The last thing of Margery’s I had framed this past fall of 2023.
I have written about Margery Niblock many times. I have even met people through my writing who also collected her work and knew her. Today I found out from my mother that she died on February 6th at her son Marc’s home in Bucks County. She was 86.
I sit here kind of sniffling, still not knowing what exactly to write and feeling quite sad and every one of my about to be 60 years.
I have so many memories of her.
Here is a photo from the Portland Police Department from her time in Maine:
Photo courtesy of Portland Maine Police Department Facebook
The Portland Police Department wrote a wonderful post about her on Facebook:
The Portland Police Department is saddened to announce the passing of Marge Niblock. Marge passed away on February 6, 2024, after a brief illness.
Marge was from Philadelphia, where she was an artist and court stenographer. In 1979, she ran for Sheriff of Philadelphia losing after garnering a solid 7,500 votes. While not earning the job, she made new lifelong friends, which she is best remembered for.
Marge came to Portland in 1989 and settled into her new home on Quebec Street on Munjoy Hill. She quickly made her way to the Portland Police Station to meet up with Chief Michael Chitwood, a friend from Philadelphia, and then proceeded to befriend all of us over the next 33 years.
Chief Chitwood had her sit on dozens of promotional panels and citizen groups during his tenure. She continued to be a sounding board for every chief that followed. Chief Sauschuck made her an official member of the department when he convinced her to run for Civil Service Commissioner. After her appointment, she sat on almost every interview panel for police officer candidates during her terms as a commissioner.
Marge also served as the crime reporter for the West End News. Marge would often be seen driving through the city in the Flame Mobile, looking for her next scoop. Most of her crime reporting was filled with questions, because Marge liked to understand why the crime was committed or why a certain victim was targeted. Her stories were filled with whimsical observations and often featured animals. Marge was more interested in the wayward opossum walking across the Million Dollar Bridge than a murder arrest. When a circus performer had their car broken into and his costume (including the bright red nose and colorful socks) stolen, her story questioned if the thief would use the stolen items or just discard them.
Several of us were fortunate to be on her Christmas card list, which would be a scratchboard print, usually with an animal theme, and always delivered in person. The lucky ones of us could convince her to do a scratchboard of our homes. The process included a long visit to take photographs. Only a few of us received a wood carving for our desks.
She was an incredible person with a huge heart. She would walk through any neighborhood in Portland, and someone would know her, or she would stop and talk with someone she had never met before.
In November of 2022, several of us saw Marge for the last time at the Portland International Jetport when she returned to Philadelphia to stay with her other family. She told all of us, “I’ll be back.”
I have memories of Margery lasting a lifetime. I loved her from the time I was a little girl. She was one of my parents’ friends who fed my imagination and love of art. She taught me and many other kids at St. Peter’s wood block and linoleum (and I still have a scar on my right arm to prove it) . She was my friend and a family friend. Her art will live forever on my walls. But I will really miss talking to her once in a while.
Even when I was a kid, Marge didn’t treat me like a kid. I remember her prints hanging on clothes lines at the Headhouse Craft Fair that she started along with my mother and others. I remember the giant Great Dane who I think was called Tiger (or that is just some random memory having to do with it’s brindle coat), and the little mutt thing named Fang (I swear I think that was the name.)
Other funny memories include being at their house when the Great Dane decided to nap underneath the coffee table in the living room. Then it stood up, taking a table full of cheese and stuff with it…until that all hit the floor.
I also have a memory of some dinner over at the Niblocks when Marge was making a leg of lamb. It was Dijon mustard encrusted. Maybe it was a Julia Child recipe?
And the art. So many memories of the art she created, including what she created for Unicef.
I remember when she moved to Maine. And then for a while she made the most beautiful jewelry out of silver and beach glass from Maine. They sold it at the Independence Seaport Museum. There is a necklace she made for sale on eBay now actually. I still wear my jewelry she made once in a while.
