Artwork of the Week: Visit My Web Site

Visit My Web Site by Charley Harper, 2003

When we left Brooklyn, we finally said goodbye to the little cockroaches that darted across the countertops every time we flipped the kitchen lights on. The new house in Durham has it's own breed of home invaders, however. Spiders sit poised in every corner of this place. I wouldn't say that I'm afraid of bugs, in fact, most of the time I just look the other way. As long as they're not bothering me, I won't bother them. But now that there's a baby crawling around putting all of the things straight into his mouth, I'm trying to keep a tidier house. So I started dust-busting the spiders up, thinking it would be the most effective means to their end and involve the least hand-to-hand combat. Big mistake. When Micky decided it was time to empty out the Dirt Devil last week, they all came crawling out ALIVE AND WELL. I didn't see, but I imagined it probably looked like a giant spider king made of a bunch of smaller angry spiders and I was so grateful he was there to wrestle each one of their spindly legs into the garbage.

Despite my aversion to webs and the cobs that spin them, this is my favorite work by illustrator Charley Harper. The bee stuck in the bottom left of the spider's silk is the very same that I considered getting as a tattoo. 

A lithograph of his original painting is available for $75 on charleyharperartstudio.com.

- Cathleen 

You Are Such a Doily

Doily from Vintage Scrap Co. on Etsy

A simple phrase Grace once pegged at me in high school that she thought completely described my essence, but made me feel pigeon-holed and totally misunderstood. Few like being summed up so easily, insisting they are far more complicated and mysterious than anyone can possibly understand! (Foot stomp here.)

In my old age I have transformed from a petulant teenager into a person who doesn’t take herself quite as seriously anymore, and can now appreciate that her best friend of 18 years knows her better than she even knew herself back then.

Resist all I want, I am constantly drawn to these little lacey things.

My mother draped doilies on every chair back and gleaming wooden table she could find in our house growing up. And I just recently discovered an amazing doily stretcher in my grandmother’s basement a lot like this one I found on Etsy.

Years ago, doilies were used to guard furniture from scratches, and shield the expensive upholstery of sofas and settes from the oils used to groom the hair of gentleman callers.

Two years ago, I made a doily out of my own hair during my second semester of grad school. 

Heart-shaped paper doily garlands were strung around the Knights of Columbus where Micky and I got married a few months ago.

And now I’m seeing them everywhere! At the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this past June, I met and snagged the heart-shaped metal dog tag calling card of maker Angela Spencer after browsing through her booth. Angela, founder of A.S.I.S, was selling some very rad T-shirts (see below) and stunning earrings.

Angela Spencer can regularly be found shilling her wares at the Brooklyn Flea on weekends (Saturdays in Fort Greene and Sundays in Williamsburg, 10am-5pm, rain or shine). I couldn’t locate the gorgeous lace earrings on her website that she featured at the fair, but you can take my word: they were divine! They looked like small snippets of intricately woven loveliness dipped in gold! Here’s a non-precious metal DIY version from Honestly WTF:

This next incredible piece isn’t exactly a doily per se, but I love the idea of a crocheted cobweb tacked up in the rafters of a dusty, musty attic. It's work from artist Shane Waltener, a beautiful reminder that knitter’s needles and a spider’s nimble arms and legs are not that far removed from one another.

Delicate, complex, and lovely, the doily evokes something pretty and sweet, with one lacey utilitarian toe planted firmly in the past. I suppose it’s not the worst thing to be associated with.

- Cathleen