6 YEARS LATER.....WHOSE BLOG IS THIS ?

WHY A SIX YEAR GAP ?

In certain ways I don't have much 'stickability'. In others I'm like a dog with a bone, relentlessly hanging to the 'bone', truckin' on relentlessly on the same old path...

I was diagnosed, back in the mid-1990's as being ,clearly, ADD and, after reading several books and researching online tests etc., I suppose I'd have to concur, at least as far as the tendencies and characteristics go.

Going upstairs to get something  I'll completely forget/ignore where I was heading, see something else of interest or that I'd mislaid or any of hundreds of possibilities I'll set off on a circuitous path , perhaps for a couple of hours or more or less. Perhaps I'll recall my original purpose but it's by no means a sure thing.

I don't help things by surrounding myself with thousands of interesting and distracting items that I've gathered over a lifetime . I go through phases of dedicated and profound interest, this a complete about-face from the distracted me.

For instance, past desirous interests involve, hitch hiking, hiking, camping, health foods, folk music, blues, reading (philosophy, history, travel), antiques and collectibles, music collecting, photography, sociology, nature, gardening and research, research, research..

Immersion is my style, best illustrated by my interest in antiques and collectibles.







I rapidly became a garage/lawn/porch/estate sale 'freak' . Later on, in retrospect, it occurred to me that this was a very natural path for me to follow. I love 'the exploration' of scrounging around the countryside, people's garages and properties, flea markets and antique shops, all in search of the unknown treasure out there. By treasure I'm not necessarily referring to monetary value. Most often it would refer to something to which I applied a value, artistic, acquisitive, useful or otherwise.

I found an ongoing interest in ceramics and , over the years, built up a large library of 'Marks' books. 'Marks' for those that don't know, are symbols, any information either painted on, impressed, stamped, written or otherwise applied onto the underside or elsewhere depending on the form) of a piece of ceramic work which denotes it's origins ( country, region, town or pottery), the artist's identity, age, pattern #, batch or lot,  and other.



Some potteries are meticulous and have very trackable lineages, others often almost indecipherable and obscure. This requires the kind of mind that is open , determined and relentless, often over long periods of time and not necessarily consecutively. A whole lot of intuition is needed as well as hours of scouring my many books, old and recent of marks , eventually getting that elusive and highly pleasurable 'aha'; moment of discovery.

Ebay used, in the early days, to be  a great source of information until some bright capitalist hit upon the idea of blocking all of their past sales information under the name of Worthpoint, for which, naturally, there is a monthly fee to access. I suppose if I had been professionally involved it might have been 'worth' it but the way I work can be very spasmodic and months might go by where I would be paying and not using this resource. Not to be outdone I could always find other means of research.

Another reason this activity is so fascinating to me is that, by research and eventually by follow up, I've had some awesome experiences and actually gotten to track down the artists and correspond with them. A case in point.....



 

Being a Canadian I am well aware of out first nation, Inuit soapstone sculpture tradition so when I spotted this little beauty in my travels I snapped it up and began with the information on the bottom, 'Eric Bomberry 1996',  to search out some information. I have had one or two small pieces before and the Canadian Government's incredibly detailed files of present and past sculptors was instrumental in my being able to 'read' the glyphs on the pieces and to track down their origins and it was here that I began my research.

 

It later turned out that this particular artist, Eric's cousin, from the same Hamilton, Ontario region reservation, was renowned and well documented, had partially taught Eric but was not my piece's author. I actually didn't like the famous cousin's works as he polished and formed them into highly saleable yet modernistic designs whereas Eric retained the historical signature of the artist's northern 'Eskimo' heritage.

 

There was absolutely hardly any information on Eric or his work, with one exception, available online but somehow I found and email address and fired off an enquiry.

 

Eric, a Mohawk, had learned stone carving as a teenager and, as he put it, 'turned out pieces for the tourist' trade ! This I found staggering as this piece speaks of museum gallery quality and not an item to be flogged to itinerant passers-by. I asked Eric how much he would have sold this piece (4 cu") for and was astounded to find that after all his hard and creative work, he only asked $50 !!

 

Even more profound was that, in the great Northern New York Mohawk tradition, Eric, in order to properly support his now two children and a wife family, was 'walking steel' or 'hangin' iron', precariously and bravely, high up in the sky in Manhattan and had put aside his artistic skills.

 







I urged him to consider returning to his craft soon and he ventured, "I've been thinking about it !", no doubt as the 9+ hour drive from Hamilton to New York City must take it's toll over the years.

 

Hard to believe that this amazing, still young, native Canadian man could switch from maneuvering massive weights of iron girders in high winds, rain and ice and also meticulously carve such incredible work in, in this case, Brazilian Soapstone.

 

It's an honor to own his work and I shall never part with it.

 

This is one of many examples of experiences I have had from researching my found treasures. Another time I'll tell you about the girl from Maine who painted the tail on the 'fish plate'.