ephemera

Collage Artist Anita Muise Interview

AnitaNH (a.k.a. Anita Muise) is a self-taught artist and former librarian who embraced mid-life crisis, dropped out of the corporate world, and moved to rural New Hampshire to become creatively self-employed. She's now the force behind AnitaNH: Collage & Life blog. And, since I've been featuring a lot of super-cool artists lately who use ephemera in their work, I decided to interview the creative and talented AnitaNH about her art and blog, too.

ephemera: How did you become interested collage and the use of ephemera in your work?

ANH: The idea of creating art with found images and objects has held a fascination for me since I first wallpapered my bedroom walls with Look and Life illustrations back in high school. I've been a collector and pack-rat all of my life. As a teenager I would take the train from Beverly into Boston and visit the Brattle Street Book Shop to purchase old books. And I'm trained as a librarian. I first became aware of the wonderful possibilities of collage in the '80s when I discovered the work of Roderick Slater in a gallery called Another Atmosphere in Newburyport Mass. But I didn't start making my own collages until 2003 after reading the wonderful how-to book Collage: A New Approach by Jonathan Talbot.

ephemera: You have a fascinating history. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a collage artist? How do you overcome these challenges?

ANH: My first challenge is to overcome my lack of formal education in the fine arts by self-education. I really don't interpret this as an obstacle. There is so much out there that you can learn for free on the internet, and I enjoy doing research. I read a lot, and I'm constantly building my art reference library. Being totally self-directed allows me the freedom to explore tangents like acrylic painting and animation which in turn enrich my collage expression.

My second challenge is to adapt to self-imposed geographic isolation. Actually, seclusion results in clarity which has been good for my creativity. It allows me to be very selective. I'm pretty diligent at blocking mass media from my life. I don't have a TV, radio, car or a cell phone. I'm self-employed, work at home in an art-related business (beads and jewelry), and there's no time wasted. Art becomes everything.

My third challenge is to accept the fact that my art will never appeal to the mass market, so I shouldn't expect it to support me. My work is very personal; most of it is blatantly autobiographical. I collage because it helps me grow spiritually and heal emotionally. Collage has become so important that I will no doubt continue to do it for the rest of my life. There are so many things that can be done in collage, so many different materials that can be used, that the process is always a satisfying challenge. And I have the freedom to take risks in my future selection of subject matter, particularly in the area of social protest.

Ephemera: Believe me, I understand what it means to lack mass-market appeal. I've been blogging about ephemera for five years; I'm not even a D-list blogger yet. But we do it for the love, right? Speaking of ephemera, how do you use it in your work?

ANH: I'm lucky to live in an area where a lot of old books and magazines are being discarded at church sales or the dump. My town has a little shed for recycling books, and I've made some very fortunate finds there. I have curio cabinets full of personal trinkets and ephemera collected over 50 years that will some day be incorporated into collage.

I use postage stamps and ticket stubs, old photographs, book jackets and covers, small things with numbers on them, anything old and odd that adds interest and helps the narrative. Lately I have been using more scanned images of items in place of the original. My librarian side takes over deeming certain items just too precious to be indelibly converted into collage art. As well as preserving the original, scanning also allows creation of multiple images, along with changes in color and scale.

ephemera: Oh, I love discarded finds. That's exciting. What are some of your favorite things that you've created?

AHN: My oldest favorite is the second in a series of portraits of Blanche, my French Canadian grandmother. She lived to age 94, and was always very supportive of me. Blanche Had Red Hair (Blanche No. 2) is also the first piece I sold. The original drawing of Blanche was done for a wax resist process called batik (in which I am also self-taught) back in 1982.

I have a particular interest in the trappings of outdated science. Vintage technology is featured in two of my "dots" collages which are thematic companions: Do Not Adjust [Your Mind] and The Fault [Lies With Reality].

In my divorce diptychs I really expanded on the art of storytelling through the use of found images. Easy To Adjust and Curious? (Divorce Diptych No. 1) are purely autobiographical.

A Sad Infatuation (Divorce Diptych No. 2) started out with an article of the same title from The New England Home Magazine circa 1900. The subtitle gives the gist of it: "Lobengula, the 'African Prince,' and How He Tortures His White Wife, A Former London Belle." Then I discovered the jacket to Physical Attraction and your Hormones at the dump and the theme was set. Other tidbits like a page from an Esperanto dictionary, and the entry on Cannibalism from A Philosophical Dictionary ("We have spoken of love. It is hard to pass from people kissing to people eating one another. It is, however, but too true that there have been cannibals. We have found them in America. . .") reflect the melodrama of the magazine article. I learned through internet research that Prince Lobengula and Miss Kate Jewell really did marry back at the turn of the century.

But the collage that draws the most attention in my intimate gallery where I have 35 pieces displayed is one titled How Humpty Hoodwinked Miss Massachusetts. It's my first use dots as a design element, and their bright colors against a black background are very dramatic.

ephemera: Tell me about your blog? What inspires you to blog and how do you see it evolving?

