Small (purple) Ballet Flat | Wire Art | Home Decor | Sculpture - Sales

Modeled after a ballet flat shoe, I created a wire shoe sculpture using dark annealed wire and painted it purple. The gauge of wire I use is sturdy to ensure a stiff, solid structure. This is the perfect sculpture to sit on a desk or coffee table, or for hanging on the wall. FEATURES- Handmade from various gauges of steel wire.- Each piece is made to order, and therefore may vary slightly from the photos.DIMENSIONS (approximately)-Shoe size 6" x 3" x 3" (L x W x D)CUSTOM OPTIONS-If requesting a customization of this piece, please specify a wood stain color (None, Natural, Pickled Oak, Golden Pecan, White, Honey, Espresso), and wire color (all colors available).OTHER INFO AND DISPLAY DETAILS:Wire decor is SO in right now! This wire style home decor can be used as trendy accents throughout your living space and also makes for great conversation pieces. Wire decor was originally revived from the 1960s; today it focuses on form and function as an industrial style. If you’re looking for the perfect statement piece, you’ve found it. These wire decor pieces are fantastic gifts for housewarming parties, sprucing up a living area, or redecorating a kid’s bedroom or baby’s nursery. Whether a plain sculpture or one mounted on wood, these wire decor pieces can be displayed in a number of ways and orientations… hanging on the wall, displayed on a desk or coffee table, propped on a shelf, or (my favorite) suspended by clear wire from the ceiling or a wall bracket (see photos for visual representation).The best part of wire artwork is its transformation when combined with the right lighting. These pieces are beautiful on their own, or with accent lighting that casts a strong, drawing-like shadow behind the piece. Subscribe to WireSoul Decor’s mailing list at: http://eepurl.com/dyCfIf

When Mary and Tony were married in 1921, they moved into the brand new house on Sunnyvale Avenue where they went on to raise their four children: two girls and two boys. John grew up in a home where his parents spoke Yugoslavian but he and his siblings spoke English. He remembers fondly visiting the Joshua Hendy Iron Works factory where his father worked as a chipper for 25 years. That was good work for an immigrant with little education and even less English. In his youth, his neighborhood was diverse; families from Portugal, Yugoslavia, Spain and Italy filled the homes along his streets. Some neighbors worked alongside his dad, others were entrepreneurs; there was a contracting business and a trucking company. He and his friends  played outside; roller skating and running their box scooters, or on the spinner in the school yard. They worked in the orchards during school breaks, cutting apricots on the other side of Carroll Street, or picking prunes (which he wasn’t too fond of).

During his high school years, young John worked for the Purity grocery store, right down the road, delivering groceries and stocking shelves, delivering newspapers—including to the Murphy house—on his bike, The family used to attend services at the Catholic church on small (purple) ballet flat | wire art | home decor | sculpture the block, and John remembers the nuns as very strict, In those days, the young men were pulled into the voluntary fire department and trained in fire fighting because they knew the chief and other people in the department: Frank and Bert White, and Billy Wetterstrom, (the barber on Murphy Avenue); all of the businessmen back then served as volunteer firemen, Everything happened within, and for, the community, in those days..

In his senior year of high school, when the U.S. joined WWII, John quit school to enlist at The Peninsula Defense Training Center in Mountain View where he learned to work sheet metal. Right out of this course, he was hired in 1942 to work at the Naval Air Station Moffett Federal Airfield. In 1943, he was drafted for war service and was originally trained for radio communications, but then worked as a ball turret gunner. He never went overseas, but traveled around the U.S., with stints in Florida and South Dakota. After the war, John worked for the Food Machinery Corporation, but when he was laid off, he returned to Moffett Field and worked in the machine shop for 27 years. much like his dad. He played racquetball with friends, bringing coffee in thermoses and cookies during a break in the game. John, his first wife and their son lived in Mountain View and San José, always close enough to look after his parents in Sunnyvale.

When his father was ailing, John moved back into his childhood home to care for him, Nothing much had been changed in the house, John enclosed the small (purple) ballet flat | wire art | home decor | sculpture porch with windows and added some storage units to the back, but otherwise it stayed untouched, In 1998, John took a family trip to Yugoslavia and while he connected with an aunt and cousins, he was disheartened to no longer share their language, Back home, he became a regular at the senior lunch at St, Thomas’ Church where he would join the dancing to live music..

“There were a lot of good dancers there.”, he said, winking. Today, arthritis plagues his hip, so he’s had to slow down, but he’s still at the church on the daily basis to count the money coming in through the dances. He has donated several of his photographs to the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum, including a staff photo from Hendy and a class photo from Fremont High School. He attended the opening of the museum’s special exhibit on “Hendy Iron Men” and returned several times to view the exhibit. Last summer, he was a guest at the dedication of the new panels in the Orchard Heritage Park Interpretive Exhibit Pavilion, which added the names of many Yugoslav orchardists.

You might see John around town, he still drives an electric car, “ because it makes sense, and they are so quiet” but walking or riding his bike are now much limited, The city’s development attracts John’s attention, and he is sure to attend community meetings about city planning, He is not too happy with how his city has changed, There is small (purple) ballet flat | wire art | home decor | sculpture too much traffic, he says, and too many new buildings, The speed limit on Sunnyvale Avenue is 30 mph, but vehicles zoom by much faster, making him feel unsafe, He has petitioned the city to install flashing lights to discourage speeding, but so far, nothing has happened, Since Taaffe and Frances Streets have been closed off, all the traffic runs through Sunnyvale Avenue, which has become very busy..

Orchid Auction: The Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society holds its annual auction. Scores of orchid species and hybrids will be offered at very low starting bids. Aug. 1, 7 p.m. American Legion Hall, 1504 Minnesota Ave. Santa Clara County Fair: Expect lots of livestock, rides, live music, roller derby, food, children’s entertainment and concerts by Eddie Money and Metalachi. Aug. 2-5. Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road, San Jose. $5-$8, $25 for Eddie Money. https://tickets.thefair.org/p/34, 408-494-3100.

San Jose Renaissance Faire & Fantasy Fest: Hobnob with faux nobility and knights during this Shakespeare-themed extravaganza featuring more than 800 costumed performers, pageantry, Shakespearean vignettes, staged battles and storytelling for children, Aug, 4-5, 10 a.m.-6 p.m, Discovery Meadow Park, 180 Woz Way, San Jose, https://www.sanjosefaire.com, $8-$18, Rose Garden Farmers Market: Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m, Lincoln High School parking lot, 577 Dana Ave, Farmers Market: Willow Glen’s market operates year-round, Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Willow small (purple) ballet flat | wire art | home decor | sculpture Glen Community Center, 2175 Lincoln Ave., San Jose..

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