When my husband and I started our business in 1978 it was to be an outlet for local artists. Antiques were an afterthought as a means of displaying the art work and having another potential commodity for sale, hence we included the word antiques in our name, Ogee’s Art & Antiques. We bought oak furniture pieces (oak was popular in the 70’s in Idaho) and began refinishing until we had a good foundation to open our shop. We opened the door two weeks before our Grand Opening and after the first week we realized our shop fixtures, the antique furniture, were gone.

How do you take care of the beautiful oil or acrylic painting that you have chosen?

Fortunately, paintings will give you years of enjoyment with very little effort. The principal threat to paintings is structural damage. You can eliminate most of the risk by taking a few precautions.

In an effort to do marketing for my favorite Antique Show that starts in May in Chicago, I took a 10 hour round trip from Detroit to Lansing to hit all of the Antiques Malls with flyers and cards for the upcoming spring events. In each shop I stopped to talk to those behind the counter and I heardquite a few interesting things and also observed some things in the shopsthemselves.

Many years ago all I wanted was a pretty bowl to put on a table in my front hall. Not a big request. Just something that spoke for me when people entered my home. (Good health and peace in the world were also important). But when you are the mother of three young, wonderful, active children, you sometimes covet objects of another life. So, my wonderful mother-in-law gifted me with an impressive "new" Chinese type bowl that looked beautiful on that hall table. I was even motivated to dust the table more frequently.

Thank goodness, Winter is almost over and Spring is fast approaching - and with Spring comes all the yard sales and estate sales we've anxiously awaited all Winter. My last blog touched briefly on expanding beyond the items in your area of expertise and venturing out into other collectibles or antiques categories.

My grandmother's Blue Willow Collection intrigued me from a young age, thus started my vast collection of Blue Willow. Her blue willow teapot proudly sits upon my shelf as my memories of having tea with her linger on.

British Registry Marks

For the last couple of years I have been on a quest to learn more about silver hallmarks. Particularly on antique jewelry. It can be quite confusing when you don’t know where to start.

Looking through my collection of antique jewelry, I ran across a Scottish Luckenbooth pin. (The history and lore behind Luckenbooth pins is quite fascinating on it’s own.) My sister has traced our family roots back to Scotland. So I thought this pin would make a great gift for her. The pin does not have any of the usual hallmarks that I have seen on British silver…So after a lot of researching…I was at a loss.

When listing an item for sale there can be a lot of time spent just on doing research and it can be frustrating. If you want to sell it though you have to do your homework first.

To those of us who are collectors of art, there is a certain devotion to it and the craftsmanship that creates a unique hand crafted piece. Artist tells a story with their hands by the final masterpiece that they birth. I was so captivated by the ‘My Buddy’ sculpture that I searched long and hard to find out more information about the sculptor, Antonio Ramos and his inspiration behind this particular piece.

Many of my religious customers have asked me for ideas on displaying their collections, as this can be a challenge to be creative and yet keep the proper reverence for the items and what they represent.