valentine's day Shopping the Antique Faire

Sacramento Antique Faire

Sacramento has an Antique Faire under Highway 50 every second Sunday of the month. I am lucky it is about a half mile from my house, so it is easy to case it every month. One of these days I am going to have to get there before all of the pickers grab up all of the choice items...say about 6 in the morning?

One of the best things about the location, other than it's proximity to my house, is that the Highway provides shade over the whole Faire. Nice for us, and even nicer for the vendors!

Much cooler under the Highway

Over the Ocean Home and Garden Decorations

One of the vendors I like to find every time I go is Marina Geest (phone...209-327-9440) who owns "Over the Ocean", Marina is originally from the Netherlands and travels there frequently to bring us beautiful linens and antiques. I am hooked on the blue checkered dish towels and end up buying a couple every time I find her. She frequently has Oyster baskets and demijohns as well.

Over the Ocean Linens

Marina is partnering with Sue's Country Barn and Antiquarian this weekend for a huge container sale in Manteca this weekend if you are in the mood for a little Antique treasure hunting!!

Location:

12607 E. Hwy 120

Manteca, CA 95336

2 miles East of Hwy 99

Thursday June 17....6-9 PM

June 18-20 10AM-6PM

If only I were in town!!!

Moving on down the row, I found Abdoulie Jawneh from Nairobi who imports African artifacts. It was his first time to Sacramento having driven up from LA. Abdoulie had beautiful African beads and cowrie shell baskets. I ended up taking home the baskets in the photo below. Cowrie shells symbolize wealth and prosperity.....it never hurts to have a little help.

Cowrie Shell Baskets for Good Luck

African Beads from Jawneh Brothers Imports

To reach Jawneh Brothers imports.....phone 323-251-7349. Visit them in Los Angeles!

I was very happy to meet Andrew Church who specializes in vintage metal furniture which he refurbishes and sells at Alameda and other antique fairs throughout the country. He is based in Houston, and thought he might try out Sacramento! I hope he makes it back!!!

The table below was in the neighborhood of $395....much better than big city pricing!!!

Very cool metal furniture from Andrew Church

To reach Andrew, call 830-481-0080

There was another new vendor this week that had some very cool stuff.....vintage binoculars, flasks.......but I was sort of taken with something a little on the unusual side.......

It was a wood carved motorcycle that measured about 30" wide by 18" high. A little strange perhaps....but I almost took 'er home. But hey....if it's good enough for Cameron......

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Carmen Diaz in the July Issue on InStyle Magazine, photo by Michelangelo Di Battista

I didn't have a chance to get this vendor's information, but they assured me they will be back next month. Maybe they will still have the bike. I can still dream......Peter and Jack would approve.

valentine's day Acorns and White Porcelain

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The Oak tree out front is trying to tell me something: "Fall is fast approaching".

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I was just playing around with some of my white "objets". I have things that are not quite perfect.: broken coral, a weathered concrete balustrade piece I made into a lamp (it still has green and brown paint on it that has worn through), a chipped vintage porcelain lunch pail with a metal lid. But I find them all beautiful and intriguing. Maybe more so than if they were perfect.

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I found the lunch pail at the latest Sacramento Antique Faire and don't know a lot about it's origins. Has anyone seen one before? As I mentioned, it is white porcelain and has what appears to be a zinc lid that has clasps that wrap underneath the front and back. With all of it's imperfection, it is the perfect size for letters and postcards, photos and other small remembrances.

Perfectly imperfect.

valentine's day Creating An Indoor Picnic for Book Group

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Once a year, I pick a book and host a Book Group party at my house. Our Book Group is a bit unusual as far as Book Groups go...or so I have heard. Pretty much the same group has been together for about eight years now. We have only had two friends leave and two friends join in all that time.

Last Friday was my night to host. The book I chose was The Help by Kathryn Stockett:

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Set in Mississippi in 1962 during the civil rights movement, the story chronicles the lives of three women, one white and two black, and how they came together to write a book about how "the help" coexisted with their well-to-do white employers.

Truthful and thoughtful, funny and heartbreaking, the story is one that I, and the rest of my group thought was one of our favorites in our eight years together.(If you would like more information and editorial reviews click here.)