I remember a few years ago when she told me she wasn’t making any more art and wasn’t going to bother with her computer and that I could just keep calling. And call and talk to her I did until one day she stopped answering the phone in Maine. That was how I found out she had moved back to Pennsylvania.
Marge was incredibly bright and I loved speaking with her. Miles and years would just melt away. She was just a wonderful woman. I knew she was slowing down, and that is why she came back from Maine to be with her son. But life being life, I didn’t get to see her again after she arrived back in Pennsylvania in 2022. I wanted to, but I did not want to intrude on Marc and his wife.
So dear Margery, you and yet another piece of my growing up years are now completely my memories. But I will keep you in my heart and memories, and aren’t I lucky to have some of your art live with me.
Thanks for being one of the cool grown-ups in my life. We will all miss you and your infectious laugh still tinted with a New York accent after all of these years.
This is art history for me. The art history of my kid years. My friend Carolyn is selling her parents’ house in Philadelphia as her life is elsewhere. Both her late parents were heavily involved in the arts in Philadelphia. Her mother was “the quilt lady” of my childhood and I loved to watch her at the Head House Craft Fair. Recently, the lovely lady who was handling the disposition of things arrived with a box of treasures.
The first photo in this post is a wood block carving by Margery Niblock. I am thrilled this now lives with me. I think it’s so cool. Next is a poster from the Head House Crafts Fair.
The Head House Crafts Fair. It was such a wonderful event. Even though I was just a kid, i’ve never forgotten it. It’s kind of the thing I used to gauge I think subconsciously craft and community fairs. The artisans were amazing at this fair. And a lot of them were friends of my parents, and my mother is one of the key people who put it together after Margery Niblock said it would be a great idea. And my friend Carolyn’s mom was “the quilt lady.”
So these are amazing gifts and mean a lot. It’s funny how decades have gone by, and I can still see, feel, and hear the sounds of this craft fair in the Head House Shambles in my head. I remember that Margery Niblock, and some of the other artists had their work hung on clotheslines quite literally. And you were just see them a little bit in the breeze. It was very cool. And there weren’t just crafts people and artists there. There were antique dealers with treasures for all pocketbooks, and there were workshops for kids that were really cool and not dumb downed stuff with Play-Doh. And there was all sorts of food, representing many different cultures.
People undoubtedly think that all of us Society Hill kids of this mid-60s to mid-70s era are a little nutty because it was kind of cool to be a kid there then. It was a more innocent an era for kids, for sure. It’s not like life was perfect and that there weren’t kids dealing with crazy family stuff because that’s any era at any time, but there were truly good and fun things like this crafts fair. Or going to Old Swedes (Gloria Dei) for Santa Lucia…and back then they used real candles.
Also in the gift box of memories were a whole slew of unframed Margery Niblock prints, and a couple of the prints were framed. And there was a poster of the craft fair and the marvelous poster of a slightly later vintage designed for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in 1989. This was the year Margery also won a garden contest of theirs. A couple of years ago, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society discontinued their home gardeners gardening contests, which I think it’s a pretty poor decision, and it kind of has made me lose interest in them along with some other factors.
This was a beloved time capsule entrusted to me as the next steward of it. I accept that responsibility with a glad heart. It’s art and memories I love and the work of an artist that means something to me.
Another amazing thing included with what was gifted to me was a small quilt made by Carolyn‘s mother. It’s a pattern similar to what I was photographed watching her make that day all those decades ago.
Also included? An amazing piece of an old quilt framed. I am sure this was a quilt that Carolyn‘s mother discovered somewhere that was too old to repair so she took the corner of the quilt that had the signature on it and framed it….from 1843.
In a time when people just throw good art away, I am both lucky and grateful that one of the former league of original Society Hill- St. Peter’s kids. And the thing about art is it doesn’t have to be priceless, it just has to resonate with you. If you go to charity sales, or flea markets, there is a lot of art that needs adopting. Adopt a piece today!
Recently I unplugged and took time for myself. I wanted to try something artistic I had not done before, so I took a stained glass class. It was so much fun!
