NEW BLOGGER ON BOARD

My name is Johnine McDowell (d.b.a.  Annie Dragonfly).  I have been a dealer at the Antique Gallery in Spring since July, 2011 and a blogger for about the same amount of time.  Normally, however, I blog about rescuing animals.  I didn't give too much thought to antiques, either, until I retired from teaching and found that when one is accustomed to working 50-60 hours a week you just aren't well-suited to "relaxing".  So I tried substitute teaching, tutoring, traveling, reading, etc., etc., etc.......but none of that really fit into my desire to be creative, to teach, and to learn new ideas myself.  About that time I inherited some lovely pieces of crystal, silver, china and collectibles.  Although I could appreciate the beauty of all those things, I was not really anxious to own any of those things myself.  So as I did a little research on the value of what I had,  I began to fall in love with other kinds of antiques such as photography, paintings, fabric, and furniture.  I began to buy a few little things that I liked and soon the hobby became an obsession (fabric) and the obsession became a new career.  I didn't like just to read about antiques or look at pictures of antiques.  I wanted to dig through old boxes and photo albums.  I wanted to catch as many estate sales in a week as I could.  I scoured the resale shops.  I drove to estate auctions in bluebonnet country.  My friends and relatives began to offer me all of their junk.  My sister tells everyone that if I buy anymore "stuff" then I will soon have to live in a tent in the backyard.  That's not true, however!  I have an RV that I could move in to.
So that's my story.  In the weeks to come I hope to share the stories of how other dealers at the Gallery came to be where they are today.  I hope that by reading this that you will want to come to meet us in person or that you will recognize the "obsession" in yourself and embrace it as we have.
And would you believe that same sister who commented about me moving into a tent......that same sister sent me home with a rocking chair in my back seat when I visited her at Easter!!!