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Also, cheap looking Chinese decorations--like one we were given that was a cat? who moved his head and waved his arm. It was horrible. It was "gold." Plastic. We got rid of it but after all this time my husband will still come into the room and wave his arm up and down in imitation of that "gold" cat.
The cat you referenced in your post is called a Maneki-neko:
The maneki-neko (Japanese: 招き猫?, literally "beckoning cat") is a common Japanese figurine (lucky charm, talisman), usually made of ceramic in modern times, which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner. The figurine depicts a cat (traditionally a calicoJapanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—often at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses. Some of the sculptures are electric or battery-powered and have a slow-moving paw beckoning. The maneki-neko is sometimes also called the welcoming cat, lucky cat, money cat, happy cat, or fortune cat in English.
I'm a cat-lover, and my son bought one of these cat figurines for me when he was visiting Japan last year...I happen to like it very much.
As far as I know, there's no law that says you need to participate in every thread you stumble upon. :-) If this thread is not your cup of tea, there are about a billion others that just might be. I don't think anyone has the intention of insulting anyone else, quite honestly. I know that isn't MY intention. If I loved Precious Moments and someone told me that they hated them, I'd slap their face right off their face. No, wait. I'd say, "Well, more Precious Moments for me, ya turkey!" And then I'd probably laugh maniacally and run out and buy more. I'd scoff and say, "Well, there's no accounting for taste with some people!" I certainly wouldn't let it ruin my day, that's for sure.
But the title of this particular thread is pretty specific and if a person opens it and chooses to be insulted, that's really on them, not the people posting in this thread. I can see that there are several threads on this site that I might find distasteful, so I choose not to post in them. I kind of hate football, so I stay out of the sporty forums because I know I'd be like, "Say what now? You people like this crapola? WHY?"
Choose to see this thread for what it is: people jokingly talking about the decorative items that make them go, "Oh, brother. NOT my style at all." Maybe have a laugh about it. We're all stuck on the earth together. Might as well share our dream catchers! HA!
I'm a cat-lover, and my son bought one of these cat figurines for me when he was visiting Japan last year...I happen to like it very much.
Thank you for the information. The one in the picture is cuter than the one we had. I love cats and I love most Oriental things but somehow that gold plastic moving cat just didn't do much for me.
I have two Oriental bamboo hand painted wall hangings that I love and I used to collect Oriental hand painted fans. Now I sort of wish we had kept the plastic waving cat if it was good luck.
I never heard of Thomas Kincade until the thread.
Went to his website.
Vomit inducing.
I didn't either and had to Google him. His work reminds me of those commercials for "Wholesale Art Collectors Expo!" where they exclaim, "Buy Paintings From Original Artists At Wholesale Prices!". Tacky tacky stuff.
To stay on topic: Orange painted walls make me cringe! And I was given free buckets of orange colored paint which I quickly donated!
Actually..... My parents grew up in absolute, utter poverty with nothing during the Great Depression. They taught us to be happy for people if they worked hard and were able to fill their homes with things they enjoy. I can't imagine my mother walking into a room and sniffing, "Precious Moments figurines. How tacky."
Why should I cringe because someone has something they LIKE in their own home?
Don't even act like you don't think some decor is tacky! Come on...lighten up!
Walter & Margaret Keane had an acrimonious divorce. He claimed to have painted the pictures; however, his wife was actually the artist. He just signed them. At the divorce trial, the judge (a very wise person!) presented each of them with an easel and paint. Walter tried to beg off. Margaret did her thing!
"Four decades ago, Keane paintings were reviled by the art establishment as being about as subtle and original as pornography. But the masses snatched up the paintings, which hung in New York's United Nations, Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, and in the homes of such celebrities as Joan Crawford, Red Skelton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dinah Shore and Dean Martin. Even Madame Chiang Kai-shek owned one."
If you have an original, don't toss it!
I had a lovely friend when I was in HS, who now is sadly deceased. She had a lot to do with awakening my moral sense about discrimination and class prejudice. She was always moved by the Keane pics we saw displayed pretty much every where then.
Thanks for the story about who really painted the pics.
[QUOTErandomparent;33857559]No, Kathryn. Like Zim, I fail to see the humor in any of this. I have my preferences, but there's nothing funny about mocking other people's tastes.[/quote]
Humor is subjective. Decorating styles are too.
I don't care if people make fun of my John Wayne dude in my den or my collection of Polish pottery because I get it that people have differing tastes.
May I suggest that those of you who are offended by this light hearted thread either go have a drink or two and then come back...or just excuse yourselves from the thread?
Or go bid on a Kincade print or some Precious Moment figurines on eBay.
Or don't. But PLEASE quit preaching at those of us who are discussing, ON A DECORATING FORUM, home decor that we don't personally care for.
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 03-12-2014 at 10:05 PM..
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