Tag Archives: bunnell

Here Are A Few New Things

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Hepcats Haven

Mel and I have been so busy trying to keep our store stocked. We have driven all over northern California looking for things we think are cool. Of course, not everything we buy is for the store. After all, we are collectors before we are dealers. The above piece is a new James Bunnell jungle cat we acquired. We have a few of his jungle cats now (jungle cat 1, Jungle cat 2, jungle cat 3)

Here we have a fantastic 1959 Lane swan and ballerina tv lamp. This will look great near a ballerina Carlo of Hollywood. We picked this up from Rusty Relics and Funky Finds in Midway Mall.

We have been lucky as far as Tiki goes. Here are some pieces we picked up to add to our collection.

While at Midway Mall, we also picked up these killer lamps. We already have one, so this will make a set of three. We also acquired another set of six band rattan that I will pick up this Saturday. It will need upholstery and some restoring but it will be well worth it. I will have pictures soon.

This is a really cool bowl made by Trader Dick’s.

This set is so vibrant we could not pass it up. The hibiscus flowers look so cool.

This is a menu cover used on the Matson Lines cruise ships and was painted by Eugene Savage (1883-1978). I plan to get this framed with a bamboo frame.

This book is a trip. It is bound in leather and has that fantastic image on the front. This book was released in 1960 and covers the history of Hawaii.

Here is one of the most atomic looking televisions ever made. This is a 1971 Panasonic Orbital television.

Here is what the original ad looked like and here is also the television commercial.

This one works but has a few cosmetic issues, nothing major.

This unit just screams Mad Men. I love the styling and the sleekness of it. This would look great sitting on a shelf on a wall unit. This was given to us by our new friend Jenn. She’s proof that there are still good people out there :). Thanks Jenn, this will stay in our collection.

This Panasonic will need a little work on the veneer, but overall it is in fantastic shape. I still need to check the functionality of the unit.

This is an unmarked/un-engraved trophy that we came across. I plan to clean it up and see what unique inscription we could add to it.

This set is so fun. We love the colors and think it will dress up any bar top.

Each piece has wear, but I like them the way they are.

We also received this popcorn ceramic figurine set in the mail from one of our blog readers Dena (JuicyLucyVintage). She gave this to us as a gift and we are soo thankful. Click here to check out her Etsy store.

This is a fantastic mid-century Detecto scale. We love the color combination.

This Jeco Electric clock is rather large and has a great Mid Century feel to it. Picking has been going well for us lately and we hope the momentum keeps up!

Shirrell Graves Original Airbrush/Watercolors

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Hepcats Haven

If I had to pick another mid century artist that I am taken with, it would have to be Shirrell Graves. His art is so fantastic! I love his use of watercolor and airbrush. I recently discovered two Shirrell Graves pieces on eBay. These came from a liquidator of an art studio in Cincinnati. I had never seen a set like these and was soo excited to have won the auctions!

I really like this set of paintings. The red and yellows pop because the rest of the flower is black and white.

I am not sure why he painted numerous versions of the same flowers. I assume he was trying to find the layout he liked the best.

Here is the other set of flowers he painted. On both sets he signed the corner of each smaller picture with “SG”. On the overall pieces he signed his complete name.

Not sure what the “352” stands for.

The seller of these pieces said the winner of the eBay auction could buy these and cut them up for resale!!!! What? Why would you ever do that? I guess if you were driven by money you would consider this. I would never dream of splitting these sets up into pieces. Here is a better look at the black and white flowers…

Here is a better look at the pink flowers…

I might have a vintage frame that will accommodate both pieces. Mel and I also picked up a couple of other Shirrell Graves pieces recently.

Of course I jumped on this one. You can never go wrong with a flamingo painted by Shirrell Graves.

We picked this one up at a local antique store. It is similar to the pink flower ones above. I repainted the flamingo frame in aqua and this one in pink.

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Posted in The Makin's Of Our Pad and tagged 1950's, 1960's, 50's, 60's, airbrush art, airbrush painting, Art Deco, bunnell, Gill, graves airbrush, graves art, graves painting, graves water color, graves watercolor, mid century, midcentury, phil brinkman, retro, Shirrell Watson Graves, sue, Turner, vintage, water color painting, Watercolor painting. Bookmark the permalink.

A Closer Look

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

Hello all,

Now that we have our new Carlos home we are able to take better pictures of them. We are very happy with these and look forward to trying to find a place to put them all.

This is the largest Carlo panther I have ever seen at 52 inches wide and 33.5 inches tall.

Mark and Ann purchased these from a Carlo collector in Fresno that was liquidating his collection. They really scored finding a collector who was willing to sell his whole collection. We are soo grateful they thought of us when they got these and gave us first shot at them! As Mark always says, “these are investment pieces”. At this point, I think it is more of an addiction!!! This puts us up to 92 Carlos! Mel and I are going to have to throw a party when we hit 100!

This is another monster about the same size as the one above. The colors of this one are breathtaking and there is a lot of detail. I like the dragon detail on the big flower vase. Mel likes the little dog.

The background makes this piece really stand out.

Bengal Tiger……what else can I really add?

The black background makes these just POP!!

These seem to be flawless.

