Carol Reynolds Designs: Its the Little Things

Monday, February 18, 2013

Its the Little Things

Recently, a very astute friend of mine remarked that I seemed

to enjoy making smaller items more than my larger full sized figures.

Until then, I really had not given it much thought~

but indeed, she is quite right.

My love affair with tiny things began long ago when I was in the

Fifth Grade (and that WAS long ago!). Our assignment was to create

a poetry notebook, complete with illustrations for each poem.

Digging through the endless poetry books in our school library, I came

across a volumn of poetry that had been illustrated by

Joan Walsh Anglund.

I became completely enthralled by her artwork~

tiny little ink drawings of cherub-cheeked children with two little eyes.

Illustrations that begged for one to look closely so as not to miss her tiny

details:

a little snail making its way through the tall grass, a robin pulling up an

inch worm to feed her little babies high up in a tree,

butterflies, teacups & kittens placed just so in her pictures.

Miss Anglund's first little book,

A Friend is Someone Who Likes You,

was published in 1958 and was followed by dozens more little books

such as:

Love is a Special Way of Feeling &

What Color is Love?

I connected with her artwork, and soon I was lining my bedroom walls

with her beguiling drawings.

It wasn't long before I began painting my own little

Joan Walsh Anglund pictures (imitatation is the best form of

flattery!) and determined that I too would one day become an

illustrator of children's books.

My fascination with her work continued in high school.

I think every important event that happened in my life during

those four years were dutifully recorded in my Joan Walsh Anglund

calendars (which I still have~). Years later, when my sons were born,

their nursery walls were decorated with my hand-painted cut outs

of the characters I had so loved way back when.

The very first antique I ever purchased was also a "little thing."

I loved going antiquing with my mother~

usually it was just to window shop. But on one particular outing,

I spied a tiny little vase that I just had to have~

and luckily, I had the 3 or 4 dollars I needed to purchase it.

My first little antique...

I have no idea what drew me to the tiny vase,
but I was thrilled with my purchase and have continued to collect
them over the years. Today, I proudly display them all in an antique
"Chocolate Box" from Holland that I received as a wedding present.

My husband's grandmother, the elegant Caroline Ball,
loved "pretty little things" as well.
The entrance hall of her beautiful home was lined with glass
display cabinets that showcased a massive collection of
crystal paperweights.

She also loved collecting tiny boxes.
Her living room was filled with dainty "eye candy"~
porcelain French Limoges & enameled Halcyon boxes from
London literally spilled onto every table.
Today, we are fortunate to have several of these beautiful little
treasures and thanks to my husband & my family,
I have my own "Momsie" table in my living room
filled with my own "eye candy".

"Little things" play a big part in my work.
In fact, my favorite part of any project comes when I can sit
back & begin to add what I think of as the fun part~
or adding the details. At this point, I get to rifle through
my stash of "stuff" and find the perfect way to make my project
special. For that reason, my studio is filled with a vast array of
little things: jewelry, toys, doll clothes & accessories, ribbons,
millenary...the list goes on. I never know exactly what the
"end product" will be, but I credit Joan Walsh Anglund's art
with teaching me the importance of little things, and the difference
they can make to one's work.