Art Room Re-Do and Asphaltum Varnish

The picture above is from our old house which is across the river from this town. We raised our children in that dear, 1898, Queen Anne Vernacular house. I was fortunate enough to have been in a magazine article, and therefore have scanned this picture so as to show you my woodwork.

I've not yet scraped or washed the windows on my balcony doors. I still have so very much to do before I can call this room finished.

These are my windows, and one can easily see the necessary indoor storm windows that keep the weather at bay. My photographic skills are indeed limited. For one barely notices the storm windows in reality. But the topic here is about asphaltum varnish as a woodwork treatment.

Again, something the photograph brings out that is not evident to the naked eye is the orangish color. It simply is not noticed except in this photograph.

What is asphaltum varnish? I Googled it and the answer to that question is too scientific. It is something that was used on woodwork in the late Victorian times. Although it dries very quickly, virtually in minutes, it will remain a bit tacky and therefore, one must coat it with clear shellac, and only then is it dry to the bone. It's easy to paint onto wood, as long as you mix in a little turpentine. You can successfully paint it over any color of paint. It leaves an elegant, rich dark and shiny woodwork which was very popular at the turn of the previous century. I have loved it for years, and used it in my other Victorian house that we sold in the year 2002. That first picture is from the magazine article from Country Collectibles, Spring/Summer, 2003, and there you can see my old dining room with the asphaltum varnish woodwork.

Incidentally, if anyone of you has ever read that article, it was not true that I coveted English collectibles. That was a slant the writer needed to put into the article in order to sell it. I did them a favor in letting them get away with this. My heart is primarily stolen by early American antiques of all kinds. I like the English things, but again, totally not a true sentiment of mine.

To finish my art room decorating I will next have to strip the paint off of the floors using my trusty old heat gun. That will take this week. Then I simply brush on a couple coats of the good old clear shellac. It dries in an hour. It is rock hard and voila, the fun will begin in returning my furnishings to the room.

I love my beautiful wall and ceiling paint by Devine from Miller paints. They are Spruce on the ceiling and Almond on the walls. I was totally blown away when it turned out to have just a hint of muted robin's egg blue in two different shades. I totally adore it.

Until this room is completely finished, no other kind of art work will be executed in it. Ah the joy of redecorating.

No More Facebook

The beautiful brick Federal Farmhouse, pictured above, circa 1820's, is the home of my mother, who turned 88 on Monday. Pictured at the fence is yours truly from a few years ago. One of my four brothers, who mows her lawn these days is standing nearby. One other dear brother, Tom, died two years ago. He used to live with mother. He maintained the yard and did all of her cooking. Although she had eight children (four boys and four girls), she never really enjoyed cooking.

This picture of serenity is what I gravitate toward, rather than the people filled, albeit friends, mechanisms of Facebook. As I was approaching 1,800 friends on "FB", it occurred to me that I never have time for it and yet daily I receive countless people coming to be my friends. I don't like to turn anyone away, but at last, I simply closed down my Facebook Account yesterday, so that I may strive more towards a serene existence where maintaining my home and enjoying my art prevails.

Mother seems to do just fine in the countryside of southern, Ohio, where she moved to in the 1990's, from here in Oregon. After my dear father's death, that which called her was that same love of olden days and beautiful old things and especially her beautiful house. She still hops into her car daily and heads to the antiquing realms. Her love of beauty rules her, and I am precisely the same way. Now to my dolls...

Dolls Getting Dressed

Here are a few of the dolls that I am in the process of dressing. Thus far they are wearing pantalets, petticoats, painted on shoes and stockings, and the Queen Anne has her panniers under her petticoat.

Since I tend toward "early" dolls, and as early is regarded as pre-1850, I use the maché because it preceded porcelain dolls. Otherwise I love to make cloth dolls, and am working toward woodens, one-of-these-days!

I enjoy making their stands. As our 1888 home has a lot of old wood in the basement, I use that. This batch was made from a piece of the original siding. We still have the same style siding, but from time-to-time, a piece or two has been replaced, and they frugally did not throw them away. I am so delighted to have this attractive and old wood available for some of my doll stands.

My blonde is my latest doll in history, because she was created in about 1870. This makes her not early. I do fudge occasionally, don't I? I call this model, Amy.

This smaller brunette doll is one that I call Claire. Claire is an M&S Superior from the middle 1800's. I regard her as early enough.

Here is my beautiful Emma, an 1820's "milliner's model", a term that I recently learned is not a correct one for any dolls. She was simply a lovely toy. The original has wooden limbs. My doll's limbs are made from maché.

Maggie is truly my very favorite of all of my maché head dolls. This doll originated in the early 1800's and had the beautiful, pupiless glass eyes. She is known as a doll's doll. She is a "pre-Greiner" and was the doll to one of the larger Greiners. Some purists do not believe that all dolls called "pre-Greiner" were that early, but I just don't know. I am not a purist. I simulate with paint the glass eyes.

