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My grandmother painted with artifacts. 

      Yes, my grandmother was an incredible woman with many strengths.  Her sense of visual esthetic was evident in everything she did.  From preparing her meals, the valentine cards she created, and the uniquely designed birthday cakes she made.  It seemed that everything my grandmother touched was unique.   

That said, is it not surprising to understand my grandmother also applied her visual sense to her antique shop. My grandmother found comfort and purpose in her painting.  It centered her.   And when her second marriage failed, she once again re-invented herself by opening up an antique and gift shop in Stockbridge MA. And it was here that she taught me how to "paint" with artifacts…  

I spent most of my summers since I was 12 years old working in her Antique Shop. I helped by polishing antiques with moving things around the store, waiting on customers, basically helping my grandmother with anything she needed.  During the summer tourist season, my grandmother changed the front window every Wednesday or Thursday.   The changing of the window meant a re-arranging of the items in the antique store. Doing so drew customers back to the store as the context and presentation of the antiques changed.  It was a serious process of shifting and re-visioning the shop's inventory, and at the same time, it provided a way to highlight new additions to the shop's inventory.  

Creating a new window design for the Antique Shop was often a multi-step process and a little like a Japanese Kabuki dance:  carefully removing the large and small items that were currently in the window, and finding space in the shop to return them, and then moving the new items into the front display… In preparing the new window design, my grandmothers would often ask me to get specific items from around the store to place in the front window. And all the time making sure I didn't break anything.     

  At first, I had a hard time understanding what my grandmother had in mind as I walked around the store with her and selected specific items to be moved into the front window.  Although it was clear, she had an image in mind, and it was often a mystery for me.  Piece by piece, my grandmother started to complete a giant "Antique Shop Jigsaw puzzle" in the window.      As we placed items in the window, I tried to guess the "story" my grandmother was creating. It was a combination of the mystery in history with a touch of artifacts and creativity. At first, I guessed a lot. "Is the window about a 19th-century sitting room?" "Maybe it's an early 20th-century music room with the Edison cylinders and player piano sheet music?"       

 I wanted to learn more about antiques, and I started to read some of my grandmother's antique guides to get a better idea of American and European Antiques.  In time, I soon learned about different periods …and that helped me better understand how she designed the store windows.  I started to pick up on her themes and designs ideas.  In time, I began to ask my grandmother if I could contribute a few items for the weekly windows.  I would often bring small items to my grandmother as she was sitting at her oak rolltop desk, "Grandma, I think this glass kerosene lamp would go well on the table in the window." My grandmother, often with a tilt of her head an unspoken smile, would then carefully explain how the items I suggested did nor did not match her vision. “Thank you for thinking about this. Yes, a table lamp is a good idea, but this lamp specific was made almost 50 years after the other items in the window.  Try looking for some old candle sticks in the store. Remember to match the same time period so the window is as accurate as possible.”     

I didn’t realize it at the time, but these conversations were lessons about American and European history and aesthetics… and at the same time, it was also a lesson in the antique business and marketing.  The windows were designed with themes as well as sales in mind.  And it worked.  Each week we would sell items out of from the window- and at the same time, we shifted the inventory around the store. The sales also made room for new inventory.    

 This process often required stepping out of the store and looking at the window from Main Street in Stockbridge.  By doing this, I learned how to position an item in the window- what related antiques were placed next to it.  I also learned how to layer the viewer's eye to travel up from the window's floor to the taller items, the shelves, chairs, and furniture….all the way up to the different lamps, lampshades, and chandeliers.   

 Not only did my grandmother teach me about antiques, but she also taught me you could paint with artifacts.