Saturday 28 April 2012

Textile Forays

I am about to embark on a season of Brocantes, Vides Greniers or 'Emptying the Attic' or 'Puces' or 'fleamarket'. Before I begin to scour the many tables of goodies I am wondering what kind of things I may look for. I am always keen on old tools, kitchenalia, gardening things and textiles. I am struck by how many of us are stimulated by textiles and vintage living. It's a curiosity. I never would imagine the wealth of blogs and how many of us have this desire to be close to the past. Many use the objets Trouvé to authenticate the lives we have now. It's like we need these totems around us to reaffirm who we are and our aspirations. To enrich our homes.
Many artists have accumulated stuff around them. Picasso used old bicycle handlebars and he transformed them into cow horns. I remember my art classes at school having a variety of plants to inspire a drawing. Old crockery, bottles provided a suitable subject for a still life.
It's not everybody who likes old things. My family has no time for my collecting, in fact when I moved to France I stupidly left boxes of my favourite things to be saved until I was next able to retrieve them. I returned after the winter to discover everything had been sorted through and mysteriously the tins brimming with things were empty. I found the whole experience devastating but I couldn't express this because to other people the stuff I lovingly and sensitively saved over my life were no more than trash.
I believe the things I look for now in my forays are a bit about trying to patch up my loss of my props but also I wish to enrich my home with things that cost little but represent a lot.

2 comments:

  1. Visited my first vide grenier of the season this morning at Chateau Chinon - and amazingly came away empted handed. Some items ridiculously overpriced, even allowing for a bit of haggling. My French neighbours can't understand my fascination for the past, they want to be surrounded by modern furniture, etc.

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  2. That's funny, I may have bumped into you if it hadn't clashed with the vide grenier at Larochmillay. The last time I went to the thing at Chateau Chinon I was told off by a little man in a yellow jacket for taking photos. I'm quite a unobtrusiveness soul, I was taking a photo of a big cart wheel. I find the Chateau Chinon too busy and expensive. I have found a couple of things there though. You just can't tell.
    There was very little at Larochmillay, probably the high wind last night put people off. I bought a nice big watering can and a handful of clay marbles! I think my husband thought the marbles a bit weird but he likes the can.

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