I had learned about the class from a stained glass artist who has studio space in Gallery 222 in Malvern. Her name is Jill Huentelman and her business is Huentelglas. I actually know her a bit and one of her stained glass Christmas ornaments has hung on my Christmas tree a few years.
I love stained glass. I have since I was in elementary school and we took a field trip to a glass blowing and stained glass place. I wish I could remember where it was. I bought a pear stained glass light catcher that I still have today. I have light catchers all over. A bunch from my childhood that my mother gave me, some I found, and a bluebird that belonged to a mother of a friend once upon a time.
Before we started to work on what I was going to create, I learned about a bit of the history of stained glass. Then in with the history came to safety aspects of how to behave in the studio, and how to act around the glass for lack of a better description. Jill is a wonderful instructor and I loved every minute of my time in her studio.
So in the end, I decided I wanted to make a bird instead of a pear. Jill will choose a pear with people to make because that way it is a simple design and not extraordinarily complicated for the first time working with glass like this.
I drew my pattern. Next came choosing the glass.
Jill has so much glass and it’s so cool. There’s plain glass and glass that has pattern and almost texture to the top of it. The glass I chose was reminiscent to me of slag glass I have seen in church windows in Chester County.
Wow, I was learning to cut glass for stained glass! First, I learned how to cut straight lines. Then I learned how to cut curves, and then I was ready to cut out my pattern. It was fun! (And nerve wracking because I didn’t want to make a mistake!)
After I cut out my glass, we did the grinding to smooth any sharp edges and make the design look more like what I wanted. After it was cut out and ground, it got a quick wash off.
Next comes this copper foil. Wound and worked around the edges and rubbed smooth with a special stick which has a name- I think it’s a burnisher, but I think it also has other names.
Next comes the soldering. And soldering involves this stuff that looks like dark Vaseline called “flux.” It makes the soldering stick.
After the soldering and the gluing of the bird’s little eye came another bath and rubbing it down and shining it up with a finishing compound. It keeps the soldering silver and made the glass shine more. It’s a shine and buff.
My class was actually a few hours long and it flew by so quickly it seemed like it was half an hour.
The classes are reasonably priced. You can find everything on her website. The price of the class includes all your materials and there is also a waiver to sign before you enter the studio. Another thing that I should’ve mentioned before is that at various times during this creative process, you rinse your hands off with a special soap that pulls metal and things out of your skin because we’re touching things that contain metals like lead.
It was SO much fun and I think my bird turned out great! So far the classes are just a one off, but if Jill did a series, I would totally sign up! If I took another class, I would like to learn how to make those cool stakes that you can put in your flower pots.
Also, while I was there, I got to see what was hanging on the walls of Gallery 222 in Malvern, which is such an awesome place.
Having art in your life, and the ability for creative outlet is something I’ve always found to be important. Much like gardening, it’s just good for your head and soul.
They don’t publicize this the way they should and this is a great show this year!
This show benefits their outreach at Malvern Retreat House.
10 AM – 7 PM Saturday, February 4, 2023 10 AM – 4 PM Sunday, February 5, 2023
315 S. Warren Ave Malvern, PA and there is ample free parking onsite. #art #freeevent
Seriously, this show is so terrific! And the price points are better than Yellow Springs Art Show which I love as well. And some of the same and comparable artists. Some of my favorites include New Hope Stained Glass and the fused stained glass artist whose name escapes me.
The Malvern Retreat House Annual Art Show has more than 2,000 fine art pieces including paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry, and so much more.
I have written about family friend and Philadelphia artist Margery Niblock a few times before. Her art is just something I have loved since I was a child. She was kind of my first artist.
She was a part of my childhood and I remember her home studio and her prints wafting in the breeze pinned to a clothesline with old fashioned wooden clothes pins at the Head House Craft Fair.
Margery also was one of my teachers back in the day. As a child she taught me to do woodblock and linoleum prints. I actually wasn’t that bad at it. It was a very fun process.
So recently, a very nice friend gave me some prints that he and his wife had collected while they lived not too far from where we lived when I was little. Prints I had literally not seen since I was a child! And three were owls! (I love owls!)
