Olivia Sat Mesmerized as Jonathan's Libido Bubbled Over

When I came across this illustration in an antique children's book, I wondered what the girl was thinking as she watched the boy blowing bubbles, then, what he was thinking. They each appear so proper and straight-laced that I couldn't resist the temptation to nudge them into naughtiness. The bubbles are painted with acrylic and hand-punched from a range of sources that include vintage postcards, antique ads and Andy Warhol fashion illustrations. The headline, from an issue of The Chatterbox magazine, was a serendipitous find. 5.5" x 7.5" on acid-free watercolor paper. {SOLD}

Whatever the Occasion, Susie and Marie Had Each Other's Back

Something clicked when I found the 1953 sewing pattern illustration at the bottom and the dual-personality woman at the top (the top section of the cover of a 1950s-era "Nesco Modern Way of Electric Cooking" booklet).  But it wasn't until I saw the wording in a woman's farm journal ad for baby chicks that the piece came together. 3.75" x 5.75" on archival mat board.

The Grand Tour: 8

This is the first of The Grand Tour collages to take a different approach. It juxtaposes the carefree, fashionable women of a Peterson's Magazine fashion plate with images of (from left) Russian, Swedish, Chinese and Tibetan women whose lives are markedly different. The engravings - from "Circling The Globe In Stories of Travel" - are contemporary to the fashion plate, heightening the disparity. There also is a voyeuristic quality - as in almost all travel - to the women gazing from behind a fence. 11.5 " x 8.25 on cloth-covered art text book cover, hung with a velvet ribbon.

On the Wings of Summer

This is another of the seasonal collages in the long-format series (to view the other one: click here) and it includes antique endpaper, the faded cover of a vintage Little Blue Book, an embroidery pattern courtesy of Godey's Lady's Book, an illustration from the 1905 Prang art education manual for children I'm so fond of and butterflies cut from "The Butterfly Book" by W.J. Holland (Doubleday, Page & Co., 1902), which I nabbed at the public library's annual used book sale.

The series is at the framer's being matting. After finishing, I realized they wouldn't fit pre-cut mats. Yep, another lesson learned. They will float on the backing board with space between the collage and the mat opening. This way, they can be viewed to the edge, which is critical on these. 4.5" x 11.5" on canvas. (Sold)

The Grand Tour: 12

This is among my favorites in The Grand Tour series, because it led to the rediscovery of a magnificent 1896 book in my archive: "Circling The Globe In Stories of Travel." It is full of terrific engravings of sites and people, and is the source of the Egypt and Venice illustrations here. The women are from an October issue of Peterson's Magazine but not sure what year (it was a torn engraving). The lithographed flags behind the trio came via a beautiful 1880s guide to world flags published in the Netherlands by Tresling & Co.  5.5" x 8.5" on archival mat board. {Sold}