Larger than life

As I've been going through the stacks and stacks and stacks of Life magazines given to me by illustrator C.F. Payne, I keep coming across striking advertisements.

No surprise there. Advertising companies have always been at the forefront of graphic design. But there are few that seem as fresh today as then. Among them, ads for Curtiss candy company, makers of all kinds of goodies, including the yummy Butterfinger and Baby Ruth bars. (Love the tagline for Butterfinger: "rich in dextrose." The food police would have a field day with that today.)

The ads are big, bold and modern. The only bad thing about them? They were placed on opposite pages, not the magazines' centerfolds. Even so, they'd be terrific framed. Joining them would be tricky. I tried to remove the pages carefully, but it is old paper (circa 1940s).

Here are the ads found so far, you can get an idea of their size in the images shot on my cutting mat and with the ruler … imagine the impact of turning the page and seeing one of these.

Mad Women: Jean Drops Out and Joins A Cult

Mad Women: Jean Drops Out and Joins A Cult (2012)
mixed-media collage: vintage illustrations (Esquire, Dec. 1939;
 McCall's Pattern Book, spring 1946);  recycled Turner Classic Movies
trading card ("Casablanca") & Monet exhibition catalog illustration;
ink; watercolor. 7.5" x 9.5" on archival mat board. Framed with conservation glass.
Price: $125.

I was so excited to - finally - use something from the December 1939 issue of Esquire, which my friend Marsie Newbold gave to me a few years back. It's the background image of the lithe women with a horse and came from an illustrated feature titled "If Women Rules the World and Men and Horses Were Slaves." Yeah, real male fantasy stuff that I couldn't resist turning into female fantasy stuff.

Adding to the romantic air: a quote from "Casablanca" from a set of classic movie trading cards that came in the mail back in my newspaper features editor days. At that time, I was saving promotional card decks. Well, let's be honest, I was also saving tons of other paper!

In any case, what was funniest to me about the quote is that my daughter recognized it as being from "Casablanca" almost immediately. Guess we raised her right.

Mad Women on a smaller scale

Between larger collages, I've been working on the gift tag collages for a few retail shops in town (more on that when they are actually in the shops). As I was scanning the finished tags into the computer, I noticed that the '40s/'50s fashion tags have taken on the same "don't give me any X#$+" attitude as the Mad Women series. I seem incapable of creating a straight-up fashion tag!

Beaches: revisited

Soooo. I let those two beach collages that were "finished" last week sit for a bit. Then, decided that some text was the extra touch they needed. (SOLD)

Bathing suit season

I just finished these two pieces for a commission. Well, to be honest, I'm not certain they are finished. I haven't sealed them or even named them. They are sitting on one of the work tables 'til I'm sure they don't need anything else. (SOLD)

The request was for a piece using '40s bathing suits. I found these illustrations in my fashion stash and decided to make two collages while I was at it. The 95+ temperatures here may have inspired me, that or my longing this summer to be down the shore.

It's difficult to see but each background is composed of multiple pieces with the one on the right made up of four images from recycled catalogs. The shells are both old (19th century) and new (recycled greeting cards). 4.5" x 6.5" each on archival mat boards with ink and watercolor.