Favorite Things

I have been thinking a lot lately about my favorite things and why they are my favorites.  Some of these things are meaningful because they make me smile or remind me to be playful.  I treasure these things.  Like this picture I bought at Pop-cycle.

 

The women who own the store use recycled materials, old frames, and used cabinet doors that they apply images to and embellish with a little glitter and paint.  There was a small group of customers admiring this picture with me and commenting when I said, "That's mine!"

I love her RED GLITTERY pants!  Trailer trash indeed.

Another favorite is this little guy.  He has seen a few parties.

 

and he's a little cracked.......

and he's keeping that fancy English bone china from taking itself too seriously.

Then there is a chandelier that I made from a discarded bird cage, plastic flowers, and red Christmas lights.  I found the idea in a book called, 'Pad'.  Such a great book!  It has directions for making your own Barbarella furry T.V. cabinet.  So swanky!

My best friend Jean told me , "It's just like you Janet, colorful on the outside and light on the inside".  How sweet is that?

Here is one of her pieces, it doesn't have a title but I know that this is 'Bettina',  one of Jean's alter egos.

I love the scratchy lines, pursy mouth, the tiny waist, and the bits and pieces around the edges. Jean dresses up like Bettina for holidays and important presentations where she is going to school to become an art therapist. 

These things are all important to me because they hold on to the feeling of fun, irreverence, playfulness and pushing boundaries.  That's a dose of medicine I could use right now.

Permission To Be Very Sparkly

For a long time  I was embarrassed about how I  make everything so darn sparkly.  I have tried a number of times to 'tone it down'  and to be a little more somber.  It didn't make me very happy.  It wasn't until I put on even more sparkle that it felt right.  Complete.

I remember once I was in charge of decorations for a fundraiser event and the woman who was blowing up balloons asked me how many more would I like for her to inflate?  My answer, without hesitating, was, "about a million".  She looked at me hard trying to determine if I really meant that.  I sort of did,  I know that it wasn't realistic, still there is a big part of me that really did want a million balloons. 

A part of me that likes things to be a bit too much.  I still hadn't told her how many tiny lights I wanted strung up.  Poor girl.

This blog is dedicated to 'a little over the top',  I hope to find other artists who have taken a chance, who really would like a million balloons, please.  Thank you.