The second in my series of shots of my stuff. Just what you wanted! The computer room/dining room is full of books, but the wall does allow some display stuff, as do the tops of the bookcases. The pictures on the wall come from several different sources - there are a few shots I've taken myself - the orchid at top left, the berries in the top centre. The two small pictures of birds you can see below were a wedding present from Geoff's brother and SIL - they are little Australian birds (they live in Australia - their main wedding present was Stuart actually coming to the wedding in the US!). There are two Audubon prints - you can see one - which my mother gave us, and an engraving of Cambridge, showing Clare College (Geoff's college) among other scenes, also from my mother. The little picture in the left centre is a drawing of the Marine Parade at Lyme Regis, which I originally bought for my mum, but it's a bit small and delicate and doesn't really go in her house, so she offered it back and I took it, as I love it. There are some other pictures on the wall, but they can't be seen - they include a couple of photos of European cities my dad took when he and my mother lived in Germany nearly 50 years ago (I was born there), and a couple of botanical prints. Finally, there is an oriental rice-paddy scene in mother of pearl inlay, which again, was in my house growing up. I can't remember the origin of that one either - whether it was something my dad got in Vietnam or whether it has different origins. I'll have to check with my mum before she forgets, too...
Among the other things on the wall and bookcases, the things that aren't pictures, there is an old doll made out of coins, which I can't for the life of me remember the origin of, only that it was in my house when I was growing up. I must check with my mother about that one! The two masks you can see were both made by my mum, who does a lot of ceramic mask work - I tend to like the quite odd ones. Both are raku or wood fired rather than regular kiln fired, which adds to the appeal. The plate on the wall is also a raku piece, and was a gift from my friend Barbara - you can't really see the texture in the plate in the photo, but it's super.
There are four pottery pieces on the bookcases, of which I've made only one - the tall terra cotta hand built piece. The raku pot to the left is another piece my mum made, and has an interesting texture made with lace on the wet clay, and there is a raku vase on top of the tall bookcase, which I bought at a craft fair in the US a long time ago, if memory serves. The green piece on the short, righthand bookcase is another gift from my mother, but I'm not sure where she got it.
And then, just a few other bits and pieces - the naive angel I actually bought in Selfridges in the Christmas shop a few years back, but I like it so much I tend to keep it out year-round. The little owl and the little clay dragon are both things made by Olivia - the dragon in school when she was about 10 and the owl a bit more recently. The bird is made from a gourd, and was a gift, but I'm not sure from whom.
