works on paper

Are you a dealer?

I was asked this question yesterday when I approached the counter of a pop-up shop in Browns Bay called Time Traveller 2, which sells a great range of reasonably priced vintage and retro clothing, domesticware and bric a brac. If you happen to be venturing across to the Shore you should definitely check it out at 21 Clyde Road, Browns Bay. The original shop operates from Paeroa and I'm told that the owner sources most of the clothes from offshore. The garments are in stunning condition - if only I had the figure of a 1950s housewife!

I think the chap asked if I was a dealer because of my very focused method of shopping. Yesterday, for instance, I noticed a basket brimming over with papers, so I sat on the floor and began to take every item out of the basket to examine them. This kind of activity always gets people's attention. Other shoppers generally start circling around me worried that they might be missing out on something cool. Eventually though, they get tired of hanging around and go away. The basket of papers contained illustrations cut from old picture books, advertisements for old cars taken from magazines, business letters from the early 20th century written by hand on crisp letterhead paper, screenprinted advertisements, and a number of small original watercolours on paper.

I selected this lovely butterfly composition that was probably intended as a design for a ceramic tile for a curved fireplace. The chap in the shop told me that he bought it in the estate sale of a woman named Mrs Holloway who was something of an amateur artist. She seemed pretty accomplished, if you ask me!

Another small watercolour that leapt out at me was this pretty sprig of Manuka blossom painted by O.M Tonkin. I'm going to find a nice frame for it and give it some well deserved space on the wall.

And I couldn't resist this free-standing screenprinted 1950s sign for the old Corban's Vineyard in Henderson. This combination of colours just makes me happy, pure and simple.

I may not be a dealer, but I do love discovering beautiful little artworks like these, and either finding a space for them in my home, or giving them as presents to people who I know will appreciate them as much as I do.