Going Green

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From kitchen canisters to a rather unusual bar set, Liz Summerell loves the jaded things in life. Shonagh Walker speaks to Liz about her incredible collection of all things green.

For 47-year-old mother of two Liz Summerell, it’s not only easy being green – it’s an obsession! The avid collector from Douglas Park in New South Wales realised a love for collecting 20 years ago when she was working at Sydney University.

“I went to the local auction house and was immediately smitten,” she recalls. “It was as if the place stirred something in my soul. The first thing that drew my attention was an old discarded chair in an alley behind the auction house. That was when I first started collecting.” Liz knew from that moment she was a true collector and would continue to gather things that struck a sentimental chord – whether valuable or not – for her entire life.

“It’s innate,” she explains. “I’ve always been drawn to things that were older; that had a story behind them. They speak to me more than the modern. I feel sorry for things – I just want to take them home and nurture and love them when somebody else doesn’t.”

After more than a decade of collecting old furniture, household items and trinkets, Liz saw a pattern in her collection... it was jaded.

“My green collecting began about eight years ago. I could see that I was focusing on it as I went around to different places – auctions, markets, op-shops. Wherever I went I found that I was gravitating towards green.

I realised the one thing giving me more of a buzz than anything else was this wonderful colour – in all its hues. I thought, ‘I’m just going to go with this’.”

Now Liz has more than one thousand emerald, olive, forest, khaki or lime items scattered around her three-bedroom home, these days most of them purchased on eBay (www.ebay.com.au).

“It’s extensive,” she freely admits.

“I collect anything that is green, particularly household and kitchenware items from the pre-1960s era. I love things with a very down-to-earth flavour – I’m a big believer in back-to-basics. I like shapes, design, textures and the feel that something gives... the story behind whatever it is. Green is just such a beautiful colour. It reflects my love of nature and is a very calming, but a very happy and lively colour.”

A favourite bargain buy is a retro green vase with a pink lustre, which set her back $5.

“My funniest or most unusual find is a green squirrel with white ears and chest, which is actually a bar set. Its tail is a bottle opener, its head is a corkscrew and its nose is something else that I can’t quite work out! The squirrel was only about five dollars.

“I was attracted to the colour but also by the fact that it is a little bit silly and different. You can find some fun things on eBay. There is a section [in Collectables] called ‘Weird Stuff’ and I quite often have a look there because what is weird to one person may not be weird to another!”

Words: Shonagh Walker