find of the season century

 Look what I got in a charity shop this week!  It's only an original plate by one of my favourite artists,  Lindsay Grime!  I spotted it in the window of Shelter after closing time on the way home from nursery on Monday evening and recognised it instantly.  I was busily exclaiming to Dulcie when two women stopped to browse the window display.  They noticed it too, but their only comment was, "What an odd plate!"  I felt a) superior and b) slightly reassured that it was unlikely to sell to someone else before I could get back there the following morning.  That said, I was still so relieved to see it there the next day!

It was super satisfying to turn the plate over and see the signature on the back, not that I had any doubt who the artist was.

I think this plate was part of an exhibition I saw called Home Sweet Home that was held in the tiny gallery (former changing cubicle!) in Made In The Shade.  I coveted many of Lindsay's items at the time, but my budget couldn't stretch to a plate.  It's so nice that one of them found its way to me after all this time.  I'm embarrassed to say that I only paid £3.50 for it.  The old "one man's trash..." adage seems disrespectful in this instance, this is just out-and-out treasure!

I'm not sure where I'm going to hang this yet.  I'm actually building quite a collection of plates (mostly trashy but lovely souvenir sort of things) and I'm hoping to persuade Graham to let me hang them somewhere in our kitchen once we do it up.  This is a long way off though, so I may need to find a temporary home for them in the meantime.  I'd feel bad to let such a lucky find gather dust.