I decided that since the weather was on the hot side, that I would create in indoor picnic for our get together. I started with a burlap table cloth I had made a few years back. Burlap is very inexpensive (about 3 or 4 dollars per yard) and holds up for a very long time! I placed grass place mats on top and added a row of potted plants down the center. The plants I chose were a citron green "Lamium Golden" and an eggplant hued "Sweet Potato Vine". I loved the color contrast! I got them at Target along with some brown terracotta pots. The pot color went so well with the burlap. And after the party I am putting the plants in my garden! I love a dual purpose purchase.

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I experimented with some of my mercury glass candlestick holders: very pretty, but a bit too formal for a "picnic":

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So I decided to go with these simple votive holders, again, very inexpensive from Michael's. I think they were 50 cents apiece.

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A couple in between each pot. Simple and clean.

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I added my "Great White Plates" from Pottery Barn. ( Now you can have them monogrammed!)I think a white plate shows off food so well. And for the meal I had planned, they were the perfect size: big!

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I wanted something that looked like a picnic tablecloth for the napkins and found the perfect thing at IKEA. These rolls have four cloths, each one a different white and blue pattern for $2.49 per roll! That is 62 cents per napkin. I like that. And again, dual purpose!

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Placed in the middle of each plate, the "napkins" are a nice big size for my picnic.

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I added simple wine glasses, again from IKEA, and a bottle of Pellegrino at each place instead of a water glass to finish it off. Now on to the food!

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For a little snacking before dinner, I laid out cheeses, fig jam, some Kalamata olives and olive tapenade, a bit of Hummus and a few French Plums. I iced the wine, beer and waters in a galvanized bucket.

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When we were ready we sat down to an evening picnic:

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I had prepared a buffet of salads: Heirloom tomatoes from the garden with basil and mozzarella, Ina Garner's potato salad with lots of fresh dill, my version of the Bottega snap pea and white corn salad with a citrus dressing, my green salad with pine nuts and avocado, and a fruit salad. A bit of French bread with Gruyere and olives, and we were very happy.( Oh yes, the platters I had just found at the last Sacramento Antique Faire . LOVE them!!)

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valentine's day Blog Connections and the Art of Nathalie Rattner

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I wrote a blog about the Sacramento Antique Faire not too long ago (here), and included a series of images showing collections of things like the watches in the photo above. The Faire is a treasure trove of photo opportunities. A few weeks later, I received a note from a Nathalie Rattner who had been introduced to my blog through her father. As I read further, I was happily surprised to learn that Nathalie had attached what appeared to be a a black and white version of my photo. It was lovely and I thought to myself, I really should print out my photo and have it framed in black and white.

Obviously, by the time I opened the second attachment, I realized I had not been very thorough in my reading of Nathalie's note! This was not a photo at all, but a photo realistic drawing!

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The second drawing made things crystal clear. Nathalie is a phenomenally talented artist. This was one of those moments when I ask myself, how does someone DO this?!?! It is SO accurate. I was just amazed. The second piece she sent helped visually explain the process.

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I was lucky to begin a bit of a correspondence with Nathalie, and she sent me more images of her work. She specializes in photo realistic work, and has become quite well known for her Sports series.

These are some of her portraits:

Nathalie says of this image, "this is a drawing based on a vintage photograph in which I have combined my painting technique with the application of some copper foil."

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Nathalie says, "This image is from a commission of an individuals grandchild. This image was done using my painted charcoal and graphite technique."

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This piece of the Ziegfeld Follies girls is breathtaking to me. The way Nathalie captures light and shadow is perfection.

Nathalie says, "This is an image of the Ziegfeld follies in which I have combined a charcoal wash technique with pastel wash technique. I technique that I've recently developed."

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Nathalie sent me the finished project of my pocket watch photo and asked if she could enter it in an art competition in Boston. I was very honored that she chose my image to show off her fine work. I said "YES" of course!

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I asked Nathalie a little about herself:

"I was born and raised in Calgary Canada where I studies dance and attended a performing arts high school. After graduation I moved to Vancouver and later to L.A. to pursue my dance career where I was represented by McDonald Selznick. I am a largely self taught artist and have always been attracted to portraiture and began by doing oil paintings of native Americans based on the photographs of Edward Curtis. This series was well received and collected by people in Montana and Boston and several interior designers. This success encouraged me to continue and over the past several years I have developed a technique which is that based on “painting” with shaved graphite and charcoal which allows me to achieve a hyper-realistic or extended photograph quality. My goal is to bring life to photograph images and to bring the personal qualities of the subject to the viewers attention . A three part work based on multiple images of my Dad presented as a film strip where each drawing was placed in a cell of the film strip won a drawing competition in Boston and this led to a meeting with John ……Liffmann who encouraged me to do images of the greats of baseball. This series has met with great success and have been bought by baseball collectors and fans around the world and has found a place in some sports museums. I have also received commissions to do images of personal heroes, family members and a wide range of subject matter. My work is currently sold through ebay, sports auctions (legendaryauctions.com), through John Liffmann liffmann00@comcast.net or I can be contacted directly at nrattner@shaw.ca"

