What is the attraction of the Long Beach Antique Swap Meet? Could it be that those Sunday visitors are looking for forgotten memories? Do old bowls and fabrics lead the path towards memory lane or create a past that never existed for people too young to have experienced it? Some visitors dress in vintage costumes. Is it creative fun or are they playing out the fantasies they left behind in childhood?
These and other questions are the main motivation behind a new art show at The Gallery at Mr. Jan’s Antiques in California Heights. A series of paintings and photographs by Long Beach artist Paula Burns Isenberg, “People and Things from the Long Beach Antique Swap Meet,” will be on display this weekend only.
“These paintings and photographs represent my new beginning as a working artist,” Isenberg said. “After making a commitment in third grade to become an artist, it’s finally time to have my own show.”
For 35 years Isenberg taught art in a high school in Garden Grove. During her career, “My students became my medium,” she explained. “Together we experimented in every material, style and theme my heart desired (within and beyond the district curriculum).”
After retiring six years ago, she planned to work on her own art career. She now uses photographs and paint to capture the nostalgia and uniqueness of the people and objects of a venue she loves–the Long Beach Antique Swap Meet.
“By letting myself explore one idea from the surface down, I’m beginning to feel like a real artist,” Isenberg said. “I have dozens of new directions to follow and develop that have come to me by just beginning again.”
“People and Things from the Long Beach Antique Swap Meet” is open to the public Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. inside The Gallery at Mr. Jan’s Antiques, 1133 East Wardlow Road. Refreshments will be served both days.
