Auction Winnings - THE BIG ONE

 A couple of weeks ago I attended an auction. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt but most times can control my buying impulses. In fact, the last two times I had attended this auction house I left without a single winning bid. Well, except for some empty boxes to use as packing since they are available for FREE. Somehow all the conditions were right and I had the opportunity for winning bids on a large amount of items. A HUGELY ENORMOUS LARGE amount of items. I had to call my husband to come and help. We filled his pickup truck and my car. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!

You probably are wondering what possible conditions were there for me to obtain so much. Here they are:
1. Auction with a large amount of items.
2. Large amount of similiar items.
3. Rainy weather
4. Packer football game later
5. Small buying crowd
Equals low bids.

We unpacked my husband's truck that night. I left all the items in my car for the next day. I was exhausted from the bidding adrenalin rushes and the loading and unloading. Above is a couple of pictures showing a portion of my purchases. I ended up with a lot of antique and vintage maps, prints, and original paintings. Now I need to organize them, find a place to put everything other than in our garage. Find out what I actually bought since many of the items were sold in lots. Plus there are many other items.
Next the items need to be cleaned and in some cases repaired. Countless photo shoots, research, listing. Then hopefully packing if I sell any of it in my Etsy shops or eBay. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!! There will be more posts to come as I go through my purchases from THE BIG ONE.

Project 9 for - Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking

This is one of the projects that I have done from Jill K. Berry's book - Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking. I am fortunate to also be a contributing artist for Jill's book. (I won't be posting my art that is included in her book on my blog). The project from her book is called Pop-up Memory Map.

I am interested in totem animals. On May 20 on our way home from the cabin Mark and I seen these animals cross the road in front of us in the order indicated on the map. I looked up the meaning on the internet for each of these animals and included that on my map.

After some time away from the map and looking at it with fresh eyes I realize that these animals represent the stages in my married life:
Rabbit - Ability to procreate, fleetness and movement by leaps. This certainly describes the first years of my marriage. I had three children within four years of my marriage. We went from renting an old farmhouse to an apartment to our starter home ...
Deer - a new innocence and freshness is about to be awakened - Getting to know my husband and children and what I am capable of doing.
Squirrel - Balance within the circle of gathering and giving out - This certainly describes what being mother and raising her children is all about.
Snapping Turtle - Honor the creative source within, longevity, ability to grasp opportunities. Now that my children are all grown up and out of the house this is what I need to work on. And Mark, sorry for snapping! (It's just a phase I'm going through).

What if I had seen the snapping turtle first in my married life?

The process of creating art is like that for me, it heightens my personal awareness. Jill's book is a wonderful way to jump start your creative journey!

Project 11 for - Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking

This is one of the projects that I have done from Jill K. Berry's book - Personal Geographies: Explorations in Mixed Media Mapmaking. I am fortunate to also be a contributing artist for Jill's book. (I won't be posting my art that is included in her book on my blog). The project from her book is called The Right Place at the Right Time. While mapping out our pets, my family and I enjoyed reminiscing about all of the animals that have lived at our place. Creating this map provided a nice trip down memory lane!

I decided to map out the pets that we have had since living in our present house. It was always a dream of mine to live on a hobby farm. The gold colored shed is the first shed that we had. We actually moved it from our previous house which is less than 1 mile away. This shed housed 1 chicken, 2 cats and six goats. With our expanding herd of goats we built the gray pole shed. The increase in shed size led to an even greater increase in goat herd size! The most pets we have had at one time including house pets was 25. This was when my kids were younger and lived at home so was the "right time" to have many pets. Three of the goats were rehomed but I found that I didn't have the heart to break up anymore goat families after that. All of the rest of the pets have lived out their lives here. I think that it is important that if you buy a pet or are responsible for bringing them into the world that you should look out for their welfare until they pass on. This month our last goat passed on. I am sad!

My hobby farm is currently composed of one of the original cats and the original chicken. They are both 16 years old. I'm not sure what my dream is now! The current plan is we are done with outside animals for now. We also have 4 boston terriers who are house dogs. They don't even like to venture outside in the Winter!

Next I want to map the pets I had as a child and the houses we lived in prior to this one.