The Grand Tour: The Ladies Go Postal, and Start a New Decorating Craze.

© The Grand Tour: The Ladies Go Postal and Start a New
Decorating Craze.Mixed-media collage by Sara Pearce.
Antique hand-colored fashion plate (Dec. 1884 Peterson's Magazine)
and map (Guyot's Physical Geography, Scribner, 1872),  vintage
 European postage stamps, ink, pencil, watercolor, acrylic sealer. Professionally framed, 11” x 14,” with conservation glass (for UV protection). SOLD

One rule for The Grand Tour series is to keep as much of the painting intact as possible, since each of the engravings I use were hand-painted. It's my nod to the anonymous women who did the work. There is so much painted on this December 1884 illustration from Peterson's Magazine that I almost decided not to use it.

Then, I landed on the idea of using vintage European postage stamps as window panes to create a stained-glass effect, and replacing the rug with an antique European map.

Looking at the collage now on the screen, it hit me that I could have made life easier by gluing the stamps atop the window panes rather than cutting out each pane out while trying to preserve the thin mullions between them.

Yeah, another learning experience. 9.5" x 7.5" on archival mat board.