Nathalie was honored with the cover and a feature story about her Sports Figure work in January in Sports Collectors Digest:

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Is it fair that someone so talented is also so beautiful? She is isn't she?

I feel lucky to know Nathalie, if only through the blogosphere. Blogging is an amazing thing. It has created an avenue for connections to be made that otherwise wouldn't have. I was so pleased to get to know about Nathalie and her work. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

valentine's day Collections at the Fair

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I can't help it. I am an Antique Faire lurker. The Sacramento Antique Faire happens every second Saurday of the month, and it is mere blocks from my house. It would be almost criminal not to attend....wouldn't it?

I am in San Francisco for a couple of days, so I thought I would leave you with a few images of collections from the last Sacramento Antique Faire:

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And then there was this wicker bench that was calling my name. I couldn't just ignore it. That would have been rude. So home it came where it is sitting on by back porch.

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See you Friday with some great things from San Francisco!!!

valentine's day I'D LIKE TO THANK THE ACADEMY.........

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EDDIE AWARD

.......And EDDIE ROSS for picking ME as the WINNER in the SHOPPING CATEGORY at the 1st Annual EDDIE AWARD SHOW!!!!

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My Winning Entry

I didn't prepare a speech....but I would like to thank Cannell and Chaffin for producing this very sweet side table. I would like to thank the Sacramento Antique Faire organizers who put on such a fun fair every second Sunday of the month, which is where I found the table. And to all the little people....ahem....my daughter...... thank you so much for helping me sand and scrape and paint. And to Veronica....without you, none of this would have been possible. Thank you!

And a big congratulations to all of the other winners in the other categories!

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This was such fun. Thank you Eddie and Olivia for putting on the show which you can all read about here and here. I hope you all look forward to participating next year!

valentine's day The Animals at the Faire

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Aubergine 18" high porcelain Dragon with forehead horn.

On my last visit to the Sacramento Antique Faire, I came across a number of interesting creatures. I had originally gone to find a table, and to hunt for additions for my various collections. Also, I do like to take pictures of the more unique finds I stumble upon for you all to see. This trip, I noticed a distinct trend to the photos as I was sorting through them for a post. Animals of various kinds stood out from the rest of the photos, and I began to think about finding homes for all of these strays.

I saw this porcelain dragon, which was quite large and fantastically colored. And I imagined that he would enjoy a home like this:

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House and Garden, June 2004, Photo by Francois Dishinger

Art dealer Gian Enzo Sperone might find a spot for him among the ceramic figures by Paolo Maione in his New York loft, above.

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I spied this two foot high plaster pug just hanging around. I think he would be right at home in Liz Lambert's bunkhouse outside of Marfa, Texas. The slate colored walls and salvaged billboard would provide the perfect setting for this comical pup:

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House and Garden, September 2006, Photo by Francois Halard

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The brown ceramic elephant standing about a foot high (top), and the vintage metal elephant penny bank both have a rustic natural quality that appealed to me.

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Elle Decor, Jan/Feb 2006, Photo by William Waldron

I don't think that designer T. Keller Donovan would mind too terribly if these pachyderms made themselves at home on his antique Irish pub table. I love the mix of natural textures and colors here, and the mix of objects.

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This sheepdog was one of my favorites. I like to think of him as a "faux-Jeff-Koons-puppy" (I posted about this puppy here). Maybe if I painted the nose and tongue white? No? Well anyway, this pup might still look cool in a house like this:

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Elle Decor, August/September 2003, Photo by Fernando Bengoechea

This very chic house is owned by taste makers Franco Mariotti and Alessandra Tabacchi Mariotti, owners of the very stylish modern and antique furnishing shop, FLAIR ( Florence, Milan, Capri and New York locations).

So tell me....do you all do this too? I mean, do you see something that catches your eye and immediately imagine the sort of place it should call home? It seems to be a little game I play, and perhaps it just comes with the territory of the creative world.