Open!

 

 (Above: Susan holding two pieces in one of her new series:  Laundry Day.)

2020 started off really well. Susan was in Springfield, Illinois for a month enjoying an art residency with the Enos Park program.  While there, she started a new installation called The Clothesline.  This work spun off in several directions, including a series of fifty works called Laundry Day.  The works are matted and in clear plastic bags at just $65.  Susan is still accepting donations of vintage household linens to continue growing the The Clothesline installation.  She is also looking for wedding gowns for a 2021 installation marking Steve and her 40th anniversary!

(Above:  New work!  Several pieces in Susan's Nike's Advice series and Tessera series.)

Shortly after Susan returned from Illinois, COVID-19 shutdowns were put into place.  Busy March and April plans were canceled of postponed. Later May and June's calendar pages were cleared. More importantly, Mouse House was deemed "non-essential" and forced to close for weeks on end.  Susan's only solace was studio time.  Lots and lots of new work resulted and is still in production ... including pieces in her Nike's Advice series and in a new series called Tessera.  Prices for work depicted in the image above start at only $95.

(Above:  Capital on Blue and Capital on Gold leaning against The Wall of Keys. 32" x 26". Paint on unprimed canvas with self-guided, free-motion stitching and UV epoxy.  Each pieces is mounted to white-painted stretcher bars using galvanized roofing nails.  $900 each.)

Well, Mouse House was finally allowed to re-open.  We are practicing social distancing and regularly disinfecting the doorbell, doorknob, and other surfaces with which most people come into contact.  Come on by for picture framing and/or to see Susan's artwork.  Our hours are weekdays from 9:30 - 5:00 and most Saturdays from 10 - 2.  If you need to reach us, our telephone number is 803-254-0842.  We are looking forward to serving you!

Phone woes continue but wll be solved

The Mouse House business phone went dead on Tuesday April 2 with a repair not guaranteed until Saturday the 6TH. On Wednesday it miraculously started working again and worked all day Thursday. The powers to be must have found out that I made the call to convert the number to a cell phone which will be active by next Monday. Yesterday the new phone arrived and can be used to call out but not to receive incoming calls. The Mouse House number will not be ported to the new phone until midnight the 8TH. Today is Friday and the land line has decided to go on strike for one last irritant to my psyche.

So...please call my cell number (803-360-3035) if you need anything from the Mouse House. Thank you for your patience. I will have normal business hours today and will be open from 10-2 on Saturday.

Business phone woes from The Mouse House

I have not posted anything in the blog for over two years. I really need to do this more frequently. That being said, I must report that the Mouse House business line is down again for the final time. I have a landline that is linked to my ATT Uverse line but serviced by another company which will remain anonymous for now. Anytime the line has problems it takes days to fixed, and the technicians are subcontracted out to ATT! On this occasion they said that they could guarantee a service technician will visit Mouse House by 12:00 Saturday!

Since my Uverse and internet are working properly, they cannot come out and service my phone separately. I could have linked the phone number to my Uverse account, but I would have to convert that account into a business account and pay more money.

After today's failure of my business line, I have taken the long overdue solution of converting the business line to a wireless account with a new cellphone and same number. On Thursday the new phone arrives and hopefully my business line has been released from its former owner to Verizon. I have an additional 800 number to call to speed up the process.

So, if anyone needs to reach me, please call my cell phone at 803-360-3035

I am still open regular business hours while Susan is away at an artist residency in Missouri. I will be open this coming Saturday, April 6 during Open Studios. We could not officially participate because of Susan's absence.

SALE for Open Studios, April 1 - 2, 2017

(Above:  Original copper-plate engravings by Nicholas Tindal Rapin's History of England, 1745.  Previously, $100 each. During Open Studios, 50% off ... just $50 each for mid-18th century engravings.)

Mouse House, Inc. has never gone in much for sales. We hate coupons.  Our philosophy has always been "charge a fair price every day".  That's worked well for thirty years, but we've also accumulated more than we could possibly ever sell.  So ... why not a sale ... a really, really GOOD SALE ... prices below market value, below cost, and for the sole reason that some of these wonderful works simply need a good home!  OPEN STUDIOS is on Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.  For those two days EVERYTHING that is shrink wrapped at Mouse House will be on sale for 50% off.  This post features a few of the antiquarian prints and Susan's older artwork that are part of the sale.  (Pardon the glare from the shrink wrapping!)

