabeth. Life is good.

Soy Sauce and Burns

Soy sauce is a wonderful medicine for burns, but the trick is to get the soy sauce onto the burn immediately. Yesterday I burned my left thumb severely when I foolishly picked up the sealing wax stick that I had just used. It was melting and hot and painful.  I ran downstairs to the fridge and immediately doused the owy with soy sauce. It was in pain nonetheless, and after soaking it in ice water and then bandaging it, I noticed later in the day that it was ALL better. My husband, Greg, learned this somewhere. It works every time.

Early American Tinware (Tole)

I love early American tinware. I even took many classes in tole painting back in the '70's and '80's. Of course, early tinware is not easy to find, and has always been rather expensive. Now that we are in the 21st century,well, face it, whoever stumbles across a reasonably priced piece of early American tinware is ever so fortunate. Perhaps this is why it's not such a bad thing that it is no longer a real popular look. 

I have a very small collection of it. The first five photos here are my limited collection. My husband, Greg, wrote a wonderful article about tinware. Click here to read it.

The following pictures of early American tinware, I gleaned from the Internet:

Fraktur

The word Fraktur is both singular and plural. One does not have a dozen frakturs, one has a dozen fraktur. 

Fraktur is a beautiful art form to me.

My dear and very talented husband, Gregory LeFever wrote a wonderful story about Fraktur for Early American Life magazine. Visit the article to learn all about Fraktur.

The top fraktur is from Winterthur Museum Delaware. Mind you, the pronunciation is Winter ter, don't sound out the th. I know that many of you already know this, but there are some young ones out there who've not been much exposed to this sort of thing.

The second one is a portrait of George Washington by an anonymous painter. Art historians refer to him as the "Washington-Sussel Artist" because his work was first studied by a collector of that name. It is in the Independence National Historical Park.

The third Fraktur is from artist Lana Manis of Honeysuckle Lane. Hi, Lana!

The last one is my little bird fraktur that is a copy of a c. 1790 eastern Pennsylvania, book mark in ink and watercolor. I have framed it in glass and silver solder that I aged to a dark patina.

Flowers and Magazines and Talented People Who Make it Possible

I am honored to say that yesterday my home was photographed for Country Victorian magazine by a fabulous team; Donna Pizzi and Philip Clayton-Thompson of Blackstone Edge Studios. They are the best, in my opinion. Donna is a magnificent stylist for displaying beautifully all things. She brought armloads of beautiful cut flowers, and I have photographed a few of the sweet bouquets today to share. Philip is a most considerate and fine artist who pays the closest attention to details.

Donna can work miracles with anything there is to display. Her eye is impeccable.

They scouted my home for Country Victorian, and when CV said yes, it was a go, and I look forward to telling you when the magazine will be out, but at this point, I don't have that answer.

Meanwhile, my meager attempts at photography must suffice. 

I love very much a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay called "Afternoon on a Hill" wherein she says:

"I will be the gladdest thing     Under the sun!  I will touch a hundred flowers     And not pick one."

Well, ahem, I take that back. Oh yes, I still love the poem, but somebody had to pick these flowers for Donna's beautiful arrangements in my home, and I love them and hate to think that they'll wilt. This says...

...I must be vigilant and from time to time, pick some too!

The Pier Glass in Question

The above, remarkable and gorgeous pier glass is not the one I fell in love with from the historic Barlowe House, but isn't it incredible? I love the hot pink wall behind it too! I really do.

The above and below pictures show MY pier glass, which I did buy! You see, I have a very generous and loving Mother-in-Law who learned of my passion for said glass, and that was that, she sent ME the $$$!!! Well, there it is, in my dining room, with my antique model of Hannah looking on. You see, I believe it is old. I just don't know how old, and I don't really care. I wanted it, I own it. I love it, that's that. See the Easter grass on its lovely little marble table. 

The orb is not a ghost. It is the camera. One can barely see me standing there in my khaki skirt.

So, there you have it!

Happy Easter!

Pink Trees Everywhere!

Spring comes early in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, where I live just outside of Portland in historic, Oregon City. One cannot look out a single window without seeing the resplendency of flora in my favorite color, pale pink. Enjoy!

Down on the Farm

I found this darling piece of farm ephemera at an estate sale in one of Portland's beautiful, older homes up in the West Hills. Some child did a wonderful job of making this little pictorial of a farm oriented scene. I keep it in my kitchen.

It is so cute the way this piece can be turned open to reveal the hens!

Have I no pride? My kerosene chimney is in need of spring cleaning as it lights up my sheep, and hens and bunnies high atop my baker's table. Above it is my favorite Edward Hicks painting of a wonderful old Pennsylvania farm scene.

Two butter molds nesting in my wooden bowl shelving unit. Time to churn that butter!

This beautiful sunshine overlooking the hills and valleys is derived from a Betty Caithness  design that I painted. I painted it onto a piece of roof shingling that dates back to the 1830's from our old house in Ohio. It hangs outside on our porch by the kitchen door.

Small World, Law of Attraction...?

The Italianate Barlow House of Canby, Oregon is but a few minutes from my Italianate House in Oregon City, Oregon. A couple years ago there was a pier glass for sale at a local (Portland) antiques shop and the asking price was $5,000.00. It came from the historic Barlow House. This mirror is gorgeous! I love a pier glass because it conjures a sense of well being and magic for me to look into one, even though my own reflection may not be up to par. However, I am not inclined to drop that much money in one fell swoop as I am not among the one percent of those who own most of the wealth. So I hemmed and hawed and planned, hoped and dreamed and finally gave up.

On a whim, the other day, I called the dealer who said it never sold but it could be found at yet another shop. Gregory and I went to see it with the intention of buying it for it now was down to a mere $3,000.00. Alas, it is SO large that it would look too stifled in my house. We have eleven foot ceilings, but this piece is too wide for the one wall that I wanted it on. It would still fit and be beautiful there, but one doesn't wish to be gaudy, does one?

Yesterday I decided to knock on the door of the Barlow House having no clue as to who now owns it. What an amazement for she knew who I am and she knows my friend down in California, Donna O'Brien, and she told me that the mirror in question is not an original, historic piece and that the lady who previously owned it and now passed, had it custom built! Well, that totally erased my passion for this mirror. I love it because it is beautiful and looks the part but mostly because it was supposedly historically significant. So there you have it. It pays to sleuth about, and such fun, for she allowed me to tour her incredible home. Oh but it is awesome. And, she is an artist and hopes to have twice yearly sales on her estate, and I have been invited to join in. I hope it all comes about. 

I was so amazed that she knew the mirror, its history and me! And here is but one more interesting aspect of this story; they looked at our house when it was up for sale and they almost bought it. They needed more room though, because they have four children.  'Tis truly a small world and those of us who are like-minded, are indeed attracted via that wonderful web of consciousness.

Oh and one more thing, all of the original Sam Barlow furniture is still with the house, but it is owned by the historical society of Canby. The owners may use it or store it. It is gorgeous and incidentally, the Barlow Trail is a very important trail on The Oregon Trail.