You know how people say, "If you love something let it go"? I say if you love something get a whole lot of things like it and make a collection.
I wrote about Aunt Connie and her collections and she was a great inspiration to me but there are many collectors in my life. My Dad collected coins, stamps, and owls because he liked to say he was a wise old bird. Mom collected giraffes and castiron Boston terriers.
I adopted her pack.
My brother, Alan, collects pigs, my sister-in-law, Donna, collects china pitchers shaped like fruit, my Aunt Jan collected elephants, Aunt Mary Gae, bells. My friend, Bill, collects snow globes, lead soldiers, books and clocks. It makes it easy to find presents for them.
I collect collections. You may not believe this but I hate clutter. I live by William Morris's golden rule;
"Never have anything in your home that you do not find useful or believe to be beautiful."
Here are my ducks; I built another shelf in the bathroom so that they can practice social distancing.
China tomatoes and corn in honor of my favorite summer meal.
White pitchers because they look so nice on my kitchen shelf.
Sugar Bowls; I love their cheerful, chubby shapes.
My children's shoes. They were too shabby to give away and too adorable and evocative to part with. Bronzing was expensive and didn't quite show them off so I took a page from Joseph Cornell and made boxes.
Rubberband Balls; most of these come wrapped around the NY Times every morning and Peter, the doorman, saves them for me so as to keep them out of the landfill.
Eagles
Penguins
Bears. I started this collection for Arthur, because of a story my nephew Danny told me.
"When I was really little, I saw Arthur in his bathing suit and I said,
"Arthur, how come you have so much hair on your chest?" And he didn't even look up from his book--he just said,
'Because, Danny, I used to be a bear.' And I believed him for a long time."
China Poultry
This isn't everything but I don't want you to think I'm crazy. Organizing my stuff into categories gives me a sense of order and I'm a pretty strict curator--not everything makes it into a collection. Also, I love wandering around flea markets and junk shops--collecting gives me a purpose and a sense of quest.
What do you collect?