ANH: I actually have four blogs now. One is for my bead shop, another showcases my jewelry, and a third one is reserved for the occasional off-topic rant. But my collage blog is my oldest and most satisfying. It reflects my development as a collage artist. It also helps me to keep track of and share different books and artists that I admire. All my favorite internet image and text research sites are linked there, as well as a growing list of over 40 blogs (on collage, animation, graphic design, fine art, ephemera and old books) that I read regularly.

I'm teaching myself to create digital collage in Photoshop, and the blog has become a great place to publish them. Blogging is important to me because it is probably my only form of social networking. Although I live like a hermit, my creative life and work are out there on AnitaNH: Collage & Life . Thank you, Marty, for helping to bring attention to it!

ephemera: Thank you, Anita.

Adventures in Accumulation Blogger Jayne Barket Lyons Interview

Jayne Barket Lyons lives in Minnesota with her husband and five children. In addition to blogging at Adventures of Accumulation, Jayne takes care of her family and works as an Independent Watkins Associate. We talk about her career as a collector and the wonderful blog that showcases her work.

ephemera: How did you first become interested in collecting?

JBL: My life as a collector began when I was a teen in the 1970's. Matchbook covers and postage stamps were among my earliest collections. 

I come from a family of collectors and accumulators. My father was a collector, and one of his hobbies was collecting 16 mm films. We had a 24-seat movie theater in our basement, which was equipped with a large screen and a projection booth. Dad had a number of feature films, as well as short subject films like The Three Stooges. When my parents entertained, dad would always end the evening with a movie. Later he went on to own and operate a movie theater at our local shopping mall.

My mother got me interested in bargain hunting and accumulating things. As a teen, I would tag along with her to thrift stores and garage sales. My father passed away when I was sixteen, and mom was left to raise six children. Hunting for secondhand finds was a great way to provide for a large family.

My siblings have also been involved in collecting and accumulating. One of my brothers was a junk dealer who would find a number of treasures when cleaning out attics and basements. Two of my brothers collect sports cards and memorabilia, while another brother has a collection of McCoy pottery. My sister still has her collection of Madam Alexander dolls.

Ephemera: Talk about your blog. What inspired you to create it?

JBL: A few years ago, I had another blog entitled House Painted Red: My Country Home in the Burbs. The chief focus of that blog was home decorating in the American Country style.  I provided links to retailers who sold country décor, and I posted photos of how I decorated my home. I also wrote about some of my favorite secondhand finds. I liked the blog, but from the beginning I wasn't sure exactly were to go with it. Earlier this year, I began searching for blogs similar to mine, when I came across a few dealing with collections, yard sales, and secondhand finds. These blogs inspired me to change directions, and Adventures in Accumulation was born. My husband Ed, who is not a huge fan of collecting, came up with the title for the blog. 

Adventures in Accumulation is about the numerous things I've acquired through the years. I enjoy blogging because it gives me an opportunity to brush up on my writing skills, and enables me to share my little piece of the world with others.  

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a collector and as blogger? How do you overcome these challenges?

JBL: Lack of storage and budget considerations can be a huge challenge for any collector. The things I collect are generally not too costly, and don't take up a great deal of space in my home. At times I do get tempted to spend a little more than I should.  My husband jokes around about his 'cubic feet' rule.  He doesn't care what I bring home, as long as the same amount of cubic feet goes out to thrift stores, etc. I find that rule impossible to follow, but he is a good sport about it.

I'm discovering that blogging about my collections and things is a great way to keep track of what I have. When my children are older they may want some of my possessions, so I figure the blog will provide them with some information about where, when and why I purchased something. 

The other challenge I face is the frequency of my posts. Ideally, I would like to post to the blog every day, but with five children I find it difficult to do. I'm sure over time this will change.

ephemera: Yes, I can understand; I've been plugging away for almost five years on this blog. That's more than 1,200 posts, but who's counting? What are some of your favorite posts? What are some of your favorite things that you've accumulated?

JBL: I especially like the posts that are tagged 'sentimental journey.' In these posts, I share stories about my life as I tell about my junk. Ephemera are probably my most favorite things to collect--paper dolls, postcards, valentines, ticket stubs from concerts and sporting events, old magazines, pamphlets, postage stamps, sheet music. It's funny; all the years I've collected ephemera in one form or another, I didn't realizing how much I enjoyed collecting paper until I started the blog. I especially love the vintage postcards I own. The photos and artwork are appealing to me, and the inscriptions may reveal a story of their own.   

ephemera: Old paper just seems to creep up on you, right? How do you see your blog evolving and what future plans do you have for it?

JBL: Right now Adventures in Accumulation is a labor of love and a hobby. I obtain quite a bit of self-satisfaction from doing it. I certainly would like to continue the blog for years to come, but right now I'm not able to visualize how it will evolve.  

