Social butterflies: Emma and Marjorie Were Honing Their Networking Skills

© Social Butterflies: Emma and Morjorie Were Honing Their Networking Skills (2012)

mixed-media collage: vintage illustrations (The Delineator, Butterick, May 1923; 

The Butterfly Book, Doubleday Page & Co., 1902; Butterflies and Moths,

Viking Press, 1965); handmade paper; recycled origami paper;

 antique Lotto box (McLoughlin Bros., Trunk Lotto No. 2); watercolor, ink, acrylic sealer;

metal tape; recycled glass

Price: $150 (contact Bromwell's Gallery).

Here's a peek at one of the Social Butterflies boxes in progress. Actually, it's done, but I didn't think to shoot it before putting the glass on top and, well, too much glare to do it now. Memo to self: next time, take the picture before adding the glass. I added a few more flowers and a tiny cricket but that's about it. 

The girls are from the May 1923 issue of The Delineator. As in the other pieces in the series, which also feature illustrations from the same issue, my back story for them has them being more than clothes horses or frivolous party goers. I see them as BF - before Facebook - social networkers, who are honing their skills now that women have the right to vote. That's the story - and I'm sticking to it! 

The ornate paper on the box sides - below - is original. The box housed the pieces for Lotto, a Bingo-type game. I was tempted to add the lid so viewers would have to open it to see what's inside, but decided to try that another time. The lid is wonderful on it's own and, so, I'd like to use it for another piece. The back features a color plate of caterpillars, which - like Emma and Marjorie - will some day morph into an entirely new - and equally fascinating - creatures.  

I haven't been slacking off, honest

Hmm. Given the lack of blog posts this week, it may look like I've been taking it easy. Not so. I've been working on a series of entirely new three-dimensional pieces for Flora and Fauna, an exhibit that opens May 5 at Bromwell's Gallery, downtown. It will be hung Monday night, so you can understand why I haven't been sitting at the computer.

Here's a peek. Oh, wait. I should note that the boxes with women and girls sporting butterfly wings are part of my new Social Butterflies series and, of course, they are not frivolous females. You'll find out more when I title the pieces - for the moment, let's just say that the images are from the early 1920s, on the heels of women in America getting the right to vote ...

  

Only two more days to see my 5th Street Gallery show

© Out On A Limb: 14 (2012)
mixed-media collage: vintage illustrations (A Field Guide to the Birds,
 Houghton Mifflin, 1934; Birds of the World, Golden Press, 1961),
ink, watercolor, acrylic sealer & varnish. 6" x 6" on cradled, hardwood panel.
Price: $85.  

Just a reminder that "Expecting to Fly," my exhibition at downtown's 5th Street Gallery, is open for two more days: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. It's a gorgeous day for a stroll around downtown! So, please stop in if you are out and about.

Mad Women: Jean Drops Out and Joins A Cult

Mad Women: Jean Drops Out and Joins A Cult (2012)
mixed-media collage: vintage illustrations (Esquire, Dec. 1939;
 McCall's Pattern Book, spring 1946);  recycled Turner Classic Movies
trading card ("Casablanca") & Monet exhibition catalog illustration;
ink; watercolor. 7.5" x 9.5" on archival mat board. Framed with conservation glass.
Price: $175.

I was so excited to - finally - use something from the December 1939 issue of Esquire, which my friend Marsie Newbold gave to me a few years back. It's the background image of the lithe women with a horse and came from an illustrated feature titled "If Women Rules the World and Men and Horses Were Slaves." Yeah, real male fantasy stuff that I couldn't resist turning into female fantasy stuff.

Adding to the romantic air: a quote from "Casablanca" from a set of classic movie trading cards that came in the mail back in my newspaper features editor days. At that time, I was saving promotional card decks. Well, let's be honest, I was also saving tons of other paper!

In any case, what was funniest to me about the quote is that my daughter recognized it as being from "Casablanca" almost immediately. Guess we raised her right.

Out On A Limb: 20

© Out On A Limb: 20 (2012)

mixed-media collage: antique illustration

 (Birds of New York, Vol. 2, New York State Museum, 1914);

 recycled catalog covers and wrapping paper; watercolor; ink; marker; 

acrylic sealer; acrylic varnish. 6" x 6" on birch panel. $85 (SOLD)

Talk about a struggle. Aieeee. The stormy main section of the background was created with the intention of using another pair of birds - one color, one black-and-white - and some text. I cut, repositioned, painted, cut some more, colored, repositioned again. But it wasn't working. So I set it aside and continued other collages in the series.

