Julia and Hope: done

© Julia Had a Certain Spring in Her Step (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique engraving, illustration and scrap;
watercolor, marker, ink, acrylic sealer. 5"x7" on archival mat board.
Price: $75 (SOLD)

Hope (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique engraving; recycled book proof
 and greeting cards; watercolor, marker, ink, acrylic sealer.
5" x 7" on archival mat board
Price: $75 (SOLD)

Here are the finished collages I wrote about a few weeks ago. To be honest, not much changed. A Victorian pansy scrap was added to the bottom of Julia to echo the color in her hat ribbon and her dress color was punched up with marker. There's more gold in Hope's her hair and on the sun, and a bit more shading all over.

The pieces will be for sale at the 4th annual Jamie Osher Memorial Fund Gala, 6-9 p.m. Thursday April 26 at Art Design Consultants, 310 Culvert St., downtown (behind the Taft Museum of Art). The fund was created by Jamie's wife, artist Paula Wiggins, to raise money for esophageal cancer research, education and outreach. It's the disease that Jamie died from in 2008.

Admission is $50. A few dozen Cincinnati artists have donated small works of art for the "Wall of Hope." Each piece will sell for $75.     

The artful calling card

This stunning salesman's sample booklet was part of a new trove of Victorian treasures sent to me by my friend Shirley Tenhover, who I've mentioned before. She's an inveterate collector of all kinds of cool stuff - heavy on Victoriana - and is sifting through it all now.

As she jettisons some of it, she's been generous in sending bits along to me. And, boy, am I grateful. Not only because it provides paper for my collages but because it also opens my eyes to materials I've never seen before. Like this folding sampler. Isn't it a beaut?

It's amazing that it's intact given how thin the paper is. And look at those cards - they're in mint condition with glossy finishes and vibrant colors on the scraps and crisp edges on the cards. On this style, the name is printed below the scrap, which is flipped open for the reveal.

The back of the sampler is just as fascinating as the front even though it's not in color. As always, I'm on the fence about the future of the sampler - use it or frame it?