Just 30 more to 365 ...

I love wandering through thrift shops and second hand stores. Not because I like antiques, I don't. BUT I do like the stories or potential histories that different objects seem to impart that cause me to stop and linger.

I was reading an interview of a contemporary young artisan who makes handsome leather and fabric handbags and shoulder bags out of discarded yardage she gleans from thrift shops. She said unknown people had a specific purpose for buying that piece of fabric. So, when she finds and uses the yardage, she feels like she's giving it a second chance to become something finished, functional and beautiful. I really liked that thought process. That idea of a baton being passed, or creativity realized or manifested.

Oops! Got off on a tangent! But that, too, is another reason I wander thrift shops ... it makes me question things about myself, about others, about our connections.

I came across a couple of objects that "spoke" to me:



This bust was in a glass case, so I photographed
it through the glass. I was taken with
the exotic woman, the abacus, the brass bells.
Was there an actual woman who posed
for the carving? Did someone actually count
on the abacus? How were the brass bells used?




The French white wrought iron grate; did it adorn a home?
How old was it? Older than me?




This is a detail of a massive cut crystal chandelier.
What is its provenance?



Project 365, but which day is it?

It is Day 80, as a matter of fact.

I love going to thrift shops. There are all sorts of interesting items that people collected and then decided they could do without, or inherited and didn't want or just got tired of and there those items were, waiting patiently for some other person to come along and just not be able to live without them! As one who is currently de-cluttering, I don't need any of those items, but I like to look and think about the stories of who used them.

Like the photograph below of the bicycles. Five of these little girl bikes were hanging outside at the front of the thrift shop. They looked so giggly, and pink and glittery, and girlie. Do those girlie bike riders now have iPads and text incessantly with their friends? Are they driving? Do they have boyfriends?

And the photograph of the blue desk chair that used to be red and was painted blue. What is its history? How is it going to be used next?

So, here are my thrift shop photographs for today.

I've also added a photo of a beautiful sunrise from a couple of days ago. It was early and the sun was just coming up, bathing the top of the tree in brilliant gold. It was incredible! I guess you had to be there.

04-20-2011