Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy Birthday America

Photo from 2008 before "Pink Gardens" was restored to a salmon color. This flag is a reproduction 13-star flag, but is actually vintage itself—it was probably bought new in the mid 1930s for Connecticut's Tercentennial in 1935. The "Betsy Ross" was then stored indoors for the next 75+ years until I unpacked it a few years ago. I only put it out on the Fourth of July  or Memorial Day now, and only under the porch to keep it out of the sun. I'm surprised the cotton is in as good a condition as it is, with minimal fading and only a few tears and moth holes. The batteries in my digital camera are dead, and I probably won't be able to get new ones for a few days, hence this earlier photo. 

14 comments:

  1. LOVE THE PICTURE. THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT. SOMETIMES IT TAKES A LIFETIME TO LEARN. YOU'VE LEARNED EARLY. IT'S A REWARD GIVEN TO YOU. ENJOY.

    GRANNY

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  2. I WANTED TO SAY ONE MORE THING,I DOUBLE LOVE YOUR ARTWORK. I LIKE THE SOFTNESS OF THE COLORS. DO YOU SELL THEM IN A GALLERY?

    GRANNY

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  3. thank you. twice, lol! at 53 i'm not sure I've learned anything early though!

    i'm not in any galleries right now, I have been in the past. I really don't get along with any of the shoreline artists around here. they're all money-hungry and my stuff is a bit too 'unique' to sell in any big numbers. the only thing that sells around here are paintings of boats and seagulls, hopefully in the same painting. they've told me I should only create art that they can sell, that I don't know their market. I tell them I only create art that voices MY thoughts, and if no one wants them, fine. It's a fundamental difference in making art that speaks to people and art that is a commodity, and one that I won't cross over to!

    I've sold about 20 pieces so far, mostly from my solo show last summer.

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  4. FUNNY CASEY, I SAW MYSELF IN THOSE PICTURES. THE DOLLS THAT I STILL HAVE IN A CARDBOARD BOX SLEEPING AWAY. FOND MEMORIES OF THOSE DAYS.EVEN THE BRIDEDOLL AND HER BRIDEMAIDS THAT I FOUND THE DAY I LEARNED ABOUT THE MAKE BELIEVE SANTA. I WAS PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK. I WAS HIDING IN MOMS' CLOSET. BINGO, THE BOXES THE DOLLS WERE IN JUST HAD TO HAVE SOMEONE TAKE A PEEK. HOW COULD I NOT. THAT WAS THE YEAR. WHERE'S SANTA? I NEVER TOLD MY MOM. I WAS A LITTLE SAD THAT YEAR BUT SMILED BECAUSE I HAD A SECRET.

    I DID GO THROUGH YOUR ON LINE GALLERY. JUST WONDERFUL. WHAT DO THOSE ARTIST KNOW ABOUT GOOD ART. IF I NEVER SOLD ONE I'D NEVER CHANGE WHAT YOUR HEART TELLS YOU TO DO. I ALSO LOVE THE WW2 PICTURES. MY DAD AND MY OLDEST BROTHER WERE NAVY. I COULD PICTURE IN MY HEAD THEM BEING THERE. THANKS CASEY FOR THE JOY YOU BROUGHT ME THIS MORNING LOOKING AT YOUR BLOG.
    IF THERE'REMISTAKES IN MY NOTES SORRY. EASY FOR ME TO DO.

    GRANNY

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  5. You "got" my art exactly, Granny! it's all about memories. Everything in my pieces is from my own collections-passed down from one generation to another, finally to me. I'm the last family member, so my art is how i'm going to pass down my stuff. No one has the room anymore for everything I own, no one wants it anyway. But if i put images of it in my art, it will last and last. Even when i use an image of a Life magazine with Martin Luther King's funeral on it, I didn't google the image, I own the magazine and scanned it. All the dolls are mine, and all the sailors were friends of my Dad's and he's the one that took their photos. All of my art is personal, but everyone has memories of similar things. That's why I can't see just doing boat paintings. Sure, boats are great memories for people, but it's the same memory over and over again. I have lots of memories and so do most people. Like you!

