Steamed has been nominated for an Airship Award in the community category! Thank you so much for all your support. The winners will be announced in October at SteamCon III.
Now, on to today’s special guest.
Today we welcome Anna Rowland of www.vintageparlor.co.
An Interview with Anna Rowland of The Vintage Parlor
Please tell us a little about yourself and your shop.
My name is Anna and I am the curator of The Vintage Parlor, an old fashioned collection of curious treasures, rustic antiques, and industrial salvaged goods for the victorian, steampunk, and gothic home. I live in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara above a bicycle shop on a busy street amidst a diverse collection of music, art, and culture. Aside from hunting for treasures for my shop I enjoy graphic design and photography (proud tech nerd and Apple fan), taking road trips up the California Coast, and creating jewelry through lost wax casting.Have you always wanted to do this? How did you get into it?
I’ve always considered myself creative and knew from a young age that I’d trade the normal 9-5 for the starving artists lifestyle. My little vintage shop began when I wanted to combine my long time hobby of thrift store hunting with my merchandising and photography background. I graduated from The Fashion Institute Of Design and Merchandising with a degree in Visual Communications and have worked has a merchandiser and stylist, and makeup artist for a few big corporations, it was time I ventured out on my own and satisfied my overwhelming entrepreneurial spirit.How do you go about selecting each piece?
I’ve been collecting “things” for as long as I can remember. I find beauty historic curiousities, especially those pieces that lead my imagination to picture an objects lifespan. Where it’s been and all that it has seen. Who has loved it and who last discarded it. And then I pick it up and imagine where it is going next.Do you have a favorite piece?
I’d say it is always changing, as there is a continuos rotation of unearthed discoveries. I do however, have an inclination to find both fascination and amusement in darker realms. Anything from the macabre side of the victorian era really gets me psyched.
~Anna Rowland
