East Market Street Antiques, Red Hook, NY.

This weekend me and the wife took a weekend retreat away from New York City up to the Catskills. We had a loose itinerary of antique stores to hit and inquired at each for a recommendation of their favorite antique spot.

In Kingston we ended up at Mezzanine Antique Center and the lovely couple who run the shop suggested that we check out Annex Antiques Center in Red Hook.

The Annex is especially charming because it is in an old movie theater converted into an antique store, but I was attracted to the store next to the Annex. The East Market Street Antiques was the object of my fascination and I was drawn in by its lovely window displays, but this was just the beginning. The store is run by a sculptress named Sandra Mackintosh who has the most amazing vision for her store. She has compartmentalized her store by item. There are hundreds of antique letterpress pieces attached to bases that are a part of her sculpture, antique railroad signs and reflectors, antique children's pails and shovels, abaci, and building stars. All arranged with the utmost care. I spent an hour and a half speaking with Sandra about her thoughts, her store and art in general. It's always refreshing to find someone who thinks far outside of the box on art as well as life. It makes me think about how much more I could be doing creatively.

A huge thank you to Sandra for allowing me to take photographs of her "museum quality" store and I hope to get up there every few months to see what amazing pieces she has on exhibit! If you are in the Catskills area do not miss her store. Even if the prices are out of your range it is inspirational to see such a well thought out space!

You can check out the store here and here.