Monday, November 23, 2009

"LE CIRQUE DE NOEL"



A CHRISTMAS CIRCUS! If you come to the Theatre of Dreams you will see a Parade of fanciful dressed animals, ready to adorn your tree or table for the Holidays! Kitties and elephants, dromedaries and lions, horses and tigers, all form a peaceable kingdom here in the shop.
Our first Open House of the season is this coming Fri and Sat, Nov,27 & 28. We are also open Fri. and Sat. Dec. 4 & 5, and Fri. and Sat. Dec 11 & 12. Hours are 10 - 4 each day, and the you are also welcome to tour the workshop where all the animals are made!
The address is #11 Canyon Lake Dr, Port Costa, Ca. 94569. Port Costa is 20 mins. north of the bay bridge, in the east bay. Call for directions - (510) 787-2164.
The public is welcome, come one, come all!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

TINSEL AND SAWDUST




Without showing too much, here are a few pics of things I am working on for my Christmas Open House! This is just a peek around the workshop, where things are piling up in an interesting way. I am fascinated by hands this year, and they are appearing many ways, on gilded wreathes, covered with mirrors, and even sea shells. Also shown is a box full of Santos figures, waiting patiently to be dressed by me in antique clothes.
The title of my Christmas line is "Tinsel and Sawdust" and this phrase is an old way of describing the circus. I am in love with anything circus these days, and if you check my next post, I will be showing pictures of my "Cirque de Noel" line.

Monday, November 9, 2009

HAYWARD MOON


A month ago I walked down to the waterfront to watch the full moon rise, (I think it was the Harvest Moon), and then a few hours later, just before I went to bed, I walked up the hill to the little park, where there are no lights, and did a little bit more moon watching. Mr. Kitty actually followed me up there - quite far from home for a bed kitty - and also Big Boy, who roams this territory every night. They both purred and wrapped themselves around me as we all stood in the silence and moonlight.
The moon has some special meaning for me dating from my days in Hayward, Ca., a town on the edge of the east bay, full of used car lots and run down strip malls. My life then seemed so prosaic and I felt so lost to the mysteries inside of me. When I finally began to re-connect to them, I was in a very scary place, and was not sure how or where to start, but I knew I needed a place to go of my own, and so I sort of moved into to the old ramshackle 1920's garage in the back yard. I started spending all my time there, playing with drawings, writing, etc.
And when I came outside after an evening there, it would be late, and I would see the moon rising over the back yard (which by day was ugly - with piles of rusty old metal, old plastic toys, broken bicycles and an old volkswagon) and the moon would just transform everything- and breathe life into all of my intuitive suspicions.
So now I go out and see the moon several times a month, and I am always looking for it in the sky, to see if it is waxing or waning. Sometimes I can be out shopping, and see the full moon rise of Kmart, and it seems even more amazing that it does in beautiful Port Costa, where I now live, and I call that a Hayward Moon, because the drama and magic of it transforms our everyday life.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

THE REASON FOR CATS


The reason CATS are here....is to remind us to slow down!
I have posted pictures of Big Boy, who is my studio cat, and here is Mr. Kitty, who owns my bed. He will occasionally move over and let me sleep there too, but there are mornings when I wake up and find my head flat on the bed, and Mr. Kitty, curled up right in the middle of my pillow.

Monday, September 21, 2009

October




October is almost here...and I am in the busiest time of the year. I spent all weekend re-doing the shop for my Halloween Show. Nothing could be more fun! I got a bolt of cheap black tulle at the flea market last April, and now I know why! So that I could drape it all over everything in my shop for Halloween! It gives a spooky beautiful shadow to everything. I love Halloween because it has an edge to it, and you can play with the dark and light of it. Besides, orange is my favorite color!
But I have been also working hard on books, and am sending out 35 books tomorrow - this means I will have finished and delivered almost 140 books! I am planning on finishing up and sending out all books through #200 by Oct. 30.
My Halloween show in Port Costa is Fri. and Sa.t Oct. 9 & 10, from 10 - 4 each day. See you there!

Friday, September 11, 2009

MORE PICTURES



Just wanted to add a few more pictures of things I am working on for my fall shows...

September is Here


So in between book making I am working on Halloween and Christmas things - I have several new lines out that I hope will bring a little magic into our lives. My favorite is the Theatre Line - I am posting some pictures of some of the figures and theatre cut outs. There are also boxes, cards and tags coming soon, all of which will be at my Christmas Open House (dates below).

Also, with the help of my friends, I finally have a real website!!! the address is: www.wendyaddisonstudio.com
and there is an on line cataloque with pictures!!!

Here is a schedule of my upcoming shows:
Oct. 7,8 -- Christmas Show at Roger's Gardens, Corona del Mar, Ca
Oct. 9,10 -- My Halloween Show at the Theatre of Dreams in Port Costa
Oct. 15 -- Halloween Trunk Show at Tinsel Trading in NYC
Nov. 7 --Christmas Trunk Show at Iron Dog in Fremont, Ca.
Nov. 27, 28, My Big Christmas Show at my shop in Port Costa, Ca.

Gift Shows!



