Pride: My Adorable Home-Made Costume and a Happy Hallowe'en!!!

This Hallowe'en Irene and I got all dressed up (I was a Dutch Milk Maid) and we went to Church street for a couple of hours to see everyone in their costumes. So much fun! Making our own costumes is very rewarding... next year is going to be crazy!

 Irene as a Greek Goddess

Dutch Milk Maid with FARM ANIMALS!

 Sheep!

 Rabbit!

 Piggy!
 

 Cow!

Another Cow! This was actually the first one I saw, and I was screaming "COW! COW! COW!" chasing after him down Church street trying to get his attention.

Pride: Kate Thornley's Artwork displayed at She Creeps

This past Friday I spent a lovely evening out with Guise (Jenn) and some other friends at my favourite store in Toronto, Function 13. They have a really great gallery space in the back, and this Friday was the opening of a show called She Creeps, featuring work from a few young women in Toronto. Kate Thornley (a good friend of mine) had three pieces in the show!

My favourite of her three, in my very own SIGNED post-card format!

 Kate's three selections

Some of the other artworks:

 

They received a great turn-out for the whole evening!

SHE CREEPS runs from October 29th through November 29th at Function 13 in their gallery space. It features some brilliant artwork from:

Melanie Banks
Alex Boake
Inga Borisenoka
Kiyomi Burgin
Chelsea CAnlas
Anjo Chiang
Erica Glover
YooJin Guak
Frances Lee
Kristi McConnell
Kira Shaimanova
Sam Singh
Kate Thornley

Guns at Auction

Items for auction at Stockholms Auktionsverk.

"Threads of Feeling" at the Foundling Museum

London's Foundling Museums started life as a hospital where children were left by mothers who were unable to care for their children. The hospital kept detail records of their charges. The registration documents often contained a token left with the hospitals as a means for the mother to identify her child should her circumstances change and she was able to reclaim her child.

This baby’s cap is made from linen material normally used for diapers, dating from 1753.

Sampler from 1759

Copy and images from Austen Only via Frontier Folk.

Living with a Collection: 18th Century Doll House Furniture

Collection of Karen Jones

Photo by P of KY.

Marsha Hibbs Marbleized Paper Box

Photographed by Jan Riser.

Czech Exhibit of Plains Indians

Photos supplied by Tom Connin.

Jan Zender Pipe with Quilled Stem

Photographed at the 2010 CLA Show by Jan Riser.

Kemper and Kemper

Top gun by Marvin Kemper, son of

Cornel Kemper whose gun is on the bottom

Photographed at the 2010 CLA Show by Jan Riser.

Jeff Bottiger Priming Horn

Photographed at the 2010 CLA Show by Jan Riser.

James Rogers for Watkins M. Abbitt Jr.

This gun is built around an Ed Rayl 12 bore octagon to round barrel 6 feet long. The lock is a Chambers Late Ketland. It is stocked in worm tracked maple that started it's life as a rough cut of the "Feather" gun butt profile. It's a scraped finish with aqua fortis and linseed varnish.  The trigger,  plate, thimbles, and patch box cover are all handmade by me.  Jim Webb made the front thimble.  The patch pox cover is based off of 4 different original guns.  Many thanks to Frank Kobilis for helping locate some of the  examples. The trigger guard is off a Bess that has been cut way down in the rear, inletted and pinned in the front and surface mounted with screws on the rear extension. The butt plate is of thick vegetable tanned leather that has been wet formed and nailed on with square cobblers nails. The front sight is coin silver. 

The owner desired a mountain cobbled smoothbore with a six foot barrel. It was inspired by a reference to a shotgun with a six foot barrel being used for deer hunting in the 19th century by Charles Coale of Abingdon VA (1807-1879). Mr Coale wrote the Life and Adventures of Wilburn Waters, the famed 19th century hunter of Southwest Virginia and was editor of the Abingdon Virginian.  Coale was a member of the House of Delegates and my version/interpretation of the gun was made for my delegate. These super long guns were originally used as waterfowling pieces for use on the coasts and rivers and a few possibly found their way in the region for shooting passenger pigeons.

Copy and photos supplied by James Rogers.