Is it art, or is this roadkill?

[John Watt]

I was walking down a main city street in Welland, Ontario, near Niagara Falls. Six people were sitting side by side on a porch about five feet from the sidewalk, with stuff along the curb. They were looking grim and squinty-faced at me, so I pointed my finger and said "This is the laziest yard sale I've ever seen". A man said "That's all garbage. If you see something you can take it".

I ignored the computer and accessories, the kitchen and decor items, and pulled out a large metal picture frame with unbroken glass, just thinking about that. The focal point, a winter snow fence, looked too light-coloured and undetailed, compared to the rest of the print. It was heavy, so I bent a plastic cup to carry it back.

When I got back to my apartment, I looked at the back and saw a Denison Art Gallery stamp, in Markham, near Toronto, with numbers for the artist and print. I took it to Ric's Buy and Sell, a sign customer and shopping spot, where he looked it up on his computer, the gallery and artist still going strong. Walking again with it, I stopped in at a community service building, where the executive manager displayed his Canadian craft artwork. Looking at it from a distance, the shadows went straight across, a sunset, the light colours now explained. He was interested, agreeing that it looked corporate, needing a more natural frame, what he said might cost so I described my haulage efforts and asked $10, almost minimum wage. I'm glad I wasn't close, he whipped out his wallet so fast.

I'm saying North America is over-saturated with electric guitars and amps, saying I'll buy my next Fender Stratocaster from a vending machine in Niagara Falls.

For yous, is this art, or curbside debris?

 

[Krummhorn]

One mans 'junk' is another mans 'treasure'. I see this happen all the time in the charity shop where I work.

Case in point - received a donation of a very grungy brass clock mounted on wood and a small ships bell that would sound at the hour and half hour. I spent 90 minutes with it polishing with Brasso to a shine where we could see ourselves in it. From a free donation to a profit for the store at $285 (USD) was quite the haul.

Lots of people don't have an appreciation for the stuff they own or have acquired from family that has passed on ... they perceive it as a nuisance and give it away most of the time when real dollars could have been reaped instead.

At other times, there are neighborhood 'garage sales' where there is complete junk with a capital J - we get the leftovers usually, and are appalled at the price tags people put on this junk - $40 for a junked VHS player (with stuck tape inside), $50 for a lamp with no cord or light socket, $10 for empty plastic film containers - all as if they are trying to finance their kids college education with this garage sale. They could have sold all those items for lots less and gotten the cash, instead they just gave it away and we sold it and put the money in our coffers: $5 lamp (as is), 10 cents for the film containers.

I laud your find, John Watt ... and you made money on the deal besides ... congratulations

 

[teddy]

I hate throwing things away. If I can I would rather sell it or give it away rather than junk it. I have worked out that I can finance my next boat (a small sailing dinghy) with unwanted bits and pieces that I have. Everything has a use if you can find the right person. Having said that I can no longer get in my shed as there is so much in there. Jars of screws and nails, plumbing parts and door furniture left over from when I built the extension, tools galore. It will end with either a driveway sale or a skip.

teddy

 

[Krummhorn]

I had a similar collection, teddy ... when we moved to our present house, it was time to say so long to all that junk as I hadn't used any of it in the prior 10 years at least.
The wife said, "use it or loose it" ... I took it to the charity shop where I work and put it in our metal recycling bin, which earns cash for the store.

I hope you do get that skip ... I loved sailing in my younger days with my Dad ... we went out most every weekend.

Kh ♫

 

[marval]

You did well out out of it John, so it can't be bad.

Some of the things we got in the charity shop I worked in I would not have given house room. People would come in and buy them though, we had a well battered old cooking pan, a young man pounced and said it was just what he wanted.

 

[John Watt]

Yeah, I'm seeing this as the new economy, in southern Ontario. Everyone has less money or is down-sizing.
It's one thing to have a yard sale, but it's another to sell for a real value.
I just bought three big books, the Merriam-Webster dictionary with a seven language appendum,
from the publishers of the Encyclopedia Brittanica, and they look totally new.
The man was asking $5, I gave him $20. That's still, uh, less than a dollar a pound.

