One Minute Diva – Brederode’s Najaarsbrocante 2010

to 10px; width: 400px; height: 300px; text-align: center;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TO-1foPaE8I/AAAAAAAAFQg/XWCDXjsl6xo/s400/Brederode.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” />Dear Diva Readers,

top: 2px; padding-right: 5px; font-family: times;”>It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Brederode Kunst & Antiek is back with their Najaarsbrocante the 10th, 11th, and 12th of December with a fabulous private sale in Amsterdam’s Jordaan! Brederode joins together with area antique dealers to make a special weekend of antiques, art and open doors. This year’s sale will feature lanterns, candelabras, mirrors, glasswork and a variety of French brocante items! But Brederode isn’t the only one opening the doors to her private residence for a pre-Christmas sale: visit Brederode to get a map to other vendors participating in this open door weekend in Amsterdam.

Don’t forget to mention The Antiques Diva® sent you!

When:
Dec 10, 11, and 12
from 11am-6pm

Where:
Lijnbaangracht 56D
1015 GS Amsterdam

Read past Antiques Diva blog posts on this special weekend to see some sights from former sales!

Happy Shopping,
The Antiques Diva®

P.S. The Antiques Diva® & Company blog was just featured in a list titled “40 Antique Shopping Blogs” to know! Check it out!

A Word from our Sponsor – Auction Hunters!
Tuesdays 10pm/9CSpike TV!

to 10px; width: 160px; height: 120px; text-align: center;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TN1OIyKlryI/AAAAAAAAFOk/6pdzg4vjrHg/s400/auction%2Bhunters%2Blogo.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”” />The LA Times says it “should satisfy fans of the Antiques Roadshow”

Diva-scovery: Tapisseries de la Bûcherie, Paris

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TNLBizOwkuI/AAAAAAAAFNs/yBb6c5UkAFc/s400/163.JPG” border=”0″ />Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>Around the corner from Notre Dame, hidden in a quiet street away from the tourists, happens to be the best needlepoint workshops in ParisTapisseries de la Bûcherie – where you can find the most gorgeous needlepoint patterns available. Should you not be traveling to Paris soon, have no fear – La Bucherie offers an online store, bringing Paris to your front door!

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TNLBigglLWI/AAAAAAAAFNk/QD5q0DZ-DC4/s400/162.JPG” border=”0″ />Tapisseries de la Bûcherie furnishes decorators as well as private clients tapestries made to order and embroidered by hand. They have a large choice of designs of all French styles for covers for seats, armchairs, banquettes, fire screens, folding screens, chests, stools and wall panels, card game covers, as well as smaller designs for cushions, curtain loops, etc. Better yet, they can also reproduce a design you furnish! The guide for making an Eiffel Tower needlepoint is a standard favorite among friends and clients I take to this store.

But I must confess for me Notre Dame is my first choice!

to 10px; WIDTH: 358px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TNLBiUjKz0I/AAAAAAAAFNc/MGzKPHtWA_s/s400/160.JPG” border=”0″ />Each Needlepoint Kit sold on their site or in the store comes with (unless otherwise indicated):

  • Hand painted designs on monofil or penelope, or printed designs on penelope.
  • DMC Medici wool and/or hand-dyed wool at Aubusson, France
  • Needlepoint needles.
  • Instructions for the stitch to be used according to the canvas you pick.

The Gobelin or Aubusson stitch on a penelope canvas imitates the old tapestries and is quite easy to learn. They put instructions and drawings in each kit. If you have a problem, email them and they will assist you.

Diva Tip: Perhaps my favorite feature of the store is that if you have an antique armchair you’d like to recover Tapisseries de la Bûcherie gives you instructions on to-make-armchair-needlepoint.asp”>how you can create your own needlepoint pattern for your armchair!

