Mixed Media Quickie Number Ten

Centerpiece
found book page, painted book page, greeting card parts, vinyl, painted wallpaper
approx. 8 x 9 inches

I love old greeting card imagery.  I greatly admire illustrators and envy their skills.  The floral arrangement here takes me back to my flower shop days--flowers make the table!  But only if you buy from independent flower shops.  If you use those internet conglomerations, you are THROWING YOUR MONEY AWAY and will maybe be disappointed.  Take it from me, be a pal and spend that money locally!

Found Cards and Names

As is the way of our family, one does not throw out old cards or envelopes.  It just doesn't happen.  So I get to time travel occasionally when I find these treasures of yore.  

Found in a Russell Stover box, these cards and other papers are in decent shape.  Musty, but usable.

Six cards left...I wonder how many family members got RD subscriptions that year.

Fun fact: hawthorn is the Missouri state flower, which you can see here.

Names on the back of anniversary card: April 25, 1951
Jeanette
Catherine
Kathleen
Harriet
Elizabeth
Ruby
Shirley
Katherine
Henrietta
Blanche
Paulina
Dorothy
Catherine
Elizabeth
Kathleen
Ann
Marie
Irene
Lois
Agnes
Mary
Mildred
Edna
Julia
Thelma
Margaret
Nancy
Edith
Laura
Jean
Marie
Elsa
Ann
Barbara
Irene
Carol
Bessie
Grace
Gladys
Violet

What goes around comes around!

I have no idea whose anniversary this is for, since the envelope is labeled in SHORT HAND.  Thanks, aunts.  Helpful.  But it's a safe bet that it's a friend of theirs at Ma Bell telephone company.

This weekend: 4TH ANNUAL OPEN STUDIO//AMY MEYA + FRIENDS, 3345 Baltimore Ave, KCMO.  Come see us, buy art, eat brownies, drink wine.  

How Long Does it Take?

First thing's first--here's what those two pieces from last time turned into:

This one had the green base.  I added blue vinyl and pink paint,
sanded it to perfection, and here we are.
18" x 7ish" (it's not square, so one end is a bit bigger than the other)
"Blue Hills"

Here's the one with the blue base.  I liked the color and
vinyl combination without an additional layer or paint and sanding.
7" x 17.5"
"Spring Skies"

Now...it's Time time.

At the OKC Festival of the Arts, we are swarmed with school kids visiting the show who talk to artists, eat food, and remind me that being a teenager was the worst.  But lots of the kiddos have a list of questions (same every year--let's update that, teachers!) they're supposed to ask the participants in each category of the show.  I fall firmly into 2D Mixed Media, aka "What IS it?" (Trying to explain vinyl to anyone, young or old, isn't the most clear-cut exercise.)

Anyway, one of the questions is, "How long does it take to complete a project?"

Well...I began by saying something like, "It depends, but....(example of a particular piece and how long it took)..."  This means nothing to them, because they think an hour is a long time if they have to wait for their dad to finish his whatever before they can whatever.  An hour can be nothing when you've monetized it.  Like, LITERALLY NOTHING.  Or a  really long-ass time if you're trying to find your measuring tape.  WHY IS IT ALWAYS MISSING?

So I'm going to start saying 200 years for the new work on wood--which is probably not long enough because that tree had to grow large enough to get milled down, be used in construction of a house in 1900, hang there for a while, then be salvaged by me, who has spent 30+ years living an artful life and learning techniques to make that thing they see.  Not to mention the sanding, de-nailing, cutting, painting, thinking, applying vinyl, cutting vinyl, photographing, uploading, packing, and hanging involved.

For the clocks I don't really have a snarky thing to base my time on, because what does it take to smelt aluminum after it's mined (or whatever?) and turn oil into plastic into vinyl I salvaged?  Fifty million years or something?

I'm looking forward to it!