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For so many years my house was difficult for
me to decorate because I love the things around each one of my ancestors.
My Gramma Bell's eggshell colored crochet pieces, rich tartan throws,
Mother's strong Native American objects, her French influenced pieces of
furniture, or lovely English Chintz floral patterns from some other
grandmother probably of the Jones's.
Before "eclectic" was touted I learned to do
this. In one niche will be a western theme, another the laces, and so on.
A friend gave me this lamp which has an amber
base. It did not have a lampshade. The lampshade I purchased was plain. In
order to tie it into the western theme I took a paper hole punch and
punched holes evenly all around the bottom and top edge. I then cut a thin
strand of leather and laced it through the holes. Maybe the photo shows
slightly the mottled look to make the shade it resemble leather. This was
done by taking a sponge, dipping it into a think acrylic paint. The
colors were white, ochre and burnt sienna. If you blot the heaviest of
the paint off your sponge until it is just barely moist this works better.
However, if you get too much dark paint you can simply go over it with
white and start over.
The lamp has a black wrought iron at its
base. The wrought iron piece in the back ground I picked up maybe ten
years ago at a neighbor's garage sale for a dollar and a half. They owned
the Glasgow stables so I have hung onto it as a souvenir of that small
successful ranch. Of course, many ranches too, were decorated with Spanish
looking wrought iron. Because my great great grandfather Jones was a
blacksmith the love of iron work appeared in the decor of their houses.
The painting in the background shows a
computer with buffalo walking through it and it rests across my daughter's
legs. It was painted when she was a teenager.
Next to this, not in the picture. are my
father's and uncle's branding irons. This satisfies my love for western
decoration. Well, not completely.
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