Contact Details:

Tapisseries de la Bûcherie
2, rue du Haut Pavi
75005 Paris

Hours: 2pm-7pm daily except for Sunday
Or shop online http://www.bucherie.com/
Email to:petitpoint@bucherie.com”>petitpoint@bucherie.com

Do you plan on visiting the shop soon? Print directions and a map!

Bonne Shopping,

The Antiques Diva™

Transatlantique at Marburger Farms

to 10px; WIDTH: 290px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TJxVi-UVrDI/AAAAAAAAFI0/2MvaOJbY0hM/s400/Transatlantique+Antiques.jpg” border=”0″ />Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… you meet the nicest people on the internet. Last year when I began tweeting, one of my first twitter connections was @TopBrokerOC, a charming man named Robert Watson who lives in California and shares my passion for antiques and European Travel. Needless to say, we were fast friends! When I found out that Robert’s company Transantlantique would have a booth at the Marburger Farms Antique Fair in Round Top, Texas I knew I had to tell you about him and Kathy Klingaman, his wife and life partner!

to 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TJxViOkeVxI/AAAAAAAAFIk/kWASaLW5lI4/s400/Transatlantique.jpg” border=”0″ /> to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 171px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TJxVh4aADSI/AAAAAAAAFIU/a-FtZCFIQsk/s400/Round+Top+Texas.png” border=”0″ />As you can see, their inven tory is simply Diva Worthy!

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TJxVmBU_U8I/AAAAAAAAFI8/BHRg-YT8CXQ/s400/Transatlantique+Antiques+2.jpg” border=”0″ />Born in Paris, Robert spent a good part of his life living overseas and collecting his own treasures. He lived in London and Wiesbaden, trolling the local markets for antiques and learning quickly that some of the best pieces are found at the source; boot sales in England as well as braderrie and removal sales on the continent. He’d pick up the latest copy of “Aladin” or “Troddler” magazines and hit the road for his next shopping adventure. One of his and Kathy’s favorite places to shop is Arezzo with the small brocantes all over the place. It wasn’t hard to decorate a home with some great finds and some very inexpensive prices.

to 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TJxViZcr5OI/AAAAAAAAFIs/inF5hKES3zY/s400/Transatlantique3.jpg” border=”0″ />Flash forward a few years – he moved to the USA to a large home on the East Coast and then later to a 2- bedroom condominium in California. Needless to say, with down-sizing properties he and Kathy had an excess of antiques that either needed to be s tored or sold! And the rest is his tory, or rather, that was only the beginning of the beginning of Transatlantique Antiques over a decade ago.

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TJxVh3TVF_I/AAAAAAAAFIc/RQrB5I8ORL4/s400/Transatlanique2.jpg” border=”0″ />A fixture at the Marburger Show, he and Kathy maintain a warehouse in California with 70% of their sales to the trade. Designers and decora tors come to Transatlantique for their selection of unique European pieces. Their European Country look is to die for… and clearly, I’m not the only one who thinks so: a few years ago the buyers from Ralph Lauren swarmed Transatlantique’s booth and spent nearly $20,000 in 20 minutes, mostly on tables and trunks!

S top by The Transatlantique Antiques booth at Marburger Farms! Tent C, Row A, Booth 4-5

Happy Shopping,

The Antiques Diva™
(seen right with my cowboy boots in honor of Round Top, Texas!)

Save the Dutch Dates: Delft Sept 23-26, 2010

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Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>If you’re in Holland Thursday September 23 to Sunday, September 26, 2010 you won’t want to miss the return of the Oude Kunst-en-Antiekbeurs in the Prinsenhof Museum in Delft. While this museum is best known as being the site of the infamous assignation of William the Silent, I simply can’t keep quiet about the upcoming fair.

to 10px; WIDTH: 358px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 80px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TE6rRM4o-PI/AAAAAAAAFCU/G5xfdg_dgk4/s400/delft+fair.png” border=”0″ />Approximately 35 Dutch antique dealers are coming together in a fair the coordinator says is “designed for the traditional collector and art lover who likes to be seduced by the atmosphere of old Delft and the Prinsenhof Museum”.

