HOW THE HELL DID WE GET HERE?

This is my first blog!  It only took me a year to get to it….. and truthfully, I should be grading papers or getting to lab on time.  Instead, a thought came to me and it was, how the hell did I get here?  Of course, I drove here in a hearse but that is not what I mean.   Every day when we retire to the Study in the Odditorium after a day in the shop I look around at the place we created and think, “Wow!  How in the HELL did we get HERE?”. 

The story begins in 2011 when we had a lot of family treasures that needed to find homes, so we began an ETSY shop.  This is when we realized that we loved the hunt for vintage items, and it became our hobby.  At first it was a hunt for antiques such as glassware, figurines, doilies, and other pretty things.  I like pretty things, but those that know me, know that I really like quirky things and could not resist items like a case with first contact lenses ever manufactured (which by the way looked sooooo dangerous!).  Sold those to a man in Austria quite quickly.  We noticed that the odd items were more popular with our customers.  I started buying awful puppets, anything with eyes on it, unicorns, crusty metal animals, scary dolls, and anything Victorian. Let’s face it, the Victorians had some weird stuff!   Our hobby grew over the years until we had so much stuff that there was no way to get it all in the ETSY shop.  In March of 2016, we found our physical shop in the Great Bridge area of Chesapeake, VA.  We picked a little house or “witch shack” that used to be a bait shop.  It definitely looked like a bait shop and needed a transformation (or get “Trixified” – a term that is now commonly used in the shop).  We chose to use old pallet wood planks on the walls of our shop and built shelves out of pipes and reclaimed wood from a local greenhouse operation.  The boards still had forest moss on them and could not have been more of a perfect fit!  We had six teenage boys break apart the pallets (three we birthed and three more that lived with us).  It took about three months to open to the public.  Our trip into strangeness began in May of 2016 when we opened to the public.  We continued to go pickin’ to find ‘normal’ antique and vintage items for the shop.  But then one day, it happened.  I was sitting behind the counter and noticed two broken figures, one of a cat and one of a little girl.  Their broken heads broke off in such a way that they were easily switched.  So, the glue came out and history was made.  The first assemblage art by Trixie was entitled “Freaky Friday”.  I did it because it made me giggle and thought if only one other person giggled – then I have succeeded.  Within one week, this strange little piece was purchased for $7!   This was the day that the artist in me that was dying to get out was unleashed and began the slow consumption of my left brain by my right brain (I am happy to report that this consumption is near completion as I have taken a test and am allegedly 96% right brained! LOL).  Our offspring have watched this happening over the years and have been observed shaking their heads as they pass by as I attached doll arms and legs in a dangling manner to a lamp shade (a piece entitled “The Life of the Party”).  They are still uneasy when I show them a creation and sing, “Say hello to your new sister!”.  

This tradition began when I birthed my first weasel!  She was gorgeous and the idea of her creation came to me as I sat in the shop.  Ideas drop in randomly and are so vivid that they sometimes hurt my brain!  John was next to me and literally looked scared as I giggled and cackled while creating my first weasel doll by ripping the head off a broken porcelain doll and cutting the head off a mink stole (another Freaky Friday moment in the shop). Behold, the first weasel was born back in 2017! 

In January of 2023 we made the huge decision to take over the whole corner and expand our shop into the large building previously occupied by AG WRAPS (our Land Daddy).  We were terrified and excited for this opportunity.  I had to spend a good bit of 2023 in Buffalo with my parents as both were in different hospitals at the same time.  This was a rough time, but it did allow me to find a whole bunch of architectural items and cool chandeliers that we would not have had for the expansion.  In June of 2023, John drove a 26-foot truck full of all our cool things and we began the remodeling activities and opened the new areas in September of 2023.  Our Creepisan Gallery showcases over 20 awesome vendors and artists! The Odditorium was going to be a great place for our new offerings of workshops, classes, and events! 

The spaces that we created came out of love and positive energies.  We wanted to build a place where people of all types feel welcomed, safe, and loved.  We installed our proverbial weird light to attract our kind to enjoy our spaces!  We view this place as a place of love, learning, and relaxation.  I now get antsy after a few days away from our creation and can’t wait to get on my favorite couch to soak in the energy.  We hope this comes through to those that come to visit!