Buying Trip Therapy

Groundhogs are rodents and I say shoot 'em. Um, does someone need out from under winter? Time for some buying trip therapy somewhere south I say. Seemed reasonable, before the blinding snowstorm in Atlanta that is. Or was it the 35 degree "beach" vacation in Florida. Maybe what I really needed was to drive 2200 miles and sit in front of a television with cable for a week. Well that and a cocktail...or two...Moving on! Dealers were glad to see us and good deals on interesting things got loaded into the pickup. Great giant neon letters, sans the neon for now but that could change, in that old english font which is funky rendered in fabricated sheet metal. They spell "run," a timely message here in Detroit, but maybe Toyota needs them at headquarters or gee someone's office in D.C.? A nice pile of industrial molds that actually can be repurposed for a function other than sculpture. Four of them I'm going to put mirrors into, great round forms with chunk, paint and dimension, kinda cartoonish. They lend themselves well to kid's rooms, modern interiors, cottage or primitive environments. A couple of others are going to make a great table. Giant spools, turned wooden urn forms and boot molds I am designing into table lamps. I'm on a major lighting kick just now, got inspired by all the baskets and parts fashioned into lights that I saw and have lots of parts to design a nice collection in very affordable price ranges. About the most beautiful conveyance for water I've ever seen, tall wooden tapered oval baskets that hang on your (ok not your, but some poor peasant's) back. Flanking a doorway would be stunning with some tall sticks in it, painted some great color. I even thought they could be an interesting base for a console table. Some of them still have the straps. I carted them out to my car on my back and they were surprisingly comfortable, well without the water that is. My favorite thing though is this dry cleaner's scale, weighs the dirty laundry and wants to hold clean towels in your bathroom. Other tasty bits too, come plow through the mess in the shop. Or give me a minute and I'll get them up on the flickr site (www.flickr.com/heritageco2)

Mugshots

It's a bit of a contradiction, my passion for art and objects that border on vile and twisted (could give two hoots about impressionists, bring on the bacon and hurst) when I can't sit through violent movies. I see the looks on peoples' faces when they come in the store and are greeted by the very lifelike looking human skeleton (I wonder if they'd like the baby doll parts up in my studio displayed in jars?) I guess it's that showman in me, like my father who can't wait to say something shocking when there are delicate ears around. I'm madly in love with my latest acquisition, a terrific collection of 1960's mugshots from New York City. I hand selected the creepiest, most typecast from a bunch of losers. I love the sweet sap who looks like he's just carefully walked the old lady across the street, right before he made off with her purse. Or the hardened wise guy who looks like he's got someone in the trunk. One guy is plain wrong-looking, the two halves of his face don't go together and you just know he's the demon seed. One guy has an alias "Trout", whatever that means. I framed them in floating frames so you can read the rap sheets on the back. I wish they told you what the crimes were, it's just a number and a fine, most are $10 or $15. Some deterrent that is. All I can say is not one of them looks innocent and I think a few of these tucked in amongst the family photos is just right for your mother to happen upon. Now that's what I call art.

New Year New Initiative

I know I'm not alone when I say 2009 was like a bad movie with no early exit. So I know you are as glad as I am that it's behind us. I have one last sweet holiday story for you and then I'll never bring up "that" year again. Bear with me as I repeat the 2009 mantra of "shop local". I know I risk sounding self-serving, but my own little holiday shopping experience may resonate with you. Having spent most of the holiday season working hard to make christmas gifts to sell, I had little time and desire to shop for my own friends and family. That and truly being forced to shop local because my car was in the shop leading up to the big day. My son had his heart set on buying his father Rick a fine pair of pruning sheers for his garden passion but of course it was out of season and too late to order anything on line. I walked over to my favorite local landscape equipment supplier, Billings. in downtown Royal Oak and happily caught the owner Rick Johnson. He use to be my neighbor across the tracks and has helped me out so many times over the last 12 years that I don't say it lightly when I say he is my hero. He didn't have any pruners but he knew exactly the right kind and simply dialed the phone to his buddy over at Four Seasons in nearby Berkley who did have them . It mattered not that Four Seasons was closed until spring, a buddy of Rick Johnsons was happy to help out one of his friends and made a special appointment to meet me at his store. My neighbor John took me over there and not only did Four Seasons sell me the Felco pruner made in Switzerland of stainless steel, he gave me a 15% discount because I'm Rick Johnson's friend afterall. After that pleasant and stress-free transaction (two days before Christmas Eve), John and I celebrated by heading across the street to the Nip and Tuck, a local landmark diner for breakfast. It's just about the cutest diner, painted cherry red with big picture windows so that you can see all the customers at the counter. The owners were all there and everybody was in for good tidings and their regular breaksfast. It was then that I said, "this is a perfect Christmas moment." I learned over eggs and bacon that the current owner is actually the daughter of the original owner who bought the Nip and Tuck with his winnings from the Hazel Park Raceway. Seems the proceeds were enough to retire from his factory job and live out the rest of his days at the griddle. The name Nip and Tuck just happens to be the name of the horse he had bet his future hopes on.