My new Queen Anne with actual glass eyes, is a one-of-a-kind. She isn't named yet. I learned that pantalets and bloomers were not even considered for ladies until the 1850's, and so, the early styles really offered nothing of this sort. The ladies wore shifts and many petticoats under their dresses. My Queen Anne does not have pantalets or bloomers. I've given her some panniers under her skirt.

These are only a small handful of the dolls I have in progress.

I hope to have a few more uploaded soon.

Estate Sale Treasures

Last Saturday a dear friend called to ask if I had been to the fabulous estate sale that was just 4 blocks from my home. I am so grateful that she did this. I had totally failed to look at estatefinder.com and therefore knew nothing of one of Portland's best estate dealers being so close by. Well, I went in on Sunday, and typical of the last day of an estate sale in this area, anything under $50.00 is now half priced.

See the four beauties I scored! I am in heaven. And, I don't even collect china heads or porcelains, but when one finds them at very low prices, they do become members of my household.

The only thing I need now is either a better camera or a lesson in photography. I just couldn't get these new ladies photographed as I would have liked.

Ruthey, my Izannah Workshop Doll

I have been involved in the Dixie Redmond, Izannah Walker, workshop and this is my doll created in the process. I have named her Ruthey. Sitting with Ruthey is my wonderful new acquistion, a Schneeman dog called Patches. I found him at The 1800 House.

Dolls to Make and Dolls to Finish

This is Hattie. She is one of my pre-Greiner styled dolls, and she is not yet born. They're not born until the bodies are finished. There is yet much to do with her body, and so, there she sits in the time before birth...hence, no spirit occupies this body, yet.

Oh look at the shelf with the heads and the limbs. Much to do, and much joy to partake of.

My very large, beautiful Dolly, the Voit, whom I've named Abigail. Abigail is the size of an actual toddler. She sits so prettily wherever she goes.
My precious Hannah, another Greiner, is waiting for me to put her onto my website. She must be there for the others until 'tis time.
Another Abigail, waiting...And who is that on her lap? It's Claire, my little M&S Superior.

There sit two of my little wooden armed/legged poetry poppets.

And finally, who is this? She is a brand new addition to my line of reproduction, olden days dolls. She isn't even named yet. She will let me know in time.

Meanwhile, there are dolls to be designed dancing about in my mind. I do have fun!

Early American Life, April 2010

Above is what it looks like on the news stand. This issue of EAL is resplendent, and I especially love the article written by my dear and brilliant (if I may say so myself) husband about milliner model dolls. Below is a snippet, just to tempt you...

A Piece of Primitive, Early Oregon

Yesterday Greg and I went for a country drive, and discovered but minutes from our home, this amazingly well preserved log cabin.

I love this primitive number of a little bench. I could make one of these!

This house was the Stauffer log house that was built in 1867. I realize that is not a genuinely "early" time for our country, but this is the West! And, it is amazingly well preserved by the Aurora Colony preservationists.

I love this view of the out buildings.

Just a nice shot at those fabulous logs. (I much prefer this style of log to the rounded ones.)

Enter the front door.

This is the smoke house.

Here is a shot of the window in the smoke house.

This is the hog house. See the two doors.

The closed hog door.

The opened hog door.

And finally, right in the front door, the pet door!

To learn more about the Stauffer log house, visit this link:

Kind Hearts and a Pinkeep

Worthy Hands

Be worthy, love thy neighbor

Kind hearts are the gardens

Kind thoughts are the seeds

Kind words are blossoms

The fruits are kind deeds.

by

Kindred Spirits

I made this little bag with their beautiful design that of Alice and Sally long ago, and now Alice is the sole proprietor of our beloved Kindred Spirits. I treasure their kind simplicity.

This little necessary of a box with a drawer latches onto a table. The primitive linen pinkeep is so very endearing with it's wee mended spot just for a favorite needle. Thimbles in the drawer, and everything is ready for a quiet sewing session in the front parlor.

I procured this little wonder from Curry's Antiques in beautiful Lancaster, Ohio.

My New Floor Cloth

Last night Gregory and I were privileged to have been invited to a showing of the beautiful, floor-cloths by Gracewood Design at the exquisite Architectural Heritage Center of Portland. And look what I came home with! Oh I love this beautiful design from the Edward Durant house of Newton Center, MA which was built in the year 1780. The exhibit will continue through February 28th, and it is opened Wed. through Sat. from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

We in the Portland area are honored to have Gracewood Designs right here with us, always, for Kenneth and Gwenith moved here from the Bay area, a few years ago, and are here to stay. They originated in New England where Ken's famous mother, Polly Forcier, of MB Historic Decor still lives in beautiful Quechee, Vermont.

Their work is the finest I've seen in floor cloths, for I have seen many and have even made several myself. Pictured in the above photo is my reproduction Voit doll, Abigail, who resides in this our guest bedroom, and atop the old trunk (which is filled with fabrics) is Abigail Adams, a lovely doll made by the incredible historical doll maker, Nina Mason. Hence this room is indeed the Abigail room, and is all the more wonderful for me with my beautiful, historic floor cloth.

To read more about floor cloths, please visit the following link and enjoy a wonderful story written by my husband, Gregory LeFever. ~ Floor Cloths