Make sure to visit two of my favorite vendors at the fair – S. van Leeuwen Antiquairs
with his sensational collection of Dutch furniture and porcelain and Rocks and Clocks by D.E. Aardewerk. And tell them The Antiques Diva™ sent you!

While you’re at the fair, why don’t you plan to make a day of it! Take a Cultural Day in Delft – with the admission ticket for Oude Kunst en Antiekbeurs, you not only will be able to shop your heart out but you can wander the stairway where William the Silent said his final words, sticking your fingers in the bullet holes near the foot of the staircase where he fell. You can also visit the Museum of Meerten Lambert with their extensive tile collection, Delftware, Chinese and Japanese porcelain and paintings.

The Prinsenhof Musuem
Sint Agathaplein 1
2611 HR Delft, The Netherlands

Admission:
Adults: € 15, –
Museum, CJP and 65 + pass: € 10, –

Tot Straks!
The Antiques Diva™

Antiques Diva Podcast: Parlez-Vous Français? and Other Humilities

to 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 189px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TE7RBKdrlTI/AAAAAAAAFDU/S-CQI7ewUa8/s400/parlez_vous_francais_small.png” border=”0″ />Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>Living life in a foreign language can turn the most articulate in their native tongue into bumbling idiots abroad. In this podcast, originally written tory/parlez-vous-francais-and-other-humilities/”>as an article for Bonjour Paris, I explore a host of humiliations as I confess why I will likely never be fluent in any foreign language.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEkJ3tYdQ9A]

To Read the Article, tory/parlez-vous-francais-and-other-humilities/”>visit the Bonjour Paris website!

Until next time,

The Antiques Diva™

Antiques Diva Podcast: A Daily Cup of Joe with Peugeot Frere

to 10px; WIDTH: 295px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TE7xTsrv5HI/AAAAAAAAFEE/QN7Nv8aXXpI/s400/Antique+French+Coffee+Grinder.jpg” border=”0″ />Dear Diva Readers,

Before there was the flagship store on the Champs Elysee – in fact even well before Monsieur Peugeot encountered Herr Daimler and decided that the automobile was the way of the future – the famous French Peugeot famille was known for making a simple coffee mill. Today the flea markets are ripe with their 19th C relics and in today’s Antiques Diva™ podcast I discuss how this famed antique French coffee grinder works as well today as they did in yesteryear.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_KKTXu8MUE]

If you’d rather read than listen, why not read the original article titled tory/daily-cup-joe-peugeot-freres/”>“A Daily Cup of Joe with Peugeot Frere” which I wrote for the Bonjour Paris newsletter!

Until next time,

The Antiques Diva™

P.S. If after listening to this podcast, should you happen to have a hankering for your own Antique French Peugeot Frere Coffee Mill, I happen to know a great place you can get one! We have one in inventory – not yet up on our site – at our online store “Treasures” by The Antiques Diva™! Inquire for details toma@antiquesdiva.com

50 Best Blogs for the Avid Antiquer

to 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/TDnzDDLlL2I/AAAAAAAAFAc/RR9l8XC6c7M/s400/080.JPG” border=”0″ />Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>If you enjoy my blog, then you need to know about this great list of “tography-colleges.org/50-best-blogs-for-the-avid-antiquer/”>50 Best Blogs for the Avid Antiquer” In addition to featuring The Antiques Diva™ blog, the list includes some of my favorite sources including The Elegant Thrifter and Pamela’s Antiques Blog. The list starts out with an explanation, “Whether you’re hunting for a killer mid-century lamp, Victorian knick knacks or old photographs, antiquing can be a fun and often inexpensive way to build a collection and spend an afternoon. For those looking to do a little research before they head out, blogs can be a great resource for learning about new ways to use items, what’s valuable and what’s not and discover the tricks the pros use. Here are 50 blogs to help you build your antiquing knowledge.”

