Collecting - Clown Face Tea Set Hand-Me-Down

In the hills of Pennsylvania coal mining country, my grandmother's bright sunny kitchen was her domain. Judging by all of today's design blogs, it was a veritable vintage culinary heaven of the 1950s variety - high ceilings with an entire wall of open, over-sized white cupboard space with gingerbread trim and full of cooking gadgets. 

On one of the shelves sat this colorful clown tea set. I always liked it. It has been sitting there since I could remember visiting my grandparents home. It was a colorful spot in an otherwise uninteresting space to any kid, except for the secret drawer which was always somehow stocked full of Fruit-y Stripe zebra gum for me and my cousins to "find". After some time had passed, and both grandparents eventually left this earth, I thought I had lost track of my favorite token reminder of their house. It turns out, my mom had my beloved clowns stowed away in bubble wrap in our basement for many years. She tells me that my grandma got it as a gift from attending someone's wedding shower in the late 1940s or early 1950s. In her home, this creamer, teapot, and sugar bowl was placed as a little bit of decor in a space where everything else was completely functional. I suspect she just liked it too. Today, it sits in my kitchen.... still a little bright spot in a subdued, unused corner.

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Museum Voyeur

Guggenheim, New York - Fall 1994

New Art - The Story of Wandering Through the Medina

 

By 8 a.m. the already sweltering Marrakesh heat follows her through the labyrinthine medina. Decorative lanterns and pottery and spices of every hue surround her in a dizzying display. She is fresh from a relaxing bath of rose petals and orange peels. A short distance away in the square, snake charmers and monkeys amuse the tourists from across the sea. But she is not one of them. With a good eye, she knows how to get what she wants, negotiating with the vendors in a language that only they, between them, can understand.