Surprises at tonight's Open Studio ...

New petite collages.

Since I missed the first two Open Studios of the year, I am pulling out all the stops for tonight's (6-9 p.m., Studio 1C, Brazee Street Studios in Oakley). First, I will be open at 5 p.m. Second, I also will be open 10 a.m.-3 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday).

Meanwhile, as I was creating a slew of new Fit To Be Tied collage tags/bookmarks, some grew a bit more complex and a tiny bit larger. Voila! Sweet Petites were born. Yeah, the name's a bit precious, but til I come up with something better, well, that's it. 

The first five in the series feature antique engravings of women from Godey's Lady's Book and Peterson's Magazine; Victorian flower scraps (thanks Shirley Tenhover); vintage paper flowers and dried flowers (thanks Tim Leslie). They are matted in acid-free, conservation grade mats and ready to pop into  a standard 5" x 7" frame.

New Fit To Be Tied ® collage tags in the works. 

When I said a slew of tags, I meant it. That's them, above, on the work table, awaiting laminating - new this time around - hole punching and their vintage seam binding ribbons. Finished them last night, just in a nick of time.

Last, but certainly not least on this Father's Day weekend, finally got my act together and had a pile of vintage 1932-33 car ads from Fortune magazine matted. The over-sized ads - 11" X 14" - are in mint condition, the mats are wide and conservation grade, and, of course, they're matted to fit a standard-size frame. As much as I love the car ones, well, the Firestone tire ads are the real eye-poppers.   

When beer did, and didn't, flow ...

So, I'm going through that stack of 1932-33 Fortune magazines I've written so much about. Now that the covers have been removed, matted and put up for sale - only four left - it seemed time to rifle through the entire issues to see what could be used in collages and what will be set aside for a future sale.

I'll post more images - specifically of the glorious tire, car and, believe it or not, tomato juice ads. Really. Stunning. But, what caught my eye last night was an illustrated feature on the beer business. Each issue of Fortune had special stories printed on thick, creamy paper that differed from the other paper in the issue. Paper that is actually watermarked with the word "Fortune." Whoa. Now that's a publisher that spared no expense.

The brewery pictured is Philadelphia's Bergner & Engel, which at one time in the late 19th century, was the country's third largest brewery. The illustrations are accompanied by a story titled "If There Were No Prohibition ..." that checks "the economic arguments" for and against repeal of the 18th Amendment that established prohibition. Suffice it to say that prohibition was not kind to B&E. Like many other breweries, it folded.

At least this glorious tribute remains. I can see the three pages, which are in mint condition and were NOT printed back to back, framed and hanging in some new brewery. So, they've been spared the cutting board.

A holiday surprise in the studio ...

Finally got my "Stuff I can't bear to cut up" print bin together - just in time for this weekend's Open Studios (5-9 pm Friday 12.14 and 10 am-3 pm Saturday 12.15). It's kicking off with 11 original Fortune magazine covers from 1932-33. These are NOT reproductions, and they're in mint/near mint condition. 

They're matted in archival mats and ready to pop into a standard 16" x 20" frame. Great gift. I checked online and they're selling for $75 to $200 each. Mine are bargain priced at $55. 

Have to start de-stashing ... but I am keeping one for myself, along with the rest of each magazine. Yes, they were entire issues with some great art inside that I don't feel quite so bad about cutting apart. Well, I may mat some of the car ads - they are pretty fantastic - to sell.

Fortune found ... and maybe lost

New collage images are coming soon. Honest. I'm in the midst of making pieces for two fall shows, plus a gazillion collage tags - many themed to Halloween. Meantime, I'm corralling images from the attic archive for future pieces and that brings me to a new post on The Paper With a Past blog. It's about a cache of Fortune magazines I've been sitting on for a while as I wrestle with what to do with these valuable beauties.

A mixed Fortune - as in the magazine

For the past two years, I've been sitting on 12 classic Fortune magazines from 1932 and 1933 that are in mint condition. I was dumbstruck when I found them selling for a mere $7 each. I never thought I'd own one of these beauties, let alone for such a modest price.

At first, all I wanted to do was read them - partly because the issues were right in the throes of the Great Depression - ogle the stylish covers and swoon over the equally stylish advertisements. Fortune has always been a well-designed magazine known for bold art direction and the high-profile artists hired to illustrate its covers and features stories.

Once the initial wonder wore off, I debated whether to sell them intact, cut them up and sell them piece by piece - I discovered that early covers usually fetch at least $60 with many in the $100+ range - or use them in collages. My find was quickly turning into a mixed Fortune.

I both hate and love when the material I collect for collages turns out to be more valuable than the collages! I did approach a few area galleries and booksellers but they low-balled me at $10 an issue - even as I stood in front of covers they had priced at $125 a pop.

As I continue climbing the decision tree, the magazines sit in their crisp archival sleeves. Maybe its time to get the Paper With a Past etsy shop that I set up last year up and running?

Note: covers shown are by (clockwise, from top left) Ernest Hamlin Baker, F.V. Carpenter, Carpenter again, and Thomas Maitland Cleland.