Check out “tography-colleges.org/50-best-blogs-for-the-avid-antiquer/”>50 Best Blogs for the Avid Antiquer”!

Happy Reading,

The Antiques Diva™

Bonjour Paris – Ask The Antiques Diva™

to 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 292px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S_LAmLzvNzI/AAAAAAAAEzA/2u7uyFrzUEk/s320/In+House+Antiques+Expert.jpg” border=”0″ />Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>In my tory/ask-antiques-provence/”>“Ask The Antiques Diva™” column from this month’s Bonjour Paris Newsletter, a reader writes in to ask about “Antiquing in Provence”. I discuss my favorite flea markets in Provence and recommend an essential book for travelers in France. Plus, I share tips on why you should and why you should not shop in l’Isle sur la Sorgue!

tory/ask-antiques-provence/”>Click Here to read the article at Bonjour Paris – the definitive guide to France!

Until Next Time,

The Antiques Diva™

P.S. Email me at to:toma@antiquesdiva.com”>toma@antiquesdiva.com to find out how you can get a FREE Bonjour Paris Premium Membership (a $39 value)!

Photo Credits:
Angelica Arbulu Photography

Graceful Living – Alternative Vases

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S-Va6pkiJ8I/AAAAAAAAEuE/8K1vRLO5X2k/s400/316.JPG” border=”0″ />Vintage French Copper Tea Kettle sold on “Treasures” by The Antiques Diva™
Photo taken in my home office – The Antiques Diva™ Headquarters in Berlin

Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>Last year when I was profiled in a podcast interview by Ronda Carman on All the Best, I shared a little insight into my background growing up in Oklahoma. In Ronda’s typical Proustian interview style, she concluded the podcast by asking about my style icons – I had 3 answers to this question. First, I answered “Yves Saint Laurent.” When I lived in Paris I used to window peek into his apartment, oohing over the way he artfully combined the Baroque with Pop. Then I named Billy Haines – sadly no relation – one designer who, if he were still alive today, would totally “get” The Antiques Diva™ Tour motto of “antiquing with a champagne glass in one hand and a shopping bag in the other”. And lastly – and most importantly – I listed my mom.

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S-Va64-JqGI/AAAAAAAAEuM/jkQFWKlQB2o/s400/mom+in+paris.jpg” border=”0″ />Growing up in a small town in Oklahoma, my parents didn’t have much money but my mom decorated our house with the simplest touches that always made our home warm and inviting. We certainly didn’t have the nicest house in town, and now as an adult who has grown up and moved around the world, seeing my family home I’m sometimes surprised by how humble it actually was. But my mom lived graciously. She always had a table cloth on the table and she always had flowers. From our back yard she picked iris, lilacs, roses and other blossoms or she’d wander into the pasture, picking long dry stems of wheat for fall décor. On sunny days we would take drives down country dirt roads and stop to clip branches off trees or gather wildflowers from the ditches.

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S-VglV_PlDI/AAAAAAAAEuk/mNWaVKlD_kY/s400/Antiques+Diva+on+Horseback.jpg” border=”0″ />When she felt like splurging she’d pick up flowers at the grocery store, carefully counting her money – choosing a bouquet of blossoms often meant putting something else back on the shelf. Home we would go from the nearest big town – that thriving metropolis which was bulging with a population of 14,000 people– and after putting groceries away she’d pull out a tea kettle, one inherited from her mother, or perhaps one of her own flea market finds and she’d arrange displays that would make Paris’ Au Nom de la Rose weep with envy.

