Saturday 27 July 2013

Is there an artist in the house?

Today I went to see some art exhibitions, dotted around the area.  It was really interesting, not just for the art, but to see what houses round here are like.  The first house had a display of pretty amazing, 'fused glass'.  There were brightly coloured trays and plates and candle holders in all shapes and sizes.  Some were in a fabulous turquoise, reminding me of the sea, perhaps the mermaid in the sequinned dress could use them in her underwater lair.  The artist's garden was dotted with large, ceramic figures.  One looked like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, but the cat nearby wasn't smiling insanely enough to be from Cheshire.  A coiled serpent with raised head brought back a couple of memories from India.  The artist had cleverly manicured her piece of forest real estate so the trees looked deliberately spaced out (not the Santa Cruz type of spaced out, silly).  Her house looked magnificent, made from redwood and with panoramic windows with jaunty angles build in.  I felt a tinge wistful that I didn't 'live in a house like that'.

The next house was full of nudes (the framed type, honestly, what are you like?).  They had been computerised in ingenious ways.  I am not totally in favour of computerised art, I think it loses some of the soul, but what we saw was good in its way.  I think the models for this sort of thing must be very brave.  Not only do they have to disrobe to be drawn, but risk hanging forever on someone's wall in their birthday suit.  If you don't like the image, it's hard luck, forever.  I wonder whether Venus de Milo went 'ugh, it makes my bum look big' when she saw herself, immortalised in stone for millennia.

I digress.  The next house we went to had textiles and wicker work.  The textiles were very good, but some of them were beautifully made pot holders.  The art seemed too good to be used for such mundane purposes.  The wicker work was intricate, conch shell shapes woven around curving twigs, and a large torus ring.  The ring was fully enclosed and must have been very hard and complicated to weave, but it would be tricky knowing where to put your shopping.

The last house we went to was complicated.  An extensive art display had been combined with the artist trying to sell his house, so as you went round there was live music, lots of paintings, and a realtor wanting to show you around.  Now this house was something very special.  I had felt wistful in the first house, but this one was like standing in paradise.  It was perched on the side of a deep, tree covered ravine.  There were several deck areas overlooking the gorge, and as we stood there, humming birds hovered taking nectar from the buddleia and hefty dragonflies darted to and fro.  The humming birds managed to make the butterflies look dull.

There was a swing that dangled you daringly over the precipice garden, an outdoor kitchen, a waterfall, a pond with the most bloated carp you ever saw, a hammock strung between two trees and terraces of beautiful shrubbery falling away beneath you.  I sighed.  Then the realtor took us indoors.  The carpets were so thick it was like wading through sand (luckily I am well practiced in this) - it became quite tiring dragging one's feet through high density shag pile into each amazingly well appointed room. Each, of course, filled with inspirational artefacts and images.

In a weak voice I asked the realtor how much this little piece of heaven would cost.

$900,000.

I asked the current owner where he was moving to, and he said he was thinking of buying a camper van and going on an adventure.  He also said there was a mountain lion lair nearby...........

With this news I almost felt relieved I couldn't afford the house, but I like the idea of motoring into the sunset in an RV.




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