|
September 2008 Collector's Corner |
||
|
Every Collector has their own style, and these two spaces are perfect examples of that. Whether you prefer to use folk art to compliment your style (as Peggy Pickle and Don Cook do in their house), or Mexican folk art IS your style (as with Candy Becker's studio space), you can easily see how vibrantly unique folk art pieces make any decor special. |
||
| Candy Becker's Studio
Space Narration of tour by Ed Jordan |
||
|
|
A renaissance artist, Candy Becker, is
into 'ethnic things from everywhere'! The Becker residence in Austin's historic Hyde Park, with a wide front porch or gallery filled with interesting and unusual ethnic objects, pleasantly peeps through an exotic jungle of interesting blooming plants and trees, causing the casual passer-by to want to stop and visit. The visitor makes his way through the front gardens, up the several steps and into the graciously proportioned house. But, we will return in another El Interior newsletter next year to explore the various sights and wonders to be found in every room inside this house...every direction you turn is a visual delight. |
|
|
|
For now, Candy invites us with herbal tea and wedges of baklava out the back door into another 'Frida' type garden atmosphere to the 'Garage', her studio. Here we meet Eric Becker at his computer, various cats and a room filled with folk art vignettes, wall art, Candy's collages, mosaics, paintings and pure visual delight. | |
|
|
Candy sits at her work place and pieces together one of her intricate mosaics in byzantine glass. The theme is the Virgen Guadalupe in all of her glory. | |
|
|
Beautiful Virgens, milagro crosses and San Miguel retablos decorate the north wall of the brightly colored studio. Candy was a feature writer for the Austin American Statesman in earlier years but a deep interest in the fast disappearing ethnic areas of the world has been vital to her existence and this shows in the wide array of ethnic arts and crafts in this room. Her parents family home, an ancient villa in central Cuernavaca, has imbued her life, collections and her art with the joys and colors and delights of Mexico. | |
|
|
Of special interest to Candy is the art and culture of the Mexican state of Chiapas which she calls, 'The Forgotten State'. She finds this Mayan area to be very much like Guatemala which is the adjacent nation. Coops in Chiapas, Guatemala and other ethnic areas created to promote arts and crafts created by indigenous tribes are supported and encouraged by Candy, as well as El Interior's Marcia Lucas and the Austin Friends of Folk Art. | |
|
|
Elegant shelves on the West wall hold nativities by Josefina Aguilar. the famed creater of figurines of Ocotlan de Morelos, Oaxaca, beautifully painted Peru nichos, nativities and virgens made of petate, the intricately woven straw used so widely in Michoacan, Mexico. The brillant aniline dye colors of Metepec adorn a beautiful nativity from that area of the Estado de Mexico near Toluca. Also, a petate church and a Tlaquepacque market nativity and a wooden tableau in a nicho was given as a gift by close friend Meta Butler Hunt. A crucifix painted on burlap was a gift from one of the Becker's daughters, various other nativity figures and a black Coyotepec Oaxacan Virgen stand out against the wall which Candy painted with colors she mixed herself. | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Several large Raymundo Gonzales painting hang on the walls. Others by this famous Cuernavacan painter are of various scenes and events in Mexico. A painting purchased in Mexico City's Bazar Sabado and an etching of a gymnast by Valenzuela entitled 'Cirqueros I compliment the rest of the room decor. | |
|
|
A vibrant assortment of clay scenes from Ocumichu, a figural piece from Patamban, the snake as a fertility symbol from Oaxaca, huaraches from Candy's high school days, an arbol de la vida from Izucar de Matamoros, Adam and Eve Christmas market figures and other amazing examples of artisan work from Mexico form a visual effect enhancing the ambience of an incredible collection. | |
|
|
In the corner of the studio near Eric's computer, Candy has put together an assemblage of Mexican puppets, Patamban pinas, and a large Raymundo Gonzales painting of Cuernavaca. The sombrero was worn by Pancho Villa during the revolution and the Chinelo costume is one that Empress Carlota had copied from her native Belgian honor guard. These costumes are seen even today at fiestas in Morelos state. The large gaily painted Sirena was purchased by the Beckers in Taxco. | |
|
|
Around the room, here and there, we find Chihuahua pots, probably Tarahumara Indian, a Puebla state corn cob woman, Morelian plates and a Puebla trastero. a wooden shelf usually used in the kitchens of Mexico. | |
|
|
||
|
|
Several large Raymundo Gonzales painting hang on the walls including one depicting Candy in a traditional Tehuana constume. | |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
Candy and Eric Becker's gracious hospitality, an amazing array of wondrous arts and crafts superbly displayed, a beautiful day with temperate weather and our hostess' talented presentation of her paintings, innovative collages and painstakingly assembled mosaics have us leaving but wanting to come back often to view everything again. | |
| Peggy Pickle and Don
Cook's House Narration of tour by Peggy Pickle |
||
|
|
Our house is mostly traditional, with
antiques, comfortable furniture and collections. It isn't a "Mexican
house," but we mix traditional design and folk art, especially in the
great room. Two ceramic plates bought in Nuevo Laredo flank a hand-painted charger I found at an antique show in Austin. The ceiling in the great room is 10' high; plates around the ceiling draw the eye upward. |
|
|
|
My friend, Quita McMath, bought this painted wooden platter for me at the mercado in Quiroga, Mexico. My collection of antique sad iron trivets surround a built-in ironing board. | |
|
|
A Saltillo tile floor, a folk-art horse from Guatemala, a vegetable-dye rug from Mitla, Mexico, and a Chinese red urn we bought in Hong Kong and made into a lamp. | |
|
|
We use this small desk, circa 1870, as a couch table. The opening of the kiva fireplace is lined with cobalt blue tiles from Puebla | |
|
|
This 9' mid-19th table was rescued from an uncle's open air barn in Williamson County, Texas. We suspect it was originally a mercantile table. The eight chairs are a mix: two primitive Windsor chairs, two caned Eastlake chairs, and four contemporary teak chairs. On top of the table is a bowl from San Miguel, Mexico. | |
|
|
The decorative tiles in the kitchen are Portuguese. | |
|
|
This 19th century pie safe belonged to my grandmother. A century ago, someone replaced the punched tin with glass. During my lifetime, it has been used as a china cabinet. It is flanked by 1886 issues of "The Young Ladies Journal," a fashion publication for stylish Victorian women. Two antique Guatemalan alter candelabras sit on top. | |
|
|
This wrought iron chair, probably made in Mexico in the 1920s, was where my grandfather sat when he retired to the front porch in the evening to smoke and whittle. The Gothic pendulum clock, circa 1850, belonged to a great aunt. | |
|
Do you know someone who loves folk art? CLICK HERE to send them a copy of this email and automatically enter them into the drawing!
|
||
|
El Interior |
||
