Before and after

I am back. Sorry I have been away for so long. There was a lot of work to do in the house and it took all my energy. Also, I was forever looking for things. Now the renovation is almost finished and we have started to unpack. So I am showing you the first 'before and after' pictures. This is what our living room/library looked like when we moved in:

And this is what it looks like now:

We bought two more bookcases to accommodate all the books we have. And while filling the shelves with them, I also filled three bags of books to go to the charity shops.

I got this wonderful yellow painting from my very good friend and an amazing artist, Lorna Wilson. See her other paintings here.

I have chosen blue for this corner of the room because of Feng Shui. It represents the element of water. Instead of hanging the curtains in the windows, I used self-adhesive film to block the view from the street and let the light in.

On the shelf you can see the sculpture by my aunt, Jadwiga Janus. She began her art career in the sixties and is a well known artist in Poland. I love her work.

This is just the beginning. I hope our home will evolve with time and acquire it's own character naturally.

Yolanta

Before and after

Beachcombing - another kind of collecting

My house is by the sea, on the South-East coast of England. I have been living here for over two years. One of the reasons I moved into this area is to be able to go for long walks by the sea and be inspired by it. I had a feeling that living by the sea will somehow change me and my work as a painter. And I wasn't disappointed.

I go for long walks whenever I can. And I do beachcombing, which is one of my favorite activities ever. I pick up various objects offered by the sea and waiting for me to be collected.

I come back from these expeditions tired, with wet trousers and shoes, with pockets full of treasures and very happy.

The amazing natural creations of the sea life inspire me in my work.

The sea's forms filter through into my paintings and designs.
There is never any shortage of them. And they are free - always there, for anybody who notices them.

I use the shells to display other objects.

After storms I collect the driftwood thrown at the shore. I am going to use this lot to make a mirror frame. I am looking for a suitable mirror in the second hand shops now. When I find it, this will become my next creative project.

But mostly I just look at my finds, touch them, enjoy their subtle color harmonies and textures. There is nothing better then a feeling of being connected to nature. It helps me to be energized and to stay balanced.

Beachcombing - another kind of collecting

Collecting things

Collecting is fun. Collecting is inspiring. Arranging a group of simple objects, not necessarily expensive ones, gives me satisfaction and makes a place nice to look at. Basically, it creates the feeling of my space, of home.

Most of my things, including my collections, are in boxes now (I recently moved in with my Mr. Partner). But I keep on collecting, on a very small scale, I find things at local jumble sales and in charity shops. Here you can see some new additions to my collections. I collect Colored vintage glass, Blue and white crockery, and recently I started collecting Hearts.

Of course only the hearts are purely for decoration. The glass and the crockery are to be used every day. The objects that I collect have to be functional and uplifting, otherwise they just become a clutter.

I used to collect folk birds (wooden and clay). The collection grew very big, the birds had their own cabinet where they lived, but after moving them with me too many times, I started to have a feeling of being burdened by them. So I gave them away, one by one, to friends and family members who visited me. I only allowed myself to keep a couple of birds, they are all that's left from my collection:

Occasionally, while treasure hunting, I see something that other people collect and I get it for them. I found this lovely vintage ceramic Pug dog in a charity shop and I bought it for my sister who has a Pug dog called Kapsulka which means Capsule in Polish. Her lovely dog looks just like a capsule and it is a very fussy little dog. If it doesn't like the weather it won't go outside. I love this dog. The ceramic dog is really similar to the real one. Before I gave it to my sister it had to be washed. It looks quite happy, all clean on the dryer:

Recently I bought a very good book about collections, called "The way we live with the things we love" by Stafford Cliff and Gilles De Chabaneix. It shows some very inspiring interiors, I recommend it to you - whether you collect art, antiques, tribal, rustic or religious objects or just simple kitchenalia.

In a few days I will post something about my other passion and another kind of collecting: the beach combing.

Love to you all
Yolanta

Collecting things