Unabashed romanticism

There are times when I hate cutting a particular image. But there are few times when I'd like to save an entire book - this is one of those.

A stop at my favorite neighborhood used bookstore - Significant Books - turned up a copy of a luxurious 1888 edition of Keats poems. The book was no longer a book, it was a pile of papers that were badly foxed. I flipped through them quickly and decided that at $5 it was a steal, because the central images were salvageable.

I didn't really know what I had until it was whisked off to the studio. Snip. Snip. Snip. The worst parts of the large, velvety pages hit the floor. As I got deeper into it, I couldn't help but begin to read the poems and to look more closely at Low's classic Beaux-Arts illustrations.

Low began his artistic life in his teens as a sculptor and illustrator. When he was 20, he headed to Europe to study with Jean-Léon Gérôme and Carolus-Duran. He also spent summers with the Barbizon artists, whose focus was on nature and realism. 

After five years, Low returned to America, and began working as a muralist, illustrator, and decorative painter. He achieved some fame after illustrating an equally lavish edition of Keats' "Lamia" for Lippincott in 1885. That brought the publisher back to him three years later for "Odes."

I'm smitten and now on the lookout for good copies of each, to add to my library this time - not to my stash!  

Breaking up is not hard to do

A few weeks ago I took the ax, er, the box cutter, to "Summer 1" (above). To be honest, it was easy to do, because I never liked this piece. Too static. No focal point. Dull colors. I could go on ...

In any case, the pieces have been sitting on a worktable ever since. Well, I wanted space for other things and got tired of looking at 'em. What to do? Turn them into backgrounds for a couple of Out On a Limb collages. This time, I went bright. There are too many dark birds hanging around the studio.

Out On a Limb: August (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique science notebook (Lillian Mary Shackett, 1918);
 endpaper, book spine, ad and needlework illustration (Delineator, Chatterbox); 
recycled handmade paper embedded with leaves; vintage illustration 
(Reddish Plantcutter and Crested Sharpbill, Birds of the World, 1961); 
watercolor, pencil, ink, fluid chalk, marker, acrylic sealer and acrylic varnish. 
5” x5 ” on hardwood panel (2012)
Price: $85.

   

Out On a Limb: Summer (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique endpaper, book spine, trade card 
and illustration (Chatterbox); recycled handmade paper; vintage illustration 
(Rose-Breasted Thrush Tanager, Birds of the World, 1961);
 watercolor, pencil, ink, fluid chalk, marker, acrylic sealer and acrylic varnish.
5” x5 ” on hardwood panel.
Price: $85.

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 ...

 

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.

Smoke and mirrors

I nabbed copies of the June and August 1899 issues of Harper's New Monthly Magazine yesterday - and for a mere $1 each, I might add. The Harper Brothers launched the magazine in 1850, followed by Harper's Weekly in 1857 and Harper's Bazaar in 1867. The latter still exists, as does the book publishing end of the business - now HarperCollins Publishers.

One reason the magazines were appealing: the ads are in good shape. In most magazines of that era, ads were at the front and back only - the places that get all the wear and tear. So, while they make interesting reading, they don't necessarily make good collage material.

These are splendid. I cherry-picked a few favorites to post, starting with the outrageous ad at top that gives the post its title.