Marie's Piece of Heaven

The chateau of Petit Trianon was Marie's favorite place and it's no surprise.....  I would want to live here too! The photos don't even come close to the beauty of the acres and structures. I also had an opportunity to see the theatre, however, the signage requested no photos and I complied. It was truly amazing as well. The other part of this particular adventure that was a wonderful treat was Kimberly and I had Catherine and Doug for the entire afternoon!

so inviting....

love the thatched roofs...

beckoning you to see beyond.....

cool structures.....

let's stroll around the pond....

have a little picnic.....

French corn...what?! not French beans?....

Marie had adorable gardening utensils that were in the Museum....

each building had its purpose....

love, love the flowering roses....

is that the mill?....

even this structure begs to be noticed....

so very lovely.....

all the old, then the trash bin and signage....

you just want to linger.....

yes, I wish these stairs were mine....

love all the flowers....

look up....

can't resist....

what a great path....

amazing.....

great flowering vines...

just in case you forget Marie.....

yes....there's a vineyard too.....

sun is setting.....

time to say good-bye....

past rows and rows of trees....

and the stark white sculptures.....

around the corner we go....

to the entrance.....

where the pond sits quietly.....

only the sound of our golf cart.....

good-bye.....

and as I turn around.....the end.

Art for Sharon

I sure hope Sharon loves the charm I made for her as I really, really, really didn't want to give it up after I made it....ever have those moments?!

The blank little tin was the perfect size I think for Sharon's round robin necklace.  Of course, she loved visiting Versailles and Paris last year.  I thought perhaps this would be a reminder of her great trip!

I used a "frame"embellishment for Marie's photo and then applied Diamond Glaze on top.

I debated with myself for a long time about which way I wanted my "locket" to open.  Since it does take effort to open it, I thought the top would not slide off and be lost. I wanted Sharon to be able to share with a possible admirer of the contents without the inside content being upside down.  On the flip side, Sharon will be the one to view it upside down if she opens it while wearing it. Hopefully, my end decision was a good one!

I did find an Eiffel Tower charm in my stash and with handy wire clippers I removed the charm's loop which allowed me to glue the charm flat against the paper using E-6000.  The little red hanger was attached to the bottom tin using my husband's tool for seting grommets.  This was my first time using this tool and it was hard for me because of the weight and size of the tool.  Definitely not made for smaller hands!  He did insist that I keep this tool for my art room, however, I will be asking him to set the grommets in my next project!

Published!

Somerset Studio Gallery Winter 2010 showcases my Marie Antoinette star book. I really appreciate their photography of my artwork. All the pages were shown except for the cover....so here it is.

Theatre of Dreams

The Theatre of Dreams that I submitted has now been published in the Marie issue (available April 1st). Each spotlight artist had a double page spread. However, that was not enough space for the many characters that I created. All my characters I made are in the slide show below along with the theatre. Enjoy! Also, check out Catherine Moore's post on Marie.

Art Exchange Project

Our art group recently completed a round robin exchange with the theme of paper dolls. One of the participants living in England chose Marie A. as her theme. She detailed a writing at the end of her book about "the 1782 gazette des atours" which was essentially a wardrobe book. I used this bit of information as my inspiration for her project.








I raided my stash of ribbons, antique lace, braids and buttons. My dear friend Leslie, translated my English to French for my tags! I need to learn French!



I attached the paper MA doll to the last page....I used rubber stamps from Character Constructions for the clothing.

Marie - Queen of France

Before Catherine Moore's (Character Constructions http://www.characterconstructions.com/) Toy Theatre invitation.....I did not know much about Marie Antoinette. But before I began my project, I purchased the books that Catherine suggested and began reading. She was for me, a fasinating woman whose entire life unfolded before me as I read. One of the best books I enjoyed was "The Journey" by Antonia Fraser. It was written in such a style that held your interest to find out the "what's next".

This was my second purchase on the garage sale route in our neighborhood. As soon as I spotted Marie, I knew I wanted her to be in my studio.