Then, I came across these cool falcons perched on rocks. Perfect. After additional background layers and a fair amount of painting on both the rocks and feathers, it was finished. The absence of leaves and trees makes it a departure from the rest of the series - and although it is numbered 20, it was completed after 24.

Shout-outs from CityBeat & Aeqai

© The Grand Tour: One Small Step (2012)

mixed-media collage: hand-painted fashion plate (Godey's Lady's Book, Dec. 1842); 

antique maps (Guyot's Physical Geography, Scribner's, 1872;
Natural Advanced Geography, American Book Co., 1901);

 vintage illustrations (Whole Earth Catalog back cover, fall 1969; 

Harter's Picture Archive, Dover, 1978); watercolor; ink.
 8" x 11" on archival mat board. Framed. Price: $185. (SOLD)

I've been in Philly for a few days now visiting family and friends - and just found some time to catch up on things, including last week's issue of CityBeat and the March edition of Aeqai. Both include flattering - whew - reviews of Expecting to Fly.

"In Expecting to Fly, on view at 5th Street Gallery downtown, Pearce’s whimsical worlds do not disappoint," writes Alan Pocaro in CityBeat. "The mischievous characters that inhabit her small-scale works are always clever but never cloying. In addition to the many series’ curious juxtapositions and sheer visual delight, Pearce’s labels catalog the intriguing origins of her disparate source materials, a herculean task in its own right.

"A quick first take on Sara Pearce’s Expecting to Fly at 5^th Street Gallery downtown shows her a words person as well as a visual artist," says Jane Durrell in Aeqai. "And no wonder; words were her trade during her Cincinnati Enquirer years, when she reported on restaurants, books, sometimes visual arts, and was a features editor. What collages require, however, is a good eye; Pearce has it. If word play is essential in the way she shapes her work, it should be said that her words are sharp, funny and slyly pointed."

I hope you get a chance to stop by the gallery to see the show, which is on view through Saturday April 7. Oh, by the way I'll be there 2-6 p.m. on Saturday March 31 and would love to tell you more about the work - and the papers used to make it!
 

Mad Women: The Gloves Were Off

© Mad Women: The Gloves Were Off (2012)

mixed-media collage: vintage illustrations (McCall's Pattern Book, March 1946;

Butterick Pattern Book, Fall 1953; Picture Sourcebook, Dover, 1974), 

vintage Deutsche Bank calendar (1958), recycled ads and flash card, ink.

 5.75" x 9.25" on archival mat board. Framed with conservation glass.
Price: $150. 

This came about in a more random way than many of my collages. The woman was cut-out to use with a 1950s wallpaper sample background whose pattern I found to be too busy. So, the hunt began for a better background. It took a lot of rummaging before landing on the calendar, which was snapped up at a used book sale for the graphics above the calendar (beautifully printed, stained-glass images from German churches). It wasn't until I looked at it again last week that I realized the year was 1958 - perfect for "Mad Women."

The gloves and "hot" are from advertisements received in the mail. At first, I thought I'd use black & white gloves, but these have more punch. The screw/bolt digs into a block from a flash card set that was a last-minute addition, because I was determined to have her leaning on that screw even though it wasn't long enough.

Originally, she was holding the apron, too - not the knives, scissors, etc. - but when I spotted them, I decided to have her wear the apron instead. Finally, she was tilted a bit to really give the appearance of leaning but also to add a bit of a diagonal to the vertical composition.

Out On A Limb: 24

© Out on A Limb: 24 (2012)
mixed-media collage: recycled wallpaper sample & publishers catalog;
vintage John J. Audubon calendar illustration (1990); ink; chalk; acrylic sealer;
acrylic varnish. 6" x 6" on birch panel. $85 (SOLD) 

Hmmm. It may be time to stop numbering these and write real titles. In any case, it looks like the series will go on for some time. I am enjoying making these and coming up with new versions of the black & white/color bird combo.

As usual, this changed a few times - mainly the birds behind the cage. What I really like about it - beyond the striking color combination - are the three layers of birds and how they echo one another.

