Some of you may remember that my mother (Connie, for those of you who follow our comments) is undergoing an incredibly painstaking home renovation this winter. Since she is overhauling her entire house she and my stepfather are being forced into the basement for 4 months (ha ha). Don’t worry, though, the basement comes equipped with a window, a bathroom, a refrigerator and, most importantly, a wet bar. The renovation hasn’t had much impact on me as I’m able to suffer through the torment of picking new tile from a safe distance of roughly 1,500 miles. I have had the misfortune, however, of losing most of my office space to make room for boxes and boxes of family “heirlooms.” Hey, after almost 50 years, and 3 generations of families, that basement has accumulated more than it’s fair share of crap-ola. When my mother called me this weekend, going through more stuff, I wanted to hang up the phone and change my number, instead I allowed her to send pictures of the items I was to pick through:
I call this piece “meditation on cut glass.” My grandmother’s love for cut glass was exceeded only by her affinity for rust and avocado, and for some reason, 21 years since her passing my mother still has it in her basement. Those beautiful yellow linoleum counters are probably the youngest item in this photo. Sad, sad.
I sifted through – oh, this is only the tip of the iceberg, i really spared you kids – and picked my poison: that bust statue, for example, was a keeper. However, I probably would have been a more enthusiastic participant if my mother’s offerings had looked a bit more like this:
Jaime hayon has teamed up with Baccarat, designing his Crystal Candy series of whimsical vases that recently debuted at MAISON et OBJET. Now, other than a sad fabric design commision for Bernhardt Design with disastrous results, this Spanish design superstar continues to prove that he really can do no wrong…minus the one time. Let’s take a closer look:
Sorry I got a little carried away with the pictures there, I couldn’t pick a favorite. Now, raise your hand if you think that this would have been a better selection for dear-ole-ma to share with me. I mean, really, she didn’t even need that fancy backdrop from photo 1, I would have settled with this:
Of course, after her renovations are complete (will it ever end??!!) I expect to see something more like this:
Feeling overwhelmed, Ma? Don’t worry, I dug up some sketches to get you started:
Ok, let’s see, a little cut here, some honeycomb pattern there, and, yes, a splash of red. See ma, easy! What else are you going to do while you’re hanging out at the bar in the basement? You can’t cook in that easy bake oven I got you all the time.
P.S. I would like to stage a preemptive strike: No mothers are allowed to leave comments that allude to any of the following:
“I didn’t have to send you anything, I could have sent it all to (blank)”
“Fine, then I won’t bother asking your opinion on my tile selection anymore”
Or
“What easy bake oven?”
+++++
Update for Raina, why did I leave this one out before:
Related posts:
I’m sorry to say, I’d include this project on the eh, miss, for me. It’s sort of like, good for cut glass, but then again…
Maybe I like the footed glasses with ears, but it’d be like Object #398123409682093485039845 in my priority of wants/desires.
Connie does not seem like an avocado and rust kind of lady to me. I see her more as a plum and gold kind of girl. But not a Golden Girl. Connie is far too suave for that nonsense.
Perhaps you could take some of the cut glass pieces and paint the insides gold for yourself…?
I love Hayon’s rabbit eared piece. Funny bunny!
I do like the bust you’ve chosen though! And funny about the counters being the youngest element…
The only things I hope to take from my parents home that are remotely ‘heirloom like’ are a water buffalo horn (or some sort of horn that came from Vietnam) and the tall brass giraffe that MIGHT still be in their yard. Possibly a round antique Chinese tea table with four stools that fit like wedges underneath, but then I am not sure if I could ever work something that ornate into my space…
My parents have some Georg Jensen glass I’ve been eyeing for years…
I’m a rotten kid. My dad’s been saying it for years.
Preemptive strike aside, please remember this stuff was in several boxes marked “Karly’s stuff from Meme.” Randy didn’t want to waste his time packing and shipping it unless you really wanted it.
You’d better make more room in your office because more boxes are coming your way. Including, of course, Meme’s gold mirror, the ’70’s posters, her china and all the other stuff you now are dismissing but wanted terribly several years ago. Kisses
you know, connie, i have the power to delete comments.
cute
Connie, if you decide Karly no longer deserves Meme’s gold mirror or those 70’s posters, you know where to send them.
Hands off, Erin, unlike the piles of cut glass and lotus bowls, I have been BEGGING for the mirror and the posters.
PS, painting the inside of the cut glass is genius, erin. I think I smell a craft day coming up
@&%*ing hell. My life has been transformed by that gold and green vessel of loveliness.
Want, want, want, want, WANT.
New blogging rule – None of us can post about El Jaime without including a photograph of the man. He’s scrumptious. And I love him.
ACK! Thankies!
He looks like he just rolled out of bed and into his studio…
Sorry. I was thinking about him rolling out of bed.
Ugh, I thought the cut glass obsession was an Eastern European thing, they are attracted to it like flies to sh*t! But, I guess it’s generational, because I was lucky enough to inherit my paternal grandmother’s stash, and it has resided on three entire shelves in my kitchen cabinet ever since. It’s taking up valuable real estate, so if you come up with some magical transformative craftiness Karly, please share! I’d love to Goodwill it, but the guilt would eat me up and Babushka would come back to haunt me like that graveyard scene from Fiddler on the Roof.
NKP, you are hot on the trail of some upcoming posts. I’ve been brainstorming and Eastern European trend report, and hadn’t even thought to include cut glass! If our craft night goes well, I’ll post the results.
So, Connie, looks like you can throw in (a couple) of pieces of cut glass after all
Meme will be pleased that you’ve come over to the dark (ahem gold glitter) side. I remember her saying something about making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear… :0
Oh and the whole Eastern European thing is perfect, she was of German/Austrian descent.
If you need any pointers Karly, I hail from the now defunct Soviet Union, land of matryoshka dolls, vodka, and cured meats. Now those are some blazing hot trends, nyet! (no)
Actually, the matryoshka dolls are EVERYWHERE!
Yeah, I never really got that trend, Erin. Don’t get me wrong, I think they are cute and folksy and all that, but I suppose since I grew up with them the cool factor escapes me.
I had a similar experience with my parents when they completely renovated their house. They pretty much dumped all my childhood memories in boxes and told me to come get my sh&t. Oh and then they moved into my old room. Part devastation…but I am 26 and haven’t lived there in about 8 years. On a happier note – love the glass!
A pal recommended me to check out this website, great post, fascinating read… keep up the cool work!