Readers will note that I try to provide background information on objects I write about. For example in my post Jayne's 1940 Almanac, I tell a little bit about Dr. Jayne, and I also provide readers with links to learn more. I am a non-practicing Librarian, but I still enjoy doing research and leading others to information. I will certainly continue to do this in the future. 

Ephemera: Thank you, Jayne.

Mixed-Media Artist Blogger Seth Apter Interview

Seth Apter is a mixed-media artist, photographer, and book artist from New York City with a love of paper, bookmaking and bookbinding, textures, layers, text, altered images, visual journaling, abstract art, ephemera, and so much more. We talk about all that stuff in the following interview, plus his Altered Page blog, which is how I came to know Seth in the first place.

ephemera: How did you become interested in mixed media art and the use of ephemera in your work?

Apter: I have been actively involved in the visual arts for about nine years. My initial introduction to the world of mixed media developed after I met an artist in Canada and we began to exchange mail art. Over time, the posts became increasingly complex and were nearly always mixed media in nature. At the same time, I took several courses at the Center for Book Arts in NYC and became fascinated with all forms of bookbinding by hand. The overlapping element in both these experiences was paper. And my obsession with paper fuels my artwork as well. I am constantly on the lookout for materials and never tire from the hunt. Whether it is found paper that I pick up from the street or pull off from a billboard, or sourcing eBay and flea markets for ephemera, I always experience a surge of creative energy when I come upon a new discovery.  

ephemera: If you're one of those people who is sourcing from eBay, you might want to check back here from time to time as I've been putting more effort into featuring unique ephemera from that well-known site. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a mixed media artist? How do you overcome these challenges?

Apter: Well my initial reaction to this question is to note that working with mixed media actually reduces obstacles for me in that anything and everything can be turned into an art supply. No matter what I am trying to express through an artwork, there is an ingredient out there that I can find to do so. But I suppose there are some challenges in mixed media as well.

Like many mixed media artists, I am a collector. And many of my collections are materials for my artwork. I have drawers and boxes filled with ephemera, handmade paper, rusty metal objects, scraps of material, and the like. Sometimes I find it difficult to actually use many of the bits and pieces I collect and I suppose this can become an obstacle. However, when even a coveted item is perfect for a specific piece of art, I usually know it and am able to "part with it" from my collection and use it in the art.

The other challenge I find is related to other people's understanding of what I create. The question "what kind of art do you make?" to this day remains difficult to answer. When I respond "mixed media" I know I will then be asked "what is that?" For some reason, some people do not understand how using a rusty metal washer and the back of a piece of masking tape can be art. The best way I have found to deal with this challenge is by showing rather than telling. I think in that way, mixed media art speaks for itself!

ephemera: So, Seth, here's the million dollar question, how do you use ephemera in your work?

Apter: My artwork is all about layers and texture. The number one ingredient I use would have to be paper. A close second is acrylic paint, but I think paper is truly the essential ingredient. My artwork is also abstract and utilizes letters, words, numbers, and symbols to tell a story. So, I often use ephemera and other bits and pieces of found and altered paper as a means of expression in my art. Ephemera also plays a role for me in my book arts, often being used in my travel, nature, or daily visual journals.

ephemera: What are some of your favorite things that you've created? Why?

Apter: I would have to say that my favorites fall into two categories. The first one being some of my monochromatic artwork where the feeling of the piece is expressed primarily through words and textures. These are the qualities that seem to resonate most deeply for me. The second category would be my travel journals which I would characterize as "artistic" but are meaningful more because of the personal memories they allow me to relive.

ephemera: Tell me about your blog? What inspires you to blog and how do you see it evolving?

Apter: The Altered Page is just over two years old and has become an integral part of my development as an artist. My blog focuses on four general areas: showing my own artwork, highlighting the work of artists I admire, developing and exhibiting collaborative projects, and sharing my art-related experiences living in New York City. My blog has allowed me to share my art with people who truly "get" mixed media, has introduced me to so many new artists and bloggers, and has given me a platform to create a series of collaborative projects that continue to grow in scope and nature. While I enjoy the solitude that comes with the actual making of art, I also receive endless creative energy from the community that has developed among art bloggers. And because I am driven to keep my blog very active, it also keeps me returning to the studio as I always have something new to post.

ephemera: Thank you, Seth.

