...3 generations making art together..this send me

...the idea of three generations of hands working together to make art truly sends me...

I wanted to share the exciting news that Bonnie Petersen -- grand daughter to artist Annette the founder of Wee Forest Folk and daughter to Willy Petersen -- has just returned from California and begun to work and design 

for her family's 44 year old studio business.

 

Bonnie's debut collection...called 

"The Confection Collection"

was announced just last week and it is truly charming

 

Here's a bit of a peek at some of her new pieces...

All are available -- in very limited quantities -- at Earth Angels Studios on 

The Petersen Family's gallery pages HERE

It's a wonderful thing for me to be working with this talented family and I am so very grateful for the opportunity to know them, share their story and promote the sale of their work...

 

Watch for a feature coming soon in the May issue of Where Women Create magazine. Jo Packham has graciously allowed me to photo and write a story on

Annette Petersen and her incredible business style and story in my column...

stay tuned!

And congrats to the Petersens on these recent accomplishments! I cannot wait to see what's coming next from their Massachusetts studio this spring...

xo Jen

...more Torquay Tawk...have to share this

As some of you know I am a bit mad for British ceramic art...

I've collected Torquay pottery since I got my first piece in England on my 18th birthday...

and the collection has been growing since...

 

And while it's the people I have met and befriended through collecting that I treasure far beyond the pottery -- I love to share peek at the pots in the hope of sharing my enthusiasm

 for this wonderful antique folk art.

 

I am also very grateful to Country Living magazine and Stella Show Management for the opportunity to host chats at each of the Fairs... 

the pottery is being looked at as what's hot in collecting vintage...

So with out further adieu, I'd love to share this piece on miniature Torquay Pottery that I prepared for the collector's newsletter of the North American Torquay Society (NATS)...

...and if you want to learn more...please consider browsing the NATS site or the site of the British collecting society TPCS (Torquay Pottery Collecting Society)

Mini Madness

Anything that can be held in the palm of the hand has a certain playful, toy-like charm. My madness for small things and minis began a long time ago. I was the little girl that lovingly decorated the dollhouse made for me by my Dad, dreaming that one day, I would have my own home to decorate. I loved tiny things…and still do.

Conversely, I love the HUGE grand LARGE pieces of my collection, but as the shelves fill — even as I move and play and re-do arrangements in cabinets — I can never say there is not room for one more mini. Indeed I have had a tough time passing up any I have had the chance to buy. They are a wonderful, tuck-in size and I love them for being small, affordable and utterly adorable!

What’s also fun is that they get me to look at patterns and shapes I would not otherwise pursue.  You can see among these photos a variety of patterns not elsewhere in my collection…

You can see in the one image with the penny and pence…there are minis … and then, there are minis….

That one itty bitty plate measures less than 2” across, while the plate from a child’s tea set is about 4”.  Generally in height I look for something less than 2” so that the pieces hold together in scale… And if I have the shape, no matter, I might not have  the motto.

The mottos on the minis are those short and sweet adages that speak with such common observation. With little space on the surface to decorate, the quips and mottoes are direct and often the ones cited most within our vernacular.

I have also included an image of the mini-minis I was able to purchase from Torbay about 12 years ago.

 They are a display within a display filling a tiny doll house sized hutch within another hutch…these are all less than 1” in height. (Look at the dresser tray peeking out from behind the display for scale)

As a toy collector as well, they seem to blend in well with my other displays.  The tea sets make great companions to some folk art monkeys sitting in a child’s hutch in the guest room along with a fave Pat Murphy bear...

And I owe a big thanks to Kathy Collins for the find of my new wall hanging “mini shelf”. We found it in a booth at Brimfield and it wasn’t until I got it home that I realized how perfect it was to host them all!

I am grateful that she encouraged me to buy it and lug it through the fields back to the truck. Well worth it! I had had the minis among some different cabinets before, and now have my faves in one place 

(excluding my all time fave, my wee moulded cottage — I would cheerfully live there!!!) 

...more on this pottery in future posts...

stay tuned

xo Jen

being green...a peek at some of my collection...Torquay Pottery

 ...from time to time I really love to share a peek at the most beloved among my collections... 

my Torquay Pottery...

Now, I am a true "collector"...

I have so many collections, 

I joke that I collect collections! 

That said, I have been dedicated to this masterfully made pottery since I was 18...

But one humble plate has actually been in my family for 5 generations now!

 

Here's Rory with his plate and my Mom, Rosie

You can read that story here...

 Recently I attended the wonderful, annual gathering of the North American Torquay Society (NATS)

Once a year we collectors gather to share, swap, learn and catch up...I am thrilled that the 2016 Convention will be held right here in 

Warwick, NY and Mahwah, NJ... 

stay tuned for details!  There will be a salesroom open to the public on Saturday, August 13th

Watch the events page of the site for more info..

Talks are part of the program at the annual conventions...and I wanted to share just a peek at some of the slides from the talk I gave to my fellow NATS members on "Being Green"

Much of my collection is dedicated to celebrating my favorite color...

GREEN...

 

Here's a closer look at some green patterns...

 ...of course I love the Shamrocks...

being Irish, and all!

 

I fell in love with florals thanks 

to friend Shelby Scherr...

They are like a garden in bloom...I am, of course, partial to those done on a green ground...

My fave of all is perhaps the Farm Scenes...but those are rare and few... 

hoping to find more someday...sigh...

So that's a quick peek...

For those of you intrigued...

you can read more about Torquay Pottery 

and the Society NATS

HERE

It's a great group of folks...and as much as I love the pottery, I am an active member and recently took the post as Vice President because,

 "...it's about the people not the pots", 

as my dad says... 

and they are great people!

AND if you can catch us at 

The Country Living Fairs...I am hosting NATS CHATS each day at 12:30...

thanks to Stella Show Management for this opportunity and to Country Living Magazine for acknowledging Torquay Pottery as 

"What's Hot in Collecting Vintage"

happy collecting

xo Jen

they call it puppy love...the tale of an accidental collection...

I took a look around my home the other day, and while there is no real-live canine companion in these parts, there sure do seem to be a number of sweet pups and pooches of every breed. I am not really sure how all these dogs came this way, I am a collector by nature, but really they just started jumping in front of me in my travels, junking jaunts and shopping forays...

Some would argue I am desperate for a real dog, and this collection is just projection. I would not argue one bit. But the travel schedule I keep makes it an impossibility so for now I have this budding collection....

This guy has been on the counter for years...
This chap was found in a junk shop, poor thing needed a home...

It all went haywire when 3 black Scotties showed up in CT (thanks again Sue for the early Xmas gift!!)...

A small cache of canine figures stuffed into a little cabinet in the upstairs hall...
A chalkware pup...he was a gift from my gal pal Lisa...a fellow dog lover...
Cheryl Kuhn made this charming piece...

And my fave fella came from Red Chair in Hudson...see Jocie...he is in a place of honor!
My Dad gave me this metal doggie...

And these are from Sue at Skippy Doodle...both presents (she spoils me!) the right one of course is of her design...
...yep there's another Skippy Doodle pincushion!!! Sue gave me that when I visited with Kathy and the Kids last summer...
This little flat wooden one was a many years ago yard sale score...
These are really uber tacky faux Staffordshire pups are a junk shop find, and I love them, the standing pooch on the bottom shelf has a mate....another Hudson treat...

...this shot above is the view from where I sit right now...

Woof Woof! and look at this fella...he was in Stephanie Lloyd's booth in the Hudson Supermarket...I see him from where I work...

So yes, it's puppy love...but really an accidental collection...

Do things come into your life like that too???

xxoo Jen O'Connor

Earth Angels