Home Accents

Even the smallest things...

Painted fish on the veranda


Often to make a statement, you don't need to raise your voice.  
For the most part,  a few well placed words can be more important than the volume at which they are expressed.

As is the case with adding color to your home or office.  To prove my point, I will use my artsy painted fish and a Deco-Bauble as examples.

The painted fish create an inviting-home feel to this balcony seating area.  The wood of the fish emits a warm feel and the colorful painted designs on them add an artistic interest to the table.  The art on the table becomes a visual interest competing with the waterfall in the background - this tension gives the scene life.

Deco-Bauble on the Patio

The branch of seashells as decoration on this patio was an ideal place for a Deco-Bauble to show off its captivating colors & shape.

The cool colors of the ocean and sky need a warm contrast
to break up the monochromatic view.
The color in the foreground gives depth to the scene and more definition to the seashells on the branch.

                 Color is Life

Colors affect so many aspects of your life, sometimes with just a glimmer on a table top, a shelf or hanging in a window.

Every Deco-Bauble we make is completely unique.  The shape, the colors in the wood and the beading are tailor-made to capture a memory or a celebration of a special event in your life or the lives of others.

          

Musky Day "Fly In" - Boulder Junction, Wisconsin 2011

Life just blows past me   
like a hurricane,
 or at least that's how it feels when I realize that another opportunity was missed to learn about somebody who had lead a very interesting life.


Robert Payzer was the latest in a long line of people I wished I could have known better.  He passed away last winter, but hopefully his Musky Day "Fly in"(Boulder Junction, Wisconsin) will go on for a long time to come.  This year his absence was celebrated by the naming of the Boulder Junction Airport to Payzer Memorial Field.

Float Planes on Boulder Lake

Float planes have always held a great deal of interest to me. I think it's the way they look, like it shouldn't actually work. Quite a few showed up this year and they make an impressive sight lined up on the lake shore.

Stearman PT-13 9 cyl. radial Lycoming

The old Stearman biplane always the center of attention of the fly in, probably has a lot to do with its great history.  Also that engine makes an impressive sight, and you can't forget the sound.

This day draws in many older planes and quite a few experimental planes, which are facinating to me in there construction. They all are built to a very high quality of fit and finish. You can learn a lot about design and function from looking them over and comparing similar features and how one designer accomplishes a task compared to another.

After all this talk about planes you would think I love to fly, nothing could be further from the truth.  I haven't been in a plane since I was about 14 years old. I just love machines.
If you would like to learn more about Robert Payzer, he made a website to catolog a bit of his history and it's quite fascinating. Go to ,  payzersplace.com

The Lovely Days in Paoli Wisconsin

This is a view of the park and seating area next to the "Lovely Days in Paoli" art gallery.





Next weekend,  Paoli is having "Art in the Mill Park" in the lawn/pathway seen in this picture above.
It is Sat. August 20th, 2011, 
10am - 5pm
around 30 Artists, Live Jazz & Good Food on the banks of the Sugar River
Bonus:  there is a live auction benefiting the Autism Society of Greater Madison

      We went there this morning to deliver a  sample of our work;  for display and sale.
       In all the years Inge and I have lived in Wisconsin, we had never taken the time to stop in Paoli.  What a giant mistake that has been,  Paoli is a gem of a town that has been hiding right under our noses.  I regret that we didn't have more time today to explore, but we will be coming back as soon we can.  It is so close to Madsion!

www.visitpaoli.com

The gallery is packed full of wonderful work done by local artists.  There is a good selection of jewelry, stained glass, fine paintings & photographs and wood workings.

Another fantastic day in Wisconsin

The picture says it all. I took this photo this afternoon at Tippery Point boat landing on Lake Wisconsin, while on a bike ride.

I suppose I could have written about grinding the mill scale off of steel parts or about sanding and varnishing wood, but I think I will just show you how wonderful a summer day can be in Poynette, Wisconsin.

