"What is this shop?"
" I don't know....want to check it out?"
"Oh look...we have to go upstairs."
"I don't know - I am about ready for lunch"
"Well let's just run up and see if it's any good."
"Ooooh, love the hooked rug - great colors"
"Oh my gosh, look at this one! Look at that one! These are incredible!!"
I love seeing hooked rugs mounted and hung on the wall, elevating them to the art that they truly are. We had stumbled upon an exquisite collection at John Sideli Art and Antiques in Wiscassett, Maine.
The rugs were displayed on the walls as we climbed the stairs, and then continued into the gallery. Mixed with other charming pieces of American country furniture and folk art, we couldn't believe we had almost passed this shop by!
"I think we are in some one's living room," I whispered. Indeed, we were.
Antique dealer and artist, John Sideli, lives in this well edited space, displaying antiques for sale, as well as his compositions of objects, or "Object Poems" as he has been known to call them. He told us of taking years to gather three little red trucks to create the piece below.
Don't you love the eggs under the glass dome?
Rooms flow from one to another with a mix of high country antiques and playful folk art.
John will often live with found objects for weeks, months, sometimes years, contemplating how they might fit together to create a playful and poetic construction that tells a story.
John has an amazing talent for putting these odds and ends together to create clever compositions, the way a poet might fit words together. He has an instinctual talent for combining form, texture and color.
Thank you, John, for allowing me to photograph and write about your sensational gallery.
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