antique art supplies

A few months ago, my boyfriend, Ben, was looking around on Craigslist, which he loves to do on any given day.  We had just gotten into watching American Pickers and we got the itch to find some antique treasures, like they do on the show.

Ben found an antique stencil making machine for sale on Craigslist.  

Ben thought it might be something I would like, so we answered the ad and went over to see it.  It looked funky and cool and old, like a rusted treasure, and we decided to buy it.  Sure enough, I've used it several times to add elements to my art pieces.  In fact, I used it to create my blog banner.

Another time we went to a used building supply store called the Re-Store.  Ben asked the gentleman in the front of the store if they had any drafting tables.  As luck would have it, they had one recently brought in, and it was lighted to boot!  It didn't take us long to decide that we would buy that.  We can use it as a light table or just a desk.

Another thing I buy, occasionally, at the Re-Store is used, building material that I use for art substrates; boards to paint on.  I guess you could say that I up-cycle them.  It's cheaper than buying boards at the art store and the shapes are usually more fun and unique.

When Ben and I went to an antique store in Port Angeles, WA, we found some rusted letters.  I got the letters to spell the word glögg, since that is what my recent art pieces have been about.  It was cool to screw them onto one of my up-cycled boards to create a fun art piece.  The letters are on my Pee Wee Herman painting.  To see that, look at my blog post here.  You will notice that I also used the stencil machine for some of the words on this mixed media piece.

In summary, I would like to say that I enjoy looking for art supplies in unusual places.  I like to go out and find unique things that reflect my eccentric side.  I'm lucky in that my partner has a really good eye for antiques! This is Ben.  Thanks, Ben, for finding some awesome antique art supplies for my art projects!