Animal kingdom

During a lunch last month, my friend Cecie Chewning casually handed me a small packet of engravings that she had been given by her uncle. I didn't look at them until a few days later, and when I did, whoa! What a treasure.

They've been scanned them into the archive now, so it seemed time to share them. The pages are relatively small - 8.5" x 4.5" - and there are headings and table numbers on each, but no bibliographic information. Not even the engraver, whose name usually is at the bottom of a plate.

They are hand-painted, and exquisite, if a bit worn/foxed. I'm guessing circa early 1800s, and betting there were more in whatever book they're from, since fish, insects, etc. are absent from mine. Here's a look at what I have … they'll be turning up in collages.

Chicks with attitude

Just have to share some of my favorite Easter chick postcards. All feature chicks acting in very human-like ways. After scanning them, I realized that most were published by International Art Publishing Company, and printed in Germany. They date from 1909 to 1914. Enjoy!

You never know what will turn up in the mail

So, on Friday, I received a package from my friend Jo Diamantes, a wonderful Cincinnati book artist. It was taped within an inch of its life. At first, I thought it was something related to the Cincinnati Book Arts Society, which we both belong to. But what could warrant such intense packaging?

I soon found out. Inside was a worn, crumbling scrapbook, circa 1890, and a note from Jo explaining that it had belonged to someone on her mother's side of the family, but she wasn't sure who. She said she had no use for it, but suspected I might. How thoughtful!

It's a small - 6" x 8.5" - album with pressed cardboard covers that mimic leather. The front cover - above - has hand painted roses, and the fading inscription: "A Present from London."

The first "scrap," is a large chromolithograph glued to the inside of the cover. The rest of the book is filled with an eclectic mix of paper: scraps, trade cards, personal calling cards, etc. Here's a quartet of the most arresting images … those with a keen eye will note that the final scrap is similar to one written about last August in a post about Victorian oddities.

  

When life hands you lemons ...

I was struck by a nasty virus during the past two weeks that pretty much kept me at home. After spending an entire week in bed, ugh, I got busy on the computer during the second week. Doing what? Thought I'd show you ...

A quartet of greeting cards from the new "Animal Attraction" line. I've been collecting quirky Victorian images of animals for a while, thinking they would become letterpress postcards. Instead, they're regular greeting cards. These are the vertical versions, there are horizontals, too. And every card in every Cards With A past line is now available in three sizes (A2, A6, A7). Yeah, it's a lot of work making the masters, but what else have I had to do lately, besides get well?!

Oh, the images are from Nov. 1888 St. Nicholas Magazine (octopus & whale); Chatterbox for Little Folks, 1883 (dog); a 1908 issue of The Chatterbox magazine (salmon); The Teachers' and Pupils' Cyclopedia, 1904 (frogs).

Cunning cat

© Exit strategy: outnumbered, but not outsmarted
mixed-media collage by Sara Pearce
3.25" x 4.5," matted to fit a standard 5" x 7" frame
$35 plus shipping 

While designing next year's calendars, I noticed that thanks to my Sweet Petites binge there were almost enough cat collages for a cat calendar. Just needed one more, and here it is.

The main image is from a paper company ad found in a stack of vintage design magazines - Communication Arts, Print, etc. They were given to me by Elizabeth Mariner, a Cincinnati graphic designer and co-publisher of Express Cincinnati (a free monthly that covers nonprofit, philanthropic and arts organizations in Greater Cincinnati).

When I saw the dogs and cat, the title popped right into my head, and set the direction for the collage. Happily, my deep and highly-organized stash made it easy to find exactly what I wanted. The background is an antique engineering engraving from a 19th century book bought at a library book sale four years ago. The brain was one of two cut from an ad that I used in another collage, below, in 2011. I knew it would come in handy some day ...

The train kept a rollin' ... more petites

© Flight Plans.
Mixed-media collage by Sara Pearce.

More of the petites, as in each is 3" x 4.5." All are matted to fit a standard 5" x 7" frame. One thing I like a lot about this batch is the fairly even blend of antique, vintage and recycled paper in each. I'll be making more later in the summer but, for now, am moving on to some much larger pieces. Enjoy.

© Ella's Green Thumb Transforms the Garden.
Mixed-media collage by Sara Pearce.

© Porkoplis.
Mixed-media collage by Sara Pearce.
(sold)

© Makes Me Wanna Shout.
Mixed-media collage by Sara Pearce.

Animal attraction

Village Dandies

Footloose
(sold)

Last week, I mentioned a new line of "petite" collages I'm creating. They really ARE petite, that is:  2.5"x4.5" and 3.25"x4.6" - and matted in 5"x7" acid-free mats to fit ready-made frames. 

Well, this week, I hit my stride with a series of animal collages - a first for me, except for birds, that is - for a fundraiser to aid a new Cincinnati non-profit: Pets In Need. It provides vet care for animals owned by low-income people, which could be anyone from a person who's been laid off from their job to someone with a serious illness whose income has been depleted by medical bills.

Pets are a passion of a good friend of mine, Carol Sanger, who chairs the board. So, when she asked me if I wanted to participate in their Summer Solstice Celebration, I jumped at the chance. Since the group is not charging any "set-up" fee or taking a commission on sales, I decided to donate part of my proceeds to them.

Well, enough of the back story, here are more of the petites ...

Cat o' Nine Tales
(sold)

Waited on, hand and foot

Melancholic
(sold)

Groovin'
(sold)

You Talkin' to Me?
(sold)

Snail Mail

The Proposal

From the scrap pile: Victorian wackiness

I visited my friend, Shirley Tenhover, last week in North Carolina. And we did a trade. Shhh, don't tell my husband. She got a Social Butterfly box collage. I got a box of fantastic Victorian scraps. They range from teeny-tiny people to oversized holiday greetings. Here are a few of the more, um, interesting pieces. Now thinking about how to use them in collages ...

 

Animal of the day: pugilistic pug

This fighting-fit pug is from an 1892 issue of St. Nicholas magazine. The illustration accompanied a poem titled "The Boastful Pug." Proclaiming himself the "champion of all the little dogs" he throws out a challenge ...

 And the Maltese cat, from a safe place, said:

"To spar with you I'll agree."

"Come down on the ground, then," said the pug;

Said the cat: "You come up in the tree!"  

Animal of the day: water ballet

This is one of a series of line drawings accompanying a poem in an 1889 issue of St. Nicholas children's magazine. It is about a man in search of the unusual and he found it with "the Octopus a-waltzing with the whale, whale, whale."

Animal of the day: the elephant in the room

Illustration from St. Nicholas magazine, 1878

A few months ago, while rifling through my collection of 19th century Chatterbox and St. Nicholas magazines, I started to notice wonderful - and, sometimes, bizarre - images of animals. I hadn't paid attention to them before. But, now, as I turned the pages, they seemed to be everywhere.

I started clipping them and scanning them into the electronic archive. There was no motive behind it, other than wanting to save the images. I now have dozens and dozens of them and thought I'd share them during the next few weeks.

Meantime, an idea for them has popped into my head. But, whether that will take the form of a collage or not, well, more about that another time. For now, I just want to release them into the wild ...