Patty Van Dorin

roses and hyacinth

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linens and tooled leather

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good bye to the fishes

Things that are making me happy today.

A late blooming camellia which was a pleasant surprise in the splotched colors.
This is the first time that I had seen this plant bloom as I had not yet purchased my house to see it bloom last year.
A happy surprise.

Please over look the white flecks on the leaves as it is over spray from painting this past weekend.

Now here's a story, read along if you have time.

When we had to relocate to our current location, I had a specific area I wanted to live in. AND since I am not loaded with cash, I knew it would be hard, if not impossible to find a house. BUT, the heavens must have been smiling on me the day I found a house for sale in my meager budget.

In my neighborhood very few houses come up for sale. It is an old beach neighborhood and when homes do come on the market, they are pricey, quickly torn down and mini mansions are then constructed.

But waiting for me was my soon to be very own "special" tiny beach cottage. (note that I used the word special)  Why no one snapped it up and demolished is fortunate for me. Maybe because it is set back far from the street. Maybe because the vegetation was so out of control that even trying to get to the house was like a modern day Tarzan adventure.

Or maybe it was because the previous owner had painted murals over all the exterior walls. All the walls, ground to roof, everything. Now granted, the painter was very talented, like Diego Rivera talented when it comes to mural painting. BUT, the house was painted to look a giant aquarium. Seriously, a mega aquarium with windows, doors and a very old roof. I don’t think even Frieda Kahlo would approve.

In my town, this house was called "The Mermaid Cottage" because of all these incredibly detailed murals. Yes, it was cool but... parking next to a 10 foot dolphin every day is odd, having to tell the UPS man to leave the packages by the orca is wierd and gardening under a school of 5 foot sea turtles starts to become a bit surreal for real life.

Anyways, last weekend, 20 gallons of primer was purchased and I said my fare thee well to the fishes... and frogs.

It was sad to cover up the talented painting but it is time to move on to having a "real" and ordinary house.

I have spent months and hundreds of paint samples trying to find the perfect house paint colors. Some how I feel that if I found the perfect color scheme, it would make covering the murals acceptable. But then really a house with murals....do I really need to justify it.

Here is what I picked out.

How fitting and surprised I was to find the name of the color that I chose for the house is called "Spanish Galleon".
Seems fitting doesn't it for the Mermaid Cottage.

"Hoist your sail when the wind is fair"
translated: "there will be painting this weekend if the weather holds out".

concentric

Circles have always appealed to me and if they are concentric all the better.

Concentric - urban gypsy necklace
click here for more pictures and details

Birds from Bodega Bay

Some new pieces from my Urban Gypsy jewlery




Birds from Bodega Bay
click here for more pictures and details

The necklace above was inspired from my favorite scary movie of all times along with my passion for old rusty salvage. I think this necklace is one of my top favorite pieces.



below is another Urban Salvage necklace



Summon
Click here for more pictures and details

Wishing everyone a good time and safe Mardi Gras weekend
" Laissez les bons temps rouler "

stuff I find while gardening

When gardening, sometimes I find a treasure that I will clean up and add to the collection of "things I find when gardening". There was a time when I found quite a few fossils, not so much at the new house. Mostly my recent finds are shells and toys that had been left in the yard and forgotten over time.

Some are old like arrowheads, campfire glass, sun colored amethyst
and some are new.

I think the new items may be perfect for use in a shrine. 
 

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