Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Miss Charlston


Miss Charlston

I have a friend who recently told me a story.  The gist of the story was about how we can be so close to something happening, even danger, and have it only skirt us.  She shared about how her grandmother was passing through her dining room and just as she had cleared where the china cabinet was, it fell over onto the floor without warning; missing the grandmother by only a few inches.  While I was relieved to hear that the grandmother was unharmed, my next question was what had she done with the broken china!?! 
We are staying with friends in upstate NY and our hostess shared about how she had tripped in the butler's pantry and had broken 5 plates, beautiful ivory with a dark green ivy trim.  I have the perfect green bead that would have looked lovely with the ivy on the trim.  Sadly, they threw the broken plates away. 

I am currently working on 2 sculptures as a commission from a collector who is using her mother's china to create the sculptures.  While it is a beautiful china, the collector doesn't use it and wants to repurpose the pieces into a beautiful sculpture to remember her mother.  How wonderful.

Miss Charlston was created to use simply 3 broken plates my mother found at great store in Ft. Worth, Dishes from the Past.  They have just about every conceivable pattern of china and act as a replacement service.  The best part of the store, in the very back corner, is a 'broken shelf'.  All the plates on the shelf have been damaged in some way.  I scored 10 plates there on my last visit. 

The moral to the story- don't throw your broken plates away!  Send them to me!!