My artistic pursuits change and grow over time.
Women’s History from Helaine Victoria Press
Women Making History: The Revolutionary Feminist Postcard Art of Helaine Victoria Press, by Julia M. Allen and Jocelyn H. Cohen is a richly-illustrated narrative of two young women who learned to print, established a letterpress print shop in the Indiana countryside, and published the first women’s history postcards, while drawing others to their project of building feminist consciousness across the U.S.
Book Trailer (3 minutes)
In 1973, nourished by the cultural exuberance of second wave feminism, Helaine Victoria Press, a home-grown effort of two young women, became the first publisher of women’s history postcards. Jocelyn Cohen and Nancy Poore, press co-founders, learned how to print and established a letterpress printshop in the Indiana countryside. The authors of Women Making History demonstrate that, by creating postcards, Helaine Victoria Press aimed to do more than provide a convenient writing surtace or even attect collective memory:
instead, they argue, the press generated feminist memory. The cards, each with the picture of a woman or group of women from history, were multimodal. Pictures were framed in colors and borders appropriate to the era and subject. Lengthy captions offered details about the lives of the women pictured. Unlike other memorials, the cards were mobile; they traveled through the postal system, viewed along the way by the purchasers, mail sorters, mail carriers, and recipients. Upon arriving at their destinations, cards were often posted on oftice bulletin boards or retrigerators at home, where surroundings shaped their meanings.
To learn more and order the book: Women Making History: The Revolutionary Feminist Postcard Art of Helaine Victoria Press
My passion for knowing about women’s history prompted me to begin a publishing company and press devoted to researching and printing images and stories about unsung heroines. Helaine Victoria Press, co-founded by Nancy Poore and myself, published mostly postcards for over 17 years. We not only focused on individuals, but movements as well. From women’s involvement in the Copper Mine strikes in Arizona, to the Trade Women’s Movement across the states, and the Civil Rights movement in the South. I loved the investigation of this untapped field, unearthing photos and putting together the stories that accompanied them. Or finding stories and searching for photos to follow. This is a smattering of our work. Hundreds more images abound.
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Chinese Ritual Papers Handmade Art Book
Secret formulas, sacred writings and magic powers, some 2,000 years ago Chinese invented and perfected the art of paper. They used paper to communicate with gods and goddesses in other worlds. Over centuries, paper replaced previous clay, bronze, jade, silk and gold ritual objects and became a symbolic offering to deities and deceased ancestors. Paper, after all, could be pasted, folded, cut and painted to look like any object desired. Paper, sacred and precious, held surprises and mysteries especially when burned, transforming daily messages to the spirit world. Thousands of varieties of these papers, known as joss, spirit, or money paper, fu or lucky charms, paper gods or New Year prints are manufactured today.
Find out more about Chinese Ritual Papers
Find out more about the book The Spirit and Craft of Chinese Ritual Papers
Oil Paintings
