A Few of my Favorite Things

Art. I like what I like.  Friday I hit the yard sales. They weren't good. Since I hadn't had my fix of finding a good deal, I visited three separate thrift stores to see what I could find.

At St. Vincent de Paul's, I found this beautiful watercolor. My favorite art medium is watercolor paintings. Some of my favorite artists were those of French Impressionism. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas - to just name a few. I love the  wash of colors that were incorporated.  My favorite classical music is French Impressionistic.  One day, I would love to take some lessons and learn how to water color paint.

So back to the piece of art that I found. This was not a print, but an original. It had a white matte attached to it that was held together in the back with some brittle, yellow aged tape. It had no price tag on it. I thought it was pretty, so inquired as to how much it was. $2.00... SOLD!

The artist? Elsie Lower Pomeroy.  I did a little research and found out that she was a California artist that lived from 1882- 1971.  Other than that, I haven't found much else. But I love it! Now the trick will be to find a suitable frame. For now it sits unframed on a shelf ledge in my family room.

The other print I picked up was a Reyn Reynolds print, Portofino for $3.00. I liked the colors and think it will look great in one of the rooms of my house. Once again, I will need to find a frame for this 24" x 36"  print.

While on the subject of art, I thought I would share some other "finds" that I have acquired over the years.

Four years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Cusco, Peru and Hike the classic Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with my parents and one of my brothers. One of the days while we were on the Plaza de Armas in Cusco, we were accosted  approached by some street vendors that were trying to sell some of their art. I am a sucker for watercolors, so I bought this original piece of art depicting a scene in the Andes with llamas and Quechua Indian women.  I think that I picked it up for the equivalent of $15.00.  It's not in the fanciest of frames right now, but down the road I will frame it in something a bit nicer.  A few days earlier, I saw an original watercolor of Machu Picchu, in a collection that a street vendor was trying to sell. I didn't buy it then, because I was certain I would see it again. I didn't, and to this day am still kicking myself that I didn't buy it at that time.

Some other pieces of art...

About 13 years ago when I was a student at the University, I was working at the University library in the music department. My employer was going through a collection of old (crumbly) sheet music and found a set of watercolor prints in the music. They were of scenes in Paris. I loved them, she offered them to me and I took them home. 

18. Paris. Rue du Chevalier de la Barre

 28. Paris. La tour Eiffel

32. Paris Montmartre.  le  Sacré-Cœur

                                

 
 

26. Paris - Notre Dame et la Seine

The painter's name was not easily deciphered and it was not until recently that I was at a local Goodwill and found another aquatint watercolor print in this same series for $1.99 in a cheap, cheap document frame with broken glass. I of course snatched it up and was ecstatic to find it.

 

35. Paris St.Pierre de Montmartre

I did an Internet search with the title of one of the prints, describing the art, and came up with the name of Marius Girard, a French artist who worked/painted in the 1960's.
I would love to know how many are in the series and to have them all of course. If you see one, or find one and you don't want it. Let me know!

And finally, saving the best for last. I have an 8 soon to be 9 year old that has some learning disabilities and a motor planning disorder called Dyspraxia - amongst many other things. They are very much hidden disabilities, and just by looking at her, you would never guess she had so many obstacles. Anyway, that is the Reader's Digest Version. LOL

Her first couple of years of school when we were really troubleshooting and getting her tested, school was REALLY, REALLY hard and very frustrating and my kiddo was in tears most of the time. I spent a lot of time helping out in her classroom and developed a close bond with her teacher. This teacher was also great at teaching art and the kindergartners spent a lot of time creating art, that the teacher would walk them through step by step, and then put their own spin on it. My daughter loves art and it was something that she looked forward to and could put her own creative touch to. On the last day of school two years ago, this teacher handed me a rather large parcel. I unwrapped it to find a framed piece of art that my daughter had created, that they kept hidden from me as a special surprise. Knowing the struggles of the year and getting to be the mother of this special kid, it brought tears to my eyes. I proudly display it on my wall, at the bottom of the stairs and it is there for me to see every day. It's a combination of black Sharpie marker, watercolors, and chalk.  Please excuse the blurred out blob at the left hand corner of the painting. I blurred out my daughter's name, so that is why it looks funny.

How about you? Do you have a favorite piece of art hanging in your house, and what is it?

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