Pearle Northrop
It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I started taking what I
do seriously and it took even longer to consider myself an artist. I love to
paint whatever I can get my hands on from things as small as a Scrabble® piece
to as big as a dresser and hopefully even bigger someday. Whatever it is I will
paint it. I love transforming trash into treasure literally. Imagine that a
chair that came from a dumpster (2006) made it into a museum (2009). This blows
me away to think that something I did creates a sense of awe in a viewer’s eye.
I was
talking to a friend a few years back
about my love for furniture, my relationship with chairs in particular. There
was a chair that I found discarded and ultimately forgotten. I came upon this
chair accidentally. I wasn't looking for a relationship.
Anyway,
the chair was a very handsome chair with so many things to look at. His back was
decorative; his arms were long and lean. His legs...I have never
seen such beautiful legs. But he was beaten down. His self-esteem had long been
worn out. His seat, which was repeatedly upholstered over years, was torn and
faded. His stuffing was busting out revealing his age and loss of pride. Me,
being
a care taker and rescuer of sorts....picked up the chair and brought it home.
He sat at the top of the stairs for a few weeks in a corner. My friends however
saw this chair and commented on how ugly he was. They wondered why I had him in
my home commenting on how dirty he was and how unattractive he was due to the
years of neglect. I ignored them and kept him around. Finally one day I decided
to
put
him on my coffee table and take the layers of cloth and wool stuffing
off of his seat. Then I cleaned him, primed him and painted him black. Three
months later I sat back and looked at him and this is what I saw.....A
chair, a man restored...but not only
restored but given a whole new purpose. He was beautiful again. He was unique
and wonderful....The same chair that my friends were grossed out by....is now a
chair that they ask permission to touch. Amazing.....One
thing is for certain...NOTHING STAYS THE SAME! Change is inevitable and what is
ugly or dirty or discarded as trash can be saved, can be rescued and can be made
shinier than new!
Taking discarded forgotten pieces and giving them their
self-esteem back is a passion for me. Living in a world where we discard things
so easily I’d like to think I am making an itty bitty difference.
Pearle Northrop