 (Above on the left:  One of Susan's Elements of Architecture Series.  Free-motion machine embroidery over dense hand stitching.  Was $225.  Now just $112.50.  There are at least one dozen of these original fiber artworks.  Above on the right:  One of Susan's Life Everlasting Series.  Image transfer on book page with decorate paper and hand beading.  Was $75.  Now just $37.50.  There are at least a dozen of these too.)

 (Above:  Two chromolithographs from Examples of Ornament Art in Glass & Enamel by J. B. Waring, London, 1858.)  These nicely matted antiquarian prints are priced at $30 but will be just $15 each during Open Studios.  Mouse House has a nice selection of engravings, woodblock prints, chromolithography, etchings, and other antiquarian prints ranging in price from $10.  They will all by 50% off.)

 (Above:  Happy from Susan's African Series.  Image transfers on paper mounted to fabric and embellished with stitch, paint, chiffon, and snippets from the studio.  Once upon a time ... aka 2006 ... there were twenty-six of these pieces. They were all framed and enjoyed a solo show at the Etherredge Center on the grounds of the University of South Carolina-Aiken.  Some received awards in juried shows.  Eventually, they were removed from their frames.  There are at least eleven of them.  Formerly $300 unframed.  For Open Studios ... just $150 each.)

(Above:  Two antiquarian prints.  The Birth of a Nereid is marked at $15 but will cost just $7.50 during Open Studios.  There are too many of these engravings at Mouse House to count.  The hand-colored botanical in the fancy mat with an interior fillet is priced at $50 but will be just $25 when on sale.)

(Above on the left:  One of Susan's Black God Series.  Images of original West African masks and artifact on book pages with decorative paper and hand beading.  Priced at $75 each but will sell for $37.50 during Open Studios.  There are dozens of them ... each different.  Above on the right:  One of Susan's Muses Series.  Watercolor on original pages from Tableavx dv Temple des Mvses by Favereau, 1655.  All include a free-motion stitched outline of Susan's hand.  Some include collage elements, beads, and hand embroidery.  With embroidery, the price is $150 ... on sale for $75.  Without the additional elements ... just the hand outline ... $100 ... on sale for $50 each.  There are a couple dozen of each at least.)

 (Above:  Susan's original American Craftsman Meets Recycled Bride.  Collage of antique lace, US American Craftsman postage stamps, and decorative papers with free-motion embroidery and beading.  Mounted on dupioni silk.  Priced at $195 ... on sale for $97.50.)

(Above on left:  Antique map of Venice.  $30 ... except during Open Studios!  Then, just $15.  There are also dozens of state maps dating to 1902 for $6 each.  That's just $3 on sale!  Above on right:  Another chromolithograph from Examples of Ornament Art in Glass & Enamel by J. B. Waring, London, 1858 that will be on sale for just $15.)

 (Above:  One of Susan's Angels in Mourning Series.  Most of these are still in frames.  In fact, most of them are currently on view at Ponder Gallery on Benedict College's campus.  A few, however, have been removed from their frames because we needed the moulding.  These are priced at $325 but will be on sale from just $162.50.  By the weekend of Open Studios, all the Angels in Mourning Series will be back at Mouse House.  Any can be shrink wrapped for the sale price, and we'd make a deal on those still in frames.)

 (Above on left:  Susan's original Dolls photographs.  Each one is $125 but will be just $62.50 each during Open Studios.  Above on the right:  Late 19th century Racinet Chromolithograph in fancy double mat with fillet.  $30 but just $15 on sale.)

(Above:  Crates of antiquarian chromolithography ... including many from Owen Jones, Racinet, and other popular late 19th century sources.  The Racinet chromo shown in the image above this one came from one of these crates.  Mouse House has dozens and dozens of great, antique prints that are shrink wrapped without a matted presentation.  They will all be on sale at 50% off.)

(Above on the left:  One of Susan's original fiber artworks from Elements in Blue Series.  There are about ten to twelve from this series that accompanied Susan's Blues Chapel installation.  Priced at $225, they will be just $112.50 during Open Studios.  Each features free-motion machine embroidery over dense hand stitching.  Above on the right:  One of Susan's Muses Series.   Watercolor on original pages from Tableavx dv Temple des Mvses by Favereau, 1655.  All include a free-motion stitched outline of Susan's hand.  Some include collage elements, beads, and hand embroidery.  With embroidery, the price is $150 ... on sale for $75.  Without the additional elements ... just the hand outline ... $100 ... on sale for $50 each.  There are a couple dozen of each at least.)

(Above:  Matted pieces from Susan's Feather Series.  Priced at just $25 ... but only $12.50 during Open Studios.  Feathers mounted on watercolors.)

