The Circle of (Bead) Life

Some of my newly acquired bead stash

 I love heirlooms, hand-me-downs, and other sorts of already-used goods. I love their stories, and the fact that they belonged to someone else before me. And I love especially when I can make things out of them!

I recently acquired a collection of beads, findings, and other random bric-a-brac from a friend's mother, who had inherited it from her aunt. Her aunt was a crafty lady who throughout her life made her own jewelry, including stringing her own pearl necklaces (this is a level of sophistication I have not yet reached).

When my friend's mom acquired this stash, she was very generous in passing it along to me, though it was fitting. After all, I started my first jewelry business "Beads & More" with her daughter when we were about 8 or 9. And when my friend's interest in jewelry dwindled, her mom took me in as a surrogate crafting protégé. She taught me to knit about 5 years ago, and I've been a knitting fiend ever since (though in recent months it's taken a back seat to Bric & Brac). In addition to knitting for myself, she's recruited me to donate scarves to a thyroid cancer foundation, Light of Life, which she's involved in.

Brass and Turquoise Baubles Earrings

Metal, Glass, and Pearl Baubles Earrings

So now she's passed the beads along to me. I've already started creating with them, combining with my existing stash, with other beads acquired from myriad different places.  Some of the resulting jewelry I'll use for my own purposes (see my new Etsy additions above), and other pieces will be donated back to the Light of Life Foundation. I hope they (as well as all my pieces) go back into the cycle of changing hands, doing good, and making people happy.

Object Project: Virgin and Child Key Chain

Submitted by Kelsey Fox Bennett of Inner Art Creations

As I rummaged around my drawers there were many trinkets and keepsakes that caught my eye... the matching earrings and ring I bought in Paris, the necklace given to me by my first boyfriend, and the handful of lonely earrings that I love so much I keep them even though they are missing their partner.  Yet there was one thing that had a story I really wanted to share and that was this Virgin Mary & Baby Jesus key chain. What makes this an interesting keepsake is that I'm not a religious person and yet this specific key chain is connected to and represents many of the things I value and hold dear to my heart.

I received this key chain from an Africanizing Arch Bishop I met in Ghana. I was in Ghana with my African singing and dance professor and friend, Nii Armah. There was a small group of us and we stayed for two months with Nii Armah's family in La, a suburb of Accra. Nii Armah seemed to know everyone and anyone he didn't know he would soon make friends with. It was no different when we traveled to Northern Ghana and went to dine with this Africanizing Arch Bishop.

When I say Africanizing, I mean that although he is an Arch Bishop and stands firmly by the holy trinity, he also supports and values traditional Ghanaian culture and finds it is merely another form of worshiping God. We spent the evening with him as he sat at the head of the table and spoke with us about his beliefs. Following dinner we were taken to his courtyard where we proceeded to watch and partake in traditional singing and dancing late into the night. To say the least it was a magical evening.

There are many things I will never forget from that trip and one of them is that night and the realization that we are all the same, with varying viewpoints and approaches, but ultimately, living, breathing, and celebrating the gifts we are given, whether they be by God or the Universe, they are bountiful and we should celebrate any way we know how.

Thanks so much to Kelsey for her beautiful object contribution. Do you have a story hiding in a drawer somewhere? Submit it here!

What treasures do you have buried in your closet?

Photo courtesy of Creekside Diner

While there are many things that are important to our existence--cell phones, computers, shoes, toothbrushes, etc.--very few objects are elevated beyond their utilitarian functions.  When they are, it often has little to do with the object itself, but with what it represents.  This is why objects can become so meaningful, and are such a great way to remember a significant time in our life, our family, or history.

But when do you stop to think about these important objects?  How often do you dust off the trinkets on your bookcase or the forgotten treasure buried in the back of your closet, or even find a discarded piece of furniture by the side of the road and think about its story, what it has seen, who has owned it and loved it?

Thinking about these stories helps us appreciate what we have, or even what we are getting rid of.  In these objects we can discover the beauty of everyday life, relive old memories, or pass on histories that may otherwise go untold or be forgotten.

I want to share these stories here on Bric & Brac.  So go searching on your shelves, in drawers, and under your bed for hidden treasures, and contribute your object and story to the Object Project.  What objects are important to you?  What interesting, strange and beautiful things can you dig up?  Share them!

My Life in Art

Woman Reading by Mary Cassatt. Who doesn't love these?

Some of the most important objects by which I track my life are works of art (which are things, after all). Where I've been, what I've seen, what has interested me, who I was with, etc.

I've been very fortunate to have traveled a good amount and to have seen some of the most amazing art collections in the world (living in New York is good for that too).  When traveling in Europe with a friend a few years ago, we even used our art history class's syllabus of important art works as a sort of checklist. Paris? Check David, Ingres, and Delacroix.  Madrid?  Check Velazquez and Goya.  Florence?  Check Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Da Vinci.  Etc.  Discovering these masterworks was really exciting and important to us at the time, as we were eager to take what we were seeing in class out to the larger world.  To live what we'd already learned.

Now over a year out of college, back from another grand adventure in Europe, my perspective has certainly changed.  Art is still a central focus, but I'm trying to steer it towards my future.  Although I'll always love art history, I'm trying to find a more practical niche for this interest.  It's less about what I can learn and absorb from around me than what I can do.  I find the art I'm drawn to now is the ordinary and accessible: the art I see in the streets of New York or on the internet, or the crafts I make and discover on Etsy.