August just flew by - I spent most of it doing trade shows (see picture of the booth as Marcia, Monica and I were setting up for the SF gift show), so I lost a whole month in the workshop. Now I am back to working on books (as well as getting ready for my Fall Open Houses). I thank my book buyers again for their patience - you are, each and every one of you, an angel. My goal is to have every book finished and delivered by the end of November!

And, I have signed up to teach several classes at a symposium of artists and designers this coming April. I am very excited - there will be many high powered artists there and a very high energy atmosphere! It is put on by Mary Engelbreit of Home Companion magazine, and will be in St. Louis. More information can be found on her web site.

ALSO, please check out the latest (Oct) issue of Country Living, for a two page spread on my studio! I will be adding another post tonight with times and dates for my upcoming open houses.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Summer at the Theatre of Dreams


This is one of my favorite times of the year. The day after Midsummer's Night, I am already feeling perkier because I know that the rest of the year is in a long process of becoming...Christmas! My heart is a little happier, my mood is one of anticipation. I actually bring out the Christmas music in August! So while I am laying in my hammock, where I rest on quiet afternoons, and a single little dry leaf accidentally drops down on me, I am imagine that Fall has already started, and begin dreaming of winter. I am full of plans and ideas for my next Port Costa Open Houses, and here are the dates:
HALLOWEEN OPEN HOUSE - "LE CIRQUE"
Fri and Sat, Oct. 9 & 10
CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE - "BACKSTAGE at the THEATRE OF DREAMS"
Fri, Sat, Nov. 27 & 28
As always, my private workshop and printing studio will also be open for tours during these hours. I will also be open to the public on Fri and Sat Dec. 5, 6 & Fri and Sat, Dec. 11, 12.
ALSO, I am planning two trunk shows this year :
TINSEL TRADING COMPANY, in downtown Manhattan, N.Y., on Oct 15
IRON DOG, in Niles, Ca. ON NOV. 7
If you would like to be on my mailing list, please leave your name and postal address
on my message phone at (510) 787-2164!

Why is there CAT HAIR...
























In all of my books?!!! In case you have received a book and wondered.. where does the cat hair come from.....? here is one of the reasons! His given name is Seigfried, but he usually gets called "Big Boy" for obvious reasons. Should you find an inky Paw Print on a page of your book, it is NOT mine! I am working every week on finishing up my book orders, but also doing design work for several brand new lines that will be coming out this fall. I will post pictures of some of those items next month.

Monday, March 23, 2009

YOU CAN STILL ORDER A BOOK!























I have pre-sold almost 200 books of the limited edition of 400, so books are still available to order. Lead time is probably 6 weeks to catch up with orders, as I am assembling and hand binding about 20 books a week. I expect this edition to be SOLD OUT by this Christmas, so think a little bit ahead if you would like to own one, or give one as a gift.
Each copy is hand colored, has 40 offset and letter-pressed pages, and lots of bound-in ephemera! I will sign and inscribe your book to you personally.
If you would like a book, (each copy is $250) you can send a check to my address:
Wendy Addison, Box 20, Port Costa, Ca. 94569,
or you can call in a credit card (510) 787-2164.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

BOOK DELIVERY!























I am so happy to report that copies of the book are rolling off the assembly line (which is me!) and being delivered every day! I am so grateful to all of my book buyers, for their faith and support of this project. Every single one of them will be forever in my heart.
Pictures are of Laura Himm, Sharon Mattern, Rowena Cerri and Nicol Sayre.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

WHAT IS TINSEL?


Tinsel is a glimmer of the past, winking at us through the shadows...it is the soft warm silver of antique Christmas garland...it is the smell of tarnished gold fringe on an old dress in an attic, and the beaded arabesque on that Victorian hat. Like some fantastical currency from an imaginary world, tinsel has a measureless value for it's shimmering beauty.
Every once in a while, we are lucky enough to find a few scraps at the flea market, and each little treasure is usually "too good to use". So try to imagine a huge forgotten warehouse of antique tinsel, all socked away in crumbling boxes from the nineteen tens and twenties, so much treasure it is spilling into the aisle ways between stacks up so high... This is TINSEL TRADING!!! This is a real store, not wishful thinking, and it is at #1 West 37th St., in NYC.
Tinsel Trading is run by my friend Marcia Ceppos, who inherited it from her Grandfather. On the few times that I can be coaxed onto an airplane, I am usually on my way to see Marcia, her in-store designer, Rosemary Warren, and her fabulous BASEMENT!! I should mention that the basement is generally off-limits, but just take a look around the upstairs shop and it will take your breath away.
When I get home, I unpack my treasures. Yards of trim to make ornaments, fringe to add to a paper elephant, little beads that would take the best earrings, and piles of antique brass boullion, which I pull and stretch out around my snowballs.
I feel so lucky to know Marcia and Rosemary, and the most fabulous store in the world!

MORE TINSEL MAGIC




These ornaments were made for my Christmas show using trim from the mysterious basement! Here are more pics of my visit with Tinsel people - the last picture is of me, Rosemary and Marcia. Of course, Tinsel is my New York outlet so I will be doing regular trunk shows there. If you are interested in buying wholesale, Marcia will be showing my new line of originals at the Tinsel Trading booth at the NY and SF gift shows.


Many of these are somewhat limited edition creations, using her wonderful old materials. You can call her for info: (212) 730-1030.