Seller Story: Ojai, CA

“I was an actor for 20 years, and when I retired, I took up antiques and design. I’ve always been passionate about it. I remember once I went with my dad, a carpenter, to the city dump for a drop off, and I found this beautiful old crystal doorknob. It’s the first time that I can recall becoming a treasure hunter. My family liked new things, but I used to spend my allowance going to auction sales around my little town in Canada. While I was acting, I was painting and creating; I started taking classes at The Ontario College of Art. And I’d decorate the houses of other actors and directors. When I’d go on hiatus from a series, I’d dive in and do the design thing again.

When I left acting, I traveled around the country and participated in different antiques shows. I’ve bought at auctions, estate sales and flea markets in England, Canada and all over the U.S. For awhile I had a store called The Collection with a group of other dealers in Beverly Hills. Then I moved to Ojai, where I have a space at the Summerland Antiques Collective. I’ve been in Ojai for 12 years. The items in this sale are from my personal collection and my inventory.
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One of the things that I love is going out and finding paintings from artists that have often been forgotten about. I research; I love to find out the story about the person who created a work. I take every piece and restore it, clean it, reframe it. It gives me pleasure to revive their career and give that piece new life. These people are being rediscovered again, their work is living on.There are a couple of really great early California artists’ paintings in the sale that are highly collectible. It’s fun when you find something that other people have missed and you save it.”

Tell us about one of the forgotten painters.

One of the California artists paintings is by Albert DeRome. He painted during The Great Depression in the 1930s and felt the need to get a regular job as well. That job required that he drive all over the state, and he wound up getting in a bad car accident. He received a settlement from his insurance company, but it meant that he couldn’t have any other kind of income; he could never sell a painting again. So while all of his peers were painting and making lots of money, he had to give his away. Decades later, there was an effort to write a book about him and the author had gathered pieces of his work in Oakland. But the Oakland fire went through and burned all of the paintings. Very few of his works currently exist.

You have quite an assortment of old books!

Books are one of my big passions. They just warm up a room, a home isn’t complete without them. And old ones were works of art, beautifully bound with gilt and marble papers. They get a patina to them and become even better with age. You want levels when you’re decorating, and books are like little pedestals — anything on top of them looks more important than if it was just sitting on a table. You can pair them on shelves with an old camera or a globe; I think they give gravitas to a room.

What else do you love?

There are some great French tapestries. I bought them at an estate sale in Santa Barbara. In the early aughts, Ty Warner, the inventor of Beanie Baby, bought the Four Seasons Biltmore, San Ysidro Ranch and some beachfront properties. He tore those estates down to build his own home and that’s where the tapestries came from.