Guess where I went today? I'll give you a clue:
"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs..."
Still no idea? *Smack!* How about this? Several John Bellairs books illustrated by the one, the only, Edward Gorey. YES! I spent some time this afternoon at The Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA.
Remind me again that no matter how much I love my Mom that I hate driving with her. She practically tore up the Gorey lawn with her car (argh!!!) Um, that was embarrassing. Tristan and Mom decided to hang outside and play in the little open area across the street from the Gorey home.
I walked up the front stairs and followed the sign to go around to the side of the house. I asked the young man sitting at the door if this is where I paid the admission fee. I was then greeted by a voice saying "You must be Kelly!" Um, ok, yesssssssss. And you know that how? Then he asked me where Tristan was. LOL. THEN he tells me that they knew that I was coming today. Now, I know that there is talk of haunted houses and spooky stories and eerie coincidences and all that, but this is downright weird. He finally confesses that he saw it on my blog (and he will probably see it again with this post. ;)). (He also freaked out my Mom and son by going outside to talk to them and saying "You must be Tristan. Where's Dewey? (my sister's dog)" I'm assuming that this charming man was Rick Jones, director and curator of the Edward Gorey House and longtime friend of Edward Gorey.
I have to tell you how much I Loved finally getting a chance to visit the home of one of my most favorite artists. SO much so that I am trying to figure out if David and I can go back for our anniversary in December before the Gorey house closes for the winter. There is an Inn right next door to the Gorey home and I am thinking that this would be an ideal place for the two of us to spend some time!!
Any way, the Gorey house offers tours and I was lucky enough to have a private one. I'll share with you some photos that I took (sans flash) throughout the house:
Edward bought the above bear at FAO Schwartz. He's HUGE. Unfortunately, the bear had to live with Edward's cousin as Edward was afraid that he would receive too much "love" from his beloved cats. (Um, you should see what they did to the couch). If anyone wants to get me anything for my birthday in October, a set of Dracula bedsheets and pillowcases would be wonderful. LOL
Edward's raccoon coat. Interesting story here on the coat. I like, though, the story about the raccoons "paying him back". (Plus I love the accompanying photo on the page. If you walk around the Gorey house even the spider webs are untouched. I love it!!)
I do hope that they consider opening the second floor up to the public one of these days. I would love to see Gorey's studio.
Edward would buy the nibs by the box full.
One of the many hand sewn toys by Edward Gorey. What cracked me up was the little collection of animal figures he collected from Lipton tea, I think it was. My Grandpa collected those in the 1980's and would give them to me. I still have them sitting on my bureau at home. That brought a huge smile to my face.
OK, I couldn't leave without a photo of his ultra cool Dia De Los Muertos collection.
Elephant shaped driftwood
What I don't have in this photo is a shot of the barn in the back that is filled with Edward's books. If you don't have a copy of Elephant House, you need one, now. It's one of my favorite photography books, plus I love the little tid bits of Edward's quirkiness. One of my favorite things that they talked about was the amount of BOOKS that the man had in the house. You could hardly walk in the house as there were stacks and piles of books everywhere. At one point he had to start housing them in the barn as the floors were sagging, or starting to. Now you know why I hardly ever invite people in my apartment. Hubby and I are the exact same way. Book whores!
One thing that went through my head as I walked around and was looking at everything (I was overwhelmed and limited on time or else I would have spent more time looking...but it's hard when Mom and Tristan are waiting), was that why hasn't anyone published a collection of Gorey's sketches and/or journal pages? The copies I saw of the sketchbook pages were fascinating. I'm always a huge fan of process artwork and seeing how ideas and things develop and take fruition. A Gorey Sketchbook...now that's a thought...
Mozart? No.....Charles Dickens!
A new friend I would have loved to have taken home from the Gorey house. The cat weighs in at 25 lbs and is extremely well loved and very much at home in the Gorey house.
Edward created this "serpent" in his backyard of rocks. Gorey seemed to really live the idea of nature and man co-habitating together and let the grass and surrounding growth grow free. I love the sculpture of the Doubtful Guest.
The Gorey House exists solely on the support of donations and support from Gorey lovers worldwide. You can sign up for a membership here. Also, the Gorey house works with several animal welfare organizations that Edward supported. I know that this won't be my last visit to the Gorey house. (Plus as a bonus, think of all those neat antique and bookstores that you can visit that are in the area and on the way to Provincetown!) Huge, huge thanks to the Gorey staff for an unforgettable day!