It's nice that you refurbish your items, Krummhorn. That makes it more your item for sale.
I turned down a free microwave today. I said why aren't you selling it, and he said I got a new one.
And as I usually ask, if you see any flaming Jimi Hendrix oven mitts for sale, save'em for me.

 

[Krummhorn]

. . . And as I usually ask, if you see any flaming Jimi Hendrix oven mitts for sale, save'em for me.

I'll keep my eyes peeled

 

[John Watt]

I learned a big lesson yesterday.
Walking around with a heavy, metal framed and glass covered print, signed and numbered with a Toronto art gallery sticker,
I sold it to the executive director of a residential housing unit for $10, a curb-side profit.
The next day, given a new looking computer chair, heavy, I carried that around showing it along the way,
and sold it to an office supply store owner, for $10, another curb-side profit.

Yesterday evening, walking with my little acoustic to visit a friend, he wasn't in yet,
so I thought I'd go to the nearest supermarket and get some pop, and go back.
I had to talk myself into it, but I got a box from inside and stood outside, busking for the first time.
In less than 45 minutes I got over $23, a five and loonies and toonies, with over $3 in looser change.
When I went inside to shop, a young employee said he heard about me and he invited me to party with him and his friends.
A cashier asked if that was me playing outside, hearing I had some "serious skills".
They said if I came back during a week day, from 11:00 to 4:00, I should make over $80.
I'll be there.
Almost as much as the money was the interesting people watching, and riffing off the ladies.

 

[JHC]

Well done! Fame at last eh LoL

 

[John Watt]

I was walking back to my residence Sunday night and heard my name from a porch.
Another musician I've only seen around, who owns a recording studio,
said he had a band that needs a lead guitarist and asked me to rehearse with them.
He said this should take me off the streets.
Sweet!

 

[John Watt]

My recent challenge, walking the streets of Welland, trying make a profit, is working out in mysterious ways.
Now I'm the guitar repairman for a buy and sell shop.
I was semi-reclining on the carpeted floor with a '60's Yamaha acoustic, bending the neck, carving down the bridge, putting on new strings.
A couple customers walked over me, getting off on my 61 year old self.
That's better than working alone in my apartment. And that's cash over the counter.
My federal income tax likes my deductions more than my income.

 

[teddy]

Sounds like you are carving out a whole new life John. And its eclectic. Sounds fun as well as lucrative,

teddy

 

[John Watt]

teddy! You're right about carving out a whole new life, another way of saying I'm looking at city life differently.
This offshore Strat is one example of how my environment is changing.
I made an extension for the short scallop so it would hang properly, upside-down as a lefty,
and cut away the shallow scallop, now underneath, for more upper fret access.
When I took the pickguard off, I saw that the neck position was routed for a humbucker,
even if the humbucker was by the bridge. I wouldn't make a new pickguard, but this was easy to change,
moving the humbucker to the neck, using files, and that's without undoing any wiring.
Being a protest mayoral candidate, my arrests, crown attorneys, judges, criminals, getting arrested,
has been what my life is about in Welland for a long, long time.
Having everyone else get excited because I'm carrying a guitar again isn't carving a new life, just surfing on new opportunities.

Another new economy example.
People have a hard time accepting that I don't own a TV, and never did. I get them offered to me for free,
and this weekend I decided to take one, a nice RCA, even being offered a ride with it.
At the end of the day, trying them out, I had a two year old Sony DVD player, a ten year old Sony player, and two Playstations, one upgraded,
and everyone is saying get a used X-Box for $150 that turns my television into a computer.
I put it on a typewriter stand I made, in the bedroom, and lounged in chiropractic ways while I watched.
That was six movies from the public library.

A movie that can cost over $100,000,000 to make, $25,000,000 to promote, all the digital technology, all for free.
Welcome to the new millennium, southern Ontario style.