 

 

Movie Poster Collector Alan J. Adler Interview

At age 9, Alan J. Adler fell in love with the movies – 20 years later publishing the first book printed in the U.S. on movie posters as an art form. Writing and working production for some of the first movies made in the South, Adler also wrote, produced, and starred in his own regional CBS comedy show--a live, late-night hit that beat Johnny Carson in local ratings. Alan has written five independent features, including Parasite 3-D, featuring the first starring role of a 20-year-old Demi Moore. Adler has also written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, HBO Specials and Comedy, non-fiction, theatrical advertising, TV pilots, and children's animation. A twice-certified Yoga instructor, Alan also collaborated with author M. Scott Peck to develop Peck's best-selling The Different Drum as a world peace mini-series at NBC. A film and pop culture historian, Adler founded the Fox Archives, the Fox Still Archives and rededicated Fox Research.  For the next 10 years, Adler traveled the world as Fox's emissary, supported silent and classic film festivals, and curated Fox's first museum, "The Hall of Cool Stuff", in Sydney, Australia. Alan has returned to full-time writing with an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' second novel, The Outlaw Of Torn, for the big screen, and Fighters' Row for low-budget action set in Amsterdam. Adler's first novel, Night And The Cat, a noir thriller set in 1945 Los Angeles, came to Adler in a black and white dream starring Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. Night And The Cat appeared on bookshelves in January of 2008. In the following interview, we focus on Alan's first love—movie posters, which he sell through his eBay store.

ephemera: Talk about how you became interested in collecting movie posters?

Adler: I started collecting movie posters in 1957; the first poster I begged the theater manager for was I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. I am now just about the only person I know who collects 1950's sci-fi and monster movie posters who started in the 1950's! Since posters were trash back then, people gave me whole buildings full. I never had to buy any posters--and nobody was selling them back then. Anyway...so, I built my art collection out of the trash and have more or less lived off of it for much of my life. I am a screen writer by trade. Selling posters since the 1960's makes me an old time dealer, I suppose, and I have seen just about every permutation of poster madness and happiness there is. In 1977, Dover published my book SCIENCE-FICTION AND HORROR MOVIE POSTERS IN FULL COLOR; it took me years to put together, pictured large images from my collection, and was more or less the first book devoted to the art of the fantasy poster ever published. I also went on to found the Archives at Fox in 1991--they never saved anything--I stayed there for 10 years as head of the department and built the first Fox Museum--the Hall of Cool Stuff--in Sydney, Australia, with about $5 million worth of stuff I pulled out of Fox's trash. So, all my life I have been giving value to ephemera, turning trash into gold!

ephemera: You're my kind of guy, Alan. Did you begin consciously, knowing what you would collect, or did you just one day discover what you were doing?

Adler: I was obsessed with monsters as a child--with literally no formal religious training, I found religion--good vs. evil--in the movies. The images I kept were my icons... they taught wonders... and long before I even knew the word eye-candy, I was an eye-candy-aholic. I had no idea anyone else ever collected posters until one day, when I was 19, I passed a movie poster store in Washington, DC. I nearly fainted. In one flash of a moment, I realized I was not alone all those years in my collecting, but actually had a kinship... shared a religion, even with all those other disenfranchised youths with too much time on their hands and a love of dark theaters in their veins. 

I am back to full-time writing once again and started THE MUSUEM OF MOM AND POP CULTURET on eBay (and the Web) to buy and sell a truly bizarre mix of posters and weird stuff. I love the net; you can find anything you didn't know existed!

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a collector? How do you overcome these challenges?

Adler: I am thankful to the movie poster gods that I never really had any challenges. Even as a small child, my father supported my habit and took me to outlying theaters so I could ask theater managers for posters. I loved the stuff and magnetized in such a way, the stuff flowed to me, boxes full... buildings full... studios full. I have had a lifetime of good luck and have saved so much wonderful and important art from the trash that when I worked at Fox my wife used to call me an executive Dumpster diver! And when a particular kind of item gets well-known and the value gets high. I start collecting something else no one cares about. That's how I got into toys, which I consider the sculpture equivalent of movie posters as art.

ephemera: What are your favorite items in the collection?

Adler: Posters from the early Corman films are among my favorite. The colors and dynamics are masterpieces of exploitation... how good something that is not very good can be made to look. I now love Western imagery and am sorting through those materials on hand. I realized it was not the owning of the material, although at times it did define who I was, but it was the organization of things that I really loved. Give me a box of worthless trash and I stay up all night arranging it into art. I love that process... it includes study and it includes inspiration and both are key to presenting ones collection. Ever since I was a little kid, I was always a show and tell guy, so I like to present what I have found and win new converts to what my eye sees in this over-colored paper.

ephemera: What resources and advice do you have for movie poster collectors?

Adler: Don't trust guide books. Write your own. Pack safely and in archival boxes. Keep goodies in a dry, temp controlled space. I think display on the Web is the future. I love the private and obsessive sites of collectors who show their inner selves to all through the genius of their collecting. Tap your own genius and see how the stuff flows to you and out of you. The best collectors are conduits of info and imagery. The sharing of information is what it's all about.

ephemera: Thank you, Alan.

Lea Redmond Leafcutter Designs Interview

Lea Redmond runs Leafcutter Designs, a creative workshop that makes objects and conceptual art projects, such as stamps, envelopes, etc., that seek to create a more playful, peaceful world. We talk about her work in the following interview.

ephemera: How did you become interested in designing conceptual art such as the World's Smallest Postal Service?

