When you start out on your own in life, what you have is minimal and sometimes not in the best shape.
"I've always loved to paint. I love colour. When you start out in life you have your grandma's ugly dresser," said Regan Lanning, of Regan's Reclamations.
Sitting in her garage, amongst the many furniture items, lamps, jewellery boxes and mirrors, Lanning began by simply painting an old record player and a rocking chair.
"It slowly developed into a furniture gong show that is my garage," she said.
Considering herself an environmentalist, Lanning doesn't like to see things go to waste and end up in the dump.
"No one is as pretty as they used to be at 40 or 50 years old," she said, adding the furniture she refinishes is usually older. Once it is complete, it takes on a whole new vibrant look.
Painting furniture is a non-committal way of bringing in colour to a room and when she is asked to paint an item for a customer, she will tap into the personality and work that into her creation.
"Both of my sisters travel, so I incorporated maps on a wine rack. It's a way of personalizing items, making it perfect for someone."
Other items in her garage have been donated or she has picked up at garage sales, such as a piano, several dressers, tables and chairs.
"This is my zen," she said. "If something sits here long enough, it will tell me what it wants."
She said often when people donate items to her, after she has re-invented the piece, she will send the owner a picture and they love it so much they buy their item back.
"A lady once sold me a music box. I painted it green. When I sent her a picture of it, she told me it was her aunt's music box and her favourite colour was green."
As a vendor at Art Farm on Saturday, June 14, Lanning will be displaying and selling some of her re-invented furniture, along with fellow vendor, photographer Kim Schneider.
Schneider got her first taste of photography after saving box tops from Cheerios boxes and sending them in to receive a Dina F camera.
"It was a 35mm black and white, point and shoot camera," she said, adding she parted with it not long ago at a garage sale.
With her little camera in her hand, Schneider was shooting everything.
"I had taken a picture of my grandparents against their house. I cut off their heads," she said.
In 2007, Schneider bought her first digital camera and still takes pictures of everything, except her composition has improved.
"I take my camera where ever I go. If you just drive around, you won't believe what you'll see. Old buildings and old cars," she said.
It's not just what you shoot, it's how you shoot. Schneider will plant flowers just to take pictures of them.
"I take pictures of everything, mostly landscapes but I particularly love taking candid portraits," she said. In her first in-house Soo Line Camera Club competition, she won first place in the landscape.
She joined the Soo Line Camera Club in 2008 and attributes a lot of what she knows to learning from fellow photographers.
"There is always progress; always something new."
Schneider has submitted a photo, "Bale Henge" into the Art Farm raffle along with three other works from contributing artisans.
Art Farm will be held on Saturday, June 14 at the van der Breggen acreage from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Art Farm is a gathering of over 30 artists, exhibiting and selling their work. It is a family event that will include, food which is a fundraiser for the Youth Centre, live music, face painting, kids activities, horse drawn wagon rides as well as art in many mediums.
Admission is a $2, children under 12 free.
'Art Farm' an opportunity to expose our local talented artists, while giving the public the chance to view and purchase original works of art.
With the help of the van der Breggen family and a committee of dedicated artists Art Farm will accommodate many artists and guests as well as live music in a rural setting.
They are a diverse group of artist friends, both accomplished and emerging. Painters, potters, photographers, musicians, performing artists come together to give a market type experience in a casual country atmosphere, five minutes from Weyburn on Highway 35 south. There will be Art Farm signs along the way.