These are going to flank the large panther and will look killer with the red frame against these acid green frames.

So simple but soo cool.

Mel and I spent all last weekend getting all our art in place in the Tiki room. With these new additions it seems we have to start all over again. With wall real estate at a premium, it is getting more and more difficult to find a new home for the Carlos we come across. Now off to the Carlo gallery to update it with these.

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Posted in Carlo of Hollywood, The Makin's Of Our Pad and tagged bunnell, Carlo, carlo art, Carlo of Hollywood, Carlo painting, Carlo water color, Carlo water colors, Carlo Watercolors, Gill, Lounge Culture, mid century, retro, tiki, vintage. Bookmark the permalink.

Forgotten Bunnell

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

Mel an I bought these about 4-5 years ago and I always planned to do something with them. Back when we purchased them we did not know Carlo, Gill or Bunnell. But today after digging through the garage and fighting many spiders I pulled them out of moth balls. I was just sitting there thinking what I should do with them and noticed a signature…….Bunnell! I was soo excited to see that signature. It was like when you wash your clothes and stick your hand in your pocket and find a wad of cash. Oh happy day!

Look at all that dust! If I would have known they were Bunnell I would have treated them better.

These are in sad shape from years of sitting and getting knocked around, but that’s nothing a little paint can’t fix!

I think these breakfast images are cool.

I am guessing that “hand printed in oils” means that they were silk screened in oils by the artist Bunnell or maybe a silkscreener????

These would be killer in a 50’s kitchen with a built-in diner booth. Maybe one day we will have one of those to display these.

After some cleaning and scrubbing and a little spray paint these cleaned up nicely. I had to JB weld the metal part that separated from the frame. I am not sure where I will hang these yet but we do want to keep them in our collection. I love Bunnell and I am always on the hunt for pieces by him. The main artists we focus on collecting are Carlo, Gill, Bunnell, Erich & Shirrell Graves. Everyone has their favorites and those are ours.

These look soo cool in those frames. I am so glad they turned out ok.

Love em!

I have never seen these Bunnells before. Here are links to our other Bunnell’s (Ship Wreck, Tiger 1, Tiger 2 and Tiger 3. Tiger 3 looks like they failed to complete the silk screening process).

We also have these really cool desert Bunnells. These were our first two purchased.

Desert scenes are so rare from that time period

These are high up on the wall next to our Carlo desert trio….excuse the cob webs.

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Posted in Restorations and tagged bunnell. Bookmark the permalink.

Carlopalooza! (Major Carlo of Hollywood Score)

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

We have not found a large stash like this for a long time! I couldn’t stop smiling for like 8 hours!

Mel and I went to Midway Antique Mall a week ago to initially stock our new booth and when we came through the doors we noticed a set of Carlo of Hollywood paintings that were new to the store. Mel and I were soo excited when we saw this set that we scanned the rest of the store and we found eight more Carlo’s that we did not have in our collection! We told Mark and Ann, the owners of Midway, that we wanted them. We picked them up today. Happy Day!!!

It is hard to find a complete trio. This is our sixth set of trios!

This trio is very cool. The colors are still so vibrant and the imagery is timeless as usual. I love the Polynesian guy in the canoe! It always amazes me how Carlo did so much with his art when it is so simple. These will look great in the……….TIKI ROOM!

I just love her outfit! The pink edges of the art make it pop!

Not sure where these will go. They might look good in the Tiki room as well.

Of course these will be in our Tiki room.

I have wanted this set for a long time.

What amazes me about all these Carlo’s is how vibrant the colors still are.

Panthers are always cool! This one needs a little touch up on the black but it looks really cool as it is.This one does not have the forced perspective frame that all the others have.

Mel and I were just saying the other day that there has been a drought when it comes to new Carlo’s to buy. I guess this was like a torrential down pour of good luck! The good thing is that we might have a line on six more Carlo’s. Now the hard work begins, where can we fit 10 more into our 80+ Carlo collection. We are almost at a 100 Carlo’s!

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Posted in Carlo of Hollywood, The Makin's Of Our Pad and tagged 1940's, 1950's, Art Deco, bunnell, Carlo Hollywood, Carlo of Hollywood, Carlo painting, Carlo water color, Carlo water colors, Carlo Watercolor, Carlo Watercolors, erich, Gill, MCM, mid century, retro, vintage, Watercolor. Bookmark the permalink.

Another Shirrell Graves

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

You might remember a couple of months back we purchased a fantastic yellow Macaw painted by Shirrell Graves. It had a broken piece of glass and the mat was stained and ugly. I took it to Tim & Ann at Wholesale Art & Framing to replace the glass with UV preservation glass and to install a new mat. After a day or so it was done and here is how it looks:

The mat is an olive color with a black core.

Then about a week ago I was cruising Craigslist and saw that Roseville Antique Trove had a dealer that was selling a Shirrell Graves red macaw! I jumped off the couch, grabbed Mel and we shot over to acquire this fantastic piece. Mel and I were afraid it could be a print but upon further examination it is an original. It was apparent that it had been hung in direct sunlight because the once vibrant red had faded to almost a tan/pink. If you look at the bottom where the tail is you can see how red this use to be.