MY INSPIRATION

I remember it so vividly! Peering through the glass at the all of the delicious colors of ice cream swirling about. It made me want to just get my hands in there and create something wonderful! You know the one I'm talking about. The one with 31 wonderful, delectable flavors. I'd go there with my dad at least once a week. I would always get "English Toffee" or "Peppermint Stick", when it was in season. My dad always got either "Oregon Blackberry" or "English Walnut". (I thought my dad got such exotic flavors!) I was so fascinated with those large commercial sized ice cream containers.
And then one day it happened! I walked into the door of my kindergarten class room. I was greeted with stacks and stacks of these very same containers. This time they did not contain the beautiful colors I was so familiar with. However, they were just waiting to be decorated. We were going to make trash cans! We were given our own box of crayons with those exotic looking colors. We were also given very large pieces of "English Toffee" colored paper that was pre-cut to the dimensions of these cardboard cans. The possibilities seemed endless with this incredibly large canvas.
So there I was lying on the floor of my classroom, drawing very deliberate lines on my carefully planned design. I drew "Oregon Blackberry" purple and "Peppermint Stick" pink colored flowers. We then got to glue our masterpieces onto our ice cream containers......and VOILA! A TRASH CAN appeared before our very eyes!
I was quite impressed by this fabulous idea. It was "functional art" at it's finest! There was no turning back for me now! I was hooked! This was a magical day. I realized that I could make art out of plain ordinary objects. It was the dawning of a whole new mindset for me. Since that day of discovery in kindergarten I have always loved art. The familiar smell of the crayons, or the paint or the play-doh always brings back the fondest of memories for me.
While I'm on the subject of "fond memories", the ones I hold dearest,
are those of trips to my grandmother's house. I knew there was ALWAYS
something wonderful in store for me when I arrived! Whether it was a
crystal dish full of my favorite candy, which I immediately devoured
upon arrival, or the grape juice that was poured into special
gold-rimmed glasses, or just exploring all of the incredibly wondrous
things she had collected over the years. I knew that going to "grandma's house" would always be a fun experience! You see, my grandmother was already quite elderly when I was born. My father was the youngest of eleven children so I was her baby boys' first baby. I know she loved all of her
grandchildren the same, but I think she held a special fondness for me
because she always remarked about my "strawberry blonde hair" and my
"peaches and cream complexion". She affectionately said that I reminded
her of "Aunt Bertha".
My grandmother lived in the most incredible house in Glendale, California.
When we visited there, I pretty much had "free reign" of the place. It was a
territory just waiting for me to explore! Over the years she had collected quite a few interesting things. Her house was full of old buttons, fabulous jewelry, furs, hats, gloves, purses, shoes, dolls, poodle statues, trinkets, bells, crystal, silver, china, chandeliers and more. You name it, this fabulous woman had it! Hence, my love for all things old. They are things that remind me of my wonderful grandmother, Ruby and the memorable times spent at her house. She has been my inspiration for my love of "vintage" style art and mixed media.


Julie