Part 2- I set up my treasures from the Alameda Fair in a vignette for you all to view, upon returning back to Portland. I love my finds but even more, I love the memories of the day. Junking and antiquing is for me a grand adventure, the thrill of the hunt, the visual stimulation, the acquisition of the objects, the stories that they carry. I then create a story over the history of whatever the find is, my own story of the finding of it. It creates a collage of sorts, these layers of story.
I have a terrible memory about some things, but with all my junking finds over the years (and there are thousands) I usually can remember how and where I acquired it, and if not the precise details of where and when, I ALWAYS remember the feeling of finding that treasure, and THAT is the treasure in and of itself, that delicious memory of the experience.

Here are the Bakelite Lady’s hair combs and sticks. I did take them out of the package. But just to set the stage. I’ll do the French hair twist another day.

This painting of the ballerina was my best find.

Typically, in most of my junking adventures there is one item that I spot, that makes me nearly faint with desire and connection to the object. The ballerina was the one. I spotted her off in some corner of someones booth from several hundred feet away, she was a beacon that called to me, saying, “Come closer…”. Upon more careful investigation, I examined her, and LOVED her odd, androgynous face, and the overall creepiness of her. She also is a dead ringer for a woman whose vintage photos I acquired last year at the Cortona Antique Market in Italy. There was a stack of vintage photos of this one woman, throughout her life, I created an altered book around these photos and invented a story about this woman. I called her Liana. This ballerina is Liana, the physical similarities are astounding and the serendipity of the find is not lost on me. This often happens to me when I am junking.  Magical things appear that show me something, or are the perfect vehicle for an art piece. Liana is one of those finds. Now that I have her in the ballerina painting, I will share photos of the book that I made of her. Oh and by the way, she was $40.  A steal. I love her.

What does Liana say to you? Who is she?