The Grand Tour: high-wire shenanigans

©The Grand Tour: Marie, Honore and Lily Were Ignored by Their Travelmates
But the Venetians Were Enthralled (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique illustrations (The Delineator, Dec. 1895, Sept. 1903, Oct. 1904)
and engineering engraving; vintage illustration (Picture Sourcebook, Dover, 1978);
recycled greeting card, book endpaper, circus exhibition poster and catalog;
 watercolor; ink. 11.5" x 8.5" on archival mat board.  Framed with conservation glass.
Price: $185.

I knew from the outset that one of the new The Grand Tour collages would have at least one woman walking a high wire - just not who or where. Well, Venice's St. Mark's Square seemed a natural. After all, no Grand Tour could be called complete without a stop in Venice.

The original illustration included the sky, the plaza floor and more people. I cut those out, saved the tiny people to cut out and reinsert later, replaced the sky with an engineering engraving and the plaza with end papers fittingly decorated with lions - Venice's mascot.

The hoops - recycled from a pop-up, greeting card I received - came into play after scouring my stash for a sun or something astronomical to place in the sky. I liked that the blue hoops were decorated with stars and that the golden one's measurements complement the engineering engraving. The hoops also draw attention to the trio, who are close in size to the figures in the foreground who are so pointedly ignoring them.

Out On A Limb: 19

© Out On A Limb: 19 (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique and vintage illustrations
(The Chatterbox, 1899; Audubon calendar, 1990); recycled
glass catalog; chalk; watercolor; ink; acrylic sealer, acrylic varnish.
 6" x 6" on claybord/hardwood panel. Price: $75. (SOLD)

I noted earlier that I've begun making slightly larger Out On A Limb collages - 6"x6" vs. 5"x5" - which doesn't sound like much of a change, but it's amazing what difference an inch all around can make.

This is one of eight finished recently for my show, Expecting To Fly, at Cincinnati's 5th Street Gallery. I opted to include them - along with five new 5"x5"s - because there is a sense of anticipation in the series, as though the birds might take wing at any moment.

These are the first owls in the series. The pair in back were accompanied by a poem that began "Laugh not at our grimaces, Nor call us dull and odd, But come and watch us sailing, When the dew is on the sod." The swirling, colorful barn beams they're resting on are from a glass catalog retrieved from a recycling bin in the glass school adjacent to my studio. I was wowed by the variety of glass and its collage potential.

The Grand Tour travels to new heights

© The Grand Tour: The Davenport Sisters Were Perfectly
Capable of Putting Themselves on A Pedestal (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique, hand-painted fashion plate (Godey's Lady's Book);
 vintage map (1957 U.S. Geological Survey);  recycled note card & book proof;
 ink, watercolor, colored pencil.  8.5" x 10.5" on archival mat board.
Framed with conservation glass. Price: $185.

I need to rush off but wanted to post this, because it's probably my favorite collage from the new ones in  the "The Grand Tour" series. And, yes, it will be in the show that opens Friday night (March 9) at 5th Street Gallery - actually, the show's already hung. So, if you happen to be in downtown Cincinnati, pop in. More later ...

Thanks!

A quick note of thanks to everyone who attended Friday night's The Art of Food opening at The Carnegie. It was a crowded, over-the-top spectacle with live performances, "living dolls" modeling fantastic, food-themed dresses created by Cincinnati artist Pam Kravetz and baker/artist The Bonbonerie, and dozens of area chefs dishing out amazing food. Did I bring a camera? No. Sigh. Lesson learned.

If you want to see my work, now's the time. When I left the exhibit, 12 of the 16 collages had sold. So, once the show ends, they'll disappear into the collections of the purchasers. It was exciting to watch people look at the collages and to hear them laugh. I did a lot of work on the labels to explain where the papers came from, which a few people commented on. As you know, the paper itself is important to me, as is letting people know that it is the original paper - not photocopies.

© Mad Women: Joan - Tired of the Glad-Handing, Good Ole' Boy Network -
 Planned A Corporate Takeover (2012)
mixed-media collage: vintage cover illustration (The Delineator, Dec. 1934),
metal button, price tag and foreign currency; recycled parking lot ticket,
ledger paper, and Champion Paper sample; ink; watercolor.
7.5" x 9.5 on archival mat board. Framed with conservation glass.
 Price: $175. (SOLD)

Now, on to Expecting To Fly, which opens 6-9 p.m. Friday at the 5th Street Gallery. I've created new Mad Women, Grand Tour and Out on A Limb collages that all speak to the idea of freedom and empowerment in one way or another.