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S-Va7QTsHFI/AAAAAAAAEuU/yN0mK7JoMWk/s400/oklahoma.jpg” border=”0″ />Sometimes my mother would sigh as she looked at decorating magazines… commenting how she’d love to be able to buy Baccarat vases or St Louis Crystal bowls to put her blooms. As an adult, I’ve grow up and I’ve moved away from my childhood home in Oklahoma. I’ve moved around the world, living in Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin, and I own a few of those very things my mother coveted. I love my crystal vases –but crystal vases are not what make my house feel like a home. Instead, it’s the simple touches – flowers arranged in make-shift vases – that lend a home-grown personality and style that sets my home décor apart from the house next door.

On Mother’s Day, I’d like to wish my Mom (and Mothers everywhere) a very special Mother’s Day – thanks for all that you do.

May all your days be lived graciously.

The Antiques Diva™

Antiques Diva Interview with Abstract Artist Tina Steele Lindsey

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Dear Diva Readers,

top:2px;padding-right:5px;font-family:times;”>Long term Diva Readers might remember that when I took the “Define Your Style in One Picture Challenge” I proclaimed, “The Antiques Diva’s Style is all about Art & Antiques juxtaposed against Modern Glamour”. It’s the decorating vision behind this mission statement that had me going gaga the first time I viewed the artwork of Tina Steele Lindsey. Numerous emails later (and months pouring over each other’s blogs) she and I had formed what can only be defined as a Mutual Admiration Society as we discovered that we each share a passion and intensity for our life work that make it more a spiritual calling than a profession.

to 10px; WIDTH: 209px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 325px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S8sA80IkphI/AAAAAAAAEm0/fqRPFvleJVM/s400/Tina+Steel+Lidsey+7.jpg” border=”0″ />When Tina commented that she was looking for a European representative for her art commissions, I jumped at the chance and am proud to announce that Diva Enterprises will be Tina Steele Lindsey’s European representative.

Steele is a second generation artist after both parents, mother Jane and father Victor Denfrey Steele. Her introduction to painting was in her father’s studio where he instructed her in Russian Impressionism methods. She is more concerned about the emotion a painting exudes than anything else – simply put, if she is not inspired, she does not paint. Without inspiration – no matter how wonderfully executed a painting is – if there is no inspiration there is no life in that painting. Steele believes you can stand in front of a Michelangelo, then a Whistler, then a Graydon Parrish, and know the art of inspired beings and through her work she shares her inspiration.

Following, I’d like to share with you an interview I recently conducted with Steele Lindsey.

to 10px; WIDTH: 254px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 322px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S8sA9cjLQjI/AAAAAAAAEnE/hHiG28M8Qok/s400/Tina+Steel+Lindsey+2.jpg” border=”0″ />Antiques Diva:
Tell me about your art and your process.

Tina Steele Lindsey:
Currently I have a handful of projects going, a couple of oil studies and a few abstract pieces. I am working on a piece for a gentleman in Atlanta who just purchased a new home and has written often to me about the more masculine and strong pieces I have done. Everyone has a favorite style, I tend to mix things up, a little of this and that, traditional works and abstract, back and forth kind of thing, I love it all, love doing it all.

Antiques Diva:
I am particularly interested in your abstract works – each work evokes an emotion or a mood. They are proof positive that inspiration is necessary in creating great art.

Tina Steele Lindsey:
My process in creating abstracts is pretty basic, and I am not certain I can explain exactly how they are created; they just seem to create themselves. Abstract paintings, despite their appearance, are not easy to do as there is no visual reference to go by as with still life or figures. I don’t think about a painting ahead of time or work out samples on paper. I did initially when I first started but stopped after a period as I found it limited my natural painting inclinations.

I usually begin with putting some music on that suits my mood and stand in front of the canvas until I feel the need to put something down. Next thing I know I’ve put something else down, and so on and so forth until I feel the painting is complete. I use oil or acrylic solely based upon on how quickly I need a painting to be dry.

to 10px; WIDTH: 154px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 355px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S8sA9ebSakI/AAAAAAAAEnM/_TzIHyqWDIw/s400/Tina+Steel+Lindsey+3.jpg” border=”0″ />Antiques Diva:
Through conversations we’ve had in the past, I understand that you also use your computer to help you “see your art”. Could you explain that.

