| Growing up with Melissa as an aunt was a blast for me and my cousin Heather. Melissa loved to play dress up with us and let us raid her collection of awesome vintage outfits (of course to us at the time “vintage” wasn’t even on our radar; we just wanted to look like princesses, obviously). Whenever we decorated Christmas cookies she’d figure out “alternative” decorating styles, like turning a christmas tree cookie on its side and decorating it to look like a shark! | Crecer con mi tia Melissa fue muy entretenido para mi y mi prima Heather. A Melissa le encantaba jugar con nosotras, nos dejaba usar su coleccion de ropa antigua (claro que para nosotras en ese tiempo las “antiguedades” no se nos pasaban por la cabeza; solo queriamos vernos como princesas, obvio). Cuando decorabamos galletas de navidad, ella encontraria la manera “alternativa” de decorarlas, como transformar una galleta en forma de arbolito decorandola como un tiburon! |
superstar lineup of women in my family: in the back – my grandmother, Aunt Melissa, Aunt Jane and my momma, in front of my mom is my cousin Heather (fabulous even at age 10 or 11) and then little ol‘ me
| For months Javi and I wanted to go visit Soddy Daisy and we especially wanted to see all the art work she’s done over the last two years living at the marina. My parents went to visit and raved about the collages and other things she was working on so we were anxious to see her art in all its glory too. I really don’t have the words to describe how awesome Melissa’s art is – she makes these fabulous collages both from paper cutouts and from various items (knick knacks, toys, old records etc.). They are all incredible. She’s so creative and everything is so colorful I just couldn’t get enough when she showed us each piece. She spent hours and hours cutting out figures from old magazines and books from the 50’s and placed them on these huge pages from a photo book of Hubble telescope photos. SO cool. | Hace meses Javi y yo habiamos querido visitar Soddy Daisy y especialmente ver toda el arte que ella ha creado durante los ultimos dos anos viviendo en la marina. Mi papas fueron a visitarlos y nos hablaron mucho sobre los collages y otras cosas que Melissa estaba creando, asi que estabamos ansiosos de ver su arte y toda su gloria tambien. No tengo las palabras para describir lo genial que es su arte – ella hace estos fabulosos collages de papel y con varios objetos (chucherias, juguetes, discos antiguos, etc..). Todos son increibles. Ella es tan creativa y todo es muy colorido, no me aburria de ver mas y mas piezas. Ella paso horas y horas cortando figuras de revistas antiguas y libros de los 50, y los pego en un libro de fotos de un telescopio Hubble. MUY genial. |
| Like I said in the last post, she’s also spent some time redecorating old lady handbags, putting figures and toys and knick knacks on the old bags for a jolting mix of cultures and generations. She also has a collection of belt buckles that she’s messing around with when she’s not working on collages or purses, and then there’s a ton of things in between that she works on too. She knits, has picked up felting using old sweaters from flea markets, and has an endless supply of other fun crafty things to work on in that craft shed. It’s amazing – and when she brings her art to Nashville for a show we’ll definitely let everyone know!! It’s one thing to see it all in photos but it’s quite another to experience it in person! | Como dije en el post anterior, tambien paso tiempo redecorando carteras antiguas, poniendo figuras y juguetes y otras cositas en carteras viejas para crear una mezcla de generaciones. Tambien tiene una coleccion de hebillas de cinturon que esta usando para crear otras piezas. Ella teje, usa telas, usa lanas y chalecos antiguos que encuentra en feria de las pulgas, y tiene un inventario sin fin en su taller. Es espectacular – y cuando traiga su arte a Nashville para un show, le avisaremos a todo el mundo!! Una cosa es ver las artesanias en fotos pero es una experiencia totalmente diferente verlas en persona! |
Los Rodriguez Life 
2 responses to “Aunt Melissa’s Art”
How very unique!
Creation Mania! I love Melissa’s art. Gotta make sure I bring something home next time we go. 🙂