Saints & found objects
Cindy on March 22nd, 2009
I’ve learned over the years that there is beauty not only in perfection but also in erosion, possession, and remembrance.”
— Barbara Hodgson, Trading in Memories
Rummaging through boxes at garage sales and thrift shops is one of my favorite addictions. But I don’t stop there. Neighbors often spot me gathering found objects for my artwork — everything from feathers to bottle caps — along the curbs and sidewalks. Undoubtedly, some folks think I’ve lost my wits, but who cares? I’m intrigued by the glory of broken, discarded things. And the more faded, frayed, rusted or ragged they are, the better.
While scouting a local flea market this weekend, I recalled a favorite book, Second Hand, by Detroit author Michael Zadoorian. The novel charmed me when I first read it several years ago, partly because it centers around a young junk shop owner with a passion for cool castoffs.
“I do believe that we can gain a kind of illumination from junk,” Zadoorian’s protagonist explains in the opening chapter. “We just have to be open to it. Unfortunately, most people live their lives without the wisdom junk can give them.”
Along the same lines, Looking for Mary, a memoir by Beverly Donofrio, is another great read with an uncommon twist on collecting. When Donofrio (a lapsed Catholic) turned 40, she was overwhelmed by a sudden preoccupation with the Virgin Mary. To her own surprise, she found herself buying Blessed Virgin items from yard sales and thrift shops. What began as a whimsical collection of kitsch ultimately turned into a conversion experience that changed Donofrio’s life and healed her strained relationship with her son. I was hooked after the first chapter. Donofrio’s sweet memoir inspired me to stalk garage sales for holy cards and dashboard saints — a few of which ended up in a shrine and an altered book (shown above) that I crafted in Mary’s honor.
If your passion for stories about collecting still isn’t satisfied, you won’t want to miss Barbara Hodgson’s Trading in Memories: Travels Through a Scavenger’s Favorite Places. Beautifully illustrated with finds from the author’s collection of ephemera, this gathering of essays is your armchair ticket to a world tour of exotic bazaars and markets, antique shops, dusty bookstores, and other romantic haunts where trinkets and treasures await. – Cindy La Ferle
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March 22nd, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Thank you for sharing three good reads about a topic that I don’t know much about. I am a cleaner-outer who passes up yard sales and rarely stops in second-hand shops. I could enjoy the idea of collecting without actually bringing anything home except the book:)
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I have read “Looking for Mary,” and enjoyed Donofrio’s journey too. She enlightened me not only on Mary, but on different issues of faith, in her talking about “Peace be with you,” and the story of Mary in Lourdes with Bernadette. Maybe the desire to “collect” rises from a need, a void we seek to fill with wisdom gained from the collection.
March 22nd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Good thoughts, Joanne! For me, the collecting is about recycling the found objects into art, and yes … the wisdom too. — CL
March 22nd, 2009 at 10:39 pm
You’ve done a wonderful job on that altered book. It’s good to see that your creative juices are flowing.
My friend Ellen is an anthropologist and she’s always poking around old bookstores. In one place she walked around looking through the tables laden with books. She stubbed her toe on a box that was sticking out from under one of the tables. On a second swing around the shop she stubbed her toe again. Curious, she bent down to examine the contents. The box contained an entire set of journals kept by a prominent Chicago woman in the early part of the last century. This woman was friends with some of the literary giants of the time. These journals were gold to an anthropologist and my friend wrote two books based on these journals.
I believe the box was waiting for her and jumped out and grabbed her.
- Suzanne
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:37 am
You have to answer if they are calling you. Interesting sounding books, thanks for the tips!
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:12 pm
The books sound fascinating. I requested a copy of Trading in Memories from my local library.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:11 am
i love your notion of creating art with found things. there is such tenderness in that–how you embrace what others have thrown away. beautiful! and i love your mary book. i crafted a mary journal for myself years ago; cut and clipped and saved mary memorabilia and pasted it in with journal entries. not a beauty like your creation here, but it is sweet to look at. it takes me back to the early days of finding mary as a heart healer…
March 25th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I appreciate your book recommendations. I’ll have to check them out. Continue treasure hunting! I’m sure you will find much beauty to work with. I enjoyed visiting your blog today
March 30th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I read Second Hand years ago and loved it!
March 31st, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I LOVED Looking for Mary.