thrift stores – Summerhouse Art

geneautry

Way back in April when I started this blog I wrote about abundance in a recession. And today, thinking about Christmas, my fave time of year, I’m reminded of abundance. Our Christmases are full of abundance! As I always love to say the world is an abundant place as long as you like second hand.

Just the other day I was again reminded of groups of people taking a pledge not to buy anything new for a year. And I even looked at a few web sites and blogs about it. And although I applaud the enthusiasm, I also noted how difficult they made it for themselves. No bending allowed on the pledge. And it seemed as though the pledge was abandoned after the year was up in a few cases. Everyone tired of the sacrifice, maybe?

This is just not the way we approach it. What started as way to survive tough times as students in the 60’s and to get us through other bouts of tough economic times, has now become a way of life. But it’s really not difficult for us, it’s fun and easy. I really believe that anything we do to be a little greener is helpful. So every effort counts. If we absolutely need to get something new, and after trying to find it used, well ok, buy it. No guilt. But this is so offset with all that we buy used, we feel ok with it. And anyway, part of our plan is to buy new stuff from artists and others who produce hand made and original when we can, as well.

Which brings me to Christmas. The cost of Christmas, the news is full of it, credit cards maxed, too many presents, worry over money and all that that entails. But why not resolve to have some of your Christmas recycled and reused?

So I thought as well as sharing my obviously “abundant” collection of thrift store, garage sale Santas I’d also share some of the other things we have in abundance for the season. And one of the best is music. We have a huge collection of music mostly because we still have our turntable, and our tape deck as well as a couple of used CD players. So we can buy all the good old stuff and now we’ve amassed a pretty eclectic and funky collection of Christmas music. At the top of this post is a great selection from Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole and Gene Autry, all actually a gift from our great friend Hart. Don’t you just love that Gene Autry album cover? And as I bake for Christmas I love to play the oldies from my childhood like Perry Como, Bing Crosby which we heard always for Christmas. Would you believe most of these records and tapes we bought for anywhere from 25cents to just over $2?

comocsby

How much more eclectic can you get than this selection of Loreena McKennet “a Winter Garden”, “A Very Special Christmas” which has the most wonderful piece by Sting, “Gabriel’s Message”, The Masterworks Dinner Album and even Connie Francis who has “Christmas in My Heart”?

connief-tapes

And we’ve got some odd stuff too that we’ve found over the years like “A Reggae Christmas”. Always good to listen to while baking Christmas goodies.

reggae

And then for those classical moments we’ve got Luciano Pavarotti with a boys choir with my favourite Panis Angelicus. A real treasure found at the local second hand store was Christmas in Venice, full of just gorgeous classical favourites.

pavartti

We always find CD’s when we’re out garage sailing and all of our collection is used. And then there are the ones I’ve collected just for fun like “Christmas at Liberace’s”, Or the “Doris Day Christmas Album”. Then a real fave is Boney M Christmas Album with Feliz Navidad to really get dancin’. So far my all time fave CD is World Christmas which has not only the Gypsy Kings on it, and Deep Forest but also Papa Wemba and Mono Cinelu.

boneym-tape1

So what am I saying here really? Christmas can be about abundance with out spending lots of money. And boy have we got an abundance of music! And it’s all used, recycled and we’re feelin’ green too.

I think the whole recycling way of life probably led to us getting involved in mosaics. We always found some way to have what we wanted by finding it used or creating it ourselves.

Our very first pique assiette mosaic came about in 1988 or 89, when I decided that I must have birdbath, a really nice birdbath, not just any old birdbath from the garden shop. I’d seen some mosaic made with old dishes in a magazine and the idea clicked. We needed a mosaic birdbath! From that first stab at mosaic we ended up discovering the joys of pique assiette, which in rough translation, means stolen dishes. Well, of course, we didn’t steal dishes, but we found a lot of good material at my favourite store, Value Village. That and all the Sally Ann Thrift stores that abound everywhere.

The base of the birdbath was made by pouring cement into a sono tube found at the local building supply store. The top was built by lining a cardboard box with a black plastic bag and pouring in cement. We scooped out the middle to create a hollow in the centre which would become the bath area. By pulling up on the bag we made the sides rounded.

Now this was our very first attempt and we had no clue. We wouldn’t do the mosaic the same way now that we know so much more. As soon the cement was cured we just set up the base and the top on a picnic table in the back yard. We’d gone to Value Village and found as many dishes as we could in different colors and spread them out on a picnic table in the backyard. We’d put a dish in a plastic grocery bag and whack it with a hammer. The bag was to keep the pieces from flying around on the grass. Soon we were really good at it.

Then we arranged the pieces in a loose pattern on a piece of newspaper. For each section we mixed up a small batch of cement, applied a small area of it on to the surface of the base about a half an inch thick and pushed the pieces of broken dishes into the mortar. As it began to set, we would scrape away the cement around the last section as closely as we could to the dish pieces and then mix up a new batch of cement and carry on with pushing the pieces in.

As you can imagine the sound of all these dishes breaking in our backyard soon brought out the neighbours who one by one made their way over to our back yard to find out what the heck we were up to.

All in all, the bird bath was quite successful. We left the bath area bare of mosaic for easier cleanup of it with a garden hose. We also tried to make quite sure that the pieces on the rim didn’t have any sharp points poking out, didn’t want our feathered friends to get cuts. The bird bath was also very very heavy, and when we moved to Victoria, we gave it to a close artist friend for her front yard where it weathered in beautifully.

I like the look of that birdbath, sort of lumpy and rough. If we were to make the same thing today, we would apply mortar to each piece of dish, apply it to the cement base and when it was all set, we would apply grout. So much easier and better looking.

There is something about the surface of mosaic. Something about the way it glistens and sparks in the sunlight. I was hooked with that first mosaic. Even now when I get a piece done I rush outside with it to see it in the sunlight. All in all, the birdbath was the beginning of a wonderful journey.

Creating art with recycled materials is a triple thrill. You wake up a real sense of creativity, get to see dishes and ornaments in a whole new way and hey, you get to make art-without-guilt, as I love to tell my mosaic students. To see more of our mosaics and what can be done with old dishes, have a boo at our mosaic gallery pages.

Tag: thrift stores

Some thoughts on a Green and Abundant Christmas

Getting Hooked on Pique Assiette Mosaics