Low-Hanging Fruit

© Low Hanging Fruit (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique illustration (The Gibson Book, Vol. 2, Scribner's, 1906),
vintage clip art, recycled gift bag and children's book proof, wallpaper sample,  ink,
 watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic sealer. 11.5" x 5.5" on archival mat board.
Matted & framed. Price: $150. (SOLD)

Surreal. That's the first word that popped into my head when I found Çharles Dana Gibson's illustration, "A Peach Crop." So, I opted to make it even more bizarre by adding male hands plucking the ripe fruit. I selected pears rather than peaches, simply because I liked the colors. In truth, either fruit works, since women are compared to both. Some of the hair was colored to accent the fruit, and all of the women's cheeks and lips were painted to help draw attention to the smaller heads.

There are a lot of shadows being cast since every piece is not completely glued down. I hoped to create the illusion of depth by letting some sections of the drawing float. I'm doing that more often with pieces that will be framed and under glass. The "sky" is a wallpaper sample that includes pears, but they are covered up for the most part. The "ground" is composed of handmade paper - a recycled piece of a nice, gift bag - and a children's book page proof.

Gibson could be highly critical of the upper classes and surprisingly wry about both sexes. I'm not sure whether he was being ironic here or not. But, that's good. I like art that makes me think.

Smile, and say "cheese"

© Jonathan Found Juggling the Cheeses To Be
The Most Daunting Aspect of Menu Planning (2012)
Mixed-media collage: recycled paint sample,
 vintage illustrations and menu planner, ink, watercolor.
5"x5" on archival mat board. Matted & framed. Price: $90 [SOLD] 

The man in this vintage illustration looked like he ought to be juggling something. And why not cheese? Actually, I made that decision because I'd been thumbing through a book about French wine that also had terrific photos of cheeses. That got me thinking about cheese courses and picking the cheeses for them. The menu in the background is from a hang-it-in-your-kitchen menu planner published by Volland, circa 1920. Love the inclusion on the menu of "Mock Cherry Pie" - whatever it is. [SOLD]

Hot Plate

On Valentine's Day I wrote a post on my Paper With A Past blog about our family tradition of "strange cupids." That is, Victorian and Edwardian images of cupid that are disturbing enough to make my husband and daughter cringe. I'm on the hunt for them all the time. The weirder, the better.

So, you can imagine my delight at finding this Charles Dana Gibson illustration in "The Gibson Book," a fantastic, over-sized, two-volume collection of his drawings that Scribner's published in 1906. Looking at it, well, I just HAD to make yet one more, new collage for The Art of Food exhibit at The Carnegie.

As you can see below, the image is pretty much intact. I wanted to keep his signature - on the bottom left - but it didn't work out. To my family, the most unsettling part of the image is the steam rising from Cupid. So, of course, I had to add to it. I found a vintage scrap of hearts afire, then, added more flames from a vintage tarot card and painted the steam a smokey grey. Now, they are even more unsettled.

© Hot Plate (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique illustration; recycled invitation &
  wrapping papers; vintage sheet music & scraps; ink; watercolor;
acrylic sealer. 7.5" x 7.5" on archival mat board. Matted & framed.
 Price: $125. (SOLD)

Reshaping "Shape Shifting"

Shape Shifting: BEFORE

A few days ago, I wrote about reworking pieces that had begun to bore me. Well, here's another one. The original(top)  was on wrapped canvas with the collage extending onto the sides. I liked it ... that is until a friend gave me a pile of Italian papers that she'd been using as gift wrap. One remnant had colorful, hot air balloons that were far more fanciful than the antique engraving on the collage. A glance at the balloons, then, at the collage and - ta da! - a new balloon was flying into the picture.

I also decided to take it off the stretchers to crop it. I did that by holding different-sized mats over the image. It had more graphic power at a smaller size - the original was 12"x12" - so, I trimmed the left side. Ouch. It was painful to lose a section of the beautiful antique Guyot map and so many of the tiny corsets that I had scoured 19th century magazines for, but still worthwhile.

