Card tricks

I field questions almost daily about my greeting cards, most of which re-use antique and vintage images. It's fun to talk about where material is found (flea markets, book sales, auctions, etc.), the process of scanning and manipulation, which can be extensive.

Images from my archive are the only ones used. This way, I know exactly where they came from (which is explained on the back of each card) and there's no worry about permissions, etc. Respecting copyright is a concern of mine, so copyright-free images are all I use. (Copyright is complicated; find out more at the U.S. copyright office web site.)

Some images are works-in-progress; tweaked before their next printing (oh, the printing? done by me). Complicated, antique engravings are the most difficult to reproduce clearly, and often require a pixel-by-pixel facelift. But the best way to explain the process may be via the evolution of a recent card …

The girl illustrating a story in the Dec. 1873 issue
of  St. Nicholas magazine catches my eye.

She seems perfect for a book plate

So, the image is scanned, duplicated,

then, the copy* is cropped

and lightened. *I always leave the

original image intact in case I need

to go back to it later,

She is removed from the background,
and cleaned up a bit by erasing lines,
which will make a crisper image.
Then, she is flipped to face right
(because at this point, I decide to
make her into a card and want her
to face the side that opens).

Next, she and the books are colorized
using Photoshop, and more books are
added to the bottom right since she
is looking in that direction.

The card looks a little bare, so a gradient
background is added, and a thin border.
The background color is altered during
printing to add more variety.

She is put into a card template I developed, then the information
is added to the back of the card, and she's ready for printing! 

Making ends meet

On the hunt again. This time, for endpapers. You know, the papers pasted into the front and back of books. Specifically, antique endpapers. With any kind of pattern from marbled to narrative to floral. The worse shape they're in, the better, since they're being cut up for a big new collage project: a Victorian crazy quilt made entirely of paper.

The hope is that that in the end, it will look similar to the quilt above, a fabric family heirloom belonging to my friend Mary Heider. Since Victorian women used the overlooked scraps from other sewing projects as their material (waste not, want not), it seemed that endpapers would be appropriate. Some look like fabric. Some look quite luxurious. Others are drab. Of course, they also are papers with a past, another reason to use them.

The point is to mix them up willy nilly (not as easy as it seems for an artist used to putting things in order) on the quilt. Then, to embellish and embroider it to the nth degree.

It started with this block of pieces glued onto book cloth. Book cloth was picked, because I knew it would adhere to paper well, would be easy to sew through, and I wanted some kind of fabric in the piece. But the backing has since been switched to rice paper, in keeping with the all paper theme. Different glues are being used depending on the endpaper: PVA, gel medium, even some double backed tape.  

Here are close ups of two more squares … on the top one, you can see what I mean about papers that look like fabric. On the bottom one, an antique embroidery pattern from Peterson's magazines is inserted. At the bottom are more antique embroidery patterns that will be used in place of traditional embroidered ones. I searched my archive specifically for patterns printed with faux stitching.    

Once the individual blocks are finished, there will be 12 or 20, then the crazy embroidery begins. For it, I'm using vintage embroidery thread that belonged to my late mother. It will be my winter project. Then, the decision comes whether to join the blocks together to make one "quilt" or to hang them separately (but very close to one another) on cradled wood panels.

The exhibition this is being made for is a solo exhibit of my work titled "Remnants" that opens mid-June at the Loveland Museum in Loveland, CO.

Memorial Day back when it was Decoration Day

Postmarked May 28, 1913.

At 31, future president James Garfield
became a brigadier general in the
Union Army, then, a major general
of volunteers at age 33.

I thought I had posted Memorial Day postcards from the archive in the past. And had planned to link to them, but a search through the blog did not turn up a single one. Odd.

So, I scanned in a batch. As the headline notes, Memorial Day began as Decoration Day, a public tribute to those who had fought in America's Civil War. My holiday postcard collection contains images from before 1919, so it reflects this initial celebration, which later morphed into a day to acknowledge all those who fought in our country's wars.

I'd like to think that I do not believe in war. I've marched against war on many occasions, and been arrested during a few of them. But even I know that there are times when war has been necessary, and that whether I back a war or not, I do respect those who have served … including two of my brothers, my father, quite a few of my uncles, and others in the past.

Postmarked Wooster, OH, May 29, 1909. Publisher unknown.

 

Two postcards by artist Ellen Clapsaddle (above) that were published by the International Art Publishing Co. of New York and Berlin. Both were printed in Germany. The one on the left was never mailed; the one on the right is postmarked Cleveland, May 27, 1912.

Published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Decoration Day series No. 107. 

Published by Cincinnati's Gibson Art Co.

Open studio! Friday May 8

I'm flying high!

So, I reached the end of the heavy-metal round of chemo, and am celebrating by throwing open the doors to the studio for the second Open Studios of the year at Brazee Street Studios.

Yes, I may be a bit wobbly, and more than a bit bald, and bruised. BUT the weather is fabulous, there are some new greeting cards in the studio, plus copies of "Harper Ever After", the Charley and Edie Harper book I penned the essay for, for sale ($5 off the list price), and the studio is freshly painted, and cleaned (thanks to the loving Mr. P and  The Kid).

On top of all that, a cool exhibit is opening in the C-Link Gallery, and there will be lots more happening throughout the Brazee campus from glass blowing demos to ballroom dancing (not kidding).

Look for me on the first floor, right across from the gallery!

Note: image above is from a recent find: Vol. 3 of the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana or Universal Dictionary of Knowledge, London, 1845.