"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs..."
Still no idea? *Smack!* How about this? Several John Bellairs books illustrated by the one, the only, Edward Gorey. YES! I spent some time this afternoon at The Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA.
Remind me again that no matter how much I love my Mom that I hate driving with her. She practically tore up the Gorey lawn with her car (argh!!!) Um, that was embarrassing. Tristan and Mom decided to hang outside and play in the little open area across the street from the Gorey home.I walked up the front stairs and followed the sign to go around to the side of the house. I asked the young man sitting at the door if this is where I paid the admission fee. I was then greeted by a voice saying "You must be Kelly!" Um, ok, yesssssssss. And you know that how? Then he asked me where Tristan was. LOL. THEN he tells me that they knew that I was coming today. Now, I know that there is talk of haunted houses and spooky stories and eerie coincidences and all that, but this is downright weird. He finally confesses that he saw it on my blog (and he will probably see it again with this post. ;)). (He also freaked out my Mom and son by going outside to talk to them and saying "You must be Tristan. Where's Dewey? (my sister's dog)" I'm assuming that this charming man was Rick Jones, director and curator of the Edward Gorey House and longtime friend of Edward Gorey.
I have to tell you how much I Loved finally getting a chance to visit the home of one of my most favorite artists. SO much so that I am trying to figure out if David and I can go back for our anniversary in December before the Gorey house closes for the winter. There is an Inn right next door to the Gorey home and I am thinking that this would be an ideal place for the two of us to spend some time!!Any way, the Gorey house offers tours and I was lucky enough to have a private one. I'll share with you some photos that I took (sans flash) throughout the house:
Edward bought the above bear at FAO Schwartz. He's HUGE. Unfortunately, the bear had to live with Edward's cousin as Edward was afraid that he would receive too much "love" from his beloved cats. (Um, you should see what they did to the couch). If anyone wants to get me anything for my birthday in October, a set of Dracula bedsheets and pillowcases would be wonderful. LOL
Edward's raccoon coat. Interesting story here on the coat. I like, though, the story about the raccoons "paying him back". (Plus I love the accompanying photo on the page. If you walk around the Gorey house even the spider webs are untouched. I love it!!)
I do hope that they consider opening the second floor up to the public one of these days. I would love to see Gorey's studio.
Edward would buy the nibs by the box full.
One of the many hand sewn toys by Edward Gorey. What cracked me up was the little collection of animal figures he collected from Lipton tea, I think it was. My Grandpa collected those in the 1980's and would give them to me. I still have them sitting on my bureau at home. That brought a huge smile to my face.
OK, I couldn't leave without a photo of his ultra cool Dia De Los Muertos collection.
Elephant shaped driftwood
What I don't have in this photo is a shot of the barn in the back that is filled with Edward's books. If you don't have a copy of Elephant House, you need one, now. It's one of my favorite photography books, plus I love the little tid bits of Edward's quirkiness. One of my favorite things that they talked about was the amount of BOOKS that the man had in the house. You could hardly walk in the house as there were stacks and piles of books everywhere. At one point he had to start housing them in the barn as the floors were sagging, or starting to. Now you know why I hardly ever invite people in my apartment. Hubby and I are the exact same way. Book whores!
One thing that went through my head as I walked around and was looking at everything (I was overwhelmed and limited on time or else I would have spent more time looking...but it's hard when Mom and Tristan are waiting), was that why hasn't anyone published a collection of Gorey's sketches and/or journal pages? The copies I saw of the sketchbook pages were fascinating. I'm always a huge fan of process artwork and seeing how ideas and things develop and take fruition. A Gorey Sketchbook...now that's a thought...
Mozart? No.....Charles Dickens!
A new friend I would have loved to have taken home from the Gorey house. The cat weighs in at 25 lbs and is extremely well loved and very much at home in the Gorey house.
Edward created this "serpent" in his backyard of rocks. Gorey seemed to really live the idea of nature and man co-habitating together and let the grass and surrounding growth grow free. I love the sculpture of the Doubtful Guest.The Gorey House exists solely on the support of donations and support from Gorey lovers worldwide. You can sign up for a membership here. Also, the Gorey house works with several animal welfare organizations that Edward supported. I know that this won't be my last visit to the Gorey house. (Plus as a bonus, think of all those neat antique and bookstores that you can visit that are in the area and on the way to Provincetown!) Huge, huge thanks to the Gorey staff for an unforgettable day!
Comments
Extra fat cat!
:::::Happy Dance:::::