Category Archives: antiques

modest indeed, but I do love old tobacco tins to store my paints, lace collars to sew on cozy cardigans and tiny manicure scissors just because they are so petite and pretty.

thank you for all your comments on my ceramic platter painting from last post. The platter was kiln-fired at a studio shop so I really don’t think I will be doing any/many more in the future. Maybe I’ll buy some craft-store ceramic pens to experiment at home for fun though.

So fitting for this time of year! Last week’s estate sale find, a framed print from 1840 The Harvest Dance. The muted colors are so perfect and totally inspiring me right now. Maybe it’s just the chilly (and very rainy) day we are having today here on the east coast.

I absolutely love these double dancing figures.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my autumnal coat from last post. I can’t wait to wear it this cold season!

I can’t even begin to say how thrilled I am about this weeks treasure hunting! I found a Davis sewing machine. And the very charming machine still purrs like a kitten!

I am in the midst of researching how to oil her. And the bobbin is very strange…it’s in a bullet-shaped casing. And the base of the machine is a wooden box covered in faux alligator paper. How completely charming everything was made back then.

Then I found all these vintage dresses and things (which I am in the process of hemming and fixing on my other machine). And a pair of black corset lace oxfords which I have been searching for forever. They fit.

And her…

I didn’t realize till later that she is a lamp! The cord is antique, it has cotton-wrapping around it so I don’t dare plug her in. I am trying to decide how to replace the peachy silk, if at all.

Illustrations by Philip Henry Gosse A History of British Sea Anemones and Corals in the found book Victorian Delights
Beautiful and inspiring use of color.

Thank you all so much for your words about my necklace!

Perfect inspiration came in the mail the other day.

Beekeeping journal from 1897.

And a detail of wallpaper, from the doll house museum at Shelburne.

Yesterday was spent taking out a yummy pile o’ art history books from the library and scouring them like mad.

Thanks to all for your sweet (and very inspiring) words about my Honeybee Theater painting as well as my foraged handful o’ green acorns. Silly, but I sometimes forget how fortunate I am to have acorns at my toes and big old oak trees above my head. They are so abundant here and it’s easy to take them for granted! So I can share their magic with you here. I will personally answer all your questions about my work very soon. For now I need to turn off the computer for a few days and totally immerse myself in my artwork. There are two more theater paintings in the works.

Today is snowed and snowed. Despite the inclement weather (all the pretty fall leaves are now frostbitten!) I spent the afternoon painting a field of wildflowers amongst other things (painting update very soon!). Snow in October!

Anyway, I picked up an antique dresser set yesterday for a song! It’s beautiful and inspiring (I think its from the 30’s but not sure) and it came in an old tattered yellow box with the original fluffy pink cotton to keep it safe. I was thinking about pretty dressing tables and my mother’s stood out as the best I’ve seen. She is such a lovely decorator. Her vanity: (and me trying to move out of the way of the camera!)

Now I’m on the hunt for a vanity to display all my yummy vintage things. I am imaging something 20’s, 30’s or 40’s.

I have been collecting antique picture frames for my paintings. Managed to stockpile a bunch. They make some neat repros but I really want to stick to antique frames, from victorian to the 40’s. It’s a real treasure hunt and I feel that I’m recycling while finding unique frames. I have to admit I have some 60’s frames that are pretty neat though (I think they are the 60’s version of the victorian repro). In the past couple of weeks I found some Victorian frames all under 10 dollars but the plaster filagree adornments (covered in gold) were broken off in sections. Does anyone know if there is a remedy for this? It was sad to leave them at the store but I felt that fixing them was a hopeless cause.

Currently I am absolutely coveting frames such as these for my paintings: (sorry I can’t remember where I found them but it was an antique shop and the first and last one was around $100) These were found online, I didn’t actually buy them, but I am wishing…

Try to ignore the images in the last two. I’d pop them out and put little intricate paintings inside!

A heads up, there will be a giveaway very soon!

xoxo sarah