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Three new pieces of art for only 10€ each! I found these at a nearby Dutch thrift shop—one of my favorites for buying art. They usually have some great pieces, and art is one of the few things they have that’s not ridiculously overpriced.
These three are oil on canvas, large—the biggest (third picture above) measures 31 by 43 inches—and signed “Margriet 02.” And they are awesome. At least I think so.
Here’s where we stand with the budget:
Original art budget: 100€
Previous purchases: 59.50€
Cost of these pieces: 30€.
100€ Budget remaining: 10.50€
What is this?I once heard the advice: Spend $1000 a year on art. Only I don’t have an extra grand laying around, so I wanted to see what I could do with just 100€. I love a challenge (and an excuse to go shopping!). Of course it doesn’t hurt that Europe has the best thrift shops.Take a look at what I’ve bought so far.
A little something to brighten the day. Because this is what we woke up to this morning:
A winter wonderland. As in, we wonder where the the heck spring is.
Seems weird when there’s 5″ of snow on the ground, but the bright spot in what’s been a dreary, gray winter is…daffodil season! And it gets even better when they are 40 for 1.89€. (Thank you, Aldi.)
The glasses I’m using as vases are the best thing I never knew I bought. Story goes like this: At a thrift shop in the Netherlands. They were having a sale of glasses—10 for 1€ or 50 cents each. I had four glasses in my basket, and I HAD to leave immediately so I wouldn’t be be late (again) picking up Jacob at school. Being cheap that I am, I grabbed six more glasses (with the intent of re-donating them) and dashed to the checkout.
It wasn’t until I go home that I really looked at them. Six souvenir glasses from the 1964-65 World’s Fair in NYC. 10 cents each. Unbelievable. One of my favorite thrift-shop finds.
And, no, I won’t be re-donating them.
I have a new piece of art to add to my collection. I found this anatomical print of a fly at a little antiques store in Alkmaar, Holland. It’s copyright 1960, printed in Germany in 1972 and measures 32 by 44 inches. Hanging here, temporarily, in my hallway.
This was a bid of a splurge budget wise—the most expensive purchase to date at 25€. But I love it, and it was really a steal considering what it would go for back in the states (read: way, way beyond my reach).
It appears I have a bit of a theme going on. I assure you, that is unintentional. I love the black and the mint green and the graphics. (It’s difficult to appreciate in a long shot, but look at that close up.) The fact that it’s another insect is coincidental.
Here’s where we stand with the budget:
Original art budget: 100€
Previous purchases: 34.50€
Cost of this piece: 25€.
100€ Budget remaining: 40.50€
What is this? I’m on a quest to build an art collection based on the advice: Spend $1000 a year on art. Only, I don’t have an extra grand laying around. (Who does in this economy?) My challenge is to find affordable art, to prove something beautiful doesn’t have to be expensive. My budget: just 100€. See what I’ve bought so far.
The latest addition to my art collection: Two modern oil paintings. They are signed only with an “R.” and not dated. Love the colors and the strong brush strokes. Major score at a Dutch thrift shop for just 3.50€ for both. The larger one was marked at 2.50€; the smaller one was not priced. At checkout, the cashier said, “I’ll give it to you for one euro.” Okay!
They originally had slimline, shoddily mitered frames nailed to the edges. I like the idea, but the gappy miter cuts and exposed nail heads were killing it for me. I pulled them off. Underneath someone had painted orange and black acyclic (or maybe tempura) over oil-based paint. When I tried to wipe the dirt off, the paint started coming off everywhere. Now I understand the frames. Too bad I broke a couple pulling them off.
What is it they say about things not being cheap, easy and good at the same time?
Ah ha! I can fix it with PVC tape! Brilliant!
Okay, might not be the greatest idea, but it’s a better one than the person who painted acrylic over oils had. On the right surface it could totally work. And I had a pack of the stuff. We’ll see how it holds up. At least it’ll prevent paint residue from transferring to everything they touch.
