mentoring monday ..

there are so many people we meet along the way in this business who have helped us in one way or another. people who have showed us the way, taught us how to do things, allowed us to look at things with a different eye. i want to share with you a few of the ones i have met. the following is part of a series i want to write and welcome others to join in with their own stories.

he could have been a dead ringer for my father. that is the one thing that stands out most for me about harold. my father had passed away in the late spring of 1992. we met harold in the waning summer months of the same year. we rented a booth at canton in the new pavillion 3. (when the creek was still a creek). being a hot summer day and us being who we were, (we always meant to arrive early, but always ran later than wanted or expected) we arrived late in the evening. he startled me as he walked across the empty concrete floor in his overalls and ball cap ( 2 items my father wore frequently). for a split second, i honestly thought i was hallucinating.

we came to learn that harold was married to a sweet sweet woman named clauda. i am unsure of their exact ages, but i think they were close to the same age as rod and i. it was quite obvious their love was the lasting type. they were in it for the long haul. they were a team. they dealt in coca cola items ... later in cast iron .. and later in artificial fruit.. along the way harold tinkered and reworked things they found and things he made. he made some beautiful tables. they had some incredible cupboards from time to time. they lived in athens. they were part of a group of us that set up at canton in pavillion 3 during the 80s and 90s.

what harold taught me... he taught me that it would be a good canton weekend if the final payday of the month fell on the thursday or friday of that canton. he taught me to give my junk importance. he taught me to move things in the booth around. and he coined the phrase that in my opinion pre-dated shabby chic - his term for the type of primitive, rusty, crusty, painted up, chipped around type of furniture was - 'chickenhouse chippendale'. i love that.

rod and i stopped doing canton when ebay began. we lost contact with harold and clauda. we heard that he passed away. but he will always be part of our experience of learning and growing in regards to flea marketing and junking in general. i am grateful to have known them both.

handle solution ..

i had this old metal chest of drawers that i painted white. the original handles were missing and no matter what i found, nothing seemed to look 'right' with the piece. as i have said before, i find a lot of inspiration in nature. well, i was doing a morning walk and happened to look down and see a flat rock - well, guess what?... tell me what you think...i kind of like it..

White Wednesday ...

i wanna play ... i am hoping you don't have to be invited to play White Wednesday .. don't know where the idea originated, but think it is fun and it has always been inspiring ..my friend, Diane of waco decorated this condo with a friend of hers .. the condo belongs to the friend and is located in Grand Cayman .. this is of the master bedroom .. the entire condo is in shades of white .. i love what they did with the master .. love the pair of lamps beside the bed..

i actually remember a time when white was considered daring - it wasn't unusual to hear comments like 'love the white sofa, but who would want it in the living room?'.. white has come a long way .. used to be when you found a great old primitive cupboard or cabinet, painted white - you almost couldn't contain yourself until you could get home and take your secret paint stripping recipe and get all that old paint off and let the natural beauty of the texas pine or midwest oak shine through..and the thought of painting a piece of wood furniture white - never - i have been painting and distressing and loving painted furniture for almost 20 years now - i remember when rachael ashwell made it famous and gave it a name -
we had another name for it, but that is a story that involves another and a tale all on it's own - and i will share it later..

so white is where we are .. it seems .. i like using white when i can .. using other accent pieces for bursts of color allows me to change the look and feel of a space with ease.. i have also stepped back and begun to reconsider the piece of furniture .. for instance, i found a wonderful victorian era walnut pedestal table.. it has a single column support with four scrolled legs coming off the center support, a round top that lets the sides drop to make the table rectangular shape - anyway, it is wonderful.. honestly, i first thought when i found it was 'oh, this will look great painted white'.. now the more i look at the piece and as we work on re-gluing the legs and our hands are touching and feeling the piece, i just don't think she wants to be white - i think she wants to stay as she is .. and that is how i am bringing her to Zapp..

my favorite white - that i myself created - my first slipcovers - made them almost 10 years ago - they were white cotton duck - a cute little pleated ruffle across the short skirt and up the sides and across the top - sold them real quick at warrenton .. laterZ ..