Bodhisartva ..... Art/Spirit/Life

Long Beach Flea Market in July

Can you say hot?  Really hot.  Crowded.  Glaring sunlight.  All of this may explain why I acquired so little this month in Long Beach. Steve and I were resolved to get there early, but a late night Saturday drained some of that away.  Still, it was just after 8 am, but we didn't last past 10:30.  Nonetheless, I am happy with my littles.

 

 

 

That green thingy is a retractable clothesline.

 I have two more of these in the studio.  I like them because of the color and the patina.  Looks as though I got a pretty good price, judging from eBay.

 

 

 

I can't explain why I bought this can of wire that I will never use. But the label is distinctive and it was 5 bucks, so why not?

 

 

 

This is my favorite find.  I've started collecting these old agricultural notebooks. They were given away by seed companies, equipment manufacturers, etc.  I love the feel of them and the cool graphics. Sometimes, there is even something interesting written inside, but not this time.

I could not pass up the memo notebook because of the address cards!  Nothing written on them, so I can actually use it.  There were some business cards with a word for the "exchange' instead of a number in, so I know it is somewhat old.

 

 

So, not a lot of stuff, but some good stuff - and sometimes, that is enough.

Return of the Blog

I've decided to resurrect my blog, after months and months of neglect.  A lot of changes have been going on in my life these past months and now it's time to forge a new road.  My intention going forward it to post at least once a week, post more of my art and share more and different things.

But, to kick it off, let's start with a flea market!  Because, hey.  

Pasadena City College Flea Market is so nearby, a very manageable size, good parking ($2) and free to attend.  Some of my favorite vendors are here.  It's held on the first Sunday of each month.  You can find information and a calendar here.

The weather was a blessed relief from last month, when it was scorching!  Yet, it wasn't that crowded because it's the weekend of the 4th of July.  Very nice not to have to jostle the crowds.

My tidy little collection ....

Don't you just love the fat file box?  I have two others, of totally different size and color and they look great together.  There is something about carpenter's pencils that gets me and I found two boxes.  Those notebooks are nestled in a divided drawer that someone made from an old cigar box.  

 

I've been collecting these old notebooks and the collection deserves it's own post.  But here are a few I found today.  One of my favorite vendors just came back from a trip to Minnesota and brought them back for me.

 

I'm not sure I'll ever get around to reading this particular one, but sometimes there are real treasures to be experienced by stepping back into someone else's life.

 

Here are today's "littles".  Adding to my collection of bullet pencils, little coin purses, clay marbles.  I collect those tiny gold pencils to turn into necklaces with some pretty chain and beads.  The background colors are pieces of leather and suede to use in my books.

 

Did you spot this small canvas roll in the earlier picture?  Here is the inside.

 

From the thread colors, I think this must have been military.  I'm going to replace the red fabric with new flannel and use this to carry my bookbinding needles to classes.  I can replace this thread with waxed linen and add a scissors that works and voila!

What was the last flea market you visited?  What did you find?

Long Beach Flea Market September

Why do we go to flea markets in the blazing heat?!

Because we are crazy.

It was worth it though I didn't get a lot.  It was a chance to visit with the vendors and compare notes with other shoppers and then get furiously hungry and eat a hotdog.  Big mistake that last one.

It was a paper sort of day.  Look at this whole pile of notebooks! They are all practice books belonging to someone who was taking business courses - accounting, purchasing, ledgers...oh, just yummy!.

 

And, of course, what is paper with out pens?  These are pretty small and will most likely become necklaces.  Some cool bakelite and a great advertising bullet pencil.  Love those!

I also couldn't pass up these black and grey chalks.  The boxes alone are art.  Love these waxy pencils for art journaling.

 

Finally, I found a big pile of these tiny bottles. They hold pigments to use in porcelain painting. They will stay forever in this glass tubes because I just like to look at them.

I actually bought a bag of other stuff. But, they are all tools for jewelry making and somehow don't provide the flutter of the found object.

Next up .... Pasadena...and (shhh..) and an announcement that has been long awaited.  Carry on....

August Pasadena Flea

Some flea market adventures seem to have a theme, usually unplanned.  Apparently, the theme for the Pasadena City College Flea this month was "Things you can use in your art fair booth".

I LOVE this note taker thingy.  They even had an extra roll of paper and it is huge.  I've always wanted something like this for some reason.  And there it was!  Ah, fate.  It even opens up.

I'm thinking I can use this to collect a mailing list at art fairs and keep extra business cards in the box. What do you think?

I can use this to display necklaces and bracelets.  It is the most wonderful rusty/turquoise color.

Now what about this?  When I open it, I can line up some of my handmade books, or just use it as is to warm up the display.

But first, I'll have to empty it of THIS:

OK, so that falls under the category of "I have to have it but I have no idea what I'll do with it". Still - very cool and I will figure out some uses.  Oh, yes, I will.  