Tina Steele Lindsey:
When I feel I am nearly through with the piece I take a photo and upload it on the computer and view it. Viewing on the computer puts a whole other spin on how I perceive that painting. If I am not satisfied, I go back and paint some more.

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 262px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S8sBFD2AEkI/AAAAAAAAEnc/gkkyBc3WI-I/s400/Tina+Steel+Lindsey+5.jpg” border=”0″ />Antiques Diva:
How does inspiration come into play when you are painting on commission.

Tina Steele Lindsey:
If I am creating a work for a specific space I review all the details of a space ahead of time and create a mental image of that space in my mind. Then I keep that image at the forefront of my thinking while painting. I also select music I feel is appropriate for the space and begin painting in the same like manner, but this time I do keep that mental image in my mind.

Antiques Diva:
I love that you can create a unique work for a home – to fit the space, the atmosphere and your clients. You know that my passion for art began as a result of how it changed antiques when they are paired or juxtaposed together. I think abstract paintings next to antiques often make each piece stronger together than they are alone.

Tina Steele Lindsey:
My thoughts regarding modern art combined with antiques? It is my thinking that the combination can be as fabulously wonderful as it is in any contemporary settings but the secret regarding any setting is that it should be the right piece. Then again there are those who purchase art for art’s sake, they love it and care nothing about whether it goes with their décor. It is all relative. The wonderful thing about having a piece commissioned is if décor is your main concern you will have much greater success having one commissioned than visiting a hundred galleries to find just the right piece.

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OR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S8sA9szqa1I/AAAAAAAAEnU/7Z4y8rc1bIM/s400/Tina+Steel+Lindsey+4.jpg” border=”0″ />Antiques Diva:

You make a good point about how some people choose art for art’s sake alone while others choose art of decoration. Go further on this idea.

Tina Steele Lindsey:
If a space is already well defined then a piece can be created to fit in and still make its own statement. There is a vast difference between fine art and what we all know as decorator art. What I do is consider every detail regarding a space along with the desires of the client and transform that information into a fine art piece.

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And how could one commission a special painting by you?

Tina Steele Lindsey:
Anyone interested in commissioning a painting is welcome to contact me directly (and please tell me The Diva sent you) or go through The Antiques Diva™. I also work with interior designers and more. General pricing info will always be provided and I am always open to considering reasonable offers for unique situations.

Antiques Diva:
And what do you require from a client who is far away in order to get started on a project?

Tina Steele Lindsey:
I work from photos, renderings, fabric and flooring samples, paint samples, plus I need an idea of furnishings, etc. This has worked amazingly well, no problems. The only problem I’ve ever encountered is someone wanting to purchase a client’s commissioned painting out from under them, offering twice for it without knowing the price! That is an interesting story – and a compliment – but it is certainly something I wouldn’t do! Once I paint for you, the painting is for you and you alone.

to 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 301px; TEXT-ALIGN: center” alt=”” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kcTb8DnPVW4/S8sBFuvXwqI/AAAAAAAAEns/GDx5QdbG9HU/s400/Tina+Steel+Lindsey+9.jpg” border=”0″ />Antiques Diva:
Before we close I have one last question – could you tell me about what artists have inspired you?

Tina Steele Lindsey:
I am most inspired by figurative artists and sculptors and really good landscape artists. Some of my favorites are Aaron Westerberg, George Inness, Ignat Ignatov, Graydon Parrish, Singer-Sergent, Whistler, the list goes on. Now as far as abstraction goes I try to view very little of it if I can as I don’t want to be influenced in any way by what is out there regarding abstract – I want to stay true to my own ideas.

Until Next Time, Be Inspired.

The Antiques Diva™

Thank You Tina!

You’re the Diva of the Day!

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