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Lil Bit Country

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

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Mel and I were up in Sebastopol California having a look around when we came across these small lamps at FFT Antiques (All sales benefit Food For Thought, Sonoma County AIDS Food Bank). I love them! Mel….not soo much. I know they are going to need a big resto but I am up to it. It is sooo hard to find western things from the 40’s and 50’s. Most of it was destroyed from use. I love this square dancing duo. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a makers mark.

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As you can see the paint is chipping off in chunks. The first thing I will have to do is remove all the loose paint, then fill any areas that require fill, then sand and paint. Also, if he is a cowboy why is he wearing loafers??? These will be boots when I am done.

These lamps have been used and abused so the transformation should be pretty remarkable. These lamps even have their original finials.

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As you can see someone tried to touch up her dress but it doesn’t look like they were very successful with the attempt.

We were fortunate to get the original shades with the lamps. One is darker than the other so I plan to recover them and re-stencil the image on the new material. I just need to figure out where I can get replacement material from.

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While we were out we came across these really cool pillows. I love the fringe on the one and the imagery on both. I am going to have to reach out to Debbie over at “The Creative Needle” to install zippers on these and install fringe on the other pillow.

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Really cool ranch images….roping cattle, bustin’ bronks and taking it easy.

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Radio by Hoffman, Cabinet by Brown-Saltman

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Hepcats Haven
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I really like the simple lines on this unit.

Mel and I hit Second Sunday last weekend and didn’t find much till we stumbled across this great unit our friend Dennis was selling. He works in construction and said he got this out of one of those big houses in S.F., he said it was in the basement and he purchased it from the original owner. I liked the cabinet and the look of the unit a lot but we went crazy for it when I noticed a small stencil next to the record player it said…

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The mark of quality

I have been wanting one of these fold out units for a long time and this was the perfect set up.

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Tell me that isn’t cool!

This unit is known as a Hoffman B1000 and was produced in 1947 by Hoffman Radio Corp.; Los Angeles, California. It’s has broadcast bands plus 2 Short Wave bands. It has a record player on the opposite side.

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The cabinet will need to be refinished. There are many scratches and scuffs from years of use. This radio appears to be complete with all the knobs and parts.  The fabric on the front seems to be in great shape.

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I need to find replacement water slide stencils to replace the ones that are rubbed off.

I will need to get this over to Louis at Stereo Advisor to get it running well again. It looks like it has sat for a while. This unit will look great with our Brown-Saltman desk and chair that I am almost done refinishing (Thanks Vic!). The chair is over at Bill’s from B&T Upholstery getting redone. Once it is complete I will make sure to blog about it. We are excited to see how it will all turn out.

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Refreshing Carlo of Hollywood!

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

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IMG_4831Hello all!

The first set of Carlo watercolors I want to cover are a pair we received a couple of weeks ago. They are fantastic except for many small spots of mold/mildew. This usually occurs when they are in a damp place and the spots are a real bugger to get off if you can remove them at all.

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Here is what I had to deal with. This mold was everywhere!

I tried many ways to remove the spots but they were not going anywhere. I couldn’t see just letting these Carlo watercolors stay this way so I went to work restoring them. I am hesitant to recommend that people restore Carlo watercolors because you have to understand how to paint and what finishes work. Please do not attempt unless you have some artist abilities. Anyways, after a few days of work they turned out better than new. They really pop now and I am pleased with the outcome. It is never my desire to repaint any art, but it isn’t worth a lot when it is ravaged by mold. I will always restore as opposed to throwing it away.

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They will look great next to our Reglor Bullfighter Lamps!

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As you can see these have no color except on the edge of the art that reveals some of the original colors. I use this edge color as a reference.

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The only color left on this piece is her dress!

The next set of Carlo watercolors I restored were a tropical pair we received that had no color, just the black & pink watercolor paint. This fading is mainly caused from exposure to prolonged sunlight. It is soooo important to make sure you know where the Carlo is hanging in regards to direct light. I have started putting 99% UV protection glass on my art to prevent further fading. Here are the above pieces restored:

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I love the way these turned out! They look great in our Tiki room!

I don’t know if I would be able to tell that these were restored. I try to keep the same color palette that appears on the edge of the art. Sometimes I have to take liberties with the painting because there is not always a reference to pull from.

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These make me want to board a jet plane and swing over to the islands….Aloha!

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The third and final Carlo I wanted to restore was this one we purchased off Ebay that had no color left and had some mild water damage. This one sat on Ebay for a while because of the damage and the extreme fading that had occurred. After a couple of days of work here is the result:

I think this turned out great considering what we started with.

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Ultra Cool Table & Chairs

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Hepcats Haven

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Mel and I came across this set when antiquing up in Chico. We thought we could use it in place of our diner booth but after a long debate we have decided to sell it and keep the booth. It is soo depressing when you find something you love but then have to turn around and unload it because you have no space for it…..sigh.

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Who ever gets this set will be soo lucky. The Formica on it is in fantastic condition and if someone decides to re-upholster the cushions it will POP!

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Couldn’t you see Dean Martin and the pack eating breakfast around this table rehashing the events from the night before?! Man this thing just oozes cool. We have it for sale in Sacramento on Craigslist, sorry not willing to ship. I hope one of our local readers scores this set.

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1961 Phil Brinkman Prints (Double Signature)

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Hepcats Haven
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Excuse the reflection, That darn glass makes it difficult to get a clean picture.

Mel and I came across these prints a few Second Sundays ago. I was soo excited to find them. At first I thought they were originals so I was about to jump out of my skin. Mel pointed out the copyright symbol on the art and that is how we knew they were prints. I still wanted them and we were able to pick them up for $25 for the pair.

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Once we got home we were able to look at them more closely and we noticed a pencil signature on each of them. I had never seen prints with an additional signature on them, but after some research I found info on “double signed” prints. It is basically where the original artist signs a print, thus leaving two signatures on the print. Next to an original it is about the best you can do. You might remember I blogged about “The Great Phil Brinkman” awhile back.

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He produced a lot of work in the Bahamas

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These will look great in our Tiki Room! I have a couple of spare Carlo frames lying around that I might try to put them in.

 

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