Let The Piece Find You

Love at first sight with rustic French flea market style. Timeless euro chic qualities are enhanced by the French tendency to collect and acquire furnishings over time rather than buy as sets inspiring a home with history other than trendy home accessories; resulting in perfectly imperfect. Sharing my passion for flea market brocante with my daughter Hannah has given her a creative balance with French flea market style that provokes love at first sight. The French chandelier was brought into our Burlap Luxe shop for sale by our dear friend Judy. I could see that Hannah was inspired by it's whimsey, as well as the paint finish in its peaceful tones that just spoke to you. The grayish white painted scrolling arms with cut glass was beckoning her that it was a special piece. This French Chandelier had found her heart with excitement, and she knew just where it wanted to be. We never go on the hunt for something to fill space in our home or force a design style, we just let the piece find us.

Pictured here are a few pieces that make me swoon over them. I have a fond passion for old pieces, chippy, and rusted with a hidden story to them. Some of my favorites are old doors, iron beds, and French chairs no matter what shape their in. A simple chandeliers with a bit of whimsey along with velvet feathered filled fringed pillows, and salvaged wood pieces all in which excite in how I will reuse or restyle there use in a renewed way.

European style is a design style of timeless desire. Its simple aged found object will add to a feel of history without the fuss of perfection. Treasures that find you make that special statement of not quite matching from groupings or collections, this gives a room a sense of being fashioned over time. Having an obsession with salvaging pieces have a way of making their way into our romantic homes, and decorating with what we love. I follow a rule of starting with one great piece for each room of a home. While letting salvaged pieces find you, the rest of the room will fall together inexpensively piece by piece.

Inspiring you to design rooms with great vibrations, using peaceful calming tones as I did with these pieces in my own home.

Bird Stories, Who Dare Not Rise And Fly

"click photo to enlarge"
The art of restoring life to my latest peaceful art, hand painted by Dore Callaway. This little gem was a cast off and it became my mission to breathe new life into it. This heavy weighted paper tray, wall papered with a small print was not much to speak of. Yet I found layering paint and aging it with peaceful shades, to then paint a little feathered life to it would evoke a peaceful story. As you all have noticed I have been telling some sort of bird story here and there on various pieces of found objects of desire, this piece needed a story of its own. The harmony and spirit of our little feathered friends add calmness to our sanctuary place.

The French call little flea-market gems brocante. Not quite junk, not quite valuable. Brocante is best chosen by its passion to intrigue rather then its appreciated worth. Many number of objects vintage or made to look and feel antique, can be used to decorate flea-market brocante. I love creating a vignette out of lost items in the shuffle of being junk. I will rescue old frames, wire cages, and wood boxes, all these items I find intriguing enough to paint a peaceful bird resting on a branch. I then will take and paint coat after coat of sealers to the piece, this will assure future heirloom quality to it.


Painting my peaceful bird art to just the right piece is why I call it bird stories, every piece will tell you its story. This little flea-market broncante was a cast off, and its beauty was over looked to what it could have become. I love that our wild feathered friends can bring so much charm and endearment to a home. The French have said it well, "La douceur de vivre" adding atmosphere that defines living at its best.

This piece that was not quite junk, not quite valuable has new stories to tell and will hold value for someone new to love.

Inspiring you to make something out of nothing.

Sing And Fly

"Feed The Soul"
THIS PEACEFUL GARDEN SIGN WAS CREATED BY ME! "DORE CALLAWAY" I most of all want to thank my daughter "Hannah Bailey Callaway" for inspiring me...I would also like to recap the bird story that I posted in an earlier post. I continue to marvel at the ability my daughter has to celebrate and capture her passion with beauty in an artful life, as well as her heart. She moves you to tears, laughter and will take you to a place of wanting to feed the soul. You will soon understand why I had to put these words once again to this special piece of garden art. Myself being an interior designer, also artist who works in mixed-media, altered art, paper and paint, needed to put my daughters artful words in the likeness and style of this art piece. Her words as a child inspired me to do something with bird stories, words put to an art sign peacefully and poetically.


Being inspired to do this garden art brought back a dear memory of my daughter when she was age 4... Now she is 16 and graduating senior, year 2010. I was amazed at her heart and her fond love of caring for her wild birds. They were hers because they were loved from her heart, making sure that they all ate more then there fair share of 40 pounds of seed monthly. One afternoon one of her dear wild birds had flown into the glass door and fell to the ground; she cried yelling for my help and ran out to care for it. As she picked it up stroking it's head with her tiny 4 year old finger she told it to sing and fly, you can only imagine what that did to my heart. The little bird was soon not in shock from it's near fatal crash into the glass door, and flew from her soft grip. She really believed it was her love that helped it to sing and fly. So now you can see why I had to do this poetic garden art and how the words Sing and fly were perfect for this piece.

WHO CAN EXPLAIN the nurturing, sustaining role art plays in all our lives? Perhaps it is the dream-like quality of art, and it's ability to engender ideas that makes art so important. Peaceful inspiration that is provoked by reminding us the way nature intended it. I hope my art shows a celebration of love, "The bird was hers from the wild."

I hope this inspires you to "SING AND FLY" daily.
You will find this for sell on my ETSY Peaceful Shop