Until I discovered blog land I didn't know there were so many of us! Those with a love for time worn treasures discarded by the masses. With a passion for that which has a rich past, attention to detail, aged patina, quirky Bohemian faded elegance from a bygone era forgotten by so many. enjoying the thrill of the hunt at the Tag Sales, Flea Markets, Thrift Stores, Salvage Yards and abandoned sites where these treasures lay, ignored and often unappreciated for the possibilities we so easily see and so many others just don't 'get', threatened to be lost forever until lovingly carted home to be given new life by us. I no longer feel like the Lone Ranger and so different or strange because of what makes my Heart skip a beat, what excites me and stirs up creative urges and artistic vision! I used to wonder who else was transported to a place of Nirvana when they encountered a pile of architectural Salvage or a sea of beautiful old Junque, vintage linens, Belgian Velvets or Religious artifacts and Sacred Art? I could spend a lifetime wading through dusty warehouses and sheds, rows of Antique Shops, Flea Market Booths and long abandoned old buildings to discover something unique and special that I didn't even know I was looking for until I found it and fell in love! Did anyone else grieve over a Historic site or just an interesting old building being razed I wondered? even that which was so ravaged and decayed that it could never be inhabited again I often still found mesmerizing, fascinating and strangely beautiful in it's ramshackle or condemned state.
So, it's not surprising that just over a decade ago I talked my dear Husband into selling our just-about-paid-off property and purchasing a Historic but condemned residential property sitting on acreage within a city. Built entirely of salvage at the turn of the century by an eccentric visionary, much like myself *wink*, and languishing in a lengthy Probate after the death of the last descendant of the family that built it... waiting to be torn down... it called out to me! Everyone though I was mad when I spent two long years in my quest to acquire it and subsequent years lovingly restoring it, because truly such an endeavor is a labor of love not understood by many. This old house has now been the inspiration and plaette for my need to rejuvenate, resurrect and create something beautiful out of something others found passe', my obsession with all that is old to flourish and be fully expressed and showcased in all it's glory! I delight in creating the vignettes of my found treasures, decorating in a style that expresses who I am at my very core and allows me the platform to create my Art.
Something was missing though, a connection to others that might be like me, kindred Spirits, who wouldn't look at my accumulation of eclectic stuff as an oddity, my unique home, built of railroad ties, rock and adobe, as that creepy weird old house with the odd Hippie era paint job. *LOL* It was only recently that I discovered blog land... the skies opened, Angels singing, harps playing!!! *smiles* and those Blogs in particular that spoke to my Soul, at last I'd found MY people!!! *contented sigh* At first it was enough to read and enjoy the blogs of others, online and in specialty magazines that I devoured like food for my Soul! but soon the desire to participate, to share, to express myself and all that I love in the written word and photographs began to well up inside of me. Being Tech challenged I wasn't sure how to pull it all together, especially developing my site and importing my photos to it in a meaningful way that really revealed who I am and what I wanted to convey? But I knew I must try and would find a way, I HAD to now, I was on a Mission, much like my excursions to find my beloved Bohemian treasures! So it began... I started taking photos like a Woman possessed! Figuring out how to share them would have to come later, the sheer Joy of photographing those things that are special to me and capturing their essence was euphoric and yet another Art form I could express myself in! And now, writing, sharing my thoughts and my Heart in cyberspace... a completely new experience for me... and yet, oddly therapeutic and Zen-like... similar in fact to the benefits I find in doing my Devotionals and meditations. Whether anyone visits and reads any of it or is captivated by the photos of snippets of my life and love affair of all things old is an added benefit to this wonderful outlet. I hope you will stop and stay a while, receive something from it that brings a similar Joy and comfort to the Spirit and Soul that it has to mine... and introduce yourself my newfound Friend.
Peace and God's Blessings be yours... Dawn... The Bohemian