Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ever hear of a Garage Sale with Nothing But Art Supplies? Me Either!

 A stack of magazines I picked up for a song!

We've all been to our share of garage sales over the years, but when I heard La Mesa artist, Lisa Bebi, was having one with nothing but cast off art supplies -- I jumped for joy! Plus, she found two other artists to join her -- bonus!
 Lisa's garage ready to go. This pic and the next two came from her blog.


Lisa has been an artist all of her life and this was the first major overhaul of her art studio. It got so full of cool art stuff, that she uses her dining room table to paint. Please visit her blog to see some of the inspired mixed media art work she does.


Since Lisa does mixed media, she has all sort of ephemera, books, papers, brushes, pens, glues, mediums, rubber stamps, ink pads and more.
 The sale started today at 8 am. The early bird gets the worm and I didn't arrive until 8:30. The woman pictured below got there first and bought a ton of stuff, including ALL of the rubber stamps, ink pads and a giant box of magazines. I didn't see what else she picked up, because I had to hurry and find my own treasures before she bought everything!
The smart shopper (l) and Lisa (r).
Here are a few of the boxes she loaded into her car! She filled up those two empty ones and more.


She bought almost everything on that table!

I started in the ten cents an item section and selected some old issues of Art Forum, Art in America, a book of colored paper and the only Stampington magazine the other woman didn't buy. It was in the bargain bin, because it was missing its cover.


I bought a slew of gel pens for 20 cents each, a glue stick, a roll of raised tape and a zipper bag for the pens -- for a dime each. The partially used tubs of Golden mediums, the bag of acrylic paints and the bottle of ink were in the quarter box. 
I picked up 24 sheets of scrap book paper for $2, plus a pack of white envelopes, some smaller papers and a roll of sheer paper for my collage's and card making.



I'm new to adding fabric to my artwork, so I really don't own much. Kathy Olson sold me that whole box of fibers and ribbons for $5. The individual pieces of fabric in front of the box were $1 each.
Kathy Olson
More of Kathy's items for sale.
I ran into two of my artist friends, Diane (l) and Hilari (r).
We poured over the wonderful selection of colored pens!
Here's Bet and Hilari checking out some of the books for sale.

Believe it or not, Lisa is not yet finished cleaning out her art studio. She still needs to sort through more of her books and vintage papers. You know I'll be there for that gARTage sale too!

I would love to see this as the beginning of a new trend. I know many artists who are also in the midst of spring cleaning, so maybe we could have more group garage sales in San Diego. In fact, why limit it to San Diego? 

Why not start a nationwide trend and get artists together, who are committed to stamping out clutter from their homes and art studios and have them team up and sell their art supplies to other artists and craftsmen?! Are you game?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this idea. Please leave me a comment below. Thanks for stopping by! ~NR~

Something I made in one of Lisa's Paint-Over Style workshops in San Diego, CA 2009.

13 comments:

  1. thank you nina!!! - it was so good to see your smiling face. these pics are great (i didn't realize i had bedhead - oh well) i like seeing my friends here too.

    i like this painting you did here.

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  2. Nina,
    It was nice to have met you. I'm glad you got some deals. I'm sure we
    have much more. We'll post the next sale for you too. Thanks for coming to the sale. Let me know what you are interested in I may have it. Let me know, you can come by my place too.
    Kathy Olsen

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  3. I am overcome with envy! Even though I don't have another inch of space for more art stuff... I need to clear out myself. It's definitely a case of 'the grass is always greener@... Never seen a sale like this in the UK.

    I'm so happy you managed to get ANYTHING with SuperShopping having beaten you there by that crucial half hour. Maybe you'd better stake the sale out an hour early next time. Good luck.

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  4. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh . . . I'm simply DROOLING over here . . . what a GREAT time you must have had, Nina!

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  5. That is the BESTEST garage sale ever!! What a haul!

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  6. Nina,

    That is a great post about Lisa's very creative sale. I totally missed the boat on this one, and I had art books that I wanted to sell. But since there is still stuff to be had, I hope there will be another one.

    Jaime

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  7. Nina - I left you a comment at the group... what a wonderful plethora of pics! I'm glad you managed to bag a few bargains and like Susie, am green with envy. Heck, I'd make space for those p[aints, mediums, fabric and... OMG those PENS... I <3 sharpies and the poster paint ones you just can't buy them here. Ooops, sorry, I'm rambling! xo

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  8. I don't know what it is...but I may be the only artist in America without any clutter... I am a "chucker" by nature..and years have chucking has curved my spending on supplies I think..maybe.. Looks like you guys had a lot of fun though!

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  9. wow...amazing treasures there! i'm glad i wasn't there so i wasn't tempted. i am doing a great job of limiting my supplies and keeping organized in my studio. thanks so much for sharing!! love collaborations with other artists.

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  10. Wow! I'm glad I didn't get there earlier! I would have had too much to carry in my car! I'm using my new papers this week and have already primed & painted some of the boxes I bought from Kathy!

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  11. Nina, did you paint GET HAPPY when we were in Escondido last year? it's great. COUNT ME IN for Lisa's next gARTage sale - I'm so there. what a fabulous set up, and so organized. and the bargains! Yippeeeeeeeeeee.
    (and here I thought "I need more supplies like I need a hole in my head" !!) -- glad you documented it so beautifully -- thanks. Davi

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  12. I am so seriously jealous! I would have killed to go to THAT yard sale, oh, my sakes I shall swoon! If only, I feel like the only mixed media person in Arkansas sometimes, can't find the right supplies, can't find anyone even remotely interested, grrrr.

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  13. I love this idea! I would love to do the same, maybe organize a once a year sale with any artist that would like to join in!! Looooove it!!

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