Magic Love Crow

While dealing with the winter blues, I have not been as diligent on Blogger as usual. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things! Winter has been rough in the Northeast with lots of snow and insanely cold temperatures so I'm really longing for warmth, flowers and sunshine!

Magic Love Crow
A big thank you to Stacy of Magic Love Crow. She sent me this awesome collection of poetry titled The Dragon in the Room by J.K.E. Rose. It is an analogy of love and a dragon. Very unique! 

The back reads "Love is like a dragon in the room; it can lay there sleeping for what seems like a hundreds years then suddenly wake and terrify or seduce. It is powerful and swift, slow and cumbersome. A dragon destroys or protects, just like love."

If you haven't stopped by Stacy's blog before, she is an amazing artist specializing in the beautiful crow!

This is a recently commissioned collection made for a growing family. How beautiful is this? I'm sure it will be cherished!

I love how her work evokes emotions like in this piece.

You're the One

Some crows are very inspiring.

Live Grow Go

As a Game of Thrones fan, I love seeing a dragon included!

Beautiful Creatures

Here is a whimsical crow.

Can't Touch This

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of Stacy's work. Since her crows always make me smile, it was such a pleasure to share! 

Be sure to stop by Magic Love Crow when browsing for your next purchase of art!

Thank you for stopping by! Take care. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Eyeglass Chain Sets
A customer requested a matching bracelet for 2 of my eyeglass chain. What cute sets they create!

Currier Museum of Art

TheCurrier Museum of Art is located in Manchester, NH. It is a small museum with a variety of works from the renaissance to present and even includes Monet and Picasso as well as a Frank Lloyd Wright house which the museum staff will bus patrons to. They allow cameras!

This was one of my favorite pieces. It is behind glass so please forgive the reflection! The Dutch artist is Joachim Wtewael. The approximate date on this one is 1600!!! I will not bore you with the details behind the story but I love the celebration this depicts. Imagine being a time and place where you can let loose listening to live music and dancing around naked! That is something we go to prison for these days.

I enjoy being in the presence of really old things (not something you experience too often in the United States)! This polychromed stucco on wood is by Italian artist Antonio Rossellino.  Its approximate date is 1475! It is amazing how intact it is but was recently conserved to stabilize it.

This perfect still life is by a local artist, James Aponovich. It is named Still Iife with Chocolates, dated 1985. Jim and I noticed it at the same time because we each purchased a French press like this recently! One of its best features is the reflection painted in the steel bowl. It was flawless!

This was Jim’s first experience standing in front of an actual Claude Monet painting so I had to photograph it for his memory. This is The Seine at Bougival dated 1869.

John Singer Sargent is one of my favorites. He was an American painter although he was born in Italy and died in England. His portraits are amazing. This is Grace Elvina, Marchioness Curzon of Kedleston, 1925. I love 1920s fashion so this one is particularly fabulous!

I always enjoy a good lithograph! These are by American artist John Stockton de Martelly. They capture a moment in time! This is Blue Valley Fox Hunt, 1937.

This is Old Moon, 1941. So sweet!

The museum also has wonderful old American furniture like this sideboard from approximately 1855 (maker unknown).

This chair has beautiful detail. It is carved from ebonized cherry by the Herter Brothers Decorating Company of NY in approximately 1880.

Here there is also a wonderful selection of Henry Melville paperweights that range from the 1980s into the 1990s.

It was a cold June day so I was dressed for fall!!!! This museum offers a live jazz brunch 1 Sunday a month so we may be back for that!

Manchester, NH has some neat relicts of the past that were never removed. This is one of them!!! I love that it reads “concerned”. Luckily these days it is quite acceptable for men to simply shave it all off if they are losing their hair!

Thank you for stopping by! Have a gret week!  ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

New Toggle Clasp

I received this new Bali sterling silver toggle clasp this week. It is so elegant! Available here.

My Rainbow Veins

I won something fabulous from My Rainbow Veins! It will be hung on my office wall which is where my yoga mat and access to YouTube yoga videos are! I love that it reads “simple” which really fits yoga.

Jordan is a talented teen with an eye for really cool newspaper art. As a Lord of The Rings fan I love this one!

And who doesn't love Pooh!

Check out My Rainbow Veins on Etsy and her blog here! On her blog you also see her talent as a nature photographer!

Maudsley State Park

Maudsley State Park  is approximately 450 acres of reservation. Jim and I only explored a small portion of this since it is so vast!

It was formerly an estate belonging to the Moseley family.

To get an idea of the gardens I read that at one time it took approximately 40 staff workers to maintain! Yikes!

The gardens date back to the 19^th century but have not all been kept up. The land is too sizeable for the Department of Conservation and Recreation who now manages the park.

This makes for some mysterious looking structures that remain.

Regardless it is an enchanting land of meadows, flowering shrubs, super tall pine trees and more.

It also runs along the Merrimack River for water views.

I have been to this park many times however I have never walked through this part when the rhododendrons were in bloom. It is amazing!

These shrubs are incredibly tall (although the picture does not demonstrate this) and delightful to walk through.

Pink petals sprinkled the ground.

The family used to bury their pets on the property. Each headstone is named and dated!

This sweet weed was recurring along the paths. I find its petals really unique with those cutouts.

I hope you also enjoyed our walk through the park! My posts have been getting longer lately since Jim and I are going places with the beautiful weather. The blog is a wonderful way to document our memories!

Have a perfect week! ~Val