When I purchased the shop 3.5 years ago, I inherited a North Station, Beacon Street, antique MBTA trolley sign from Sherry Pearl, the previous owner. It was old, different, and something interesting to hang out front. I LOVED it.

Some things just turn out extra special and this was one of them. In an industrial, white metal frame, it hung vertically and flanked the wall by the design counter. It was kind of the cool kid in the shop. So cool in fact we chose an image of it for the website homepage. It felt like my stamp on the shop in a way. I didn’t think it was going anywhere.

After a weekend off this past September, I came in to find a note about a customer interested in buying the sign. When I called the woman she explained the sign was very meaningful to her since for years working in Boston that was her T stop. With some trepidation, I sold it. Leaving an empty wall and a hope that I could replicate what had once hung there.

For a variety of reasons, things didn’t come together quickly. I found a source for more trolley signs, but, for some reason, I hesitated. It didn’t feel right. It felt forced. The wall got filled with something else and time marched on. The ARTwalk came and went. Marisa and I hung a show of our own work, much of which has now been moved to Shanti Salon at The Tannery in Newburyport. Again, leaving a few empty spaces out front and a bit of an empty vibe.

Sounding a bit bleak and uninspired? But… hold on, keep the faith….

Fast forward to now and the gaps have been filled with so many beautiful things! Cathy Connor swung by with some gorgeous pieces, Maria Malatesta’s Pond #3 is getting lots of oohs and ahhs, Marisa Peters did an amazing ink and charcoal drawing that will not last long, Adam’s Hummingbird photo flew out the door within 2 weeks of hanging it, and last but not least, we finished and hung a project that we had been cooking on for some time.

This particular project stemmed from the loss of the trolly sign. When I was floundering about replacing it, Marisa suggested an old photograph. We had been so inspired by a framing project we did for Banter, the new barber shop downtown… a series of vintage photos made extra large. That idea really lit me up.

I decided to aim for something old and familiar and started to search for an image of Joppa Flats. Not current, kayakers-and-dog-walkers Joppa, but old Joppa. After a few quick searches, I stumbled upon some treasures of Joppa Flats, Newburyport, Flatiron point, etc. One in particular I found so alluring… a really beautiful photograph of clam shells and shacks, men in hats, dories, with age spots marking it’s long life.

After working with Kristen and Bethany at the Museum of Old Newbury, we were able to borrow the photo from the Snow Collection. It was so tiny and had a charming red string looped through the old paper mat it was mounted to. A real gem. Adam, our builder, tech support, jack-of-all-trades guy, took a very high res photo of it which allowed our friends at Harborside Printing to enlarge it for us. It turned out so amazing. We chose just the right framing materials to honor the colors and textures without dragging it down. We hung it this spring and it is a stunner. It is available for anyone with a love of Joppa Flats to purchase. In fact, we are working with the Museum of Old Newbury to offer prints of photos from their collection. Check it out on our website

Museum of Newbury Photos

I never planned to have an oversized late nineteenth century photo of Joppa Flats in the shop. In the same way that I never planned to own a frame shop, hang a cool trolley sign and then let it go. I guess you can only plan so much. Things need to unfold and often do in ways better than you could have ever imagined.

Cheers to going with the flow. :)

-P

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