For the Love of Antiques!

Antique Make Up Compact
One of my favorite pieces.

As you may be able to tell from my last blog, I'm pretty intrigued by history and everything that goes along with it such as antiques! My mom has always collected antiques here and there, but I never could appreciate it until now. Collecting antiques is a some what new hobby of mine, and I'm planning on using the antique pieces I do have to decorate my guest room.

Elgin American Compact
Did some research and I believe this is from the 1940s

Vintage Revlon Lipsticks
Back when they were made of metal

Antique Jewelry Box
Under lock & key

What intrigues me so much about antiques is all of the history tied to them. Who owned them before? What kind of life did they have? These are just a few questions that  run through my mind when I see a cool antique piece. Not only do I enjoy antique pieces but I also enjoy antique photos, but we'll save that subject for another time.

Antique toiletry container
One of my favorites

Classic First Aid Items, Old deck of mini playing cards,
vintage wristwatch

Whenever I get a chance I like to go check out my local antique shops, or better yet when I'm traveling. I sure love to bring home a new piece from vacation. Just the fact that it is an antique and it's from a different area fuels my love for out of town antiquing.

Back when soda was bottled in glass &
contained actual sugar

My bf's Great Grandpa's Lunch Box

A few months back my boyfriend and I helped his grandma clean out his great grandma's house up in Camino aka Apple Hill. There was quite a lot of items to go through, and we spent hours up there finding all kinds of little family treasures including a photo album which contained numerous family photos. My boyfriend's grandma didn't even know the album existed so it was quite the find! My boyfriend's grandma told us we could take whatever we wanted, and boy did we luck out!

We found all kinds of neat antiques and I wanted to share a few. :)

Enjoy!

A young Pillsbury Dough Boy

Vintage Iron
This thing weighs a ton!
Talk about a work out just from ironing

Right up my alley!
Vintage oil paint set

Good ol' Elvis

Beautiful bench that was in my bf's
Great Grandma's room for years

Skin Art

Maud "Bad Ass" Wagner

I love all kinds of art. Especially the kind that goes on your skin! I got my first tattoo when I was 18, another when I was 19, and the last one when I was 23. It's been a couples years since I've gotten my last tattoo and I've been itchin' to get a new one. I plan on getting an anchor tattoo near my ankle for my next piece of work.

Tattooing has been around for ages now, and I feel like it's becoming more widely accepted. I saw an old photo online the other day that really caught my attention, and got me thinking about the history of tattooing. The old black and white photo that initially got my attention was that of a woman in her 20s or so completely tattooed. I had never seen an old photo like that of someone so tattooed, and what really got my goat was that it was a woman!

My tattoos

I will admit I'm kind of a feminist, always have been. Guess you could say "I got it from my momma". Ha. So you can see why the photo of this tattooed woman got me excited! I decided to do a little more research on this lady, whose name I came to find out was Maud Wagner.

Maud Stevens (her maiden name) met Gus Wagner in 1904. I read that she agreed to go on a date with him if he agreed to give her a tattoo, and from there it was history in the making. The two traveled around together as part of a circus act, as tattoos were super rare back then. Gus eventually taught Maud how to tattoo using the "hand poke" method, which made her one of the first women tattoo artists in America! Talk about a bad ass!

The Wagner's' Circus Act Poster

Just wanted to share a little history on something I adore :)

Happy Friday! Cheers! 

Staten Island + Hurricane Sandy

I am currently in my last semester of Graduate school, and as part of my curriculum I must participate in a Studio (also known as a group-thesis). The topic of my thesis is Resiliency on Staten Islands East Shore.

My thesis is only just beginning so over the next few months you might hear about the project, below are a few photos from my first visit to SI which represent my "First Impressions" of the neighborhood.

SI was nothing like I imagined it to be, but it's going to be a very difficult and hopefully rewarding experience.

graphic design of my first impressions

Art Experiments

Went a little crazy at the Dollar store yesterday. I've been on the prowl for some new art projects to keep me busy and found a ton on Pinterest! Now I'm all stocked up with ideas & supplies so be on the look out! I messed around with one of the ideas yesterday and I'm pretty happy with the results. Pretty simple really, I just used a white crayon to draw and design the elephant and simply filled in the paper areas with water colors. Had a good time making this piece, I think I may frame it and try to sell it.

"Free"
Medium: Crayon & Water Colors

Speaking of selling, I sold my first painting the other day which was awesome! Such a great feeling as an artist. I plan on creating an Etsy account to sell my other works of art, although I haven't figured out the shipping part yet. Will keep you posted.

Until next time..Cheers!