We all come across items at an auction or a flea market that we admire but aren’t sure what to do with them when we get them home. Creative people can see an item and know distinctly how to transform it into something else.
I can do that sometimes. But a talented person with an artist’s eye can do it effortlessly.
I was at a fall arts and crafts show a week or so ago and came across what I consider a wonderful use of vintage items. An artist had taken the items – among them a Kodak folding camera, a Crayola tin box and a miniature sewing machine – and fashioned them into art pieces.
Perched on top of each was a metal bird made from found objects. I was impressed. I love old cameras and this one was similar to several Kodak folding cameras I had gotten at auction. Never would I have thought to use them as the perch for birds (or anything else). But here they were, as lovely as they could be.
I have to admit that when I saw that Crayola tin, I thought to myself, “I’d love to have that.” It looked to be in great shape, with clean bright graphics and no dents that I could see.
The artists are a husband and wife team from Pompano Beach, Fla., with a business called Mullanium Jewelry & Other Fun Stuff. “Our fascination with birds and antique found objects is what inspired us for this collection” of songbirds, according to their website. Their other collections include mirrors, jewelry and wish boxes. They say their works are in galleries, museums and specialty stores around the world.
