be cool

 red and green, hot and cool

Brimfield

paint rag

shade

painting

sons

 I've added ice cream to the stay cool repertoire: 

Orange Italian ice (bonus points: it last a long time)

Lemon ice cream (bonus points: local creamery and vitamin c)

Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter mixed in (bonus points: calcium and protein)

All those bonus points negate calories and sugar, right? 

I mean they're practically healthy.

Also, a big bowl of fruit salad every day:
watermelon, peaches, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.

Hope you find ways to stay cool this weekend.

Jen

green & white & green

What came home with me from Brimfield?

pottery

metal egg basket and vintage juice glasses 

(the other glasses are wrapped up in the egg basket)

book, published 1900

Aji wonders where the flowers are,
and if we're getting chickens.

brimful of Brimfield

Brimfield Massachusetts Antique Show

Three times a year, 21 fields, more than 5000 dealers.

plenty of whimsy

vintage pottery

big green cupboard, old map, and night crawlers sign 

(I'm moving in)

plenty of painted, chippy, shabby, cottage, garden

sweet white and green tete a tete chair

duck hunting boat

best industrial fan

so many great old windows

plenty of reproduction signs, but I think this is the real deal

one more look at the perfect hybrids of cottage charm and industrial salvage

Based on one visit, I think the best way to approach Brimfield is like an anthropological expedition, or perhaps a carnival---fun, weird, and try not to spend all your money on ring toss hoping for the life size teddy bear. There is high end, low end and everything between. Worlds collide--mint julep v budweiser, hot dog v. lobster roll, Neiman Marcus v Old Navy...

 It's fun to just wander. Fields I'd been told were the best were kinda disappointing. Fields I'd never heard of were interesting. There were nice dealers and snooty ones. Prices seemed generally fair--not bargains, but not outrageous. Beware of reproductions. Wear comfortable shoes.

upcycled potting bench

Nice surprises: Good industrial and architectural salvage at reasonable prices. Well done upcycled furniture. Prices on old painted cabinets, pie safes (especially at the end of the week). Kicking myself for passing up the big wideboard cabinet in old pink paint for $200...

I'll show you what I did buy in my next post.

true love?

Today I went to Brimfield (largest outdoor antique show in New England--thousands of dealers and yes my feet hurt, as does my head). I'll share more next week, but for now I want to know:

Are these the coolest things ever? 

Cabinets from a sandpaper factory. With soapstone tops.

Original paint and hardware. 

Wouldn't they be great kitchen cabinets in a cottage or farmhouse?

They were pulled right out of the factory. There's still stuff in the drawers.

You could put them back to back to form an island.

Those colors.

I'm so in love.

Or is it just infatuation---a summer fling?

short days, fat lava

Because of the kitchen demolition/renovation our Catskills house is filled with plaster dust, insulation, loose wires, etc. and so I haven't been up for a while. I miss the ice formations around the waterfall, and my country friends and places. Meanwhile I have plenty of work, and books, and cats.

 I've been researching the vases I wrote about here, and have gotten drawn into the world of mid-century modern. It's not quite my thing, but it's a lot of fun. Most of them are from Germany, Finland or Denmark.

This kind of glaze is known as fat lava, and the vase is en route to a collector in Istanbul!

Hope January is treating you kindly. I hate the short days, but am coping.

Jen

I went to an auction

Although I don't miss the work of the store, I do enjoy auctions. So I'm going to rent a cabinet in a group antiques store. There are four large shelves, perfect for pottery.

 At last night's auction I bought several lots of vases,mostly mid-century. I don't know much about the pottery of the era, but love the fun shapes and colors and look forward to learning more. (As always, you can click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

 The mustard pitcher is marked Pigeon Forge Pottery Tenn (Tennessee). The one with flowers appears much older than the rest. The orange one looks very 70's. But I'm not sure--I have a lot of research to do.

Some are from small studios, some are marked with recognizable names. Many are unmarked, and I imagine a lone potter shaping the vase, choosing the glaze, caught up in creation. Some are smooth, others are heavily textured.

 I love the spiky bumpy green--it looks very 50's-60's to me. Sort of space age Beatnik. The large purple one is from West Germany. The green vase behind the little striped one is hand signed (as opposed to a stamp) Palshis Denmark, along with something I can't interpret.

These black, sculptural pieces look wonderful together.I was surprised to see that the third one from the left is Bennington pottery, which I associate with blue spatterware in traditional shapes. The one with the leaf is from Arabia Pottery in Finland, made in 1967.

I also got this small Persian picture, which I may keep. The figures are incised on bone, which is mounted on paper with a hand drawn border.

The work is quite delicate. I especially love the trees and gazelles (I think that's what they are.)

I don't know anything about this type of work, how old it is or who might have made it. But I only paid $20 for it so I'm comfortable that I didn't make an auction fever mistake. I just hope that I didn't overdo it with the vases.

On another topic: If you, like me, love libraries, this will warm your heart (and is also poignant).

Jen

weekend in the Catskills

Quiet in the store, but it looked nice. 

There were festivities.

An opening in the art gallery next door;

  a Cinco de Mayo birthday party which involved 

huge quantities of Mexican food, 

laughter, carrot cake, four French bulldogs and a giant full moon. 

Fresh eggs for breakfast. Blueberry muffins. 

A waterfall. Forget Me Nots galore.

I went to an auction

 I had to have this sign. Maybe I should start selling hot dogs in the store. Of course they'd have to be locally sourced, no pesticides, no antibiotics, grass, (organic, of course) fed, humanely slaughtered hot dogs. :)

 The graphics on this side of the sign were singing to me.

 This racy green Haeger cornucopia vase was a steal.

 Hand-colored lithograph, probably mid 19th century. Butterflies and birds never go out of style.

Pantry Queen bread box, tea caddy, and sugar tin. The sugar tin is missing its top, but I think it would look nifty with a jar filled with wildflowers in it. There is a green milking stool peeking out beneath the bread box.

I leave early for the Catskills. The store is now open every Friday. Just letting you know, in case you're in the area.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jen