"Papa - I gotta GO"!

Another happy find from Mary Patterson, who sold two pieces of this paper to sister Penny a couple of months ago. Penny and I had a couple of conversations about old paper that Mary thought I'd perhaps be interested in. Penny would describe to me over the phone the various attributes of the paper and I would give her a yes or no depending upon what she was describing. I said "NO" to this piece more than once, thinking I would never have a use for a piece of paper with an image of a wrecked automobile as the highlight of the letterhead. Penny persisted. I resisted - to a point.

I finally relented.

Several weeks ago, I found A Perfect Match!

With permission of the Tattered and Lost blog Host (who wishes to remain nameless), I downloaded the images that I needed.

Now, I really gotta go!

PFF #6 - The Boys of Summer

I know, I know, boys and girls... Marie has invited us to play ball! - WELL!!! Not really. She thinks we're ready to go back to school! I know I'm not and I certainly want to make sure that everybody gets a chance to bat here. I did this one in 1994, and as far as I can determine, this is one that Rockwell did in black and white only. I added the color, respectfully.

BATTERRRR UP!!!!!

New Ploy

So, I'm on a mission. I've been putting art work on envelopes since I was a kid, and I've posted some of it here. At least some of it is almost forty years old, so I think it can be considered old. Of late however, I've been doing Thank Yous and notes with a twist - and in this case, I'm trying to get my foot in the door. We'll see what happens when they get this one in the mail. Mary Green at Green Paper sent me some old maps recently, so I sent her something similar to this. Hers was a map of Paris - this one is an old map of Montana - so old that the city of Big Timber isn't even on it!

Levitation for a Friend

I found this in a file folder while looking for something else yesterday - and realized there's been no Postcard Friendship Friday for awhile. Now you have no excuse, those of you who want to play! I realized that I didn't explain this card - I did this for a friend who does collect postcards, however the idea was all my own.

The “Kilner” Jar

In an earlier post here (Kilner paper) and HERE, I gave you a glimpse at what’s involved in getting my art onto a piece of old paper, and it always starts with – the paper. I purchased this piece on eBay from a gentleman named Tom Caniff after finding out that although there were no glass fruit jars listed as line items on this billhead, the primary business of the Kilner Brothers was to make jars for the preservation of food of one kind or another. Mr. Caniff also sent me a picture of a Kilner jar, but it was simply not detailed enough to use as a model.

The company had been doing business since 1857, and a Kilner (John) was making glass storage containers beginning in the year 1792. When John died in 1857, his sons took over the business. They continued to make glass containers until at least the turn of the century when many small glass firms were merged to create the United Glass Bottle company and the patents held by the Kilners were purchased.

With the help of a long time collector of canning jars, Larry Munson of Devon, Montana, I was able to portray the “Kilner” jar they produced. My last Paper Treasure Hunt and Photo Expedition involved a trip to Larry's for an afternoon of filling my camera with photos of over seventy varieties of fruit jars including the photo I took of the Kilner jar in the previous post that I used as a model for this piece.

Kilner Paper – Part 2

Several weeks ago, I added a post of a blank piece of paper and explained why it was appealing enough to me to purchase it on eBay. There were several issues to overcome however in order to get my art on it: I had to find a photograph of a Kilner jar. The seller had provided me with one that was at least an example of what the jar looked like, but it wasn’t detailed enough to really make a good model. I contacted a fellow from my hometown whom I just recently discovered collects fruit jars, and he agreed to let me take pictures of all the fruit jars that he has in his collection. I made arrangements to make the drive (200 miles), and spent the better part of a day filling my camera card with some really nice glass. Remind me to take more than one card on my next visit.

Now you get to see where I’m at in the process. It may be a couple more days before it’s done, but I’ve included the photograph I’ve been using as a model and what it looks like right now. You can go HERE to see what the Kilner paper looked like before I touched a pencil to it.

OH YES! And I won’t pass up the chance to introduce a new friend. I met a lady sculptor (and her husband and son) in Lincoln, Montana, this past weekend. Her web site really doesn’t do her art the justice it deserves, but Christy Daniels art really blew me away. If you’ve seen the movie Dances With Wolves in a theater, you know what Lt. Dunbar heard when the migrating herd of buffalo woke him in the middle of the night. Check out ”Thunderheads” in her gallery to see what that looked like.

PFF #5 – The BIG TOP & FREE Mail #3

Tomorrow is a very LARGE day for me, so I'm posting early.

The top one is in response to Marty Weil’s interview of Domique Jando on his Ephemera blog. Dominique is the mastermind behind a web site which documents the European Circus, and there is a lot to be said for some of the Circus advertising art wouldn’t you say? This is a cover I did in 1993. The First Day event was in Rochester, New York, and I made arrangements to have the stamps flown to me in Helena, Montana. We then drove to the little town of Ringling, named by and for one of the Ringling brothers, and I canceled them at the Postmaster’s home – on her kitchen table. Have I done any Old Paper Art lately? This time, the answer is YES. My previous post I completed just this past Wednesday, and it came in on a Wing and a Prayer – so to speak.

The bottom image is another envelope from my year long ‘vacation’ in Sunny Southeast Asia, although this one was done strictly with a Rapidiograph pen. AND – it met all the criteria for being legitimately mailed without a postage stamp.

"Come and Touch the Wing"

Talk about a forward thinking school! Some time early in July of 1902, the Florida Institute for the Deaf & Blind purchased an upright piano (similar to the piano in the vignette that's second from the right) from Wing & Son in New York. This is the first of two pages of a letter to the Superintendent of the School with instructions on how to deal with the piano in the Florida climate.

Michael Stinnett of The Antique Piano Shop in Atlanta, Georgia, graciously allowed me to use the image that you see on this piece. It comes from an advertising brochure which Wing & Son published around the turn of the Century. I had been looking on the web for some information about Wing & Son after seeing a piece of this letterhead come up for bid on eBay earlier this year, and I stumbled upon the Antique Piano Shop web site and online Museum. I have used it as a resource for several months now. If you have an interest in pianos and their history in this country, this is a site you don't want to pass up.

How does someone hear a piano when they are hearing impaired? As a matter of fact, Kim left a comment asking that very question, so in a reply to her via eMail I also sent the following link: Do the deaf love music?

Come and touch the Wing.