Skip to main content

Thrifted Art

Today used to be my favorite day of the year, but since I promised the universe I'd stop hating Christmas I've got to quit thinking that way (still, 365 days until the next one. It's okay to feel good about that, right?) Now let's talk about a wonderful piece of art.

I can't show you the unboxing of this painting, as the glass covering it had shattered during shipping or delivery, and we had a big mess to clean up. But luckily the broken glass did no harm to the art, which depicts a quilt show. The subject, the gorgeous colors and the obvious affection of the artist for his work are what first caught my eye as I was browsing some art auctions on ShopGoodwill.com. Then I saw what the artist wrote on the back of the piece and knew it was painted by an experienced pro.

Byron Rodarmel, the artist who painted it on 1978, evidently worked in the movie industry before passing away in 2007. I couldn't find out much more about him than that. His rep didn't really interest me as much as the art, so I placed the minimum bid on it. No one challenged me, and I won the auction.

Would you believe I paid $14.95 for the painting? Because I did, and I could probably resell it for twenty times that. But I'm keeping it in my home office instead, to inspire me and remind me of what I love.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Fasten Your Seatbelt

Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds is an epic, dazzling film that hurls you into the Korean version of the afterlife while showcasing some of the most impressive special effects I've ever seen in any movie. The story begins with the death of firefighter Kim Ja-Hong (Cha Tae-hyun) who jumps out of a burning building with a child in his arms. The kid lives, but he dies at the scene. Two strangers inform him that he has passed away right on schedule, and toss him into a vortex that takes him to the world of the afterlife, where he meets his three guardians: Gang-rim (Ha Jung-woo), Haewonmak (Ju Ji-hoon) and Lee Deok-choon (Kim Hyang-gi). At the gates of the afterlife Ja-Hong learns that he is considered a paragon (an exemplary person who lived a noble and self-sacrificing life) and is eligible to be reincarnated -- but there's a catch. First he has 49 days to make it through seven hells in which he will be judged on his sins. His three guardians will help and defend...

Best Thrifts of the Year, Part Two

Today I'm looking back at my best thrifts of the year to date in fabric. #4 is this collection of quilt kits, as it's the one that was the biggest surprise and also made me very happy, as I'd missed out on a similar lot that ended up going for a lot more at auction. #3 is this box of scrap fabric which I bought for $3.99 last month. I didn't post about it on the blog, as I just got around to sorting and measuring it. All together it's 54.35 yards, which works out to seven cents a yard. #2 is the lot with which I won my thrifting challenge bet. It was in brand new condition and will be making some local quilters very happy at this year's guild show. #1 is of course the enormous 103+ yards lot I bought for $15.00, which is still the largest and best thrifted fabric haul I've made to date.