 

 

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Snapshots from first CWE Flea

June PCC - HOT

Since I'm heading to the Pasadena City College Flea Market tomorrow, I suppose I should post these items from last month.  I think I must have written it in my head and thought I had posted it for real.  Well.

 An assortment of fun items:

This handful of charms went to a certain horse person.

Lots of round thingies for embellishment.

Graceful implements which I hate to modify, but art must be done.

The oddest and most fun thing I found was this game, which I had never seen before.  

The box graphics are so colorful.  Did you ever play Madlibs?  This must have been an earlier version.  Instead of randomly picking words and plugging them into a story, the player picks cards like this.

I can only imagine how hilarious it would be.

But this is my favorite.

Just not sure where to go with that, but the mind boggles.

Another game came with these number cards.  Love numbers.

But these are the BEST.

Couldn't resist this little battered case.

Especially since it has a cool mirror.  I will use this for my jewelry display and a built in place for customers to admire themselves.

Anyone have ANY idea what this is  I haven't a clue.

And there you have it.  Since then, I have been to the Brooklyn Flea, where remarkably, I found another "Peter Coddle" game.  Odd.  And way too expensive.  

The Mystery Unfolds

What is this?  You may want to sit down because this will take awhile.

It's a sort of long, wonderful story, with a sorta kinda happy ending.  Months ago, at the Pasadena flea, I stepped in to help a vendor who was trying to spread out a HUGE canvas sign for a customer.

It was very cool but too expensive for me.  He showed me a bunch of other big signs (also too expensive).  His grandfather was a preacher in the 30's and held a summer "chautauqua" in the mountains above L.A..  These kinds of gatherings were very popular then and he certainly attracted quite a crowd.  The signs were used in his preaching and as advertising.

He inherited the painted canvas signs from his great aunt, who had kept them stored all these years in her garage.  Alas, some of them were so fused together from heat and humidity that they could not be opened.   This roll is about 6 feet long.

He also had some cool old books, which lead to a conversation about bookbinding and collage and art.  He thought I might know how to salvage these compressed rolls and offered them to me for free.  

And so the journey began (are you still with me?).

I reached out to the bookbinding/book restoration community and received some suggestions, but not much encouragement.  Some of them knew a lot about the paint used at that time and thought it would be impossible to separate the canvas layers.  Helpfully, they also disabused me of some of my less brilliant ideas.  Soak them in water?  Use a spray on oil?  Not.

The really cool thing is that the guy had a photo of his grandfather and his students standing in front of a gigantic sign.  He thought one of the rolls might contain that sign.  Would I try to save it?    What a treasure he would have, with the photo and the sign in the photo!  If it didn't work, he said I could just keep the rolls and use them for whatever art project I wanted.

In fact, I had no luck at all.  

I tried to peel off some of the canvas but it was totally crumbly.  It seemed hopeless.   My husband stepped in with his miter saw and sliced up one of the rolls.  I thought I might do an assemblage with the slices.

But low and behold - some of the inner layers weren't stuck together after all!  In my haste and frustration, I ruined who knows what wonders.  Rats.  So now, I have a box of these....

Take Two.

I wasn't going to make that mistake with the second roll.  I laboriously sliced through 2 or three layers at a time until I came to a section that was not fused.  Even so, I was able to pull apart some of the fused sections, in pieces.  I could tell they included bible quotes and references.  Collage fodder.

But, I was also able to salvage some actual words.  I thought it was interesting what words showed up. 'Course, I guess you find what you are looking for, yes?

So now, we come to the end of the journey.  This is where the "sorta kinda" happy ending comes in.  There were 5 complete canvas banners, intact.

 This is a detail of one of the saved panels.  Some fine work there.

 

Wonderful that the colors stayed so intense all this time.

 

 There were a few more of similar ilk. I'm actually quite happy and have stopped kicking myself for ruining the first one.  Who knows if I could have saved it.

Now, if I could just find the guy's email again so I can get them back to him!  History.  Family stories.  I love it.

Littles from PCC Flea Market

Some days are just like that.  

This month, at the Pasadena City College Flea Market, everything I took home could have fit into one tiny bag.  

Speaking of small. Isn't this tiny clock hand sweet?  I love the crescent moon.

 These hands are from a much larger clock, but aren't they yummy?

I'll bet that brother Rob can tell me more about them.

Three of these little buttons are actually glass. The acorn is metal though and you know how I feel about acorns!

A small collection. Check out that bone folder.

I'm gathering a little collection of these advertising pencils.  This Coke version can't be that old.

Now for something different.  Can you guess what this is?  It is actually quite large and very heavy.  Got it from a delightful old character who cleans up old tools for sale.  I love his booth.Might be a little prize involved here, depending on the interests of the winning guess.

