The Porch

Welcome to an occasional new Monday series in which I’ll take you on a tour of the art pieces in my house. Many of you will never darken my door but that’s no reason not to see past it. Plus you may hear more about these pieces that my regular visitors ever hear, or want to hear 🙂

Starting with the porch – which some of you have seen in my Christmas photos. The first thing you’ll see, besides me letting you in, is this wonderful oil painting. It consists of marvellous cliches & is clearly from an assembly line oil painting factory. It has misty mountains, waterfalls, cascades, a quaint cottage in the pines, & a rough path to the cottage.

I found it on one of my morning walks. I took a few photos of it then & it was still there on my way back. The frame was included so I couldn’t resist it & brought it home. It is perfect for the front porch. If you take a close look you’ll see why it was tossed. There is a slit in the canvas – about the size of a knife blade – over the secluded cottage. I think of this as a breach of the time-space continuum. I love this painting & love the fact that is is found art.

On the window ledge by the front door is this hand-carved wooden African fetish that is intended to scare away evil energy. The tag say ‘two warriors.’ I’ve had this so long I don’t remember where it came from – maybe a yard-sale? It may have been a house-warming gift. My partner found it too grotesque to have on the living-room mantle piece so it has been in the porch protecting our house for decades.

On the other side of the door is a bookcase whose shelves are cluttered in endless knick-knacks. My favorite of which is this lamp from the 30’s. It has the remains of its original paint job & still works. It is La Canadienne. It was a Christmas gift some 30 years ago. I’ve been tempted to have it reconditioned but decay has its place. Linus is a period bobble head. The cow is a creamer. The poodle on a log is a future Hot Damn! prize. The random holes on the frame are from stapling the Christmas fabric that hides the shelves from the prying eyes of Santa’s elves.

Our Lady of the Flowers -a boxed St Teresa plaster icon. This goes way way back when I was living in Cape Breton. I found it in an antique store in Halifax in the mid-70’s. I had to have hit even though I am not Catholic. I have been told that these were in Catholic grade schools at one time. There would have been a little shelf handing at the bottom for candles or for votive offerings or for holy water – depending on the school. I keep in in a darker corner of the porch out of too much direct sunlight.

I remember buying it & carrying like a doll as it as too large to bag & to delicate to toss in a suitcase. I was stopped on the street by a group of Russian sailors who recognized the Saint. They spoke little English but their thick Russian accents made me weak in the knees. Laudamus Te indeed.