Receiving these prints was so exciting! They had literally never seen the light of day since they were purchased.
I took them over to Framers Market Gallery in Malvern to be framed. (Jayne and Dave the owners do all of my framing and re-framing at this point.) Jayne and I spent a good part of an afternoon about a month ago choosing the framing and mats. The store is so much fun because they have so many beautiful choices.
So here we are! The finished product!
Art makes me happy. And it doesn’t have to be outrageously expensive to have value to you. Buy what you like and hang what you like. Check thrift shops and flea markets and fairs and local art shows. Find your artist and enjoy them.
Once upon a time in a lifetime of mine long, long ago I worked in New York City. Ok yes, decades ago at this point but there were things outside of work that are still these pleasant snippets of enjoyable experiences and memories. Among them was there was (and still is) art everywhere.
Music, art, theater. Subways with poetry on posters like my favorite poem by William Butler Yeats:
When You Are Old
When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
Hearing fabulous jazz bands at the Blue Note. Rediscovering Caffè Reggio on MacDougal.
All of the various street fairs, and flea markets, and art markets. Dusty old bookstore, antique stores, thrift shops.
A lot of what I liked at the time was down around Greenwich Village. There were so many cool stores and places to check out.
And then there were all of the artists you would see hawking their wares outside of various museums all over the city like the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A lot of this still goes on, incidentally…in between the knock off designer handbag stands and so on.
I was young and well when you are young your salary doen’t go far and funky shoes from a boutique on the Upper West Side was likely to win out over art because well…you couldn’t wear a painting to happy hour, right? But here and there there were artists I would see and just liked for whatever reason. Not necesarily them personally, but their work.
There was this one artist named Anna Tefft Siok whose work I had seen somewhere one time that I liked, but had then forgotten even her name. It had been a bird watercolor. An owl. Sort of abstract but I liked it. And that was saying something because abstract is not really me.
I had not seen work from this artist again in the intervening years until a piece popped up on eBay a year or so ago. Dishfunctional in West Chester had this woodpecker for sale in their eBay store. It was that artist from long ago. I remembered the owl. Her name was Anna Tefft Siok. Only I did not want to pay what Disfuntional was asking for something I would have to definitely re-frame.
So I watched the woodpecker print and waited…and over a year later I pulled up the Disfunctional listing just to see. The print had not dropped in price but when I put in the artist’s name another copy of the print showed up with an antique dealer in Maine. At less than half of what the other exact same print was listed at. That seemed more reasonable to me. (I have found the Disfuntional prices to be a little high at times, sadly.)
Today I took my newly found woodpecker to be framed. Framers Market Gallery in Malvern is who I use for all of my framing. As a related aside, they also represent quite a few Chester County artists. I will have to take something off of my walls when the woodpecker comes home.
I love the process of finding the perfect mat and frame. Framers Market Gallery is very patient with me when it comes to that. And the owner Jayne has impeccable taste.
We ended up with a double mat and a frame which will pick up the texture of the woodpecker’s tree:
The frame my print arrived in was older and while in o.k. condition, the print had never been properly framed and you could see some yellowing on the edges – nothing which was properly acid proof was in the frame with the print and when we took the old mat and paper away from the print we could see the damage from inexpensive framing, sadly. When it is finished, the woodpecker print will be framed properly and last a long, long time.
Curious about the artist, I went a Googling. I discovered she had gone to RISD in Rhode Island and had taught for years at Greenwich House Pottery and the 92nd Street Y.
I found her obituary, which told me more about her:
Courtesy of Greenwich House and the pottery staff the following sentiment from them was shared with me about my rediscovered artist:
Esteemed faculty member Anna Siok taught children’s classes at Greenwich House Pottery from 1958 to 2009. Throughout this period, Anna’s generosity of spirit enriched many lives. We established the Anna Siok Award in her honor in 1995, which honors her life of creativity, nurturing support and enduring presence. We continue to give out this award annually to an artist at Greenwich House Pottery who displays excellence in handbuilding.