More sights at John Muir Park

Finding treasures!






Taking a moment to step away from the busy tasks that make the world go round, that is the MUST that we need to do.



        Bob and I chose the John Muir Park near Portage, Wisconsin as our "step away" from our projects. As we walked the Ice Age Trail, the butterflies are in abundance.  I am snapping pictures, so to be sure to have record of my sightings, to have in my home as beauty & inspiration.   It was a wonderful feeling to have my skin absorbing the suns rays(enriching my body with Vitamin D) and  sweating out any toxins to help cleanse.   

Black Swallowtail Butterfly on a Compass Plant

I took full advantage of the pond scene to show off the Frog Accent that I recently finished.  The Frog stands at 13" tall and is 15" wide.  It is most adorable on a wall.


On the "Telling Card" that comes with the Frog Accent, is a short explanation /meanings from a frog.

 A creature of land and water, their metamorphosis through life is   telling...

Teaches us to find opportunities in transition.

Often thought to be the communicator between Mother Earth & humans.

Symbols;  luck, intuition, fertility, transformation and opportunity

I design the pattern for all my cut-outs and have them cut-out on a  Plasma Cutter.  I grind and finish them - then they are powder coated. The shimmer from the silver coating on this wall frog play well with the 

sparkle from the assortment of glass beads.

The hanging frog mobile Accent on the left has a copper metallic coating with a metallic shimmer accenting the glass beads. On the right is a frog with the black bronze metallic coating, the two colors have a fun contrast with each other.  

 Dimensions;  8 1/2"W x 7"H, overall hangs 20" 

Our next Art Show is the Wine & Harvest Festival in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. (Sept. 17th & 18th, 2011)
Bob & I also have our Art in the Princess Potosa Gallery in Potosi, Wisconsin and
the Cottage Garden Gallery of the Janesville Rotary Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin.

INSPIRATION IN YOUR DAILY LIFE CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE...

Photo Shoot - John Muir Park

     Inge & I took a venture out to visit the boyhood stomping grounds of the famous naturalist and explorer, John Muir.  Our journey took us about 10 miles north of Portage Wisconsin on County Highway F, in the township of Buffalo in Marquette County.  Already noticing the many butterflies along the roadsides Inge is putting her zoom lens on her camera in hopes of seeing a few more varieties to add to her collection of butterfly photos, as well as take pictures of our artwork amidst the inspirational scene.

     The Muir Family homesteaded the land around this lake in 1849.  He spent his teenage years working the farm across from the lake. He found his love of nature in the "sunny woods" and the lake rimmed with lilly pads.

     John Muir was very concerned about preserving this precious lake meadow area, so he bought the 40 acres surrounding the lake from his brother-in-law.  He requested that a fence be built around it, so that cattle or hogs could not break into it.

His dream was to keep it un-trampled for the sake of its ferns and flowers. This was his first attempt to preserve land for its beauty.

Black Swallowtail on Compass Plant

The moment we entered the prairie around the pond we sighted so many butterflies, Inge had fun trying to get good pictures of them. The Black Swallowtails were feeding intently on the Compass Plant.

Eastern Tailed Blue next to pond

This Eastern Tailed Blue butterfly is the size of a nickel,  a common variety of blue butterflies, prone to congregating in groups along ponds & streams - exactly where we found them next to the pond.  These pictures Inge took are her color inspired
treasures.

This butterfly end table is a custom order. I used the butterfly design that Inge created for her "Accents".     I segmented the butterfly cut-outs and welded them into unique compositions on each side of the table. The steel framework is ground to a medium bright finish(raw steel) and then clear coated. The table top is Curly Maple wood dyed chartreuse with a two inch Black Walnut border.

added note:  I also made this table with the Curly Maple dyed orange, as seen on my website slideshow.
DIMENSIONS;  19"W x 19"L x 24"H

Inge & I walk amidst the ever changing scenery around us and create artful pieces to have in our homes.