So, with 69€ of my original 100€ budget remaining, that leaves 65.50€ left to spend.
Here’s a breakdown:
Original art budget: 100€
Previous purchases: 31€
Cost of this piece: 3.50€.
100€ Budget remaining: 65.50€
What is this? I’m on a quest to build an art collection based on the advice: Spend $1000 a year on art. Only, I don’t have an extra grand laying around. (Who does in this economy?) My challenge is to find affordable art, to prove something beautiful doesn’t have to be expensive. My budget: just 100€. See what I’ve bought so far.
Been a while since I posted anything crafty. This is a wreath I made from a pile of twisty sticks from the side of the road. Rescued them from the trash.
It’s actually pretty simple to make.
1) Take four sticks and make a square. Use clothes pins to hold them in place. (This is the hardest part.)
2) Take thin flexile branches and wrap them around. Keep wrapping this way until you no longer need the clothes pins to hold it together. If you don’t have flexible branches, you could use floral wire instead.
3) Continue adding branches and build it up to make it less square and more rounded.
That’s it. Told you it was easy.
I haven’t done it to mine yet, but probably should wrap the whole thing in a length of floral wire to make sure it stays together. I’m kinda on the fence if I should add anything more to it. Maybe fresh flowers?
If I needed another reason to love Belgium, it would be this: the thrift stores. They have THE BEST stuff. Like this woven wine basket. It’s handmade, lined with straw and inside is a 25-liter glass demijohn. There is also a cap (like a little basket) that covers the top of bottle. For some reason I didn’t get it in the picture (kid probably stole it). The little metal tag on the top says “Cogever Bruxelles.” Haven’t researched to learn anymore than: I found at my new favorite store, it is awesome, it was a killer steal.
Guess what I paid for it?
Yep. A whole 5€. Crazy, huh. Here’s the glass demijohn out of the basket.
A little while ago fab.com was selling reproduction prints by French illustrator E. A. Seguy. Seguy did fantastic studies of insects in the early 20th century (1900-1930s). I was thinking of buying one, but was debating 1) which poster to buy and 2) whether it was gross to hang a picture of beetles in one’s kitchen. (I mean, it’s not cockroaches.) Before I could decide, the sale ended. (Discovered later they wouldn’t have shipped to me anyway.) Sad face emoticon.
You can imagine how happy I was when I noticed a similar Seguy-esque bug sticking out of a bin of old book pages for sale at London’s Camden Market. I sat down on the ground next to the bin and pulled all the bugs out. The seller came round and showed me his stall where he had more. 6£ each. I had planned to buy 3. I couldn’t decide, so he gave me the fourth one free. Score. Today I took them out of the plastic, and behind one of the pages was an extra page. Bonus bug! Double score. He’s the fifth one below.
Now, I don’t know that these are by E. A. Seguy. Certainly are reminiscent of some of his work, and they are original old book pages. I had hoped to find the book’s title on the reverse side of the pages. Nope. Just a paragraph about an insect. Maybe someone will stumble across this and give me some info. Seguy or not, I think they are pretty freaking cool. I’m happy.
Later that week at the Bermundsey Street antiques market I found these:
Two illustrations from 1860. 2£ each. I forget the title, but they’re from a children’s poem about a robin. I have the page that shows the robin being shot with an arrow by another bird and the page that shows one bird carrying a coffin and another carrying a match. Strange stuff for a children’s book.
With some conversion math, that’s:
Original art budget: 100€
Previous purchases: 4€
Cost of this piece:: 18£ for the 5 insects, 4£ for the 2 birds = close to 27€
Budget remaining: 69€
What is this? I’m on a quest to build an art collection based on the advice: Spend $1000 a year on art. Only, I don’t have an extra grand laying around. (Who does in this economy?) My challenge is to find affordable art, to prove something beautiful doesn’t have to be expensive. My budget: just 100€. See what I’ve bought so far.
Did you know insects and bugs are not the same thing?
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