Apr 10, 2009

Gift the gift of handmade chalkware piecesBy Sandy ErdmanPostBulletin.com

Since the 18th century, chalkware pieces typically were figurines made out of gypsum and were considered to be serious art pieces. Today, seasonal hand-cast chalkware collections are made using chocolate or candy molds, such as those at the Vintage Cottage Boutique in Lake City.

The figurines at the Vintage Cottage Boutique are carefully painted by hand using the same techniques used at the turn of the century. Each piece is then antique-washed, sealed and given a frosting of glass glitter. Because of the labor intensiveness of this product, only a limited number of each design is produced each season.

Each chalkware piece comes signed and numbered by artist and Vintage Cottage Boutique owner Kandace Lichtblau-Tepley.

“I started Vintage Cottage in 2003 because I have a great love of old things and finer things in life,” Lichtblau-Tepley said. “I knew that there were a lot of antique shops out there, but none of them really focused on the ‘lost arts,’ such as the old chalkware bunnies and things you couldn’t get in big-box stores.

“My mother was an artist, painter and a crafts person. I watched her make and sell and it was always so nice to see how much people really cherish things that someone made themselves,” Lichtblau-Tepley said. “I have found that many people in my age group have ‘caught up’ and learned to enjoy the older things life has to offer.”

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