Friday, January 06, 2012

Glass

I have very little interest in clothes or handbags or shoes. I fear that no one could accuse me of being a naturally elegant person. But I do have a weakness for glass. (And china. And chocolate... .)

I love the transparency or translucency of glass and the way it glows under a light; I love the brightness of colour that glass can have; I love the sinuous shapes that can be formed in it. I love the feeling of it: smooth and cool and solid. I also marvel at its relative cheapness.

I enjoy grouping pieces together, moving them around from time to time, even dusting them. (How sad is that?). The three pieces above, for example, were bought at different times and from different places and I only recently put them together.

My family indulge my fancy by kindly giving me pretty bits of glass for Christmas and birthday presents. But I now really have quite a lot and have to rotate my collection, keeping some in cupboards. Which is good because it makes me look at them and enjoy them anew once they come out again.

I'm trying to think of how to describe my wish to own glass objects. It's not an obsession (too strong) or a mania (much too strong). I suppose it's an urge. It's not an admirable trait but I think it's harmless enough. The habit's more or less under control. More or less.

It's funny, isn't it, what we like to have around us? One person's ornament is another's clutter. I have a very very minimalist friend who, after years of having nothing on her mantelpiece (nothing! I could no sooner have nothing on my mantelpiece than go out in my bare skin and let me tell you, I'm not going to do that) - anyway, after years of naked mantelpiece she put a plain, clear, glass decanter on each end of it. Impressive in a way, but ... not for me.

So - are any of you minimalists? Do you think it's inborn or learned or developed?

Hello, by the way, to the friendly lurker who commented the other day, and to the other blogless commenters whom I can't visit. Waving to you!

11 comments:

  1. Oh, how I love your glass! I have some glass objects and love them all, glass is wonderful. A few years ago I made a glass paperweight at the glass works in Canberra - it was a fabulous experience, and I treasure my paperweight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're my kind of girl Isabelle! I'm not a purse or shoe person either, although, with SweetiePie managing a big shoe store, I'm beginning to appreciate them a little more. Your glass is gorgeous! When I look at all my "stuff" I sometimes wish I could be a minimalist. But, like you, it's not me. I love dishes, Halcyon boxes, and, of course, fabric!

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Mof6:40 am

    How I would love to be a minimalist!
    I had the chance recently when we moved to a smaller house but no, I could not part with any of my treasures.
    I have come to the conclusion that the only answer is to have another little house somewhere ( lottery win required!) in a minimalist style and spent part of the year in each!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so far from being a minimalist I can barely even spell it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My gosh they're beautiful, just what I need, another thing to collect.
    I'm a collector and my place is always a bit of a mess, I like to put stuff up, find it later, and it's like Christmas.
    I recently started collecting pie birds. But I love glass.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nice glass! I like mine to hang at windows.

    Minimalism? Pah!

    ReplyDelete
  7. How strange - The Curate and I visited workshops in the middle of Dartmoor today and bought a piece of glass that reflected the Dartmoor landscape and then I came home to read your blog. So yes, I love glass (now that my boys are too big to knock it off the shelf - just have to watch the dog's tail!).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love those glass pieces.

    Me? Whatever is the opposite of minimalist. Chockablock?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love glass also. Your pieces are really beautiful.

    I'd never be accused of being a minimalist! I have too much stuff. My glass pieces, of which I have few, are treasures. I am thinking of the paperweight right next to my computer that has always been on my desk since my father gave it to me. It was made at a Corning Ware factory and he bought for me years ago. It is one of my treasures because he gave it to me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have a lot of glass, too... the thing I like best about it is that you can put it in the sink and WASH it, rather than dusting it, which seems to just smear stuff around.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love glass! Your glass in this post is beautiful! I used to collect cobalt blue glass and it covered my kitchen cabinets. I packed it all away when we redid our kitchen. A minimalist? I am not... although I look around my house with the desire to purge and wish I was... :)

    ReplyDelete