“Pear Tree” and “Orange Tree of Life”

September 2023

30” wide x 40” high This is one of a series, so you can email me for info on other similar collages.
ink and chalk paint on 1920 ledger paper and patterned paper with 1880s railway shares and 1960s blueprint

Assessment Roll, exclusive of Bank Stock For the City of Manitowoc, County of Manitowoc, for the year 1920.  That’s the heading on each sheet of the ledger book that I use for my collages.  It’s a city in Wisconsin that produced folks with superb handwriting.  Beyond that I can only guess at the history of the book.  I wish that I had a romantic story of how I came to own this piece of midwestern history, but I don’t.  I bought it off of eBay.

And Etsy, don’t get me started on the wonders of Etsy.  Do an Etsy search for “junk journal ephemera” and see what pops up.  Beautiful handwritten letters, canceled checks, library catalog cards, blueprints, player piano paper, admission tickets, you name it.  That’s where I find the sheets of 1882 railway shares that I used in this collage.  These share receipts are for massive amounts of money back in the day.  Like $20,000 in railway bonds that matured far in the future- 1921.  Fabulous.