La Belle Brocante

Baume Tranquille

For those times when you are just a little overwhelmed by all the choices the brocante has to offer.

 

xoxo

 

The Adolfi Process

A new pet in the bottle department. 

The Adolfi Process: The only reliable medium for Painting in Oil Colours on Satin, Silk, Paper without cracking.

Fresh off the plane from Britain and getting acquainted with the studio.

Welcome, Little One.

 

Silver Linings

This past week was a difficult one.

Neat, tidy, orderly blog fell apart.

I didn't know how it had happened.

What I had done.

Or how to fix it.

And then in swooped Fairy Godmama.

She fixed everything.

Even better than before.

And then the Brocante winked its eye and spit out some really fabulous little treasures that I will be able to share with you soon.

Hint: numbers. tiny ones.

As for my Fairy Godmama, I am building her a pedestal. 

And pondering how to repay her kindness.

 

xoxo

 

Pharmacie Principale de Cette

Now and then the Brocante requests an arm or a leg in return for a treasure.

Or in this case, both.

A beautiful pharmacie pot, over 100 years old, in immaculate condition.

Add to that the pot's origins in a town that holds sweet memories of summer.

There was no other choice.

I cut off my leg.

 

xoxo

 

Other Distractions

Arranging and rearranging in the apothecary aisle.

Giving sweet little treasures their moment to shine.

 

Produits Pharmaceutiques

For when you need that extra morning pick-me-up ...

Capsules à la Créosote de Hêtre

 

Antique Apothecary Labels

Black and white.

Lovely graphics.

Fancy Script.

A label for whatever ails you.

 

 

Trust Me, I'm A Doctor

This little case was billed as an Edwardian medical set.

Leather-wrapped wood and lined with velvet. 

Holes cut just so for specific bottles and vials.

I am not convinced, however, that I would like to be on the receiving end of the contents of these bottles.

Phenol Phthaleine was used as a laxative before its carcinogenic properties were fully understood.

Sulfuric acid was used to treat canker sores, but is highly corrosive to metal, stone, skin, eyes, and flesh.

The clear jar is unlabeled.

Whitish blobs in an orangey-yellow viscous liquid.

Highly suspect.

Just as the doctor ordered.

 

Shattered

I love my old medicine bottles.

You know I do.

And it's true that these ones are lovely indeed.

But you can't tell everything from a picture.

You can't tell, for example, that there should have been twice as many.

You can't tell that half the box was a sea of glass. 

You can't tell that the fellow I bought them from wrapped each bottle in a single layer of newspaper and then tossed them into a box with acres of room to spare.

You can't tell that the ones with the best labels arrived shattered.

It's always the ones with the best labels.

And you know what bothers me the most?

Not the money, no.

The needless waste bothers me.

For something that has survived the odds for 100 years to be so carelessly thrown away.

 

 

Colour Palette

Natural textures. Brick. Worn wood. Rusty metal. 

Glass. Worn paper labels. Perfect lettering.

White. Off white. Cream. Ecru darkening to brown.

A touch of gold. Or a splash of red.

 

What's your signature?