Lions at theFoundry. My Day Job

I'm the administrator at Kalispell Art Casting a bronze foundry. I've worked here for 15 years now. The foundry was established in 1979 and is still owned and operated by the same 2 men. We do work for artists from all over the USA and Canada - mainly from the West.

We just finished casting a pair of very large bronze lions. The artist is Scott Lennard.

The above 3 photos are of one of the lions almost finished. The color of the raw bronze is gold. The next (and final) stage is patina.

By applying chemicals, our patina artist changes the color from the raw bronze golden color to what we call a "standard" bronze patina. The artist picked the lions up yesterday to take to an art show. Onto the next project....

Downton Abbey - A Masterpiece on Masterpiece Classic PBS

(The creator Julian Fellowes)

Downton Abbey started here last Sunday on PBS and we were not disappointed. The second of four episodes will show tonight on PBS Masterpiece and I just can't wait. Set in a typically gorgeous English country estate, it opens in 1912 in a world that will soon be gone forever. The lives of the English upper classes and their servants are depicted with the drama unfolding at both ends of the spectrum. The wonderful writer Julian Fellowes (who brought us Gosford Park) has written a masterpiece - a terrific period drama with an exceptional cast.

Last week in the first episode Maggie Smith playing a sharp witted dowager countess (at least so far) asks - "What's a weekend?". The talented Hugh Bonneville plays the lord of the manor and it's wonderful to see Elizabeth McGovern as his wife. It looks like there's a lot to look forward to in the next three episodes as the plot unfolds (this is no staid costume drama - there's some illicit sex and the hint of treachery going on here).......and I just read that Julian Fellowes is following up with more episodes at a future date ........the drama will continue.

3 Advertising Finds This Weekend

This is a lovely old 1960's Chevron clock, quite large actually (18' x 18") . We are keeping our fingers crossed that it can be repaired, then it'll light up. Over the years we have sold quite a number of these types of clocks but this kind of thing is getting harder and harder to find so I was very impressed when Mr VM brought this home the other day.

The coffee container below would have been used in a store. The condition is fantastic, which is always an issue with advertising pieces. It is 14" wide x 19" long x 20" high so it's a great size. The colors and the images are really vibrant - great for a kitchen.
"Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical."

Jonathan Swift

This Maxwell House coffee can held 15 lbs. Again the colors are vibrant and overall condition is great.

"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water."

The Women's Petition Against Coffee 1674.

If You Want To Get A Head - Get A Hat

I've been searching for a hat stand for quite a while now. Not the easiest thing to find, and when I spotted this one at a local antiques shop I just had to have it.

I think that it's made out of aluminum....it has a real "industrial " feel with lovely red wooden discs for holding each hat.

I had a stash of hats hidden away for a long time. When we stopped driving from Montana to California to do vintage clothing shows, I just packed each hat in acid free paper and put them away for a rainy day. Today is the rainy day - the hats are now for sale at our mall space.

I really like this "Scarlett O'Hara" style.

This is a gorgeous shade of green velevet.....isn't the bow just fab.

I think that this grey number is from the 1940s, it's one of my favourites.

Here we have a wild purple felt hat, with a black net "fascinator" (union made) on the left and a lovely pinky, mohair wide brimmed style on the right.

I love this multi-colored feather hat.

You may have noticed that I threw a few cowboy hats into the mix - lots of these are worn in this neck of the woods.
So on that note - I tip my hats to you.

Happy New Year from 1936

I found this card about 20 years ago and have been using it as a bookmark ever since. It's written in French and I just love the writing script. It was written 75 years ago. I wonder if the writer was aware of the world events which would result in war in three years time. I wonder about the writer's life and hope that it was a good, happy, meaningful life.

I thought of my parents this morning, who are long gone from me, and surmised what they would have been doing in 1936, in Scotland. My father would have been a young man in a Highland fishing village running "the shop" a busy, general merchandise store. And my mother, whose first langauge was Gaelic, would have been a student in Edinburgh not long arrived to that beautiful city from the Hedbridean Island of South Uist.

Here's what I wish for all of us in 2011 - Peace - Joy - Hope - Prosperity - and most of all -Happiness