Thursday, April 19, 2012

Nostalgia

Nostalgia

     For many of us, we are drawn to vintage things because it reminds us of the past.  There is a bit of nostalgia that grabs hold of you and won't let go.  You can't live with out that piece of jewelry, or maybe it's a similar painting your grandmother had.  Seeing the object triggers a memory and you fall in love with it.  For a collector, there lies one of the beauties in collecting.  Walter Benjamin once said,

“Every passion borders on the chaotic, but the collector's passion borders on the chaos of memories.”

This chaos of memory that Benjamin talked about may hold true for a vintage collector.  For myself it does.  I often fall in love with something "kitsch" because it conjures a childhood memory and with it comes a desire to acquire the object.  Now, Walter Benjamin may not have meant for his chaos to be expressed as a desire to acquire something based on one's memory, but for the sake of this blog post I will leave it as such.  

Which brings me to the topic of  my post.  Today, I celebrate my 40th birthday.  A celebration so epic that it comes with a whole lot of passion, chaos and well baggage.  With all my personal baggage comes forth the beauty of my collection.  Each of the pieces I am sharing with you today have been given to me as a birthday gift.


My husband just gave me this for my 40th. This painting is by an unknown artist Reynold.  I know what you’re thinking; it's a Lee Reynolds!  Sadly, it’s not.  I absolutely love it anyway.  The simplicity of the birds against the chaotic background of texture drew me right in.  It measures 41"x 41" in a thick teak frame.  This painting was purchased in Austin Texas. 


This is my first piece of mid century art.  I purchased it in San Diego several years ago.   This is a lovely Jere 69' enamel and metal wall sculpture.  Need I say more..


Lastly, this is a striking woven wall hanging with a gorgeous hand painted tree.  It measures 62" long.  If only you could see in in person.  This painting is as stunning as it is big.  There is something really magical about the movement of the tree that the artist was able to capture.  The artist is unknown.  It was purchased in San Diego.  

Many thanks for those of you that check out my blog today.  May you have as much passion in collecting mid century art and furniture as I do.  Don't forget to "Top off your day with a little vintage".