As a child I loved to collect small ceramic animals..the sort of thing I’d scream in horror at now with their suggestion of forgotten, dusty shelves in a down-trodden garage somewhere far away and remote.  Which is one reason I find Debra Broz’s Oddities so fascinating..

A rural girl, Debra found her love of all things small and sweet whilst growing up in  central Missouri.

Using restoration skills she combines various parts of vintage and commercially produced animals to create her own breed of beguiling art.

They’re fun, they’re witty…they say don’t take life too seriously..and yet look below the surface and there’s something else going on..

With their pastel colours and cutesy looks they deftly question the line between high bow and low brow..when is a piece the last thing to be sold at a jumble sale? And when is it on a pedestal in a feted Exhibition?

They gently flutter their long lashes and weave their magic, concentrating the power of sentiment…and suggest we are all prey to nostalgia..even when something is rather amiss..

In our modern world, the authentic and the virtual have grown almost indistinguishable just like the smooth, smiling lines of Debra’s creations.

The truth is, it takes verve to be so ‘every day’..but she has grabbed it with both hands and transformed kitsch into poignancy, with a little walk back into reality.

Maybe I need to start collecting again…

Laters, Kate x