Second Life

finding beauty in the OLD AND WORN

You may recall in my post last week about wabi-sabi that I mentioned I was searching for an antique milking stool - well, I found one. It took a while to find one with the perfect aged patina and the right amount of wear but I found the right one. It has now taken up residence next to my bed as my bedside table. I love the fact this is battered, beaten and worn because it was a functioning item for what was clearly a very long time. Cobbled together from bits of random wood in a farmstead somewhere, the stool served an important purpose for someone. I imagine a gruff

farmer hammering it together for his wife for when she’s out milking the cows. I have 3 industrial boxes which I use to keep my sketchbooks in which came from a factory in Sheffield and I love them for the same reason. They are bashed and have been written all over countless times and have clearly had a colourful life. They’ve retired now, living a more sedate life next to a graphic designer, yet are still serving an important function. And they sit under my desk, which Prince B made for me from old wooden palettes. There’s beauty in bringing new life to old things.