Time is on their side

The Grand Tour: After Much Tinkering, Rosa, Viola, and Cora 
Traveled to a Place that H.G. Wells Had Yet To Imagine: The Future
mixed-media collage: antique hand-painted fashion plate (Peterson's, Feb. 1887);
vintage diagram (Switching Locomotives Operating Manual, General Motors)
and illustrations (Audel's Plumbers and Steam Fitters Guide #1 and #4, 1925;
Architectural Forum, July 1960); recycled book proof; marker, ink, watercolor
and acrylic sealant. 9.5" x 12" on acid free mat board. (2012)

This collage - the last of the new ones for Saturday's Art Affaire - began with the architectural illustration. When I spotted it, I knew the Grand Tour women would travel to the future - and so they have. But it took some mechanical ingenuity.

I've always been a woman with a tool box. One of my first purchases when I left home was an electric drill. After all, I already had my mother's Sunbeam mixer. So, tools have become a recurring theme in my collages and greeting cards. In the collages, I tend to pair oversized tools with 1950s-era women as a symbol of role reversal and empowerment. They function in much the same way here.

A few words about Mr. Wells: his novella, The Time Machine, was published in 1895. Since this fashion plate is dated 1887, my women are far ahead of him and have made time travel a reality. I like to think their trip inspired him.