We recently made a trip back to our old stomping grounds at the Brunswick Flea Market. We went to say hello, and do some shopping, but we ended up going on an unexpected adventure (which is just how we like our days to go).
The Brunswick Flea Market is located inside the Andross Mill, a sprawling brick behemoth, leftover from the days when mills dotted the rivers up and down Maine. Inside its massive footprint, it houses not only the flea market, but also a huge antique mall, a restaurant, and dozen of artists studios on the second floor. We ended up taking a jaunt up to the second floor, where we had never even been, to visit the artist studio of a woman named Mildred Johnson. Our friend Jack, one of the vendors at the flea market, has always spoken highly of her, and mentioned that she was probably in today, so we went up to take a look.
It was... wonderful. Mildred is an amazing artist. She works mainly in reclaimed items, making beautiful assemblages out of things you would never think of. Her studio (or, studios really, she has three large rooms on the second floor) is full of strange pieces of metal, crates, egg cartons, pages from books, and items I'm sure I recognized from the flea market below. She looks at these items not as junk, but pieces of a larger, beautiful puzzle that just hasn't been put together yet.
All of that is made even more amazing by the fact that she's 82 years old. 82! and still full of imagination and churning out amazing pieces.
you can read more a bit more about Mildred here, and see some of her collage work here. And if you're ever in Brunswick, I would highly recommend wandering up to the second floor to see if she's around. It'll make your day, I promise.
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