Redmond: Creativity works in curious ways. The idea for the World's Smallest Postal Service began when the simple image of a teeny tiny letter simply popped into my head while waking up from a nap last summer. The idea seemed to come from nowhere, but of course that's not true. I've always been interested in unusual things that might be found in old wonder cabinets, as well as the sense of care and craft that go into handmade letters. My tiny letters are a perfect combination of these two things. After the initial vision, one thing simply led to another and I began designing miniature stamps with ant and snail images on them as well as a tiny envelope pattern.

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a designer? How do you overcome these challenges?

Redmond: One of the most important things to me as both a designer and a fine artist is making things and experiences that are accessible. Fine art and design are so often esoteric and expensive beyond most of our reach, including mine. For me, accessibility is about creating things that different people can find meaningful on many different levels. I like to create work that incorporates a range of simple and complex elements and possibilities. It is then up to my participants to go as deep as they can, or wish to. I try to make things that are both inviting and challenging. Of course, the fact that one of the primary themes of my work is "everydayness," helps. The references to the everyday in my work make it inviting through the sense of familiarity people experience when they encounter it. The World's Smallest Postal Service could easily be called a "socially-engaged conceptual art work," but really, why bother. It's more importantly a goofy and delightful customized letter writing service. I can wax poetic about the meaning of letter-writing and the significance of doing the kind of conceptual art that requires other people to complete it, or I can simply offer to transcribe a tiny letter for you. The deeper meaning is always there in the experience - and everyone understands it at least at some level - but there is no need to articulate it in order to participate. Everyone gets it and I can tell by their faces.

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/shop/wsps/about.html

Another kind of accessibility that is very important to me is the financial accessibility of the things and experiences I create. This is about creating work in a spirit of democracy. I believe art should be part of everyday life and it must be financially accessible enough to participate and/or bring it home. As a designer, the challenge here is balancing quality with financial accessibility. After the initial spark of an idea, I spend a lot of time trying to whittle it down to its essence in a way that is as inexpensive to make as possible. For example, my first "matchbox theater" was made entirely by hand and took a few hours for me to make. I would have to charge a lot if I wanted to sell them like this. Instead, I spent months redesigning it for mass-production. One of the biggest design moments was when I realized I could package it for "self-assembly." Asking my customers to put the little puppet stickers on the matchsticks saved tons of time and cost on my end and let me price the theaters very inexpensively ($8). This insight didn't involve compromise either; I think people don't mind the self-assembly aspect of the product and are likely to even enjoy it. In general, I've found that my most important design strategy is playfulness, perseverence, and enlisting the help of my friends and family. There is usually a way (or lots of different ways) to do a lot more with a lot less.

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/shop/matchboxtheater.html

ephemera: How do you see your work evolving? What are your upcoming plans for it?

Redmond: In terms of the items I sell in my online shop, I'm becoming more and more interested in offering things that are packaged up like normal "products," but are actually objects and instructions for activities. You buy something, but the true "thing" is actually an experience or activity that you cannot truly purchase. It's something that you yourself are responsible for doing. For example: "Paper Umbrellas: A Rainy Day Activity Kit," invites you to pass out paper umbrellas to passers-by in a public place on a rainy day. And "Tactile Poetry" is a little kit of wooden letters in a tin. You ask your participant to close his or her eyes and then you place each letter, one at a time, into the palm of his hand. He feels each letter with his fingertips to figure out what the little poem says. Right now I'm working on a new kit that lets you present a zen parable with props: plastic tigers, mice, and an antique strawberry container made out of milk glass. It will come with the story and ideas on how to present the story in a way that is interactive.

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/shop/tactilepoetry.html
http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/shop/umbrellas.html

A new project in the works is my Teacup Lending Library. This is another mini-institution like the World's Smallest Postal Service. It is modeled after a public library, but people borrow teacups instead of books. They will apply for official TLL library cards, become members, and then be able to "check out" teacups for free. A little shop/gallery in San Francisco is going to be the first host of the Teacup Lending Library: The Curiosity Shoppe. I am currently making special carrying cases to hold the teacups as they travel to and from the library. On opening day, I will be there dressed up as a librarian.

http://www.curiosityshoppeonline.com/
http://www.teacuplendinglibrary.org (coming soon)

I have put a lot of energy into my online presence over the last two years so I am currently most interested in expanding the parallel "brick and mortar" versions of my products and projects. In addition to the WSPS and the Teacup Lending Library, I will soon be opening up a booth at my local farmers' market. In it I will not only sell my wares, but also engage people in my more conceptual art projects. One project I'm looking forward to doing in my booth is what I am calling "The Hand-made Make-shift Vending Parlor." A group of people will each create a vending machine (out of cardboard, fabric, anything really) and then they will hide behind their "machines" and operate them by hand. These machines could vend any number of things: toothbrushes, buttons, fortunes, relationship advice. It should be a hoot.

ephemera: What are some of your favorite things you've created? Why?