But then it's fun to rediscover works of art I have encountered in the past and reminisce.  Recently I started interning at a company that archives images, and though I am charged with a somewhat tedious task of sorting transparencies (which is how they copy images), it can be fun to discover works that I know or have seen in person or otherwise have a connection to.  Some examples:

Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch, which I experienced (yes, it's an experience) at the Prado in Madrid

Four Ages of Man by Valentin de Boulogne, which I had seen in my college's museum

The Last Judgement by Van Der Weyden, which I stumbled upon in Beaune, in Burgundy, France

Hopefully there will be many more exciting discoveries to come! But maybe not too many; I would happily cast some of these memories in order to move from the seeing to the doing phases...

Are there any objects--art or otherwise--through which you can track important moments in your life?

A Catalogue of Discarded Objects

Having embarked on a mission to declutter my life, I've unearthed many wonderful objects, though my room doesn't have enough space to contain them all. They've lived full, useful lives, and though the time has come to say goodbye, their stories will be maintained here.

Gap knit straw purse, c. 2008

Purpose: Carrying all necessary objects--and many unnecessary objects--to and fro, back and forth, day in and day out

Condition: Ratty

Reason for discarding: Worn to pieces; upgraded for ‘mature’ leather purse

Lime green fanny pack; ‘VICE’ reads on front, c. 2009

Purpose: Distinguishing oneself as ironic and therefore hip

Condition: Very good; appears unused

Reason for discarding: Post-college hipster days, serves very little purpose in 'real' world

Large orange corduroy shoulder bag, c. 2007

Purpose: Containing textbooks and notebooks; library companion

Condition: Very worn

Reason for discarding: Falling apart; no more library trips necessary

Fuzzy blue slippers, c. 2000

Purpose: Keeping feet warm; serving as an obstacle to casually walking around house

Condition: Fair

Reason for discarding: Unworn since 2001

Two pairs ballet pointe shoes, c. 1999-2001

Purpose: Prior to level of serious dancing, the cause of blisters and twisted ankles

Condition: Worn, but not well enough to indicate serious dancing

Reason for discarding: Level of serious dancing never achieved

Cell phone, c. 2006

Purpose: Making phone calls and sending very few, very sparsely worded text messages

Condition: Fair 
Reason for discarding: Non-functioning and seriously outdated

Lucite cube paperweight with colored beads, c. 1995

Purpose: Taking up space on desk, may have served as slightly thoughtful go-to gift

Condition: Fair

Reason for discarding: Too garish for today's tastes; no papers in need of a weight

Clearing the Clutter

With summer coming to an end, it feels like so much is just beginning.  After 4 months of relentless applications with almost no feedback, finally--FINALLY--it appears I've landed an internship at an art library!  It's a small step but hey, it's something.

I'm all set to be a new me: the me with in an internship in art in New York City, who can SEE now the first step to my future.  And the first thing I did?  Started clearing out my closet, my drawers, my desk and dresser.  I hope it doesn't sound superficial, but I feel the things that surround us--our possessions and even our clothes--definitely have an impact on the way we see ourselves and our situation.  So it was a therapeutic session going through the OLD--old clothes, defunct technology, unnecessary papers and other relics of a frustrating summer--and clearing myself a new space, and making some breathing room.

Not everything I found wound up in the trash bag though, and as satisfying as it is to throw away, it is also a wonderful feeling from time to time to unearth objects from your past and to physically see where you were then and where you are now.  I found old pictures, books, tons of school notebooks, craft supplies (some things never change), a harmonica, computer games, ballet slippers, and notes written by my parents on the eve of my coming of age.  Notes about how scary the world may seem, and how I may doubt myself, but I'm capable of so much.  Which is not a bad treasure to unearth, perhaps the best--and most necessary--of them all.

That all said, I'm not quite there yet.  I'm still sorting and organizing, still working on moving the junk out.  And of course there will more brought in everyday: new things for a new me.  This is my future, folks.

Buried Treasures on TV

Turns out, this is a pretty au courant time to be exploring interesting objects.  Recently, the subject has been exploding on TV, and now has a newest iteration in "Buried Treasure" on Fox.  I'm not a huge TV follower, but of course am familiar with "Antiques Roadshow," where ordinary people bring seemingly ordinary objects to be appraised by experts and find out they're worth whopping sums of money.  This is just the granddaddy of what is apparently called the "pawn-reality genre," and includes The History Channel's "Pawn Stars," Spike's "Auction Hunters," and Discovery's "Auction Kings," among others.  I'd throw into this list TLC's "Hoarders," because though of a very different sort, it's another show that is obsessed with things.

So why this popularity of shows about stuff?  Maybe in our materialist culture, people are just obsessed with things.  Or, maybe it is the stories and history behind objects that interests them.  Maybe they are intrigued by the high sums of money in which the shows deal.  Or, the shows could simply reflect the timeless Cinderella story: average people bring in what seems to be everyday junk, but is revealed to be valuable treasure.

Anyway, I let my curiosity get the better of me and watched the premiere of Buried Treasure.

 

Over-dramatization and corny graphics aside, there were actually some interesting aspects to this show.  In contrast to Antiques Roadshow and Pawn Stars, Buried Treasure actually brings you into people's homes, and gives you a greater sense of the everyday contexts of extraordinary objects and the significance they hold in the owners' lives.  In addition, rather than just valuing these treasures based on monetary worth, we see more their emotional value as a family heirloom or personal relic. And then at the extreme end, we see what happens when the objects take over a person's life.

As I go forward with this blog and my interest in objects, I wonder if it is even a good thing to be so interested in things: so quickly one can fall off the edge into materialism or at worst, hoarding.  There are a great number of wonderful, interesting, valuable objects out there, but obviously they are not the most important part of life.  At the very least, I hope the interest in these shows reflects that; they are just entertainment, after all.