Caravel
Provenance:
Paper: Rives Lightweight Buff, 115 grams Paper Size: 9" x 13" [22.9cm x 33cm] Image Size: 4" x 5" [10.2cm x 12.7cm] Collage Stamp: 1927 Scott #194, Caravel Edition Size: 50 Inks Used: Van Son Rubber Base Inks: Transparent 20; Process Blue 1; black 0.05 Date Cut: 3 October 2013 Danish postage stamp [1927 Scott #194, Caravel] was computer scanned then reversed and printed onto parchment tracing paper [Bienfang No. 100]. This was glued [Photo Mount 3M No. 6092] to linoleum block, and cut directly through the paper using stencil cutters under a stereo dissecting microscope [Bausch & Lomb 13x]. Printed as a collage with the postage stamp glued [UHUstic Baton de colle] in the lower right corner. |
"What color do you prefer?" I presented her with an array of six postage stamps from Denmark. The colors ranged from red to gray, light blue, ocher, red brown, and yellow green. I had been collecting them for months and finally had enough to begin cutting the linoleum block.
She did not hesitate, "Blue" was her taciturn answer. She was a decisive woman, a true descendant of the Vikings of her Danish ancestry. "Are you sure?" I pushed a little, "The red one is very graphic and people tend to prefer red." "No, the blue, definitely. " I told her I was cutting a Danish ship in honor of our friendship, and left to her the decision as to color. She gave the the explanation I needed, "This blue is a really a beautiful cool shade, and Denmark is a cool country." She should know, she had been there on a pilgrimage to the land of her ancestors. "Blue it is, then," I said with finality, but I really preferred the red. As I began to accummulate the 50 stamps I needed, I began to change my opinion. Red began to seem almost vulgar, the gray too non-descript, the ocher, red brown and yellow green too earthy for such a marine subject. Blue was the color of the ocean after all, especially the tropical seas where explorers sailed the Caravel. Blue was, finally, the perfect choice. The Caravel was an early sea-going vessel used mostly by Portugal in the 1500's. During the Age of Discovery the Portugese under Prince Henry the Navigator ruled the coastlines in Caravel ships along Africa, I ndonesia, China and Japan. Available:
$25.00 USD $500 MXN Shipping: $15.00 with tracking to USA |