Redmond: One of my favorite projects is Care Instructions, my clothes tag exchange. It is part of a larger project called Changing Clothes in which I explore social and ecological issues wrapped up in the production of clothing. People give me clothes tags that they cut out of their gaments and I give them some of the poetic clothes tags that I designed in exchange. My tags embody a healthy way of producing and caring for our clothing. When this exchange is set up as an installation, there is a large world map where people pin their tags at the place of origin. It becomes a wonderful visual for the geography of the production of clothing.

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/projects/changingclothes/careinstructions.html

Another favorite is my Living Trophy project. People can request an old trophy from me that has the person on the top removed and then they remake the trophy for someone they know that has done something wonderful. The recipient enjoys their trophy for a little while, and then they remake it again and award it to someone else. In this manner, the trophy keeps moving as people are honored. This project is another example of doing a lot with a little. And there are so many old trophies lying around!

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/projects/livingtrophy.html

I also have some favorite things that very few people participate in. But I offer them nevertheless just because I love them so much. For example, I offer Creative Wedding Consulting and Creative Courtship Consulting, which consist of an hour of creative brainstorming with me about how to make your wedding (or love life) more creative and special. It's worth offering for the "blue moon" person that participates. It's important to me to not just do things that there is an obvious market for. I need to also do the other things that are close to my heart - even if they go unnoticed or unappreciated by most.

http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/shop/wedding.html
http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/shop/courtshipconsulting.html
And the "project" portion of CC that has examples:
http://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/projects/creativecourtship.html

ephemera: Thank you, Lea.

Gauche Alchemy’s Amy Wing Interview

Gauche Alchemy, brain child and passion of co-owners Amy Wing and Heather Pearson, specializes in kits full to the brim of fabulous finds and artistic goodness; if your addiction is vintage ephemera, found objects, beautiful fabric, trendy paper, or unique embellishments, they're here to enable you. In the following interview, I spoke with Amy about their work.

ephemera: How did you become interested in working with ephemera in your mixed media?

Wing: I think that vintage ephemera is charming and nostalgic. It can also provide a political statement to artwork in the case of racism or genderism that were so prevalent and accepted in the past. Mixed media paper crafting and art were an interest I had been following for some time, and though I still feel that I am an amateur artist, I wanted to make available supplies that could be inspiring for both established artist and paper crafters wanting to emerge into a different, more edgy style.

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter working with ephemera? How do you overcome these challenges?

Wing: The obvious challenges include the fragility of working with vintage papers. We pride ourselves on offering mostly original ephemera rather than reproductions. Many artists varnish or otherwise protect their finished project, which protects the ephemera.

This type of paper is neither acid nor lignen free, which is sometimes an issue for those using family photographs in their work. Of course, the lack of lignen creates an aged look which we appreciate. We also occasionally provide tips for protecting photos in memory books or art journals that include photographs. This might include layering a "safe" paper or object between the ephemera and photograph or reproducing the photograph.

ephemera: What are some of your favorite items that you've created?

Wing: I have created paintings with ephemera peeking out in certain areas, memory book pages with corresponding images appropriate for the subject of the page, and altered objects such as tins or mini-books. Ephemeral elements are usually combined with newer elements such as manufactured paper or found objects.

ephemera: What resources do you recommend to people that would like to do similar work as yours?

The "blogosphere" includes an amazing amount of creative ideas from both professional and amateur artists. Most blogs contain links to similar blogs - I literally have hundreds, perhaps thousands of such blogs on my blog reader. (Of course, I only dip in every now and then -- no one could read all those blogs every day!) Most people have some favored blogs they check on a regular basis. We have frequent followers on our own blog whom we get to "know" quite well. Many of them have been "champions" for us in spreading the word about the various inspirational ideas, projects, interviews, tutorials and artwork that we profile. There are many other blogs with similar content.

ephemera: Thank you, Amy.

 

Mad Men Footnotes Blogger Interview

This is a special post for all the fans of Mad Men. In the following interview, I talk with Natasha Vargas-Cooper, the blogger behind Mad Men Footnotes and a reporter and film critic living in LA.

ephemera: When did you become interested in ephemera related to Mad Men? How'd that interest evolve into a blog?

NVC: Oh man, I was hooked from the get-go. Matt Weiner, Mad Men's creator, was a part of the Sopranos which I consider to be high-art, top notch writing, natural acting, and an acute and witty analysis of American culture. So the concept of Weiner bringing that same touch the advertising world of 1960's, well, the Tivo was set from the start.

What impresses me most about the show, besides Jon Hamm's sad, dreamy eyes is how artfully it captures the zeitgeist of the early 1960's without mythologizing it. I was an American History major in university and loved pouring over all the high-brow and low-brow cultural artifacts from the Modern era. I miss doing that. It's like hearing a few notes from a song and then like a compulsion, you go home and listen to the song over and over. Mad Men sings to me.

Additionally, my favorite bloggers have always been ad men--and women!

