I AM NOT GOING TO LIE!!!
I LOVE COLLAGE!!!
I love
that you can take paper
rip it
cut it
arrange it
glue it
and
completely change the look
of how it once was.
I feel so blessed to have been given boxes of antique ephemera that once belonged to my grandfather. His name was Hyrum Middleton and he owned the first Antique Store downtown in Salt Lake City. It was called Middleton Antiques. I spent many days and hours in his store with him polishing furniture, rearranging dishes and helping my grandmother Della price new items.
I watched my grandfather for hours repairing antique clocks and refinishing beautiful pieces of antique furniture, while I kept myself busy playing on his antique adding machine - pushing down the number buttons and pulling the handle to pop them back up again or pretending I was driving on the treadle sewing machines that lined the basement floor.
I quietly sat by my grandfathers side as he greeted customers with his kind smile, a friendly handshake and always a warm welcome - "good day" sir or ma'am to each customer that came to visit.
The memories of me walking up to the corner drugstore and purchasing hostess cupcakes and methodically removing the white ribbon of frosting first, and then licking out the white inner cream before finishing off the cupcake, and then of course chasing it with ice cold coke out of the massive old fridge, while sitting in the large store front window in a childs antique desk, are moments I will never forget.
The smell of furniture oil, the sounds of a saw, the smell of freshly cut mahogany or maple, the ticking and chiming of an antique clock and the ringing of the bell on the door as someone entered the store is still ingrained in my mind and to this day relished.
The summers I would spend with my grandfather while my mother worked have blessed me with the appreciation for well worn items that remind me of another time. As well as seeing the beauty in taking something that is damaged, broken, dirty and seemingly no longer of use to once again with a little love and attention become beautiful and useful.
The boxes of antique papers that I now treasure are filled with fashion, music and advertisements many dating back to the 1800's. The large papers are thick with a lovely soft texture - almost like velvet - however, through the many years they have been stored, some of the papers are now spotted with mold. To me, it would be painful to just throw such beauty and history away.
Through a bit of research I discovered that mold can be removed from paper simply with hydrogen peroxide. I was anxious to see the results and the following pictures give examples of before and after. You simply take a soft clean cloth and gently wipe the mold from the paper. The paper holds up very well because it is so thick and sturdy.
You can see that much of the mold has been removed. There was no damage to the papers and the colors held true without bleeding. I have been able to salvage so many lovely original images like the ones above that I am now using in my collages. I will treasure these old dirty papers forever knowing they can be cleaned and turned into something beautiful.
This particular collaged art journal that I am working on now has been a sweet reminder to me of my wonderful grandparents and how much I love and adore them. I miss them dearly.
This picture is of my wonderful grandfather Hyrum Middleton.
This picture is my beautiful grandmother Della Middleton.
xo <3
On another note: Studio 5 came to film our art group on the night we were working on collages.
http://studio5.ksl.com/index.php?nid=71&sid=37304214
If your would like to take a peek into the amazing art group I am blessed to be part of you can "like" Beehive Art Salon on Facebook to see what we have been up to.