In the end, I decided to add the collage to The Grand Tour series, so it's been retitled to reflect that. Oh, one more thing: though the background colors appear different, they haven't changed. The top image is a photo; the bottom image is a scan - and it's that scan that's true to life.

© The Grand Tour: Shape Shifting (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique magazine ads, antique map,
watercolor & acrylic paint, colored pencil, ink.
 7.5" x 11.5" on canvas. Framed with conservation glass.
Price: $185. [SOLD] 

Out On A Limb: 15

).

© Out On A Limb: 15 (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique engraving (Chatterbox),
vintage illustration (National Geographic Florida map),
recycled greeting card, ink, watercolor, colored pencil,
 acrylic sealer, acrylic varnish. 6"x6" on wood panel.
 Price: $85.  

About half the people I know are in Florida at the moment, so this new collage in the Out On A Limb series seemed apt. I haven't sealed it - yet - so I'm still debating whether to remove some of the golden grass or add more. The color birds, leaves and grass are one piece. Cutting the grass proved the most challenging; lots of it was trimmed back, some of it accidentally. I just happen to have two more copies of the map, which was a used bookstore find. Hmmm ...

Sugar High

© Sugar High: It Was For His Own Safety
That Humphrey Was Tethered (2012)
mixed-media collage: vintage illustration,
embroidery thread & Russian print,
Monet exhibition catalog,  Italian wrapping paper
& publisher's catalog; ink; watercolor; acrylic sealer;
5.5" x 11.5" on archival mat board. Matted & framed.
Price: $150.

In my mind, Humphrey - whose name has changed three or four times already - was destined to float. At first, I tried to squeeze him into the 5" x 5" format I was using for pieces that will be in The Art of Food exhibit. I liked the idea of him being cramped - but part of him would've been chopped and there wasn't enough air surrounding him to show that he was up in the air.

Looking around the studio, my eyes landed on an oblong mat. Once Humphrey was placed inside it, I knew I was going larger. That, in turn, led to a second series of six collages for the show using the same long, narrow format.

Dream on ...

© Maria And Osgood Aspired To Be Among The 1% (2012)
mixed-media collage: vintage illustration and cookbooklet
cover;  recycled paint chip sample, greeting card text and
champagne ad; watercolor; ink; acrylic sealer.
5" x 5" on archival mat board. Matted & framed. (SOLD)

People wonder where my ideas come from. Generally, the best ones are not over thought; they POP into my head while I'm looking through my stash. The illustration of the couple here is a good example. The moment I saw it, I hit on the idea of a collage about aspirations.

I knew color champagne bottles were somewhere in the "drinking" bin - yes, my stash is that organized. Then, in the "cooking booklets" bin, I found the caviar cook-booklet, a 1984 leftover from my food writing days. I was already using the paint chip samples for the entire series -  I love the names of paint colors and was waiting and waiting to use the growing pile of samples - and found one with "Champagne Ice."

Most of my pieces are about empowering women and the working title for this was "Maria Felt It was Time to Introduce Osgood to The Finer Things In Life." At that point, it didn't have the text bubble. Then, a funny thing happened: I got into a political discussion with my studio neighbor, painter Frank Satogata. Afterward, I saw the collage with new eyes and a new title POPPED into my head.

That change spurred a search for words, which I thought would bolster the commentary - and add movement to a somewhat static piece. I still can't believe I found just-the-right text bubble. It's from an early 1980s set of satirical British postcards called "Life in the Fast Lane."

As to whether this is a Republican or Democratic statement, well, that depends on the point of view of the person looking at it, doesn't it?

Deconstructing to reconstruct

A few collages have been sitting around the studio for a little over a year and, to be honest, I'm tired of them. Unlike many other artists, I don't like to stockpile work. So, little by little, many of the pieces are being reworked. "Spring," above, which I blogged about last February, is the latest collage to be given a new life.

I cut it in half, added paper to the left side, then a Victorian scrap butterfly that happened to be on my work table at that moment, and - voila! - "Out on A Limb: 17," below. The bottom half of the original will find its way into another piece, while the new collage finds its way into my "Expecting to Fly" exhibit at 5th Street Gallery next month.

© Out On A Limb: 17 (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique French postcard & text,
vintage print, recycled catalogs, acrylic gel transfer,
watercolor, acrylic sealer, acrylic varnish.
 5" x5" on Claybord/hardwood panel. Price: $75. (SOLD)