Connected

I have a longing interest for all things past. History, ranging from literature to art and architecture, from
grand homes to cottages, from antiques and vintage items to private treasures. The list is endless.

I am drawn to old china, transfer ware, blue and white Meissen or Delft, old silver, cutlery, dishes, old photographs and letters, books of course and many pieces, which do not always fit easy description.
Just look at the beautiful clock my husband brought back many years ago from Amsterdam. Somebody made it it, had it sold to a Dutch family, it was sitting on a mantle, chiming their times high above the canals....and finally it found its way to America! A small house in New York.
Although unknown to me, I think of all of them.

All these things hold beauty and collective memories. When I gaze at an old picture I am moved towards these times, try to imagine the lives and circumstances. It fills me with compassion and melancholy of sorts.
I love the stories I hear. I feel like a collector of worlds. Its looking into mirrors.

When I touch the handle of the wonderful silver coated coffee pot, I bought on eBay a few months ago, I think not only of the friendly woman who sold it and turned out to be of German decent and her mother, whom the pot belong to, but also the times it has been used. It is an elegant piece, used perhaps at weddings or birthday parties?

Now it sits heavy and pretty on my window ledge and gets used again at parties and just recently was a centerpiece at my birthday.
If these pieces only could talk...

I particularly love old silver. The knowledge of how many hands have held on to the knives and forks, the circumstances under they were acquired, the places they have been...
I bought vintage silver from Connecticut and the Midwest, china from Florida and photographs and letters from Brooklyn. 

I have old roll clothes, used for pressing bedding and tablecloths from Germany and France, wooden candle holders from Belgium and vintage chandeliers found on City Island in the Bronx, NY.

And the books....well, this is another story!

There are also new things from our times, well made and precious to me. They also will be things of the past one day. I am keenly aware of this. 
For that reason I try to look for lasting things, well made furniture, fewer but better.
I am less interested to collect as much as possible anymore. Though I used to...
Now I look for the quality and our needs. What sense does it make to have a cupboard filled with china I never use?
I am a collector of things, but I have learned to be selective.

I am also a caretaker, a keeper of things close to me and I will pass them on. There will be again some one to take them from me, when I am gone and just my touch and memory will remain. There will be a story added. This connects me and I love the thought of being a part of the long chain of time.







All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

It's the small things

I've promised to post on details this year. It has fallen a bit wayside since we had some large things to take care of... but it always has a special place in my heart. 
This  Sunday is gray and cool and sprinkled with rain, it's the perfect time to muddle around the house and play with details...

I like to create small vignettes, they never last long but give me us pleasure for sometimes a day or two, sometimes for a few weeks. 
The rhododendron is starting to bloom, a time of year which I adore around the house and garden and today I snipped off a small branch and transferred it into a bud vase, filled with florist's foam and a little fresh moss from the garden. 

I soaked the foam for about 10 minutes and it holds enough water to sustain the branch for a day, then I fill in a little more water. I use the foam, because the single branch sits secure without tipping over or out!

On my window ledge I filled an up-cycled milk bottle (spray painted white last year) with all, what my garden has to offer right now: azaleas, honey suckle and lilac. One of the bows from my daughter's gifts for her birthday ended up around it and it resides in a small copper tray, which also holds some stone - a drill core from the works on our walk way a few weeks ago - perfectly round and smooth, two stone hearts given to me by my sisters and a broken cordial glass up side down, covering two turtle doves, old x-mas ornaments from a flea market....

There is also a lock, which I found in the woods and a small votive candle, we have had since I moved first to Manhattan 17 years ago!

All these pieces hold memories, it is that what makes vignettes meaningful. I can only encourage you to do this, your  history comes to live and I for once feel the love of my family and vice versa!
It's a great conversation starter as well...
Near my desk I have a shelf since a few weeks back, which holds my art/design books and my small, but treasured collection of Bjoern Wiinblad ceramics. They sit in perfect harmony with one of my paintings and every time I see it it gives me enormous pleasure. I love the colors and the shapes.

Not far away rests a mask, my youngest son made in fourth grade, I love these colors too! 

In the book shelves in the family room is always space for a small grouping of things from my collections: Small vintage vases and books.

 A tiny angel resting next to gold leaved antique books I found in Brooklyn last year...

And the wicker cloche, laced with tulle used outdoors to protect edible goods from insects rests atop our floor lamp....The rain would ruin it and people who know my house understand that there is little space elsewhere....

It's adorned with a small glass ornament, which I bought from a woman in Jamaica, VT.
She has the most amazing glass blowing shop there. 
Hot Glass Works! Stop by when you happen to find yourself nearby! It's close to Stratton,VT! A great ski resort!

I am sure when you look around your home, you will find many things worthy a little display spot for a while or your latest treasured finds from the garden, a walk in the woods, the flea market last Sunday or a gift to pretty to be stashed away!
There are so many possibilities: glass, drift wood, small collections of every possible things, costume jewelry, silver ware, miniature paintings, pictures or frames...
Fill in the blanks!
This is the sunshine from the inside out! It's all in the details....


Happy Sunday and a sunny week ahead!


xx
Victoria






All pictures by V.Zlotkowski.