I will note I also contacted the 92nd Street Y. Sadly, they had absolutely nothing to share. What I got was “Unfortunately we don’t have her bio on file. Good luck in your ongoing search!” Anna Tefft Siok taught at both places for over 50 years. I know she died in 2010, but seriously? They had nothing on file? It’s like she never existed.
I am glad Greenwich House too the time for me. I urge people to check out Greenwich House Pottery. It seems really cool.
In the obituary online, I found photos of my artist:
I know people probably think this is strange, but it’s part of the provenance of the piece: who created it. Now do I think her work is going to be worth tons of money? No, but I like it. Or I like this piece.
And once again that is the thing about art: buy what you like. It does not have to be expensive. It does not have to be a famous artist, although Anna Tefft Siok was respected and was well known throughout her life in New York.
Art brings me joy. I have core things I will never part with (my Margery Niblock wood cuts for example), but I will replace art pieces I discovered with other pieces I discovered. Tastes change, we evolve in what strikes a chord with us at different stages of our lives.
Art brokers and gallery owners alike probably wouldn’t like me saying art doesn’t have to be rare or priceless to hold huge amounts of monetary value. But art should make us happy, evoke a memory, provoke a memory, cause a new memory to happen. Or when all else fails, you just like something. And no one else has to like it. Only you.
So many people love art yet live with blank walls. Sometimes I think it’s because they do not know what to buy. Or are afraid. To them I say: what do you like? What would make you happy?
For me it makes me happy that I stumbled upon an artist once again I had seen long ago. And living in the woods, having a woodpecker print is kind of appropriate, I think.
I will close with one last photo of this artist from her 2010 obituary. Painting in the summer. I now have a cool provenance to go with a print I just liked.
Explore art. Support local artists wherever you live. Life is too short for bare walls.
I found myself a small treasure today. “Society Hill” by Margery Niblock.
I have written before about family friend and artist Margery Niblock. She was a New York transplant who lived in Philadelphia for many, many years before heading north to Maine.
Margery has been a printmaker artist of woodcut and linoleum since 1958. The 1972 UNICEF Engagement Calendar had one of her woodcuts, “Fantasy,” chosen for inclusion, and her work was used as a cover and feature story in the then “Today Magazine” of the Philadelphia Inquirer She also taught private classes for both adults and children. (Yes, I was one of her students!)
Margery was commissioned by many organizations to do special pieces during her many years in Philadelphia — The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, Ars Moriendi, Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), American Friends Service Committee, Pearl S. Buck Foundation, Developmental Center for Autistic Children, and Support Center for Child Advocates.
In 1989 Margery moved to Maine, where she has had solo exhibits as well as illustrating quite a few books. In Maine, her drawings and woodcuts appeared in Greater Portland Magazine and the Maine Times. For a while she also produced beautiful jewelry made out of found beach objects – like shards of pottery and beach glass.
Margery, or Margie as I have grown up calling her, is a family friend. I have many memories of her and being in her home as a little girl which was across the street from St. Peter’s where I went to grade school. We are still connected today and I treasure her.
As I had already mentioned, she taught me how to do woodblock and linoleum cutting and printing. I still have the scar on my right wrist from when she warned me how to hold my tools when cutting and I did not listen. As a creative medium, I loved wood block and linoleum and I did some of it throughout high school.
To this day, Margery is still one of my favorite artists. If I see her work anywhere (and it’s affordable), I buy it. Her work represents very happy memories to me. (I see it and I smile.) I can still see her prints as well as the work of other artists fluttering on clotheslines held by clothes pins during the craft fairs of my childhood at Head House Square, known also as “the shambles”.
Circa 1974. That is me on the left watching a quilter at the Head House Square Craft Fair.
One time when we were little, Margie used my sister as a model. My sister was sitting on the beach in Avalon playing with my mother’s wide brimmed straw hat and playing in the sand.
