Posts Tagged ‘pottery’

thrift store kitsch

Posted: May 12, 2026 in stores
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Kitsch.  Such a great word.  From the Merriam-Webster dictionary: ” kitsch, the various bits and bobs of popular culture—fuzzy dice, plastic flamingos, cartoon-themed plastic lunchboxes, etc.—that enjoy widespread popularity but don’t hold much cultural esteem.”

And where is a great place to find fine examples of these bits and bobs?  A thrift store.  Maybe you’ll recognize one or two of them!

below: A snail on a bare baby fairy bum and bears playing accordions, oh the things that people will collect!  The bears are from Cherished Teddies which were very big in the 1990s.  There were a vast number of them for all occasions, all seasons, and all ages.

collection of figurines for sale in a thrift store

below: Can you read this little piggy’s expression?  I am afraid that is confuses me, …but the coffee cups are nice.  I made a small mistake and googled this image – to my horror, you can get a 12 piece pig/piglet set with the pigs in different “cute” poses, of which this is one, for about Cdn $80 on Ebay.   Google it as your peril!

small plastic pink pig wearing denim short overalls

below: This one almost came home with me!  The glass that is, not the frog.   Sorry Mr. Frog.

wine glass with words on it, i'd rather be a mermaid

below: More confusion – she’s kinda cute in a kitschy kind of way.  The little person at her feet though – is this a mother and child?  Or is this an angel watching over a child?  Mother Nature dressed in lavender and feathers?

figurine for sale in a thrift store

below: Wise advice, especially if it comes with glittery pink cowboy boots!

keep calm and buy shoes poster on the wall of a store

below: He’s not listening; he’s not taking good advice…. he needs to buy some shoes….

yellow rubber chicken with wide open screaming mouth, on a shelf beside a stack of papers where the top one has the word nervous written in large letters

below:  Another anthropomorphic  animal…. a long eared rabbit this time. She’s wearing a hat and a dress and very blue footwear.  She’s also wearing a surprised expression that makes you wonder what the goose said or did.

Anthropomorphic rabbit wearing straw hat and blue dress, figurine for sale in thrift store

below:  I’ve got one hand in my pocket and the other’s carrying something blue….

resin figure, girl wearing rust coloured overalls, one hand in her pocket

figurine for sale in throft shape, lady in long pink skirt is on a swing, man approaches but has hands up in the air

below: A smart purchase! A steal at $3.99

black t shirt with words, Nothing artificial about this intelligence

below: All that Mardi wanted was to be gras…..

red baseball cap for sale in a thrift store, with words that say make mardi gras again

below: Maybe it’s the hair?  ….  but I suspect that no one is going to mistake me for Wonder Woman!

wonder woman poster in a thrift store

below: Not really kitsch, but that’s a lot of weird looking bikini undies!

lots of bikini underwear for sale in a thrift store

square mirror on a wall in a thrift store

Have fun!  And maybe find a bargain or two while you’re at it!

Elaborate and more

Posted: November 17, 2024 in galleries
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The previous blog post featured a wall that was covered with ceramic tiles that created an image of a Tree of Life –  It is part of “Elaborate”, a group exhibition, at Harbourfront Centre’ s Gallery 235.   This blog post takes a look at some of the other art in that exhibit as well as a few more ceramic art pieces that can be seen in display in cases in the halls of the Harbourfront building.

First, in the hall, Joon Hee Kim’s wonderful busts of fanciful whimsical characters.

ceramic busts by Joon Hee Kim on display on blue and white checked background, three characters, all female, with orange hair,

ceramic busts by Joon Hee Kim on display on blue and white checked background, female, with orange hair, yeloow flowers in hair, and big rimmed glasses that match hair

ceramic busts by Joon Hee Kim on display on blue and white checked background, three characters, all female, with orange hair,

Also in the hallway, round pieces by Jess Riva Cooper where flowers bloom from mouths, noses, and ears of the central subject(s) swirling to form wreaths around them.  The series is titled “Pullulate”

below: “Helleborus viridis” 2024, 45 cm in diameter

round ceramic art, by jess riva cooper, on wall, white plaster face in center, with tulips growing from her face, the flowers make a wreath around her face

below: Some of pieces have hands in the central position, hands that rip the flowers from the ground and/or tear them apart.

round ceramic art, by jess riva cooper, on wall, white plaster pair of hands on watery blue in center, with with flowers making a wreath around the hands

below: Large droopy flowers in weird colour combinations on a table, sculptures by Julie Moon,

in an art gallery, on a table are some large ceramic droopy looking flowers, in the background is a group of people looking at another table with more ceramics on display

below: On the table in the background in the above photo are little sculptures by Lindsay Montgomery.  This is a close up of one of them.  Maybe someone spilled its cup of tea?

part of a sculpture by Lindsay Montgomery, a male character crawling towards a blue and white teapot sitting on the ground, a matching tea cup is lying on its side

Montgomery’s work is in two sections.  The above figurine is a newer piece from the series “Despairware” “which references books of demonology and iconographies of feral femininity with Staffordshire figurines from the 19th century” (from the words on the wall at the gallery).  She is also showing some of her older work here, a series called “Neo Istoriato” which re-imagines paintings  and pottery from the Renaissance.  Two examples:

double handled vase or urn, pottery, painted with many macabre figures, by Lindsay Montgomery, in an art gallery

All together in a big pot in the fiery mouth of Hell while the demons dance with glee.

close up of a painting on the side of a pottery vessel, many people inside mouth of a red cat-like creature, with frog head on top, many eyes, little demon figures play beside red head

below: Kaley Flowers, cracked and broken glass to mimic water within a frame of ceramic shells, rocks and marine forms.

small ceramic artwork hanging on a wall, center is spiral of broken glass, outer layer is shells and rocks but made of ceramics

below: Marissa Alexander, eight women hanging on the wall.  Hung up, hanging about, hanging out….

small figurine of people in different positions, hanging on a wall

And last, there are a few individual tiles by Marc Egan that are very similar to the flowers and leaves in his Tree of Life.

2 ceramic tiles mounted on a wall, in an art gallery, floral pictures