The only other thing I had to buy on this short notice were some interesting garden books. I had braved the lines at Borders and Barnes and Noble trying to find a book Rick would find interesting, but just couldn't take the crowds. I finally headed to Bookbeat where I should have started and walked in to find people I actually knew behind the counter. Not only is this about the most interesting and intelligent group of folks, the place is packed with books they have curated. I mean it, they have a stunning collection of special collector's books, obscure art books and other odds and ends that have been hand-selected, you just don't find this in the big stores. Gabby headed me right over to a book she had just read and loved plus the garden books the Detroit schools were buying for their urban garden project. I also found a weird calendar on the Munter Museum that my friend Lisa loved, had some great conversations, laughed and was done with shopping inside of two hours. Standing in line at some big national chain and then heading to some cookie cutter corporate food outlet is what I so despise about shopping this time of year. It's experiences like this that make life beautiful. I hope your year ahead is full of beautiful in-town moments.

What a Star

That someone wanted the giant star of Bethlehem (it's 5 feet tall) from an old 1950-60's civic display this holiday season does not surprise me. That she wanted it over-nighted today, across the country in time for the weekend, now that constitutes extraordinary. Even the UPS team looked shocked, never mind that the cost to ship was 4x the price...Hey there are salvage slaves and then there are salvage slaves. Clearly I am not alone and what a relief that is. So when all that soulless commercialism gets you down, and the sea of look alike objects is drowning you, know that the salvage slaves are out there, good times and bad, leaving no stones unturned to find that unique something that moves their hearts and compels them to go to extraordinary lengths to make that object their own. To those of you who have supported this salvage slave in this most extraordinary of years to continue to persist in this particular obssession on your behalf, my deepest heartfelt gratitude. May all your days be merry and bright...marisa

Top 10 Reasons To Shop The Heritage Co. This Thursday Night

You get 25% off your purchase from 5-9P**

House 365-the media sensation needs a roof (buy a shingle, help the homess)

Free drinks and snacks

Hand-made holiday gifts by local elves; nice, naughty and no place else

Loads of vintage ornaments, every kind of wreath we could think up

Make your own wreath with private studio stash of found treasures

New stuff in since you were there last..no kidding

Friendly, crafty, knowledgable staff

We are always closed when you come by

You missed last Thursday

**guest artist's work not included

Holiday Openhouse This Thursday

It's a roof-raising, salvage slaving, kinda holiday party. This time, bring your own tool belt. We are making wreaths (and will continue to on our late night thursdays), putting shingles on the roof of House 365 (http://www.tank425.com/) to raise money for the homeless and shopping for that one certain someone on the list for whom the mall holds no allure Bring your crafty friends or just support one. Royal Oak is promoting late night Thursdays as part of the shop local campaign so don't just stop at the yellow building on the tracks, park it (check out the new lot across main street, close is sweet!) and take a walk downtown. Every retailer is in on it and there's plenty of places to stop and take in a snack or social beverage. Hope to see you at the party!!

Salvage Inspired Wreaths at Inn Season Cafe

Get the magnifying glass out for this one, it's the poster from our wreath show at Inn Season Cafe, our favorite vegitarian restaurant down the street from the shop. We made so many wreaths from all that great detroit salvage we've been collecting, we are happy to have all that bare wall to hang some of them and they are so great together. No two are exactly alike. If you come by the shop, we will soon be sharing all our supplies for you to peruse and choose from should you want to make one yourself. We will be open late night thursdays up to (but not including) Christmas Eve and making wreaths on those nights so bring your crafty self and your crafty friends and family.

December 3rd is our Holiday Openhouse from 5-9pm. We are also hosting Clint Snider's travelling art project house 365 through Tank425 Gallery