And during the holidays, Margie would also create these fabulous Christmas-y wood cuts. I have several of those framed and hanging in my home now as an adult. My mother saved them for me and a few years ago I framed my favorites.
When I stumble across her work now, it is referred to as “mid-century modern” . This inexplicably makes me giggle and I wonder since a lot of what’s out there was created when I was growing up, I guess that make me mid-century modern too?
Art brokers and gallery owners alike probably wouldn’t like me saying art doesn’t have to be rare or priceless to hold value to us. But that is a very simple truth. Art should make us happy, evoke a memory, provoke a memory, cause a new memory to happen. Or when all else fails, you just like something. And no one else has to like it. Only you.
So many people love art yet live with blank walls. Sometimes I think it’s because they do not know what to buy. Or are afraid. To them I say: what do you like? What would make you happy?
Living in Chester County, we have so many amazing artists living here among us. And the art these artists create are at so many price points, so there is literally something for everyone’s budget.
In Chester County we not only have galleries and studio tours, we have the Chester County Art Association. Their gallery in West Chester and their outpost in the Exton Square Mall. (You can find some of my friend and artist Catherine Quillman’s work there, for example.)
Art is everywhere around us.
My friend Sherry Tillman who owns Past*Present*Future in Ardmore, PA started First Friday Main Line years ago to literally put art in unexpected places. The whole thing was about making art accessible to everyone, and to make the process less intimidating.
Sherry is so right. So many are intimidated to go into a traditional gallery setting even if they should not be. But because art is everywhere, you can find art at consignment boutiques, thrift stores, rummage sales, fairs, and so on.
Today I stumbled upon the wood block I opened the post with. It’s one right out of my childhood years and the location is also right out of my childhood years. It’s value is I like it. It made me smile as soon as I clapped eyes on it.
I am literally really lucky that I have quite a few friends who are artists. I feel connected to their work in part because I know them.
Yet on the flip side, there is art I feel connected to just for the subject matter. I don’t know the artists at all.
So here we are in the season of giving so why not something homemade? Like art? Buy a piece of art even if it’s just a little print for yourself. And if you need something framed I will gladly direct you to Framer’s Market Gallery in Malvern. (They also represent quite a few local artists, so make sure to check it all out!)
Thanks for stopping by.
My perfect Thanksgiving card from my friend and artist Catherine Quillman
In addition to being a writer and author of many wonderful books (some of which I own!), Catherine is a working artist. You can often find her work at The Chester County Art Association . As a complete segue but related, the Chester County Art Association ofersterrific classes for children and adults and some classes are even free.
Catherine’s book 100 Artists of the Brandywine Valley joins my copy of Eugene D’Orio’s Chester County: A Traveler’s Album on my coffee table.
Chester County is home to so many talented artists and writers!
Tonight we went to Malvern’s Victorian Christmas. I have sponsored a lamp post Christmas tree the past couple of years and we couldn’t go last year. Sadly I did not find my tree but serendipity was the word of the evening. We did a little shopping, had dinner….and strolled.
While we were strolling I noticed the sign photographed above. I had seen it fly by on Facebook- it is the new gallery next to Gallery 222 on King Street (which was also so much fun this evening as a matter of fact!)
Painted Fine Art & Gallery Coming Soon the sign said. The gallery exterior was warm and festive. So I had to check it out, and I am so glad I did, as this is definitely Malvern’s next treasure! (you heard it here first😊)
Inside the studio greeting people was the gallery owner and artist, Sharon Henderson McHugh.
I have an affinity for artists to be sure, but Sharon is someone you would just like if you met her somewhere else. Warm and welcoming, and her art is amazing I think. She has a tremendous sense of color, texture, and light. Her subjects also come to life on the canvases – each has a vibrancy.
Her middle room were portraits and portraits of nudes. Nudes can be extraordinary if they are painted by the right artist. Sharon is in the photo above, and I photographed her next to the nude that is my favorite. I also love the garden scene which is the last photo in this post.
I am sorry I did not take more photos of her art. She also has some pencil drawings which are exquisite.
