Little Black Shoes

SOLD

A couple of days ago I went to a local estate sale. I got an e-mail in the morning announcing an estate sale about 10 minutes from my house. Then I had the usual conversation with myself about whether or not I should go: estate sales are like treasure hunts and they can be fun, this one advertised vintate evening gowns which would be perfect to put a model in. On the other hand they are usually a waste of time, that’s the bottom line. But they are fun, and this one advertised “art books”. But, I have art books by all the artists I admire except for a couple that are out of print and what are the odds of finding one of those? So after all this back-and-forth in my mind, I went anyway.

The estate sale was just outside downtown Houston in a huge condominium complex. I parked on the street without any problems, went past the concierge, through a maze of hallways and found the right apartment. It was packed, bookshelves of all kinds of books, overpriced and overstuffed furniture, a baby grand piano, crystal, china. You get the idea. Fist I went to the two shelves full of art books. Nothing I desired there. Then I went to the walk-in closet and found the vintage evening gowns. All four of them. And they were $100 each. Hmph. But, there was a rack full of vintage children’s clothes so I browsed through those. I found a dress that looked like one Laura (I think that was her name) wore on Little House on the Prarie and a white sailor type dress with a big navy collar that would both be great on young models. Then it was time to leave.

Naturally I can’t just leave when I tell myself to leave with all that stuff between me and the doorway. I ambled around a bit more, then decided to have one more look in the closet and that’s when I spotted a pair of darling little patent leather shoes. I thought they would be fun to paint so I added them to my small pile. Then I checked out and paid my grand total of $32.50 for two dresses, the little black shoes and a big canvas bag to put it all in.

11 thoughts on “Little Black Shoes”

  1. Inspiration can be found in the most unusual and unexpected places. Nice work on The Little Black Shoes. P.s. Enjoy your spring break in NYC.

  2. It has been way too long since I visited your site. These shoes are SO killer – reminding me of when my daughter was a little girl and we had shoes like this around…

    And the portraits – you are just doing some fabulous work! I love the wipe off and I love all the other ones too! Yay for you!!!

  3. Hi Joan! So glad I found your blog too. This image caught my eye immediately (love these shoes…what luscious color!) and now I will continue to savor the rest of your blog.

  4. Deb, Laurel, Ioriann, Marian, and Siri,
    Thank you all for your compliments and your good wishes for my trip to NYC. I thank each and every one of you for taking the time to visit and comment on my blog.
    Joan

  5. What a great post! I felt as though I was traveling through the estate sale with you, thinking right along with you too!

    This painting is wonderful. I love the shoes and how you rendered them.

    Can’t wait to see how you handle the dresses!

  6. Love the shoes! Such a wonderful subject matter. Do hope you do more – does that mean you’ll have to go to more Estate Sales? I used to live in Houston, so brought back a few memories. Great style …… and great art!

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