Mad Women: Iron-Willed

These 1950s-era women appear so confident, determined and modern (for the time) that I couldn't resist pairing them with images of antique and vintage irons. The working title was "Unlike their grandmothers and mothers, Sue and Joan never ironed." But I wanted to imbue them with more power than that.

Of course, the irony is that every item of clothing required ironing in the 1950s - or at least seemed to - and a woman dare not step out in a wrinkled ensemble - or allow her children to. I spent enough time standing at the ironing board to know how lucky I am not to have to do that these days. 5"x5" on archival mat board. [SOLD]

Winging it: birds are always in style

Until recently I hadn't used an image cut from an antique postcard in my collages. I sometimes use the backs and often use fronts with tourist scenes - especially those with writing and postage stamps on that side. But for the Out on a Limb series of bird collages I had started combining color images of birds with black-and-white ones and came across a vivid pair of robins on a Christmas postcard that were perfect for a new piece. Birds were a popular holiday motif throughout the Victorian era and into the Edwardian years.

Then, I went back to the archive and began rifling through the Christmas and animal notebooks, looking for more birds. These are a few of the ones I found. I couldn't bear to use them before scanning in the front and back of each. The two above are from 1908 and 1909. The publisher is sometimes stated but more often than not, it has to be identified by a symbol/logo or the design/typography of the words "post card." I need to check my reference books for these publisher and when I do, I'll add the info.

I couldn't resist adding the two plump pairs of birds below here. They are a colorful and joyful reminder of what's to come after making it through winter.