A Blog Reward and An Alternative Way For Finding Art and Art Supplies

First of all, I want to thank Natasha for giving me another blog award!

Thank you Natasha--make sure you check out her blog, if you haven't already--you'll be treated to some wonderful eye candy.

So here are the rules:

*nominate 10 blogs for this award

* make a blog post about it and let everybody know who you got it from

* let the nominated blogs know about the award

So that's pretty simple, and I always like to share other artists and their work with everyone who isn't familiar with them.  So here goes:

1. Rebecca

                                                                         2. Kelly

                                                                         3. Jeanne
                                                                         4. Marilyn
                                                                         5. Buffy
                                                                         6.Dorthe
                                                                         7. Lisa
                                                                         8. Sharon
                                                                         9. Sam
                                                                       10. Emelie

I hope everyone will go and visit these creative souls' blogs--we all help each other on our artful journey!
 

And Ricky from Garage Sales Tracker.com. wrote this article and wanted me to share it with all of you--another good reason for garage sales and flea markets.

Finding Art and Art Supplies


Everybody knows that going to the local arts and craft store is the easy way to find painting and
other art supplies but the truth is these places are a tad bit expensive. Another alternative that I
have found to be very feasible is to try a flea market or yard sale to find canvases and supplies.
Since most of us artists are on tight budgets finding alternative ways to purchase supplies and
surfaces hitting these bargain hunters dream sales is a perfect solution that never really crosses
the minds of most artists.

At a local garage sale just last month I stumbled upon a collection of art supplies that the parent
had purchased for their daughter in hopes that she would take up the hobby. Fortunatey for
me the hope never turned to fruition but I got to reap the benefits as I was able to purchase the
following: gray bristle round -28 flat -26 a half dozen round -4 bristles, an easel, and 3 canvases
for…… $30.00. Yes $30.00. If I had gone to the local store this obviously would have cost me
over $100.00 but since it was a garage sale(with no tax included) and the mother just wanted
to get rid of the supplies since they would have otherwise gone in the trash I was able to sav
some of my hard earned money.

Miscellaneous sales if you hunt around on the internet reading the listing descriptions will show
you that every so often there are pastels and other paints for sale but this is not as common as
finding brushes and canvases.

Flea Markets also act as another great place to find supplies and since most Flea Markets
act more as a mall with set hours each week these might be more feasible to consistently find
If your own the other side of the trade and you want to purchase art work than a garage sale is
right up your alley as you may have heard of the story of Teri Horton who purchased a Jackson
Pollock for $5.00 and later found out that it’s a multi-million dollar painting. While the odds of this
happening for you is very slim it certainly is possible to find lots of great artwork that the owner
of the home used to have displayed throughout the house but when it came time to redecorating
it didn’t fit with the new theme of the home and so they have decided to change things up and
guess who ends up being the beneficiary, you do. So all in all flea markets and garage sales
end up being great places to find art supplies and art work.

Great advice, Ricky, and thank you for this article.  And it's so true--you NEVER know what treasure you will find at a garage sale!

Oh Man At The Three Muses!

Oh Man--yep, that's the theme this week over at The Three Muses, so here is my Mr. Man box--

I want to thank Annie Wilkes from the  Stephen King  book Misery for that expression--Mr. Man.  Did anyone see that movie?  That is one of my favorite movies--I just loved Kathy Bates as Annie.  But I am really digressing here--back to my art piece.

I started out with this wooden cigar box--

And then I started to look through all of my Mr. Man stuff that I have--

Now this only a little bit of what I have pretaining to men.  But everything I have, I  found in flea markets in Tennessee and Kentucky.  I live in Pennsylvania, so your probably wondering what was I doing there?  Well, I was at the Highway 127 sale   (yes, they have a website).  It's every August for four days, and it spans through 4 states--about 650 miles--from dawn to dusk.  It's all on this highway 127, and it's just one flea market after another, and you can find ANYTHING that you could possibly want or need and then some.  I've gone for 2 years now, and for some reason, I can find the best  man stuff  there.  So I went through my man stuff, and decided what I wanted to use, and then I lined the cigar box with pages from this 1925 Farmer's Almanac that I found in Kentucky.

This other lady and I were fighting over this book.  It's obvious who won that fight : )

So there you have it--my Mr. Man box--

And for those of you who have never seen the movie Misery, here's the scene where Annie uses one of my favorite phrases--"Mr. Man"

Making Time For Play

I really do enjoy preparing for the Christmas season-you know decorating, wrapping presents, baking, and most definitely Christmas shopping. But I still like to make time to go up to my little art room (as I like to call it--I'll go into more detail about this room in my next blog post) and just play.

As I mentioned here I have many treasures  in my house.  I have alot of these cheese boxes--

Does anyone remember these?   I actually don't, and I'm not that young.  Does anyone know when they stopped making these?  I  love using these kind of  items for my art, , but I'm  not very

knowledgeable of their history.  I also have alot of the old bottles--not sure what was in them either--probably medicine, but I'm sure they were used for other purposes?--anyone?

Well I just know that I'm always on the lookout for these two things.  I usually find them at flea markets.  I like to alter the bottles--

And then I altered the box, added the bottle, and I've made a whole new piece of art--it's always good to make time for play!

My Treasures

You've heard the saying "One man's trash.... well they're my treasures. As I mentioned on my first page, I like to make collage shadowboxes with vintage items.  I try to use vintage as much as possible when I  make these.  I like the fact that everything in the piece has a history to it--no matter what it is-- someone owned it,  used it, read it, etc., up to 100 years ago (the older the better).  Usually in the summer, on Saturday morning, my husband Fred and I grab a cup of our favorite coffee--Peet's (the most delicious coffee), take the garage sale listings, and I start to hunt for my treasures.

I look for any type of vintage fabrics, lace, ribbon,  or doilies.  I can find them at great prices.

I love old jewelry, hardware, keys, buttons, etc., etc.

I'm always looking for old magazines and sheet music. I have a weakness for old books.  Everytime I see them I grab them, before anyone else can : )   I have no idea what I'll do with all of these books.  I think I see an altered book in my future.

I have many treasures in these boxes that are scattered all over my house.  And on the those cold gloomy days in the middle of winter, when I'm feeling a little down, and wish I could get out and maybe go to a garage sale--I do!  I grab a cup of Peet's coffee, and start looking through all of my boxes, because I've pretty much forgotten what's in them.  Usually at the first of the year, I go through my stash, and decide what I want to let go of, and then list them on Ebay, which I will let everyone know about on my new blog!

My favorite finds are old photos, usually from  flea markets.  It's kind of sad, because at one time these photos meant something to someone.  They all had a family, and most of these photos were taken for special occasions, and now they're in a big pile at some flea market somewhere. I feel that I have to use these in my art, because of this reason, and I want to use them. 

Take for instance, I found her and several other photos at a booth at a flea market.

And two booths down--and this IS true--I found these eyeglasses, which  very much look  like the ones that she's wearing.

So what do you think? Do you think she wants me to tell her story? I think she does, and I'm going to search through all of my treasures to finish it. And when I do, I'll show her story to all of you.

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