Artist Spotlight: Annette Eagle

 

As soon as I saw this sea themed cloche collage in Annette Eagle's space at Melange, I knew I had to have it! The two seahorses dancing in the wine glass reminded me of my wedding at the beautiful Our Lady of Malibu Catholic Church, the starfish - of the many early Sunday morning walks with my father along Latigo Shore, and the pearl in the clam shell - a symbol of my days in Gamma Phi Beta sorority at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo!  I had to meet the artist who pulled this fantastic piece together - and the minute I met Annette, I knew I had found a friend I would cherish!

Annette Eagle is a tiny woman with enormous talent!  Annette can take old, chipped, uncared for, throw away items and transform them into vintage looking, sea shore inspired art pieces.  Annette hunts flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales and craft fairs searching out the broken jewelry, chipped statuettes, faded ribbon, and ripped and torn fabric she uses to create her art.

Annette mixes her own paint colors to mimic vintage finishes and adds seashells to embellish her finds.  This bust is a great example of how Annette combined a vintage pearl collar with a seashell encrusted crown to make this piece truly unique.

Move over Pottery Barn - your seashell bottles can't compare to the ones Annette has been making for years!  Plus her prices are so reasonable, as you can see in this picture.  Annette finds vintage bottles that most people would throw away and adds her special touches of glittered starfish or custom painted coral, to top off the silver leaf stoppers.

Starfish appear regularly in her space at Melange in Historic Folsom.  Annette combines her vintage jewelry finds into mini-collages and embellishes the starfish after she has painted and glittered them.  She also sells vintage jewelry like you see on this pillow.

No one can make sea fan look as elegant as Annette!  She custom paints it and adds glitter or mica flakes to make them sparkle. Cuff bracelets are some of Annette's latest projects and can be found at The Tattered House in Roseville, as well as Melange.

Annette's assemblage necklaces are one-of-a-kinds and hard to get a hold of since she sells them as fast as she makes them!

Crowns, miniature boxes, statuettes, and rosaries all have been given Annette's "Midas touch".  As soon as Annette gets some of her crowns in her space, they disappear!

 Annette fashioned this custom crown from crushed velvet,and vintage lace, jewelry and millinery flowers. Annette states, "I have always enjoyed art and crafting for as long as I can remember, as a child my favorite past time was coloring and painting ceramics.   When I was 19 I started making gifts for family and friends and about 5 years ago I did my first flea market where I started selling my creations.   My greatest passion is creating, when I know I get to spend a few hours creating it’s like a kid at Christmas time!  But the most rewarding part of it is when you create something for someone and they appreciate it…this is the real joy!!"

The cloche collages Annette creates have a whimsical tone - the way Annette compiles her minute treasures create stories for the viewer to interpret as they may.  In this cloche, a glittered bird sits atop a jar filled with vintage pearls, and vintage braided trim encircles the base.

Annette's shadow boxes are magical as well.  What is the story behind this one - who wore the vintage pearls?  Who played with the chipped little figure which received a glittered crown courtesy of Annette?  Where did the vintage snippet of lace and the millinery flowers come from?  Each of these pieces are like a snapshot of times gone by, but then brought back to life to tell a new story.

Nests featured prominently in Annette's displays as well!  Each of these are masterpieces in themselves!  Found feathers, lace, leaves, fabric, wire, are all masterfully woven together, glittered and then given eggs, a sign of new life.

Annette's artwork never fails to amaze me - I don't know if it is the soothing colors she uses, each creative combination she comes up with, or the vintage coastal vibe that draws me to cherish her work.  But I do know she has a knack for telling stories with her pieces, whether she knows it or not, people connect to her pieces like they connect to their past memories, and her artwork keeps those memories alive.  Annette's "Eagle Marie Designs" can be found at Melange in Historic Folsom, The Tattered House in Roseville, and she has also been a featured seller at the Remnants of the Past show in Nipomo.  Contact Annette directly by phone (916)761-9405, email Annette@bmrparts.com or leave her a message about her work by commenting below!

Easter Chicks, Bunnies and Eggs, Oh My!

 Sometimes it is so hard to choose which of these symbols of Easter I want to base my decor on each year so I decided to play with all three this year!

My husband and boys found these fresh blue flower plates years ago at Pottery Barn and gave them to me for Mothers' Day.  The blue flowers match the blue on the tablecloth I found at Marshalls perfectly!  The green juice glasses are from Pier 1 and the green candlesticks were another gift from my guys, found at Anthropologie.  The yellow placemats and green handled silverware were Marshall's finds.  I love to add fresh greenery or flowers to a tablescape, and fresh ferns grabbed my attention at the nursery.  I found the little fern pot and the blue pot at Goodwill.   Take a look at some close-ups from this tablescape!!

Salt and Pepper Shakers come in so many shapes and styles they can add a lot to the theme of your tablescape!  I found these bunny salt and pepper shakers at Pottery Barn two years ago and have used them not only for Easter, but for also for a baby shower with a "Peter Rabbit" theme.  The apothecary jar holds multicolored plastic speckled eggs and adds color.  I love using apothecary jars to decorate with - they are so versatile!  We sell so many different ones at Melange!

Adding more color are these glass eggs!  I found the large blue one and the small pink one at a great little store called Twigs in Yuba City.  I was so disappointed when the sales girl told me that was all they had left!!  You can imagine how excited I was when I was down in San Luis Obispo and found some more in one of my favorite SLO town stores, Old World Charm!  Arranging like objects in groups of threes and fives make an artistic display, and the way these eggs reflect in the vintage mirror caught my eye!  The fuzzy chicks came from Melange and the green vase,  Crate and Barrel.

When Kelly, a good friend and fellow vendor, brought this sweet little Easter chick into Melange, I knew I had to have it!  The fuzzy chick with the blue bow and wire basket reminded me of when my sons were born, and had to have a place in my Easter tablescape!  The vintage pitcher is Stangl - found it at the Sacramento Antique Fair! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also fell in love with the pseudo chocolate rabbits another fellow vendor, Cathy, brought into Melange!  The iconic rabbits sit atop a cherished gift!  The milk glass pedestal dish was a gift from a dear friend, Sandy, years ago and it is the perfect size to display treasured items, or tasty baked treats!  The "Happy Easter" prize ribbon embellishing the grouping was attached to a plastic bunny filled with Jelly Beans I found at 'The Tattered House' in Roseville. I thought it was just the added touch to finish off my tablescape!  Thanks for checking out my Easter vignettes and Happy Easter!