April at the Long Beach Flea

A gorgeous day.  Easter Sunday.  I felt like a heathen, but still I went.  And glad I did. Great day, wandering around all by myself.  One can do a lot of damage when nothing else is on the agenda.

 

I met the nicest couple from Fresno, who sold me that big sign and the story that went with it.  It marked the parking entrance to the the Patterson Building, built in 1928, in Fresno.  Being converted to condos as we speak.  It's huge.  I have no idea where I will put it, but I couldn't leave it behind!

To go in the completely opposite direction...this is a tiny salt shaker, just big enough to go on a necklace.  I bought it because - and I realize you can't see it all - around the bottom it says, "Minnesota Prison Industries".  There is a story there....

Can't resist drawers...

This is a very worn but sweet coin purse.  Is that a four-leaf clover and a horseshoe?  

 

On the inside of the cover is the label from Costello and Wood.  

   

They were the proprietors of the Hotel Windsor, on the corner of First and Mrytle Streets, in Mount Vernon, Washington.  Seems like a pretty fancy hotel, with "Modern furnishings with the best beds we can get combine with Cleanliness to make this a comfortable stop."  Wonderful what you can find on the internet, isn't it?

"Disaster struck the successful Windsor Hotel on the morning of March 23, 1926, when a fire in the elevator shaft in the basement broke out and leaped out of control. Mount Vernon’s only “skyscraper” was in ruins."  It's now low income housing.  How the mighty have fallen.  That was, by the way, the very first elevator in the town.

I can't seem to resist these wooden carriers and this one has been well loved.  I collect those round sifters and this is the smallest I have seen.  I use my biggest one to sift the compost.  This one will go on the kitchen wall with it's sisters.

An old scale will probably end up in the same room.

As will these graters.

But this.....

How cool is this?  I just got nothin' to say.

And what the heck are these?  well, I know what they are, but I'm still thinking of ways to use them.  That round sparkplug gauge should be good for something, yes?

Am I too weird?

 

Bonus Flea Market!

If it's the 5th Sunday of the month, then it's time for an extra flea market at Long Beach.  It's like an unexpected gift. Well, except that you know it's coming if you actually look at a calendar.  In any case, it's a treat.

I know you think I have too many old rubber stamp sets.

But really. This one is actually....

I mean, look how BIG these numbers are...As if that "Special" stamp was not enough.

 

One always needs a $3 tin and a few cool rulers.

 

I will definitely mount this dispenser in the studio so I can have easy access to waxed paper.  I use it constantly and this one is cool.  The vendor was so excited to tell me that it has the "original" roll.  Yeah, whatever.

 

I blame Sara May for this rusty old counter.  You push the handle to count...whatever.  I now have several, but the first came from Sara, so that I can count my blessings, of which there are many.

 

I can't get enough of these old red silverware trays from the 30's.  I use them to hold jewelry projects in process.  

 

A valuable document case, with heavy envelopes, filled with, well, valuable documents, of course.

It's always fascinating to take a peek into the lives of others, long gone.  I see this gentleman buried his wife and bought a double plot at the time.

 He lived for 20 years more. What was his life before and after?  He moved from a house to an apartment in a different town. Was he lonely?  We'll never know.

 

I also don't know what grade Ms. Lotty Mae got for this report on Da Vinci in 1911.

I do know, however, that she had really, really lovely handwriting and made this stitched booklet using excellent paper.

Now that I have shared everything, I'm off to try out those fabulous number stamps....and the "Special" stamp, because I am.

Oh, OK....so are YOU. 

I slipped away...

....for a short flea market visit.  

It was a jam-packed weekend, with important family events and too much to do, but, by gum (what the heck does that mean?), I was getting to Long Beach, if only for an hour.

Actually, it was more like 2 hours, which is still totally below my limit, I gotta tell you.  But, I had a great time and found such fun stuff that I didn't feel cheated.

This nice pile of leather will come with me to my book necklace class.  Students can pick out their favorites to go with the copper, brass and nickel book covers.  Yummy.  Might make a sketchbook or two as well.  

I may even store them in this new egg basket.  I have three now and they hold rolls of paper very nicely.  Love the color.

A little handful of metal.  Look at those designs!  The tiny keyholes will end up on a book cover, I imagine.  Or maybe a necklace?

More metal.  It's big enough to set on my table and hang a bunch of tools inside.  Rust, rust, rust..oh, how I love thee.

I was told that this cunning little carrier used to hold Belgian beer.  At the moment, it's holding some apothocary jars. But tomorrow...?

There is one more extremely cool item, but it's hard to photograph, so maybe next time.  

Speaking of next time, I just found out that there are 5 Sundays in this month, which means the Long Beach Flea Market will have a bonus market on March 30th.  Think I'll stay at that one all day.