I found this today at a local thrift store. I bought it for $9. I was kind of surprised as this thrift store has been raising the prices on art work since I started shopping there! Anyway, this is an enamel tile from the studio of Harris G. Strong. There is the sticker on the back for Harris G Strong Inc in Ellsworth Maine. It came very nicely matted and framed. I do not know for sure that this tile was done by Harris Strong himself. I already own a painting that came from Harris G Strong Inc, so I was familiar with his studio. He had a bunch of artists working there doing a variety of art. But Harris Strong did tiles. There is the word/name Strong in the lower right corner of the tile. There is no other signature that I see. There is a marking on the cardboard back, U4 or CL4. Not sure if that means anything. The tile measures anout 4″ x 5″. Not sure if that is gold. It’s pretty cool.
I found this painting at a thrift store today. Actually I saw it there last week, but I bought it today. It only cost $1.98. The price was written in grease pen on the front in the upper left corner (gggrrrrr). I managed to rub it off with a rag. If you look close up you can still see where it was. This painting is old, or made to look old. Not sure. It is an oil painting and there are small cracks in the paint as if it were old. The painting is on thin board, I think plywood. The painting is of two ducks as if brought home from a duck hunt and left on a wood table. For $2, I took a chance on it. It seems old. It measure 18.5″ x 24.5″. There is no signature. The back is just painted black. There seems to be a shadow of a ducks head just below the lower ducks head. Is this a painted shadow, or did the artist move the head? Anyway, they are dead ducks.
I don’t know much about this one. I believe it is an oil painting. It painted on a thin piece of board/panel, I would call it expressionist, but I am not an expert. It was just interesting and in only cost $1 at a Salvation Army store. The painting is simply signed Henry.
I found this nice little signed/numbered serigraph of an orchid at an Salvation Army store for $1. The artist’s name is Sabra Richards. I normally limit myself to originals, but thiis was interesting. It has a piece of paper sewn to the paper and is printed over. This is number 13 of 85. I also like orchids. The picture came nicely matted and framed. The picture is about 4″ x 6″.
We were in Buffalo visiting the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and stopped at a thrift store that I missed on my visit last week. I found this water color painting. It came matted, but with no frame. It only cost $2. The artist is Anne Taylor. There is a post it note on the back saying she is a native of Jamestown, NY. The painting measures about 14″ x 19″.
I found an Anne Taylor that was an artist and lived in Jamestown, NY. She was born in 1914, and passed away in 2003. Not sure this is the same Anne Taylor, but it might be. I read that her daughter donated some of her artwork to the Salamanca Historical Society. So if I get down that way, and remember, I might be able to check it out. If they have it on a display anyway.
I bought this watercolor painting today at a thrift store for $2. The painting is signed Julia Bryce, but the artist’s full name is on the back as Julia Banks Bryce. There is what looks like a title written on the back as “Pink”. But the flowers in the painting appear white. Maybe they had been pink flowers and faded? The painting is matted and framed with about 5.5″ x 8″ visible through the opening of the mat. My wife liked this painting, so I bought it. She likes lilies. Kind of hard to go wrong for $2.
I found this painting yesterday at a Volunteers Of America thrift store for $10. But I didn’t buy it then. I thought about it, and then went back today and bought it. It is painted on a 16″ x 20″ stretched canvas with what I believe is acrylic paint. The artist is Martha S. Sweeney who is a local artist, and also teaches painting. The painting is nicely framed. I am not sure what kind of flowers these are.
I found this watercolor painting yesterday at a Salvation Army thrift store in Buffalo. It cost $7. The painting measures about 10.5″ x 14.5″. It is a nice winter scene with a small cottage. The painting is signed simply with the initials SGJ and dated 12/91 in lower right corner. The signature looks familiar, like I have seen it before. Maybe I saw this same painting here when I was here a few months ago. Not sure why I didn’t buy it before. Maybe it was priced higher. Or maybe I saw a different painting by the same artist. The style of the printing of the signature reminds me of something someone trained in drafting might do. I have not been able to find anything about the artist. The painting was nicely framed and matted.
I found this painting yesterday at a Habitat For Humanity thrift store in Buffalo. It cost me only $12. The painting measures about 17.5″ x 23.5″. The painting is signed T.C. Chiu. I did a search and found the artist’s name is Tan Chun Chiu. He has a studio in Pine Brook. I don’t know the age of the painting other than it was mostly likely done prior to 1997 when Pine Brook was still in the 201 area code. My search showed there are many prints available of T.C. Chiu’s paintings, but mine is an original! Sweet! It was done in watercolor.
T.C. Chiu studied art in China and then came to the United States in 1974. There is an address label stuck to the back of the painting with his studio location at 4 Parkway Drive, Pine Brook, NJ 07058. I don’t know if he is still at that location. I know he is still in Pine Brook.
I found this painting today at a thrift store for $5. It is very nicely double matted and framed. It is watercolor on paper, and the painting itself measures about 8″ x 10.5″. It is signed with what looks like the initials “SCH”. And it is dated “11-25-04″. On the back of the mat I found the name Harris along with sizing numbers. So maybe the name of the artist is Harris, or maybe that was the person having the painting framed? It was frame at a store named “Frames, Etc” in Waco, Texas. To me. the painting seems to be of a man, or boy on a beach with the ocean behind him. It’s very blue and dark. His shoulders seem slumped and maybe his head is hanging down a bit. It’s just him and his reflection or shadow on the ground. He seems alone. It was just very interesting.
