Queen Dealer Spotlight: Flora Hill (HILL)

Each month we will be doing a blog about one of our dealer-merchants from each of our three stores that offers unique, one-of-a-kind antiques and merchandise for your home and garden. We have a lot of creative, savvy and talented dealers and we thought you would enjoy getting to know them!

Flora Hill (Dealer Code HILL) has been a dealer at the Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta since January. Her booth is located on Battery Street. She was previously a dealer in another antique mall 10 years ago and decided it was time to get back in the business. Her favorite part of being a dealer-merchant at the Queen is being there and getting to see the unique items that other dealers have brought in and seeing all the dealer’s creativity!

Her space has vintage furniture and home accessories. She likes to search for unique, but functional objects, and many of the items are hand painted by her. All painted art in her booth is an original one of a kind piece. Flora says she loves to sell old furniture. She likes to give old old pieces new life with a hand crafted painting, and says there is not a table that she does not absolutely love.

Flora’s favorite item in her home is pottery! Her collection has been in the making for 40 years and she loves using all the pieces for meals and parties. She loves traditional furniture, and says that trends come and go, but traditional furniture is always here to stay and to stick with what you love!

Her hobbies and interests include fine art, which has always been a passion. Her first award was in 3rd grade and she was fortunate to win awards throughout school. She is a self- taught painter and enjoys learning new techniques in painting.

She loves to travel the backroads of the United States with her husband, Greg, with who she'll celebrate 40 years of marriage this July. She says, “There are always treasures to be found, history to explore, incredible sights to see, and interesting people to meet.” Flora and Greg stay busy with flipping houses…their style. She says, “My love of painting has taken me into unique opportunities to paint murals in homes and businesses. There have been ones for kid's rooms, folk art styled breakfast rooms, a couple of Italian landscape themed murals for custom wine cellars, and a couple of back bar murals."

In the past, I was fortunate to hand paint terra cotta pots for a Liz Claiborne Mother's Day product promotion.” Flora painted a beautiful LOVE sign for our Wedding Inspiration Expo that was raffled off and has painted the stars and stripes that will be raffled off during July 4th! 

We are so fortunate to have such talented dealers like Flora at the Queen of Hearts and you can check out her booth on Battery Street in the Alpharetta store (Dealer Code HILL).

Queen Dealer Spotlight: Sue Corner of Perfect Inspiration LLC (SUE)

Each month we will be doing a blog about one of our dealer-merchants from each of our three stores that offers unique, one-of-a-kind antiques and merchandise for your home and garden. We have a lot of creative, savvy and talented dealers and we thought you would enjoy getting to know them!

Sue Corner (Dealer Code SUE) has been a dealer at the Queen of Hearts in Alpharetta for the past 6 years. Her favorite part of being a dealer-merchant at the Queen is interacting with the customers and finding unique pieces to suit everyone's taste and pocket. 

Sue carries fine furniture from Europe and the USA, as well as oil paintings, art glass (especially Fenton), fine art and porcelain, bronze sculptures, tableware, silver, mirrors, rugs. Basically, anything they find "irresistible, hence their tag line "Gorgeous Things!"

Sue loves to tell the story of every piece she sells. As a history major, she researches her merchandise carefully and provides her customers with not just the actual object, but how it was used, where it came from, how old it is and what sort of life it may have led. Providing a "story" with each purchase gives her clients their own stories to tell and is educational as well as providing a richer buying experience.

Her favorite things in her home is a Stickley chest they had made to match the quilted maple top of his favorite guitar; a collection of 19th century sea and landscapes by Adolphus Knell, Robert Hope and others; and a Georgia sideboard which is otherwise unremarkable except that it bears the scratches of an optimistic kitten who tried and tried to jump on top of it and largely failed. Many finer pieces have passed through their hands but this particular piece has immense sentimental value.

Sue says she is delighted to see an upsurge of interest from younger people in "traditional" antiques. Sue has an eclectic style and is convinced that buying good pieces will happily co-exist with modern and traditional, and even mixed colors and styles, if they are united by a craftsmanship and pride of execution.

While collecting antiques for resale takes a large part of her time, she also loves to cook, mainly in the French style, which she picked up while living in Paris. Being a librarian at one time, she loves books and reading, and also volunteers at the North Fulton Community Charities, sorting and arranging books in their Roswell thrift shop. 

Sue and her husband, Chris, are English and have traveled extensively and spent three glorious years living in Paris and studying art history. She is a history major and has an extensive library which includes many reference works she uses to research her treasures. Sharing these stories with her clients is her greatest pleasure.

Follow her on Facebook at Perfect Inspiration Antiques and Collectibles.