The Mermaid's Bath

The Gorgeous, Talented and Amazing Woman behind the "Mermaid's Bath" who happens to be one of my oldest friends. She is one of the hardest workers I know and she plays as hard as she works. She doesn't have any sisters so I am lucky to fill that role when I can. We can be silly, do "girly" things and even make clothes for dolls and have tea parties-all the things she wanted to do as a little girl and dreamed that sisters did(if only she knew that my sisters and I were just smacking each other around-ok, not true, well, kind of-just a little....). She is moving away so we must say "Good Bye" to the Mermaid's Bath. I am going to miss her, her creativity, understanding and fearlessness!

She is my favourite model for photographs. She can morph into whomever I need her to be and she does it so wonderfully!

She famoulsy "poised" for this photograph of one of the Pre-Raphealite "Ophelia" paintings for me(well, she almost died of hypothermia but would not get out of the freezing water! She is as stubborn as me!).

Glass bottom boat fun!

A Woodcut a friend of our's did for her Wedding Invitation that she framed and put on this little shelf she painted.

A photo I put in a frame I painted to match the walls

Fish Ornanments "swim" by amongst the grape vines. When you take a bath in here with the lights off and all the candles lit, you really feel that you at the bottom of the sea! Fantastic!

Another one of my photos in a hand painted frame plus, we collected tons of vintage bottles in aquas, purples and clear and she would arrange them shells and stones

A shelf that we found in Santa Fe, NM and nearly killed each other fighting over! We agreed it was for the greater good that it should go in the Mermaid's bathroom. We were right.

A statue that a friend of our's was not happy with and was going to throw out! We said "NO!" and saved her. We love her. Artists can be so weird about their work. Ha!

More sand and shells and a gorgeous wood sculpture from my friend's travels.

I sent her my "Madonna of New Orlean's" in an antique Nicho that we got in Alburquere, NM. I am thinking that we probably fought over this too(we are like sisters in this way) but I was fighting for it to make something for her so I prevailed!

She made a little bench over the dresser in the bathroom which is so pretty. We have had a 15 year love affair with all beaded and embroidered pillows and send them back and forth. The last one she sent me was for Christmas last year and it is brown with bronze and teal beads-yippee!

There is also another woodcut of a crab that our friend made.

More of the bench. Now I am just getting sadder. She has used that Body Shop Body Butter for 20 years! I would also send or bring her a jar of it. When I first met her, I asked her if she had some lotion and she let me borrow this. OK, I can still send it to her. I just loved this little area. We loved moving stuff around in it. I am still sad! I will miss her!

The whole bench!

More Mermaids swimming!

The window has a gorgeous view of Mountains. It is just insane! And she made a gorgeous little silk curtain out of fabric she got from living in India-also insanely gorgeous.

More Treasure!

So, I am sad. One of my best friends is moving out of the States to a very far away country. She has an amazing house of her own that was once an barn. She has worked so hard over the years to turn it into an amazing house of magic and fairy tales. I am lucky as I got to help. Each room has a theme-by colour or country or story. The design inside is so fun too. She is a great lover of plants and has a green house attached to her house with vines climbing up the walls inside her house. She even has a pond out back with a glass bottom boat. Also outside she has everykind of garden you can imagine. It is a paradise of some kind, but after all these years she is tired of keeping it up-a lot of hard work and I understand. But, I had to post some photos. Each photo reminds that when she got the barn house it was completely white inside with nothing but a hardwood floor. Slowly, over many years, she would add one thing after another and when I came for visits I got to be a part of this. Magic does exisit. Sometimes it grows slowly when you aren't watching.

This bathroom was like that. First it was just a pale aqua colour. Then we did one wash then another and another on top of that. Then I came to visit again and she had added all the grape vines-fabulous! Next, whenever I was out and if i found something "Mermaid" I would send it to her and she would find a place for it. Then, for holidays and Birthdays, I would make her art that had a Mermaid feel and that would get added too. One trip we went to great swimming hole and took underwater photos that she had blown up and framed in blue and green beaded frames and then added them to the room. Trips to the coast would mean more shells and sand in the bathroom. Trips all over the world would mean amazing wooden Mermaids and other sculptures. It all grew so slowly but wow-there it is! I am wishing her all the best on this next phase of her life and I will always remember this magical house. And yes, there are many other rooms which are equally as awesome...