pioneer.

xmas has come and gone. as always at this time of year, i'm ready to start fresh. i have lots of projects in the works for 2011, including a new website and hopefully a local chapter of Food Not Bombs. my overall goal for the new year is to purchase nothing new....shopping only at garage sales, thrift stores, and the like. when that's next to impossible, i'll shop only at local stores. i've been reading about Freegans...i like the idea and they're theories are very close to what i've had in my head for a while now but hadn't had the time to sit and put it all down in words. i've been dumpster-diving since i was a kid....never for food [yet] but for wonderful old pieces of furniture and usable household items that quickly become treasures in my own home. i remember the first thing i ever pulled from a dumpster; my mom and i were driving down an alley in a junky, urban part of the town we lived in and spotted a giant metal STOP sign peeking out of the trash. that's cool, let's get it, said my mom. and so began a life of looking into any and every dumpster i've ever run across.

recently, i've begun delving into the world of peddling antiques. i've been a 'picker' since we lived in savannah, georgia...knocking on doors of people who have 'junk' piled up in their yards and offering them money so i could haul it away. i aquired bathtubs, sinks, antique mirrors, doors, windows, old glider benches, tables, chairs, crates of american encaustic fireplace tiles, 100 year old house trim...and just about any other crusty old thing you can think of. and now i'm working my way in to a place to showcase and sell it. it's very exciting and it's such a wonderful feeling to bring home rotting furniture knowing that i can fix it up and re-sell it to someone that will love and cherish it as much as i.

today i'm working on an old vanity, probably from the early part of the 20th century. it's missing one of it's tiny wooden wheels, but i'm pretty sure i've got a spare rolling around this place somewhere.

i picked out a pale, silvery-blue paint from the 'oops' table at the hardware store. i like to recycle as much as possible but paint isn't really one of those things you run across in dumpsters very often...so i figure the mis-tints at the paint store are the next best thing. i have a stash of antique glass knobs and pulls, too....the reproductions are far too clean and tidy for the likes of my work. more pictures and updates coming soonly!