"THE NEW ANTIQUARIAN MOVEMENT"

This was an electrically wired lamp from the 80s in a boring shade of cream, and covered in dirt
when Martin saw it in a charity shop, saw the potential, and thought we should rescue it.
To be honest, it was a bit on the expensive side, £ 15,
 but I decided to make it into a surprise for his birthday.
I managed to get it home without him seeing it from his studio window,
cleaned it up and painted it. It turned out to be very difficult to keep it a secret!
Some mistakes happened as I had to hide the drying candelabra... but it turned out ok in the end.

New York Times has coined the term "The New Antiquarian Movement" in response the the increasing presence of a demand for artefacts that are reminiscent of times passed. The vintage style is here to stay for a while, as many people are tired of sterile, anonymous and mass produced modern buildings and objects human surround themselves with. This also goes for art, as the use of found imagery in the form of old engravings (copyright free, of course) inspires an increasing number of artists. My style has a name now! We shall see if this takes off or not. What is important within the context of art is to make a very clear distinction between vintage style collaging that has more to do with crafts than art, and more serious minded art that is technically advanced (whether done digitally or by hand) and carries meaning beyond the fluffy fairies with crowns on their heads that fill collaging groups on Flickr. This article  picks up on this and calls Kristjana S. Williams  "A British pioneer of what the New York Times has dubbed the 'new antiquarian movement'..." - I wouldn't go as far as to call her work pioneering since others, myself included, have been indulging in old engravings for over ten years, and sometimes even more. I don't even think her work is that fantastic. As I have said before, it's easy to get a glitzy result in Photoshop. Dan Hillier is another example of a digital collage artist who relies solely on old images and even made it to a Luis Vuitton show in the Louvre... lucky bastard!

Kristjana S. Williams

Ironically, I am no longer relying solely on such found imagery but I'm sure I shan't abandon the style as these images are now widely available and free to use (apart from the cost of purchasing them in the first place, of course). I thought I should in this context show a few photos of Martin and myself as we dressed up for a Victorian/Edwardian themed party last week. Martin has received from me a host of accessories and clothes in a vintage style for birthdays and Christmases, and I think they suit him fantastically well. At the party, I especially admired the way men had dressed up, because it doesn't take that much to transform them from boring T-shirt dressed men in Nike sneakers to something much nicer to look at...

The jacket and coat Martin bought for our wedding,
and I got him the shirt and the Victorian style trousers for Christmas.
He bought a nice pocket watch with a Welsh dragon for the wedding.
He found the shoes in Finland.

The shirt and jacket are from Theatre'Hall in France (they have information in English but be amused,
it's all translated through the little reliable Google translator),
the Victorian style cotton trousers from FLB Westernwear,.
and the authentic braces are from Darcyclothing, who specialize in expensive
but very authentic and good quality garments and accessories.

"...we have been expecting you..."

My dress is a bargain from the Swedish shop Indiska some years ago
(there will be an online shop for the EU in the autumn), and it just happened to have a bit of an Edwardian cut
(sort of World War II, I'd say).
I was lucky to find net tights in 80 % cotton at New Look.
The pretty and fairly authentic shoes I've had for several years, they are Hush Puppy.
My jewellery is from Monsoon in the UK, bought about a year ago.
I felt that the earrings were quite authentic as they feature a fake pearl.
My hair is tied up with black fake flowers, the big one is from Bijou Brigitte where I've bought a lot of jewellery.

I bought this hat for only £ 12 as an impulse buy at H&M
a while ago but then thought it would do
as an Edwardian style hat -
perhaps a bit "Helena Bonham Carter" in the King's Speech
as someone pointed out!
Feather accessories for the hair are widely available right now so
I stuck one onto the hat.

I've had the coat for a few years, I got it from Indiska in Finland.
I had to wear these old strapped boots as it was cold out in the hills