Trash To Treasure: Nothin' Here But Us Chickens!

While I was rummaging through Christmas decorations a few weeks ago and wondering what to post for Trash to Treasure Tuesday over at Diane's blog, I stumbled upon my old red chicken. Mr. Cluck managed to somehow escape the throw-away/give-away prowess of my mother when it came to most of our toys. And while to some people he might look sort of rough around the edges...



And even a bit scary from certain angles...



I love him...



And if you look verrrrrry closely, you can see that he is guarding the base of our Christmas tree, dressed in his fine red plumage...



I'm also wondering if Mr. Cluck is part of the reason that grownup Mrs. Magpie loves other clucks. Like the ones in this painting...



I found this painting in an antiques shop in St. Augustine and got her for the very reasonable price of $25 framed. This painting is an oil, and it appears to have some age to it. On the back of the piece, you will notice that it says it came from a shop or the canvas was manufactured by a shop in Cheapside, a section of London. Anyone remember in Pride and Prejudice how the snooty sisters of Mr. Darcy's friend looked down on Elizabeth because her uncle was a merchant (albeit a prosperous merchant) in Cheapside? Well, this little painting must have sailed from there, and I like the fact that it's a bit naive in terms of the technical aspect.



You can also see in the above photo of the painting that it has been repaired on the back. And I think that's why the rooster's wing looks a bit 3-D on the front! ;-)



Regardless, I like my little chickens from Cheapside and felt the price was good for a framed English oil with some apparent age to it.

This next painting is a handsome fellow, but he is newer. I think I found him in Jacksonville at Avonlea Antique Mall. Normally, I can tell you where everything we own came from, but I'm drawing a slight blank as to his absolute origins. He was reasonably priced, though, I can assure you of that because I have a rule about not paying too much for a repro. The crackling makes him look older, but it's a technique made to give the painting the patina of age. Having many artist family members and friends over the years, I used to have a tendency to only buy original pieces, but then I decided to buy what I liked and combine the two. I just loved the vivid colors of his tail feathers.



Look closely at this next picture, and you can see the faux aging via the crackling process.



I had these with a group of dogs and horses... some old, some new. But the chicken paintings are kind of nice together and go with some other chicken things I have and am planning to use in the hall off the kitchen.

That's my trash and treasure for today. For more finds, please go to visit Diane at A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words. You can click on her blog name to go directly to her post. I finally learned how to embed a link! :-)

Thanks for dropping by to visit! Loved seeing you!

Quintessentially,

That Trashy Mrs. Magpie (Sheila) ;-)

P.S. I also have a couple of giclees of Cursillo chickens I got for a real bargain from Tuesday Morning if there are any Episcopalians who went to Cursillo (which is a short course about Christ for those who think I'm speaking a foreign language) out there. The rooster, the hen, and the babe chicks (who are inside the eggs) are all there! ;-) They are living on the top shelf of my laundry room (and I need the big ladder to get them down, so this pic is pretty lame). I went to Cursillo about a million years ago and loved it!!! Back in the day, the Diocese of Central Florida used to have the BEST ever at the Canterbury Conference Center, the Rolls Royce of church meeting places! South Carolina had some good Cursillos, too. :-)



The rooster says, "The Rooster crows because he knows Hope dawns." And the hen says, "So many eggs in one basket" and "Celebrate"! For any Cursillistas in the crowd, if you click on the picture, notice how the eggs are rainbow colored! ;-) I like the black and white checks on the side. These were no doubt done by a Cursillista of some sort. :-)