    I loved your closet and Santa story.
    -casey

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  6. oh, and i don't care about 'mistakes' in posts. I read the sentiment behind the words. Your words are just fine anyway!

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  7. IN YOUR LAST POST ARTICAL ABOUT THE CARS I WROTE ANOTHER ARTICAL A LONG ONE. DARN IT GOT LOST. SO TO MAKE IT SHOUT.
    1. REMEMBER THE FLAY TOP CONVERTIBLE BACK IN THE 50'S.FORD. ALWAYS WANTED ONE.
    2. I ALWAYS WANTED THE BEST ON A BEER POCKETBOOK.LOL
    3. BECAUSE GRAMPS WAS ALWAYS INTO CARS WE DID HAVE OVER 50 CARS IN OUR 53 YEAR MARRIAGE. HE SAID,TO ALSO, ADD 3 TRUCKS TO THE LIST.LOL.HE'S [GRAMPS]HAS ALWAYS GOT TO CORRECT ME.LOL
    4. THE ONLY CAR I EVER CRIED OVER WAS OUR 196O SPRITE CONVERTIBLE. HE ALWAYS CALLED ME HENRIETTA HOTROD. I LOVED THAT NAME TILL THIS DAY ALTHOUGH THE NAME IS REALLY LOU.
    5.HAPPY 4TH

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  8. you know what? i had to write my last comment twice also! i think there was a glitch in the blogspot site for a bit. After i finish a long comment now, i try to remember to save it in case i have to rewrite it!

    Henrietta Hotrod, i like that! 53 years of marriage. you were married the year I was born probably, 1957. I like those Sprites too! I'll do something with a photo of a Sprite one of these days. I'm happy you and 'gramps' have had such a long life together. My dad died a few months after their 36th anniversary, and my mom died 1 day after what would have been their 49th. I think she was holding on for it!

    it's 92 today, hottest day of the summer so far. I spent a couple of hours outside moving plants to a new shade garden and mulching them. I'm going to take a nap now! I can hear a fife and drum corps in town, must be a Muster or something for the 4th.

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  9. You sell your art ONLINE on your own website. Create a few well placed links and your in business.
    Your smart enough to know the game, why am I telling you this ?
    Floral has universal appeal, and I'm sure there's an audience for the car art.
    Keith

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  10. yeah, that's one way, Keith. I prefer to meet the people that want to buy my art. I need a face-to-face with them. And that's for my 'real' art on wood. I'd never sell a digital photo or my car pieces. People can just save them to their 'puters if they like 'em. I don't buy the press release photos for the cars I base my chops on, so i'd never sell the byproduct of them, ie my chops. I also don't work at a high-enough resolution for printing the cars, so they exist only in the web world. My personal digital photos of flowers are free to anyone that wants them too. Sometimes I print them and use them as parts of a collage on wood, but otherwise, anyone can have them, as long as they don't turn around and sell them or take credit for them, although i'd probably never have a clue if they did.

    as far as my art on wood, the fun part for me is meeting the people that like them, and want them in their homes.

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  11. LOVE the story of your flag and also that you could hear the drum fife corps in town. It sounds like amazing place to live...It was cold low 60's at best and rainy here today. We enjoyed a quiet evening and stepped outside for just a bit to watch the neighbors fireworks. Very Pretty (and cheap for us :) Thanks for another great post..
    Hi TG! Loved the Santa story you little rascal!! :)
    Catch you later
    mare

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  12. Hi Mare!
    oh, I would have taken low 60s yesterday, haha. It was mid 90s, which I'm not used to here, and it had to be 100+ in my apt. I don't have AC so the ceiling and floor fans just push around hot air, sort of like me sometimes, lol!
    -casey

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  13. MARE, I REALLY LOVE THE BACKGROUNG ON YOUR BLOG. LOVED THE CHAIR PICTURE.
    CASRY YOU MUST GO THERE. MARE IS SUPER. A LITTLE LIKE ICE CREAM. YOU CAN'T GET ENOUGH.
    GRANNY TG

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  14. I like Mare's blog a lot. She's a vert good writer. I think we have a similar spirit.

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