A Porkopolis St. Pat's

Cincinnati picked up the nickname "Porkopolis" back in the 19th century when this river city was a center of the pork packing industry. The name stuck, even long after the last pig ran through our streets. Pigs also have been a long-time symbol of abundance and prosperity. So, after spotting this trio of delightful St. Patrick's Day postcards in the archive (the physical archive, not the electronic one), I just had to share them; all were published by London's Raphael Tuck and Sons in its St. Patrick's Day Post Cards series No. 106.

  

The writing's on the front of the postcard,
because it was published
when addresses only were allowed
on the back, a convention
that was about to change.
It's postmarked March 17, 1907
from Philadelphia, PA, and was sent
to Mrs. E. Lapp, Wyoming, DE. 

Postmarked March 16, 1908, but
the city name has faded. It was sent to
Mr. Edward Bruner, Holton, IN.

Postmarked Cincinnati, March 17, 1909,
 and sent to Miss Georgie Martin,
3308 Gilbert Ave., City.

Ohhh, baby, a New Year

I gathered together some of my favorite early 20th century babies welcoming in the New Year from the archive to share here. Enjoy … and Happy New Year!

Impossibly sweet ...

Eight new collages were added to the Sweet Petites collection last week, and I have to say that they're adorable. And since adorable is not what I do generally, they came as a surprise.

M.T. Ross' whimsical illustrations from the 1910 edition of Elizabeth Gordon's "Flower Children," were used for the main characters, which may explain how they ended up the way they did. I wrote about my obsession with the images back in May, when I was about to sell some of the other originals at Cincinnati's City Flea.

Of course, I HAVE to create their opposites, or Not-So-Sweet petites. Stay tuned for those ... meanwhile, here are the cutie pies, which can be viewed in the annual "Multiplicity" holiday show at Cincinnati's Brazee Street Studios …

  

One more mushroom, and "Behold, Beets"

I did tweak "Miracle of the mushrooms" a bit by adding some vintage Dresden stars to it. Here's a peek at it, along with "Behold, Beets," the second collage in the Everyday Miracles series …

© The Miracle of the Mushrooms (2014)
Mixed-media collage on hardwood panel by
Sara Caswell-Pearce. Made with hand-painted
antique engravings (Costumi dei Secoli, 1837;
Reference Handbook of Medical Science Vols. 2,3, 1886),
vintage magazine illustrations; vintage Dresden stars
ink, marker, archival polymer varnish, archival glue.
12" x 16" x 1"

© Behold, Beets (2014)
Mixed-media collage on hardwood panel by
Sara Caswell-Pearce.Mixed-media collage on hardwood panel by
Sara Caswell-Pearce. Made with hand-painted
antique engravings (Costumi dei Secoli, 1837) and
antique illustration (D.M. Ferry & Co. seed catalog);
vintage magazine illustration; vintage Dresden wings
ink, marker, archival polymer varnish, archival glue.
12" x 16" x 1"
(sold) 

Everyday miracles

A few weeks ago, I posted the photos above on Facebook. I was playing around with a grouping for a new collage series with the working title of "Miracles" that explores the awesome nature of things we now take for granted, such as the food we eat. But it will not be limited to food, that's just how it started a few months ago in my head.

The backgrounds are vintage magazines images of famous antique paintings. The figures are from "Costumi dei Secoli," an early 19th century Italian book that's been a big scanning project for me for far too long.

The hand-painted figures are remarkably vibrant, especially when you take into consideration that they are from 1837, were in a two-volume set that was falling part and had seriously foxing, and were not archival stored. I've been itching to use them for years, and thrilled to finally be doing it.

Here's a look at how the piece, "The Miracle of the Mushrooms" has progressed. The changes are subtle, primarily moving around mushrooms, debating whether the women should be holding them, etc. The mushrooms are from plates found in a variety of antique botanical and medical books, and recycled wrapping paper that duplicated mushrooms from an early edition of the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Look for photographs of the second collage, "Behold, the Beets," later this week.

Note the addition of angel wings to the woman on the left.
This is supposedly the final version, but am testing
additional mushrooms on the bottom left, before I seal it.  

  

"Deja Boo!" New line of Halloween cards

These are not only new, they're also my first line of Halloween cards. They are adapted from antique postcards and anatomical illustrations, vintage bridge tally cards, and vintage decorations in my collection/archive/stash.

They're available, to varying degrees, at the Cincinnati-area shops listed below - and all styles are at my studio at Brazee Street Studios in Oakley, and can be ordered by getting in touch with me:

• Bonbonerie (O'Bryonville, in the bakery)
• Dandy Haberdashery (Pleasant Ridge)
• The Framery (Hyde Park) 
• Indigenous: a handcrafted gallery (O'Bryonville)
• MICA 12/v (Over-the-Rhine)
• NVISION (Northside)
• Redtree Art Gallery and Coffeeshop (Oakley)

Animal kingdom

During a lunch last month, my friend Cecie Chewning casually handed me a small packet of engravings that she had been given by her uncle. I didn't look at them until a few days later, and when I did, whoa! What a treasure.

They've been scanned them into the archive now, so it seemed time to share them. The pages are relatively small - 8.5" x 4.5" - and there are headings and table numbers on each, but no bibliographic information. Not even the engraver, whose name usually is at the bottom of a plate.

They are hand-painted, and exquisite, if a bit worn/foxed. I'm guessing circa early 1800s, and betting there were more in whatever book they're from, since fish, insects, etc. are absent from mine. Here's a look at what I have … they'll be turning up in collages.