• http://badbanana.typepad.com/
• http://copyranter.blogspot.com/
• http://www.adrants.com/

ephemera: What challenges or obstacles do you encounter as a blogger? How do you overcome these challenges?

NVC: Saying something original is always tough. I also battle against my own laziness. Sometimes I look up an ad and just say, "Oh, neat. I'll just post this picture of it." but anyone can do that—damn you, Google image search! So, sometimes I have to push myself to scratch down deeper. But everyone benefits from this.

ephemera: Yeah, I struggle against those demons too as a blogger. What are your favorite ephemera items that you've featured on the blog?

 NVC: The hobo code is such a neat find. And I love the 1960's London Fog Ad because it has the inherent drama that makes ephemera beautiful.

ephemera: What have you learned about the show and/or about the history of the era from your blogging work?

NVC: More and more I appreciate the tectonic cultural shift of the early 1960's and how it shook all aspects of society, from politics to nylons. Also, I learned that I must find a way to resurrect Dorothy Draper so she can redesign my apartment and throw classy tea parties with.

• ephemera: What are you future plans for the blog? How do you see it evolving?

I would like to do earn my readers trust and do longer form pieces—nothing past 300 words, but you know a little more than blurbs. I'd like to bring in contributors from the modern ad world and build an interactive community of fans who want to know more about the cultural context of the show. And lastly, I hope Jon Hamm is reading this and knows that I am single and delightful.

Ephemera: Thank you, Natasha.

Chicago World’s Fair Author Cheryl Ganz Interview

Dr. Cheryl R. Ganz is the chief curator of philately at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Dr. Ganz recently published The 1933 Chicago World's Fair in which the author offers the stories of fair planners and participants who showcased education, industry, and entertainment to sell optimism during the Great Depression, in an engaging history of the 1933 Chicago world's fair that also features more than eighty period photographs and ephemera. In the following interview, we talk about her World's Fair book.

ephemera: How did you become interested in the World's Fair?

Dr. Ganz: When I was a child, my grandparents had a plastic souvenir Havoline thermometer from the fair in their living room. They and my father told stories of their trips to the fair as highlight experiences of the Great Depression.

ephemera: How did your interest turn into a book project?

Dr. Ganz: My interest developed around the Graf Zeppelin flight to Chicago for the world's fair and the postage stamp issued to offset operating costs of the Zeppelin Company. When I began graduate school, the larger project seemed a natural. No single volume history of the 1933 fair had been written although many books existed about the 1893 fair.

ephemera: Tell me about the book. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter in writing it? How do you overcome these challenges?

Dr. Ganz: While the University of Illinois at Chicago's special collections library holds the organizational papers of the fair, I needed to visit over thirty libraries and archives to find all the pieces of the puzzle to put together the stories. As a result, I spent over ten years researching and writing this book. The greatest challenge to such a project is to not lose interest. Fortunately, this project had so many wonderful aspects to it, that it sustained and invigorated my passion for the topic. Finally, I created my own archive of postcards, brochures, and publications. Ephemera was crucial to understanding the larger picture.

ephemera: Who is the audience for the book? What will they discover by reading it?

Dr. Ganz: I wrote this book for the educated reader. It should appeal to scholars of world's fairs, the Great Depression, 20th century history, gender history, immigration history, urban history, and the history of technology. At the same time, those who enjoy Chicago history and its intrigues will find plenty to enjoy. Collectors of world's fair memorabilia and ephemera will also find plenty of information. Finally, there is still a sizable population of Americans who visited the fair in their youth. I hope the book brings back wonderful memories for them.

ephemera: What are your favorite items in the book? What do they tell us about the history of the World's Fair?

Dr. Ganz: I actually do not have a favorite chapter or item. I really had fun researching and writing about all the personalities and projects. Certainly, Sally Rand has a great story. She was the rags to riches showgirl--entrepreneurial as well as a good businesswoman. I was so excited when I first viewed her "Sally Rand Bubble Dance" in a Tru-Vue viewer. This fair souvenir not only took home a memorable moment but continued to promote the hope and optimism that the entire fair showcased.

ephemera: Thank you, Dr. Ganz.

   

 

Cartoonist William Newman Book Interview with Author Richard West

Richard West is the owner of Periodyssey, a business that buys and sells old American magazines, and the author of several books on 19th century cartooning, including the recently released William Newman: A Victorian Cartoonist in London and NY. In the following interview, we discuss his new book about William Newman, the mystery man of 19^th century American cartooning.

ephemera: How did you become interested in William Newman?

West: As a collector of 19th century American humor magazine, I had been an admirer of Newman's work for Frank Leslie's Budget of Fun for decades. But I was frustrated by how little was known about him. No one knew even the most basic facts--when he was born, when he came to the US, when he died.