I look forward to the gallery’s opening and you will definitely want to check it out.
#ShopLocal and go to Malvern’s Victorian Christmas tomorrow! So much fun!
Small art is anything but. They are a little jewel boxes of works of art that you can tuck into small corners in your home. You can even tuck them into bookcases.
My friend Sherry Tillman, who is an artist and owns a store in Ardmore, PA called Past*Present*Future used to have an artist show hang in her store occasionally during First Friday Main Line events called a "Square Deal".
This "Square Deal" was a show that always intrigued me – it was a show of literally small art as in inches big that was affordable to everyone, and helped spread the principle of art in unexpected places and didn't intimidate people. Because that is the thing about art – it shouldn't intimidate people but it often does.
A lot of people when it comes to the art in their homes are hung up with names and value. To me it is more important to have something hanging that you love to look at, versus an actual monetary value.
Nothing is worth anything if it does not bring you pleasure when it comes to art. And beautiful art can be sourced from all sorts of places and doesn't have to cost a lot.
For example, one of my favorite pieces in my home has no real value and I found it quite literally on a trash pile before a home in Haverford, PA was demolished years ago near the Haverford School. It had meant something to the occupants of the home at one time, but it wasn't anything that would ever have resale value so after the property was sold the house with everything that was left inside of it was demolished. This one piece was left propped up with bags and bags and boxes of trash and I happened to see it walking my dogs. So I took it off the trash pile, and had it reframed.
Again, nothing valuable, I just like it.
And that is how I have chosen my art. Do I like it when I see it? Does it evoke emotion in me? Do I think it's pretty?
I have never forgotten those "Square Deal" art shows. They have made me mindful of the beauty of small pieces, so when I see ones that I love I don't pass them by.
Recently I found three very small pieces. Not expensive, in fact so inexpensive you might term them "cheap" yet there's nothing "cheap" about them.
These pieces are Chester County scenes and they are literally inches big. None of them are signed that I can determine, but I think they're beautiful.
I just tucked them into little spots around my house. And there they will hang, bringing me pleasure. I have written before about how you can find art all over the place. You can find artists hanging art at local fairs and festivals. You can find art at garage and yard sales and even estate sales. You can pick art out of barns, and find it in thrift shops and consignment stores. The piece just above this paragraph is a little winter scene oil painting. I paid six dollars for it. It is about 3" x 5". Tiny and I love it.
You can also find reasonably priced art of lesser known artists at local galleries. It doesn't have to be expensive – the most basic of rules (again) is you just have to like it.
The only person you need to impress with your art choices is yourself. Art is a very personal thing – just ask any artist who creates. And don't forget as we grow as human beings, often or tastes will change or evolve. So you don't have to be wed to pieces. You can swap things out.
Twenty years ago I would've looked at people like they were crazy if someone mentioned to me how cool small art was. Today, I totally get it and appreciate it.
Experiment with small art. And always remember you can source local art probably more inexpensively wherever you live then the fake art canvases you will find at stores like Home Goods or TJ Maxx.
When you find yourself a piece of local art it ties you to where you are from no matter where you move in the course of your life. Small art is portable. And to me the other thing that is important to me is someone actually took the time to create it, it just wasn't an image transferred in a factory onto a canvas.
One of the great things about living in Chester County is the fact that there is a thriving arts scene. You can find beautiful quality pieces hanging in local galleries and shops, festivals, fairs, and so on. And one of the things I love is the abundance of small pieces out there that you can buy to experiment with.
As I had already mentioned, she taught me how to do woodblock and linoleum cutting and printing. I still have the scar on my right wrist from when she warned me how to hold my tools when cutting and I did not listen. As a creative medium, I loved wood block and linoleum and I did some of it throughout high school.
Art brokers and gallery owners alike probably wouldn’t like me saying art doesn’t have to be rare or priceless to hold value to us. But that is a very simple truth. Art should make us happy, evoke a memory, provoke a memory, cause a new memory to happen. Or when all else fails, you just like something. And no one else has to like it. Only you.
