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Less Is More. Like blank slate type of less. That’s a weird vibe for an antique dealer to be giving. I mean, I make a living from selling things that people don’t need. It all comes down to want. Clearly I need you to want. And the reasons folks want are wide and varied. So it behooves me to encourage that sense of want in all of its forms. And yet here I am asking myself what I really want. I used to think that I knew exactly why I want all the things I do. The paintings and objects in my home come to mind first. In each moment when I purchased those individual pieces I clearly remember being filled with a sense of excitement. I enjoyed placing that object in my home and giving it space among my other wants. The act of having a (______) clearly filled some type of hole in me. I often think that a lot of those reasons have to do with recognition and validation. To be seen by you as having made a wise choice. That, yes, I do know what I’m talking about and you think so too. There’s other narratives I tell myself - culture, investment, environment, aesthetics - but these too are masks. I’ve surrounded myself with the tools of my trade because I need to remind myself (the Peter Pan, I Can Do It, single mom, entrepreneur) that I have to live up to my self imposed title. And so I hustle and grind. But as I sit here at our dinner table, the one with a storied past from a 90’s South Beach hot spot, I’m trying to picture the art hung salon style in my bedroom. Floor to ceiling. Paintings, sculptures and mirrors that clearly had so much value and importance at the time of purchase are now blurry. Trying to picture how each is hung, stalling and finally getting up from the table to go and have a look. How quickly that initial want has faded. I no longer gaze at each piece with wide eyes. Now, I walk past. And only question if I see them when forced to do so. Like now. Which brings me to Less Is More. The inventory that I sell, well that is another thing all together.

I love what I do and I do what I love. Last week covering the work / life balance. The mind / body. And understanding that it’s one. That tipping the scales to favor one or the other is misunderstanding the foundation. I’ve spent over twenty years in this business, building it block by block. Slow, to be sure. With plenty of setbacks and failures along the way. More surely to come. But each only serves to strengthen my resolve as well as my foundation. It is with a clear vision of the future, that I choose to move forward. With less. No, no, no. There’s no estate sale or auction sell off in the works. Rather there is a refinement. A honing if you will. Taking one thing away. Yes, I’m still a maximalist by most definitions. But it is now by choice rather than necessity. Step by step, finding my own wants which are free from the shackles of needs. No longer needing a reason or validation or observation. This truly embodies less being more. But what about my business. The thing that puts bread on the table and sand under the toes of me and my daughters. Well that too is feeling the edit. As I choose to lessen the load (not because I don’t love loading and unloading trucks), I find myself making different choices. The same investment yields fewer purchases. Upping the ante if you will. Taking those bigger risks, calculated and still with a wide enough margin to allow for error, but risky just the same. Because risk is part of the trifecta of success. Luck and skill being it's cohorts. The trick is the balance. Ah, those scales. Favoring one over the other two. Simply because so many of us don’t want to admit that all three are necessary. Do I work hard? Undeniably. But let’s go deeper. I am by no means a martyr. I work hard with a smile on my face and a contentment inside me. I know that my success and failure in this business has everything to do with the timing when those three factors align or misalign. Sure, I may have a certain amount of skill, but thinking I have it all figured out is cocky and destructive. And yeah, there’s luck in this business to be sure, but assigning my future to chance is lazy and irresponsible. Risk? Don’t even get me started. I can’t count the number of times I bought something in lieu of paying my rent. But today’s risks are far more tempered thanks to a desire to plan. That’s a four letter word to me. And if you know me, then you’re probably laughing right now at the hypocrisy. I use those four letter words like seasoning. And I love spice. But p.l.a.n. - that word was verboten. It implied a moving away from my impulsive nature. For a long time, that was my identity. I found it easier to leap, than to look. Nowadays, I’m doing a bit of both. Spicing up the risk / luck / skill stew with a bit of planning. So what’s in the future for HKFA? A whole lot of less. ❤️ hkv

Because that’s what we all need. The trifecta of luck, risk and skill. When in the perfect alignment, the three become one yielding success. However, a bit too much of any one will tip the scales oh so unfavorably. Let’s take a look at luck. In my business, buying and selling antiques, there’s always a bit of luck involved. I learned this early on at the Chelsea Flea Market in New York City. 3am arrival times at the series of surface parking lots along the intersection of 6th Avenue and 26th Street offered myriad choices. Which would I search first? And once that die had been cast, should I turn left or right. As luck would have it, I made some good choices as well as some bad choices. Cutting my teeth among some of the sharpest dealers, I managed to snag a few scores while also being edged out by the luck of the draw on more than one occasion. But leaving it all to luck? No thanks. To me, assigning my future to chance is nothing more than laziness and irresponsibility. So, yeah. I acknowledge the importance of luck and I’m always thankful for it. But there are other ingredients as well.

And next up we have risk. The dance partner who will either twirl you all night long or drop you flat on the dance floor. Is there any way to tempt fate, but just a little. Absolutely. Because too much risk in our mixture will surely ruin the outcome and lead to spectacular failure. And too little risk? Well, why even bother. Risk must come with a side of margarine. Oops, sorry. That’s margin. Some wiggle room for error. The bigger the risk, the bigger the margin. Allowing this breathing room will lead to restful sleep and a more even temper. I have rolled the dice more times than I care to count. Risking my rent for a painting or object. But having that margin, in my case a job at a nightclub many (many) moons ago afforded me the cushion I needed. Today my margin is in auction sales which provide a somewhat steady stream of revenue. Granted, it’s still a game of chance with luck and risk but this brings us to our next topic, skill.

Knowing which pieces to auction and which to sell at a show takes a certain amount of skill. Heck, just being in this business and ‘knowing’ what to buy takes skill. Yes, the quote marks were intentional. “How do you know what to buy” is a question I’ve heard thousands of times. The answer? I buy what I like. And over the past twenty odd years, I’ve honed and refined my eye. You could say that I’ve developed some skill. And some is the operative word. This business is in constant flux. What’s old is new again and what was an easy sale is now guaranteed to go to the old folks home with you. The answer is that there is no answer. Buying what I like has taught me to go with my gut and to constantly question what it is that I like. With that authenticity comes a realness. With that realness comes a confidence. And that is the beginning of skill. Because I feel good about some painting or sculpture, I am curious to learn more about it. But too much skill? Oh that can cost you. I have learned this lesson more than once. A favorite story is when I bought a cheap repro frame for $750 because I ‘knew’ it was the real deal, Louis XIII. It wasn’t.

So stay humble my friends. Grease those wheels with plenty of margarine, I mean margins, to allow the wiggle room. Keep those scales in balance and understand that every success won’t last and neither will every failure.

Oh. And last week. Yes. It was a blank from me. No excuses. I simply had nothing left in me to share. Nonstop travel, weeks on the road, thousands of miles driven, trucks loaded and unloaded - the life of this antique dealer is a full one. Add in the single mom status, Peter Pan attitude and an I Can Do It mantra for a complete picture of why my tank was empty last week. I’m looking at it as a blank slate if you will. A delving into a Less Is More exploration. So what’s on the horizon for HKFA? A whole lot more of less.
❤️ hkv