Italian Vase

This was one of the ugliest things I ever saw on my Gramma's shelves when I was a kid. After grampa died, this vase and various other knick-knacks came to live at our house. And I always thought that it was ugly. For the life of me I could not figure out how my mom thought this had any value but it was on the shelf of very expensive things that she thought would appreciate in value. So when did that all change?

sculptural vase

I think it was right around the time that I got into my own place and started my own business. My tastes started changing as I read Country Living and Victoria Magazine. I always loved the tea cups that gramma collected on the dumbwaiter that served as an ocassional table in the living room. And I liked the flowered porcelain box on the oval coffee table. But not this vase... not until I started to read about how difficult it can be to work with sculptural porcelains. But it was still kinda hideous.

Then I got away from the lace and frills of hardcore Victorian decorating into something more modest and balanced. So when mom died and I was left with an empty apartment Dad said I should start making it more homey. It was too sterile an environment for him to feel like visiting. And that was one of the first things I grabbed. Dad didn't like it much so he didn't mind. I'd started to find watercolor fascinating because the work in the stamp store took some of the fear out of the process. And so this was one of the first subjects of my full sized (meaning not A-2 card size) pieces.