Monday, August 3, 2009

Rewind Wednesday - Through an artist's eye

It's hump day! Time for another blast from the past so graciously hosted by Kelly and Victoria at design-ties.blogspot.com/. This fun weekly event lets us repost something from our archives, allowing us more time for gardening, decorating, putting our head in the freezer to escape the heat - you get the picture! If you haven't been to visit these gals, you really should. They have a fantastic blog chock full of great decorating and great humor! This post originally appeared in February as a Metamorphosis Monday link. I thought it was a fun way to try and see things through the eyes of an artist.


Today I am sharing a different kind of metamorphosis, the one that occurs in an artist's mind as he is painting. This idea actually originated with a phone call from my husband. Late Thursday afternoon the phone rang and it was DH, who was at Pier One. Now, first you have to understand that if I want to go to Pier One, I have to drag him kicking and screaming (or at least alot of frowning). So my curiosity was piqued, to say the least. He said he was looking for props for the gallery window. DH " Do we have a bottle of red wine that I can use" Yes, we did. "Do we have a wine glass that I can use" Yes, we did. "I'm looking for a bottle glass vase" - well you may have to go to Pottery Barn for that one. "Where can I find white linen napkins or tea towels?" At this point, I was thinking of all of my tablescaping buddies in blogland, so I told him to check TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc. In the background I can hear him clinking and clanking through all of the glass ware and I got a fit of the giggles. I told some of my blogland buds that I can't do a tablescape to save my life, but my DH was doing one! Needless to say, he wasn't amused. So I asked what kind of display they were doing, and he said he wanted to mock up two of their still life pieces so people could see what the set up looked like, and how the artist actually saw it in the final painting. So I thought, hmmm . . . this could be a great idea for Met Monday. I'm out of projects around the house (actually I'm not out of projects, I just haven't started on any of them!) So this is what I came up with!



This is the basic mock up for a piece entitled Tropical Reflections.

"Tropical Reflections" by Kyle Polzin courtesy of Windberg Enterprises

Props used for a piece entitled Island Interlude. Notice the wine bottle - DH said ours had
the "wrong" type of label, so I was shopping Thursday night for a bottle of wine with the "right" kind of label! The clerk asked if I liked this particular wine, and I had to tell him I had no idea, it was being used in a window display. I think he may have wondered if I'd already sampled some!

"Island Interlude" by Kyle Polzin, courtesy of Windberg Enterprises


The window as it looks now. DH said that they have had more people stop to look at this vignette than any other display they have done. Here's hoping that we have done our part to stimulate the economy! (Excuse the reflection in the glass, I could NOT figure out how to get this shot without getting myself in it too)

Hope you enjoyed this - it was one of my favorite posts to do. Now jump on over and visit Design Ties and see who else is being lazy, er, digging up treasure from their archives!

14 comments:

DesignTies said...

Kathy... you're the best!! Thanks so much for hitting the rewind button with us each week!! I do wish we had more participants, but really... our primary goal is to be FREE to enjoy our summer days & nights, and if you and any other blogparty participant gets the same benefit... fantastic!

Thanks also for your lovely comment on my re-post :-) BTW... be sure to let me know when you write about the historic neighbourhoods in your community... I'll want to see!!

Victoria @ DesignTies

nikkicrumpet said...

I remember this post...and I enjoyed reading it again. Sheesh I should have just re-posted for the last month. I wish I had thought of this! It's good to be back and visiting my friends. Great to read you again!

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Hi Kat! I remember being so impressed by your dh's creativity!! I love it! Has he done this with any more paintings? I'm sure people stopped in their tracks to check out this window!! Hope you are having a great week!...hugs...Debbie

Lori E said...

Those displays are fabulous. I would have bought the wrong kind of wine a few times so I could take the others home.
What a great idea.

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

GM Kat, girl I so remember this post and still think it's awesome what your DH did...great display...Thanks for coming by and seeing my little family...Oh Girl I had the best time with them...just non-stop for 6 days and so tired by the time I got home at 2am on Tuesday morning I spent the whole day just sleeping ha ha!! May you have a great weekend my Dear friend...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Lynne (lynnesgiftsfromtheheart) said...

Oh sweetie, this was beautiful.. what an awesome thing your hubby did...thanks for swinging in to see Mr.P. having a good day.. they are so far and few between I try to capture as many as I can.. today isn't one of those days... so an hour at a time... I hope all is well your way.... hugs ~lynne~

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

I remember this post. I just thought that was such a fabulous idea! The window looked great, and what a clever presentation. laurie

Bill said...

It's the first time I've seen the post. Very beautifully done, and I think it all hinged on you finding the (visually) perfect label!

Fun post! Hope your weekend goes well...

Bill

sunnymama said...

That is an awesome window display! Very creative and lovely details :)

Lynette said...

I don't remember that post!! It is incredible looking and if you hadn't mentioned your reflection, I wouldn't have noticed - I was so busy comparing the original and the mock up!! How neat!

I do remember the story of Cait and the cat and how her jacket was wiggling (sp?) and she'd brought home that stray kitty! I can ship a full grown, completely de-clawed, fixed (never can remember what a female is - spayed or neutered) cat for free to be its playmate - come on - whad-ya-say?

I listed the "AUTUMN" blocks last night - go check 'em out! It's probably to early, but I couldn't wait!

Happy Monday -

Carol said...

It is hard to tell props from the real painting. I am an artist and really enjoy setting up neat still lives, but the idea of disciplining myself to get such a great painting done is hard. I am always up and running. I teach junior high and high school art.

Gypsy Lala said...

Enjoy reading your post, I like the purple flowers in the header...

Lee said...

Howdy, I am new to blogging and a southern gal... so I joined in your fun ... I enjoyed my visit.
Thank you.

Lee said...

I am back... thanks for following my blog... I too am a lover of art...second generation artist... my Dad is a painter and wood sculptor...he is quite good and just turned 84, I will do some post on his work as I own some water colors and wood sculptors....thanks again for stopping by... the window made me thirsty by the way. Oh and took your button of Texas too!