Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Some Ideas Start Here

My husband likes to wander around the flea market in our town. Sometimes I go with him and sometimes I don’t. The main reason I don’t go is that I can foresee myself getting into more trouble there than at home. Still, there are days that it’s just a fun thing to do and I throw caution to the wind. My husband comes from a long line of treasure hunters. His grandfather, first and foremost, began by going out into the countryside visiting homes that looked from the outside like they might have a few worthwhile things that the owners might like to exchange for some cash. He turned his treasure hunting into a business. He had a store – not pretentious at all and people of all stripes would come in, some to buy and some to sell. Some came in just to pass a few hours and smoke a cigar. When he went on those ‘buying trips’, he’d take his only daughter when she was young. A child could help to get you in the door. Later he took his grandson, my husband, along. My husband’s mom kept up the tradition of treasure hunting at yard sales and the like and had her own shop for a while. Sometimes we would go to yard sales, flea markets, and estate sales together. Now you can see how I ended up being a flea market treasure hunter.

And there are treasures (and ideas) to be found. We’ve rescued many a cigar box, suitcase, or jewelry box. As a post holiday adventure, we drove out to the flea market this past weekend. These photos show a sampling of what was for sale.

A few old cameras.

A crateful of mannequin hands.

Lots and lots of bottles and jars.

Even what I lovingly call bear making tools. (Cheap too!)

The inspiration for my next piece came right out of that crate in the second photo. I don’t usually detail my project ideas up front for a variety of reasons:

· Because my vision and description often don’t do them justice.
· Because my vision and my ability to carry it out don’t always match.
· Because my description and my end result can be so diverse it often looks like I described the wrong project.
· Because my works in progress often evolve in ways that I cannot foresee when I start.
· Because sometimes I don’t always have a vision, a plan or any sanity whatsoever.

So this is what I’ve got – a hand.

I think it gives my husband the creeps just laying around on my desk or on the floor. Sometimes when he’s not watching me, I pick it up and come up behind him and rest it on his shoulder as if it’s my own. When he turns around and sees it’s not me, I get the biggest laugh. I have to do something for my own entertainment when I’m in my studio.

I think I’ll document this project and post its evolution here. Hopefully, I won’t get stuck in some lack-of-progress quagmire.

4 comments:

  1. I'm happy to have found your blog! This one made me laugh out loud! I love your extra hand (wouldn't we all want one if we could?) Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Vicki! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. You'll be interested in my next post I'm sure!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Ginger...

    I am curious! An interesting project is on the horizon...can't wait to see what you have envisioned!

    Have a great weekend!
    Hugs, Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're so lucky, I would give anything if my husband enjoyed any type of shopping at all that didn't involve Best Buy or the Sharper Image. He always says he would rather shoot himself in the foot because he would have more fun and get more sympathy!

    I would have bought the entire crate of hands. I have a thing about hands, I have two wooden artist model hands on my desk. I painted a palmistry chart in one. I have no idea why, I don't do palmistry.

    Looks like you got some great finds! I can't wait to see what you do with them.

    Kelly

    ReplyDelete

We appreciate your comments so much and love reading them! Thank you for visiting bearbits!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...