"A Collection"...........everybody needs one......
"Collecting has been my great extravagance. It's a way of being. I collect for the same reason that I eat too much-I'm one of nature's shoppers."
Howard Hodgkin
We collect a lot of things in our family. I have always felt that everyone should collect something. Something that gives them such great pleasure when they find another addition. Especially, when you find one of the treasures, in a place where you are not even looking. It can be a total discovery and a life long hobby. I started this bell collection after a friend of mine gave me my first bell as a bridesmaid gift. It inspired me to start this collection......oh and I have more collections, just keep reading.
Howard Hodgkin
Joe gave Jay and Lily two different cast net boxes, to start their collections. This is Jay's collection box. Notice the collection of Cars, Baccugan's (I have no idea how to spell that), and Geodes. This is what I found when I opened up his box. Now lets look at Lily's........
A little different. Clearly, there is one color difference in the two collection boxes....Pink!....Honestly the two collection are pretty much night and day. Lily chose sunglasses, baby doll bottles, a watch, a princess phone and goodness gracious..........is that a pink straight iron. Wooo ah. The teenage years sure are going to be interesting. I think she just collects anything that is PINK. Thats my, girly girl.
Jay is a natural born collector. He always has multiples of "something" in his pockets. One time after a dinner at our good friends restaurant, we went home for bath time and when Jay took off his shorts to get in the bath, we discovered he had two pockets full of rocks. We decided to see how many rocks he had swiped from the restaurant and we counted 55 rocks. I mean that is unbelievable. Who would have even thought you could get 55 rocks in a 4yr old pair of shorts. I Always knew he was a determined little guy. It would be really cool if one day we poured out his pockets and there were 55 gold coins..........well, I guess we would have to return the gold coins, we got to keep the rocks....
We collect these shells every year when we go on different trips and to the beaches of North Carolina. The shells are so different in NC than where we live. I have always loved the organic shapes and the soft relaxing colors. I save them with hopes of doing something with them someday. Together they tell a story of where we have been, and they make me feel at home. We will collect more next year and as soon as we figure out what to do with them I will let you know!
“It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire”
Robert Louis Stevenson quotes 
So for about the last 7 yrs I have been buying Diane Von Furstenberg dresses mostly to wear to work. They fit so well and they seem to be timeless. I wish so bad my mother would have kept all her DVF wrap dresses from the 70's. They would be really fun to have now. I am going to keep mine for Lily because the styles and patterns seem to be more desirable, the more vintage they are. And just look at all that color! How playful they all are together. Oh, and ebay is the place to look for the deals because they can be an investment.
I don't know how this group collected itself together but it made me laugh.......have you ever played the game "which one of these things doesn't belong"? Well, I think we all can tell who does not belong here but somehow they got together and became friends. I guess that is what happens when you live everyday, together in the same bathtub. Let this be a lesson to all, never judge.......friends for life.
"The Barnes Collection" is one of the largest collections of art owned by one person, in the world. It is estimated to be worth about $25 billion dollars and is mostly works by Impressionist and Modernest masters. Albert C. Barns was a chemist and after he made his fortune he began seriously collecting art.
He purchased land in a residential neighborhood in Philadelphia, PA and designed a building to display all of his art. One of the things that makes the collection so intriguing were his idiosyncratic arrangement of the art. He also wrote in the by-laws that the arrangements could never be changed and none of the pieces could ever be lent or sold. Everything must stay together the way he left it. But modern times have made it hard for his foundation to keep up the exhibit so a judge ruled that they must move the exhibit to a new building in downtown Philly. Although Mr. Barnes would not have liked this, I am sure these priceless works of art will be better taken care of in the long run. Now that is a collection that I really hope to see one day.
I know I have shown this picture before but this is our little tiny "Barnes Collection". It is wrapped up tight somewhere in storage. It might be small now but we are adding to it and each piece has meaning to us. I can't wait to see it all again in a year (or so). Opening these up again will surely be like Christmas.
My mother started me a collection of vintage beaded and mesh bags years ago and she would give me a different bag every Christmas to add to my collection. I want to give them to Lily one day.
This one is my favorite, it looks like an abstract painting. I think I might have it framed for the new house......might be fun in the powder room under the stairs.
You all have probably figured out by now that I am starting to collect turquoise cuff bracelets. As I get older I like bigger pieces and I really only wear bracelets and rings. Plus, a turquoise cuff will never ever ever go out of style and you can wear it on so many occasions. One exceptional accessory is all you really need to take you from day into night......and like many of you know, these days there is not always time to go home and change!
I hope everyone had a Thankful Thanksgiving and a Happy one too......J
Greetings Jenny Keenan.
ReplyDeleteStumble upon your blog. Great stuff.
I'm a bit of a kook for red as well. When you have time, peruse my artwork. Maybe you'll find something to peak your collective interests.
Thanks,
jab
www.jabart.com