 (Above:  Pieces from Susan's original installation The Archeology Project.  Unique, individual pieces range from $20 - $50 and will be half off.)

(Above:  More matted antiquarian prints.  Mouse House carries some exotic images ... from camels to sea shells.  Come for OPEN STUDIOS and provide a home for 50% off.

November at the Mouse House

Susan returns from paradise, aka, her artist residency in Oregon at Playa, on the red-eye this Friday night.  She arrives at 6:10 AM on Saturday in Charlotte.  I have decided to stay overnight in Charlotte on Friday instead of leaving at 4:30 AM Saturday.  She can take the shuttle to the hotel when she arrives (ha ha). When Susan left for Oregon in early October, we drove to Charlotte at 5:30 AM on October 4 during the biblical flood event of Columbia.  We were very fortunate to make it safe and sound, and I was equally fortunate to make it back to Columbia later that day.  I was quite happy Susan was in Eastern Oregon, an area with spotty cellphone service and limited internet.  She did not have to read about all the horrors of the flood and its aftermath.  So it is back to normal at the Mouse House beginning on Halloween.  We will be open Saturday afternoon and Susan will be here all day.  Next Wednesday, November 3, she delivers twenty pieces from her Stained Glass and InBox series to the Cultural Arts Council of Douglasville, GA for a show.  The artist reception is Sunday, November 8 from 2-4 PM.  I expect Susan to be at Mouse House most of next week, except Wednesday so please come and visit.

My pet weeds

Susan is now in Wisconsin to the Wormfarm Institute for the next three weeks.  She is sleeping in the barn where the temperature was 37 degrees yesterday.  Today she is gardening.  Hopefully it is a little bit warmer today.  In honor of her planting skills I am going to show her how my pet weeds are growing.  It has been a joke for years that I allow some strange exotic plant/weed to grow under my protection.  I am particularly fond of this plant that until recently  I had no clue to its identification.  Our friend Bert Easter told me it was a pokeweed, and it is edible.  I am sure all baby boomers remember the song "Poke Salad Annie" by Tony Joe White.  As a teenager I had no idea that this plant was...I just liked the song.  Well there are a slew of recipes on the internet that use this plant, but I am not going to try any.  Here are some pictures of two different pokeweeds.

Pokeweed near the brick wall in the back of Mouse House.  Several weeks ago I cut this weed with my lawn mower but it grew back with vengeance.  I am going to allow it to stay a while.

One of my pet pokeweeds.  It is growing next to the stump of our deceased pecan tree which was struck by lighting in June,  2004, the firebolt jumped to our roof and nearly burned our house down. It lived until the autumn of 2013.  On top of the stump is a sculpture made of pecan chops by Stephen Chesley

News from the Mouse House

Susan begins the second week of her art residency at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, MN.  Her creative juices are flowing, and I encourage everyone to visit her blog to see her new creations.  As for yours truly, my back seems to be getting better.  Hopefully I will be able to continue my "spring cleaning" of the workshop and dreaded back room

Bottle cap photo-frame (click on image to enlarge)

Susan created some bottle cap photo-frames recently.  They are designed for a 5 by 7 image with UV glass, a black-core mat and flex points for easy installation of your own personal photo.  I have both horizontal and vertical orientations, and they sell for $49.00 plus sales tax.  They make wonderful gifts.

We also created a number of bottle cap mirrors in various sizes and price ranges ($66 - $165).  During her absence they are 25 % off the original price if you mention this blog post to me.

Hampton Court and Palace

During my March visit to London (on a 40000 mile frequent flyer flight!) to visit Mathias and see him dance one of the principal roles in Carmina Burana, I visited Hampton Court Palace.  Great place, incredible gardens and its own famous art gallery.  Needed a lot more time for a proper visit and I will return at a later date.  To save some money I stayed in East London at the Barking Travelodge.  Excellent inexpensive hotel with new beds and surprisingly large rooms.  Hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Barking Train and Tube station and 45 minutes to Charring Cross/ Trafalgar Square.

Barking Abbey Ruins (click to enlarge)

A little gem in Barking, a one minute walk from the Travelodge, is the Barking Abbey Ruins and St. Margaret Church and Cemetery.  The Abbey dates back to AD 666 and was surrendered to the Crown in 1539 and demolished.  Good stone and lead were used at the king's manor house in Dartfort and at Greenwich Palace. 

St. Margaret's Church and Tower, London Barking

The church is quite active but closed when I visited.  The cemetery is well maintained and contained some really cool tombstones that would make some great rubbings.

One of several tombstones with classic 17th century skull and crossbones embellishments (click to enlarge)