Trash to Treasure: Vintage Linoleum Art

Rare, commitment-free weekends are always the perfect excuse to get out and go on a thrifting adventure.

We started out at a local flea market run by the ladies of our local Elks chapter, but after not having a ton of luck, we moved over to one of our favorite thrift stories and scored big.

We scoured all of the usual aisles, but one of my favorite stops is always the vintage art area.

My husband and I have similar styles, but every now and then, he’ll go totally rogue and pick up something a little on the wild side for me. When he picked up this piece of art made from vintage linoleum, I thought it was neat but honestly couldn’t picture where we would put it in our house. But I happily put it in my cart because he seemed like he really wanted it.

And boy am I glad I did!

We think it is an early piece from Bill Miller, an artist made famous from his work using vintage linoleum flooring and creating incredible pieces of art. It’s signed, dated, and numbered on the back. We haven’t been able to track down Miller’s signature yet to compare, but that looks very much like “Bill Miller” to me.

I found where one of his pieces sold fairly recently on a site for $700. That’s a far cry from our $8 investment.

Many of his pieces feature famous faces and places, but I love the simplicity of this piece. It’s too big to display in our tiny kitchen, which would’ve been perfect with its new shade of green, so it’s back to the drawing board to find it the perfect home in our cottage.

We’ve thought about reaching out to Miller and his team to confirm its authenticity since he’s still alive and has several pieces in exhibits around the country. We’re not interested in selling our it, but it would be really interesting to know if what we have is actual treasure.

Stay tuned!