Neal Kuellmer's Exceptional Art Glass

Here's some of Neal Kuellmer's art glass. He was working on more borosilicate glass (Pyrex) pieces like the ones below when last we met. Click the pictures - they expand.

Colleen Lynch of Dovetail Decor

Where are all the young antiques collectors? Here they are!

Colleen Lynch is the decorating diva behind Dovetail Decor, and she writes a funky decorating blog in the tips section of that website. Here's a beautiful young woman that really believes in antiques both as an investment and as functional home and office decor. She has made her name decorating with vintage furniture and her style accommodates collectors with too much stuff to display.

Yesterday Dumpdiggers helped Colleen publish her provocative ideas in an article on Prospere Magazine:

Antiques Diva Decorates with Collectibles: Colleen Lynch of Dovetail Decor helps clients take the clutter out of their antique collections

Colleen has lots of advice for bottle collectors. She recommends using picture rails and wall inserts to keep the treasures available for viewing but away from traffic. Glass should be near the window and whenever possible back lit, while pottery should be away from window and front lit.

Dumpdiggers would love to reproduce more of the photos from her amazing portfolio, but alas we would only be duplicating her original pictures and designs and not doing them justice.

But Dumpdiggers had to borrow this photo because its awesome! Click to expand. This is a fascinating look at the design progression of some everyday items and how they've each come to represent a different era of time and design. If you were a set decorator doing an 'art deco' period home, what would the telephone look like?

When antiques collectors say something is 'vintage' or 'retro' to what age are they referring?

What is the next evolution of the alarm clock?

I would like to do a chart like this for soda pop bottles, but I would start in the 1850s with the earliest torpedoes.

Herb Atkinson plans for Antiques Fair in April

Herb Atkinson manages a not-so-busy antiques store at Queen and Roncesvalles in Toronto, Ont Canada. Sedate Antiques at 1703 Queen St. West specializes in vintage kitchen and bathroom fixtures. The store is stuffed full of bargains, and only lacks customers. But Herb doesn't care - that's because he's really an interior designer, and the antiques store is just a cover, a place to 'store' all his junk.

Yesterday Dumpdiggers learned that Mr. Atkinson will be heading south to Chicago on 25-28 April 2008 to attend The Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair™ . This is surprising, because that place/event is huge.

Dumpdiggers asked ‘Why would you shop for bargains there?’ To which Herb replied ‘For me the trip is not about securing merchandise, it’s about gaining wisdom.’ and Herb is already a wise old man. He says, ‘Antique objects are rare and beautiful, but they should be functional too – even when they do nothing.’

Known as the premier antiques fair in the Midwest, the Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair provides collectors, designers and the general public an intimate environment to see a broad range of antiques.

This is the kind of place where experts conduct seminars and dispense their wisdom to thousands of eager listeners. One hundred and thirty antiques and fine art dealers will display the finest in 20th Century Design - Barometers, Ceramics, Coins, Decorative Arts, Folk Art, Furniture, Glass, Jewelry, Paintings, Posters, Prints, Rare Books and Maps, Sculpture, Silver, Textiles, and even Tribal Art will be displayed. This year’s event will also feature the return of dealers from the famed Marche aux Puces in Paris and members of LAPADA, Britain’s hallmark of quality antiques dealers.