The Terrible Hours: The Life and Death of Jack Straw
collage (map, magazine illustration, and anatomical illustration, buttons, library catalog card)
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
Author: Shelly
Staff Meeting Doodle
Staff Meeting Doodle
gel pen in steno notebook
9 x 6 inches
It occurred to me that I should probably add a doodles category. At some point, I’ll have to go back and edit old posts to add the rest of my doodles to it.
The Terrible Hours: Uncertain Orbits
The Terrible Hours: Uncertain Orbits
collage (child’s dress pattern, altered Polaroid, magazine and dictionary illustrations, and anatomical illustration)
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
I found the diagram of the solar system in an old dictionary. Ironically, it was published before Pluto was made the ninth planet.
I’ve been struggling with this one off and on all day. Aside from having a headache, I was preoccupied with having been contacted by two of Esther’s nieces. I’m still mentally processing information, and I won’t know how things are going to proceed until they’ve had a chance to talk to the rest of the family. Obviously, I’ll return the letters to them, but I’m hoping that they will let me digitize and transcribe the remaining ones first. And, of course, I’d like to keep the letters online, where they will be accessible to everyone.
The internet, it doth amaze!
Cats and Dogs Livin’ in Sin
Pandora loves to sleep by the patio door, where it’s nice and bright.
Harriet kept digging the cushion out of her dog bed. After the umpteenth time, I gave up and put the cushion in the living room, inside the patio door. Mostly, Pandora sleeps on it, but Harriet has stolen it back a couple of times.
Without the bumper sides to hold her in, the bed is ridiculously small for even a miniature Boxer like Harriet.
The Terrible Hours: Bone and Mask
The Terrible Hours: Bone and Mask
collage (child’s dress pattern, vintage raffle tickets, yearbook photos, book fragments, and anatomical illustration) with pencil and Neocolors II
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
The Terrible Hours: Prepare Your Pattern
The Terrible Hours: Prepare Your Pattern
collage (stencils, map, magazine clippings, and anatomical illustration)
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
This spread goes with the one preceding it (Cut Two).
The Terrible Hours: Cut Two
The Terrible Hours: Cut Two
collage (stencils, cut-out dolls, child’s dress pattern, and anatomical illustration)
9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
Vintage Magazine Ads
I’ve amassed a sizable collection of old magazines, mostly with the intention of using images from them in collage work. I thought it would be worthwhile to scan some of the ads, though.
Stillman’s Freckle Cream, from True Experience, July 1934
Lavoptik, from True Experience, July 1934
Fleischmann’s Yeast, from The American Magazine, January 1934
Campbell’s Soup, from The American Magazine, January 1934
Listerine, from The American Magazine, January 1934
The full set (with larger scans) is available here.
The Terrible Hours
I started working on a new altered book today: The Terrible Hours. It’s about a submarine rescue, I believe. I’m not a big fan of disaster stories, so I haven’t actually read it. I picked it up at the Mission thrift store because it was a nice size for altering, in good shape, and I liked the title.
The Terrible Hours: Sealed Against the Sea
collage (map, glass, and anatomical illustration) with Neocolors II and gesso
9 1/4 x 5 7/8 inches
My scanner doesn’t handle depth very well, and because there are shallow niches cut out of the pages, the furthest layer is out of focus. I’ll try to get a photo of it tomorrow, when there’s decent light.
Now, to go watch SiCKO, now that I have finally managed to get a clean copy of it.
Maya Chacmool
Maya* Chacmool figure, Photogravure, 7 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches
I forgot I had this. I unearthed it while digging through a box of ephemera, looking for old maps to cannibalize for collage. It was given to me by the director of the art museum when I was researching objects from their Precolumbian collection. The engraving is of a Chacmool excavated by Augustus Le Plongeon at Chichen Itza in 1875.
Chacmool are a type of Precolumbian stone figures thought to be associated with ritual sacrifice. They are found in Mesoamerica, and always take the form of a recumbent human with arms and legs drawn up and head facing to the side. The hands, which rest on the stomach, hold a vessel that would presumably contain sacrificial offerings.
Chacmool excavated by Augustus Le Plongeon (1825-1908) from the Platform of the Eagles and Jaguars at Chichen Itza, Yucatan, 1875
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* The print says Aztec, but it’s a Maya figure from a Maya site
