Monday, March 3, 2008

It's A Small World!



With all my wheeling and dealing and hunting for the perfect treasures, I always wonder where some of this great stuff came from, what the history behind it is. I also wonder where some of the old stuff I've been selling on eBay ends up................ Well here's a little story about that :)

Last month, when I first started selling old boat stuff, and old treasures that I have been carting around forever, on eBay, I wasn't really sure what would sell and who would buy it. One of the very first things that I listed was the old boat ensign that I found in one of the drawers in the Bernadine. This ensign was the same one that appeared in several 20+ year old photos of the boat that we inherited when we bought her. This ensign was old and weathered......faded, and had seen some serious use! Not the kind of ensign that we wanted flying off of the stern today. I decided to list it in the Maritime Antiques category on eBay and see what happened. Well it ended up selling for over $20.00 !!!!! Who in the world would buy an old ensign like that? I assumed that it would be someone who wanted to use it in a nautical display or for that "vintage" look in their home decorating........... I wasn't far off of the mark!

Earlier today I received an email from the woman who bought the ensign, Kolene Spicher. She said that she had not received it. Well, after checking delivery confirmation numbers, and emailing back and forth a few times, she found it. I had mailed it to her in an over sized envelope and she was expecting a box........ well she found it in a stack of magazines that she hadn't sorted. Happy ending!

I sent her a few photos of the Bernadine and gave her the historical specs on the boat. She emailed back and said that she was a professional artist and was going to use the ensign as a studio prop for her newest line of artwork. She thanked me for the photos and history........

A Google search of her name hit on page after page of web sites that sell her artwork! She is a nationally known and well collected artist who paints in the "American Primitive" style and does lots of the old 1700's and 1800's style nautical and "Nantucket" paintings. Now it seems that the Bernadine's old ensign may find it's way into her next wave of paintings! I'll be on the lookout!

Do a Google search and check out the art galleries and on line businesses that sell and show her work! . You'll get a good idea of the art she does and how well known she is :)

Small world......... and it's all interconnected. Who would have known...................


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