Making ends meet

On the hunt again. This time, for endpapers. You know, the papers pasted into the front and back of books. Specifically, antique endpapers. With any kind of pattern from marbled to narrative to floral. The worse shape they're in, the better, since they're being cut up for a big new collage project: a Victorian crazy quilt made entirely of paper.

The hope is that that in the end, it will look similar to the quilt above, a fabric family heirloom belonging to my friend Mary Heider. Since Victorian women used the overlooked scraps from other sewing projects as their material (waste not, want not), it seemed that endpapers would be appropriate. Some look like fabric. Some look quite luxurious. Others are drab. Of course, they also are papers with a past, another reason to use them.

The point is to mix them up willy nilly (not as easy as it seems for an artist used to putting things in order) on the quilt. Then, to embellish and embroider it to the nth degree.

It started with this block of pieces glued onto book cloth. Book cloth was picked, because I knew it would adhere to paper well, would be easy to sew through, and I wanted some kind of fabric in the piece. But the backing has since been switched to rice paper, in keeping with the all paper theme. Different glues are being used depending on the endpaper: PVA, gel medium, even some double backed tape.  

Here are close ups of two more squares … on the top one, you can see what I mean about papers that look like fabric. On the bottom one, an antique embroidery pattern from Peterson's magazines is inserted. At the bottom are more antique embroidery patterns that will be used in place of traditional embroidered ones. I searched my archive specifically for patterns printed with faux stitching.    

Once the individual blocks are finished, there will be 12 or 20, then the crazy embroidery begins. For it, I'm using vintage embroidery thread that belonged to my late mother. It will be my winter project. Then, the decision comes whether to join the blocks together to make one "quilt" or to hang them separately (but very close to one another) on cradled wood panels.

The exhibition this is being made for is a solo exhibit of my work titled "Remnants" that opens mid-June at the Loveland Museum in Loveland, CO.

Holiday madness!

Just posted this Studio Schedule on the Open Studios page, but thought I'd post here, too …

Additional holiday hours at Paper With a Past studio

12:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday Dec. 11

12:30- 9 p.m. Friday Dec . 12  *see below

10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 13

12:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday Dec. 18

10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday Dec. 20

* "Stuff I Can't Bear to Cut Up" Special Event

12:30-9 p.m. Friday Dec. 12
(before, and during Open Studios)

Antique and vintage paper from the archives

that is artful enough on its own to be framed and hung on a wall,
from maps, fashion plates and children's book illustrations
to magazine covers, advertisements and anatomical engravings.

Some are matted, some are not.

All have insanely low prices.

Stop by to browse the print bins for that perfect present.

April showers? No. May flowers for The City Flea

Whew. Been scanning every image from a 1910 classic: "The Flower Children" by Elizabeth Gordon. It was published by the P.F. Volland Co. of Chicago and went into a gazillion printings. In the late 1940s, the Wise-Parlow Co. of N.Y. reprinted it. I have copies from each publisher, and am saving one set for future Sweet Petite collages, and selling the other The City Flea (10a-4p, May 17 in Cincinnati's Washington Park). They're packaged on colorful uncut mat boards that can be cut to mat the prints. This way, buyers can select which flower to show (each has another on its back), and whether to include the poem.

A page of their own

© If You're Goin'
to San Francisco ...

All the Sweet Petite collages have been posted on a single page on the blog. Click this link or the one in the header at the top of the page to view them. The page is set up to allow online buying via PayPal. I'll update it as pieces sell, and when I make new ones. Of course, all are available at my Cincinnati studio (first floor, across from the gallery at Brazee Street Studios).

Two more calendars in the works

Wrapping up all the calendar master files this week, then, the printing begins. These two join the Food Colors and Grand Tour calendars that I wrote about a few weeks ago. They are the same size - 5.5" x 8.5" - and as with the other two, I plan to offer a special deal for advance orders ($12), after which the price will be $15. More as soon as they're printed ...

New holiday section on the web site

The holidays have arrived on the Paper With a Past web site. Well, not really. But there is a new holiday section in the artwork part of the site. Right now, it's heavy on Halloween and Santa collages.

Some pieces are for sale; some are available upon request as signed, limited-edition prints; and some are, well, just plain sold. Look for more images to pop up in the coming weeks.

Paper With a Past now has a Facebook page

Yes, I'm mired in the past, right down to my business card (above). But that doesn't mean I'm not paying attention to the present. So, I launched a Facebook page last week for Paper With a Past as another way of spreading the word.

While the blog focuses on process and allows me to talk about my work, the FB page is an exercise in shameless commerce. It includes news about exhibitions, new collages and other PWAP products, retailers, etc.

I hope you visit it and would love, love, love it if you "liked" the page.

Finally, a look at the new studio

Yes, I got around to uploading photos of my new studio on the first floor at Brazee Street Studios ... which is officially open whenever I'm there. That's just about every weekday. Generally after 11 a.m. So, feel free to drop by if you're in the Oakley neighborhood or nearby.