William Murrell in his History of American Graphic Humor (1933) identified him as Newcomb without being able to supply any other information about him. As late as 2002, Gary Bunker, in his prize-winning From Rail-Splitter to Icon, assigned some of Newman's most famous work to another cartoonist. So there was little known about Newman and much of that was incorrect.

ephemera: How did your interest turn into a book project?

West: In 2005, I got an e-mail from Jane Brown, a scholar in England, who was interested in learning more about Newman's time in America. I was delighted to find someone who had even heard of him. She was able to tell me a number of things right off that I didn't know--the various magazines Newman had worked for in England, the dozen children's books that he had illustrated, even some family details. Almost immediately, we decided to collaborate on an article about the man. The mss eventually grew to sixty pages. When we published it in 2007 in the magazine American Periodicals, we had to cut it by a third to respect their submission guidelines. So, the following year, we restored the cut text, made some revisions and corrections, added many more illustrations, and my company, Periodyssey, published it as a book.

ephemera: Tell me about the book. What challenges or obstacles do you encounter in writing it? How do you overcome these challenges?

West: Nothing about Newman was on the surface.  We had to dig for primary source material. Jane spent a good deal of time visiting libraries in Great Britain. Luckily for me, I had been unwittingly amassing a very large collection of Newman's US work as I went about collecting humor magazines over the years. It turns out when I went to consult library collections, I discovered I owned more of his work than all of the research libraries in the US put together. That made the work on my end significantly easier and the book less costly to produce (virtually no reproduction or reprint fees).  Jane turned up his baptism certificate, which gave us a birth date. I found his death certificate, which led us to his grave in Brooklyn, along with the names and dates of family members buried with him. Jane turned up census and marriage certificates in England. I found a diary of a cartoonist who worked with Newman that confirmed the date of his emigration to the US and his connection with Momus magazine. So that's the way it went, one piece of the puzzle at a time, until we had him fairly nailed down.

ephemera: Who is the audience for the book? What will they discover by reading it?

West: Well, it's an old saw that authors write the books they want to read. This was a book I very much wanted to read. Now that it's done, I can think of no greater satisfaction than being able to travel back in time to hand a copy of it to Mr. Newman.  I'm sure he would be bowled over by it and get extreme joy seeing his humble life treated with the respect it deserves. As for the larger audience, fans of American political cartoon history should get a lot out of the book. I would like to think scholars of the Civil War and Reconstruction would find useful information in it. Perhaps even those interested in the mid-19th art world could read it with profit. But I have no illusions of its mass appeal. I am not and never will be booked onto the Today Show to talk about William Newman. Those who care, however, will find that Newman's story provides us with, I think, a fascinating glimpse into the hard-scrabble life of a commercial artist in mid-19th century London and New York, working prodigiously, earning little, finding pleasure in family and church.  Also, they will see for the first time a lot of great cartoons.

ephemera: What are your favorite items in the book? What do they tell us about the world of William Newman?

West: I think Newman's late Civil War cartoons for Frank Leslie's Budget are Fun constitute the best cartoons being drawn in the US at that time.  They are full of action, comic exaggeration, and whimsy. I consider his cartoon, "General Sherman's Great Feat...", a triumph, transcending the generally staid cartoons of the time with unprecedented energy and imagination. It shows Sherman, at that time marching to the sea, crashing through a wall map of the South, surprising President Davis and General Lee in conference. Newman's best cartoons capture the emotions of the time.  You can imagine readers greeting this cartoon with whoops of joy, just as they greeted the news of Sherman's march itself.

ephemera: Thank you, Richard.

 

 

Rare Bookseller Talks Forgotten Bookmarks

Michael Popek is a 31-year-old used and rare bookseller in Central New York. He says, "The first time I opened a book and discovered something that wasn't supposed to be there. It's impossible not to wonder about the history and people behind some of these items. Sure, it is likely that the real story is mundane, but without further evidence, our imaginations are allowed to run wild. I've been sorting and pricing books for nearly ten years, and I've been saving these forgotten bookmarks for nearly five. The idea for the bookmark website came later when I mentioned that I had found a marijuana leaf in a Betty Crocker cookbook to a friend, they wanted a picture, and things happened from there."

Michael explains that he never set out to collect these items, but he "didn't have the heart to throw them away. I thought they were interesting, and that was good enough."

He's started a Web site to give the collection purpose. A few of his favorite posts include:

• http://www.forgottenbookmarks.com/2008/11/under-my-command.html
• http://www.forgottenbookmarks.com/2009/05/my-new-favorite-bookmark.html
• http://www.forgottenbookmarks.com/2008/10/by-all-means-go.html

"Scarcity is the biggest problem," says Popek. "For every 100 books I sort, I might find one item, which is why it's taken me so long to collect all these. Luckily for me, most of these bookmarks are pretty small. I have the entire contents of the website in a small box. I had to make a decision early on not to keep the original books as well. I am a bookseller, after all. The most important thing I've learned is that other people like this stuff as much as I do, and that the original owners are not really interested in getting their stuff back, no matter how personal it might be."