Friday, March 8, 2013

take me to the circus....



i have begun a new series that is very sentimental to me... "take me to the circus"

when i was a very little girl living in iowa my parents gathered all of us little girls into our car and took us to the ringling brothers and barnum and bailey circus....45 years later i still can remember the day...







as we began to pull our car up into the open field my eyes danced with my very first view of the 'big top' standing high; calling us to walk into a different life.  this life of mystery; smells of sawdust, wild animals and food.   colors; of tents, wild lions in their cages and the sparkling costumes worn by what i thought had to be the most beautiful people in the world pulled me in many directions...




a rapid heartbeat caused by the fear of watching the high wire acts, and the awe of seeing lions, tigers and elephants for the first time in my young life is instilled in my memory... 

i was hooked; mystery and color, the perfect combination for my little girl eyes...

years later we moved to sarasota florida....home of the ringling brothers circus...imagine my curiosity,  for still a young child, we drove through areas that the performers were known to live during the winter time.  




as i became a young teen i found that my geography teacher was from the famous flying wallenda family, i was surrounded by circus and a much simpler time in sarasota...




my parents still took us to 'the biggest show on earth', and as i became older i watched and pondered my escape to run off with the circus, for i knew, i always knew, that i should be in the circus...




this first piece in the series is entitled 'the big top', for after all this was my first view, and inside that tent comes all the mastery of all your emotions...




this piece is, as you can imagine, color with the underlying hint of all the organized chaos that one might find under 'the big top'..

it is 'loosely' based on an american antique game wheel dated 1930 that originally had a spinner attached.  the original piece was priced at $1,800.00.  i state 'loosely' primarily for the reason that my piece does not have a spinner attached




limited edition of 10 pieces,  then retired  (9 available at this time)
19" x 19"
baltic birch from russia and poplar from the appalachians

$245.00

i hope you will like the journey that we are taking....if you would like to order this piece, just drop me an email at:  dianeallison@charter.net or give me a call at 828-265-0977...

you can also browse my website if you had another piece in mind:







5 comments:

Gloria Freshley Art and Design said...

Hi Diane,

It's lovely! I look forward to seeing the series develop. All the best ... Gloria

Anonymous said...

Hi Diane,
The gameboards arrived this a.m. and they are exquisite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Each piece is so unique - I wanted to send you an old-fashioned thank-you note, but am unable to find your address online. If you would be so kind to send it to me, I would appreciate it so very much. However, if you don't care to share that information, I completely understand and will resign myself to sending my thanks and appreciation in an email. Thanks, again, and enjoy your "spring" - I know it has to be just around the corner!
With my thanks for all your special and personal touches on our pieces,
Kathy

Anonymous said...

Beautiful work as always, Diane!

Anne

Anonymous said...

Gives me a hankering for circus peanuts and cotton candy!

Hope all well with you Diane – and not overwhelmed by snow…

Kind regards, George

Mr. Bond said...

Wonderfull, ...nice pic !