Percussion Preservation!

As promised earlier today, I'd like to present two current restoration projects Matt and I are working on. First off, a remarkable 1920s Ludwig bass drum, complete with original, factory-painted head. Matt's been longing for one of these for quite some time, and we were thrilled to win this one in an ebay auction. Rather than have it shipped (at a steep cost and risk in cartage), we decided to take a Memorial Day weekend road trip to pick it up. Well worth the drive, and we were so happy to see good friends while in town.

Being around 90 years old, the drum presented no surprise in its need of tuning up, both aurally and physically. The head boasted a dingy layer of nicotine, grime and insect leavings (don't ask - I didn't), which we cleaned - thanks to the advice of a conservator - with saliva and cotton swabs. The results were pretty astonishing - you can see the contrast below, thanks to the last patch of unrestored paint:

There were also several spots where the paint had chipped away entirely, fixed via a light brushing of spackling, with oil paint touch-ups. This secured the areas sufficiently, and matched well enough that you wouldn't know there was damage, to begin with.


A close-up of the serene, admittedly Bob Ross-ian pastoral scene on the drum head. The whole thing measures at a full 28" - that's a lot landscape, and plenty of deep sound for the Singapore Slingers to enjoy. Our percussionist, the keenly gifted Michael Plotkin, assisted in the re-tuning of the instrument - it's hard not to fall in love with the renewed depth of tone.

And now to our second project - a set of five late 1920s temple blocks - more percussive instruments, which will eventually sit astride the bass drum. These are possibly scarcer than the bass drum, the sets most often having been broken up over the years. We bumped into this set while in New Orleans, appropriately enough - tucked away in a large antique shop. They weren't in the best of condition cosmetically, but they have all the sound one could ask for.

A good look at the lacquers we're using - I'm a devoted fan of One-Shot paints, which provide deep color and wonderful shine. The gold paint is of a "leaf-in-a-bottle" variety - initially I'd wanted to use actual leaf, but figured that would be gilding the lily, pun not intended. These blocks were factory-released having been painted - I chose to stick with that practice.

Remarkable scales adorn the blocks, in keeping with the aquatic theme...


Another, closer look at the fish head. From what I understand, these blocks were originally carved outside of the factories, then shipped raw for painting. This makes a lot of sense to me - the designs seem far more Indonesian/Philippine in nature than something that would come out of the States.A close-up of one in the restoration process - stripped of chipped and loose paint. When we found them, the blocks were literally snowing red flakes - there was little chance of salvaging what was left on them. As well, a couple of them have structural hairline cracks, which will be strengthened and sealed before painting. We were very fortunate in that One-Shot's "Bright Red" is a dead ringer for the original color - and their paints are strong enough that, once these blocks are brought into the orchestra, the new surfaces will easily withstand the frequent mallet usage they'll be seeing.


We believe that these blocks are likely from the Leedy company, but they also could have come from Ludwig. Frankly we're a bit stumped, as we've never seen them carved in a "fish" theme before. Usually they appear as little "skulls", symmetrically-designed. Whatever the case, we're very grateful that they came our way, and are doing our best to restore them properly.

Posters, Past and Present

Although I'd planned on an entry featuring our current event illustration, just as I pulled out the camera for several close-ups, I realized that I had completely overlooked the last poster! Inadvertently late, here's "Sunshine and Shadows", from our May 24th Depression-era program.

As usual, I had a lot of fun coming up with a new font...

... and I've been enjoying the heck out of illustrating gentlemen again. The recent posters have been largely female in nature, so, despite how trim and often androgynous my gents tend to be, it's still been a joy to draw them.

As well, I decided to throw in the sunshine itself, with a distinctly 1930s personality. I'm not usually prone to anthropomorphizing (well... animals, yes - otherwise, no), but the idea of a chipper, look-on-the-bright-side-and-pull-up-your-bootstraps sun, tossing coins down to the thread-worn populace, was too tempting to pass up. Maybe the dancing musical instruments in the last poster started a trend...

And now on to the current poster, advertising our Patriotic Revue. For the longest time, Matt's been aching to break out the Sousa arrangements, and what better time of year to do so than July 4th weekend?

Although I didn't want to come across as too jingoistic, I knew that a bald eagle would have to make an appearance...

... and instead of heading completely into traditional American flag turf, I decided to incorporate olive branches and arrows, as frames for the evening's musical offerings.

The center shield reminds me of a simplified carving one would find on a carousel rounding board (I couldn't avoid fairground references, regardless of how hard I could ever try)...

In all, a continuation of the tried-and-true pen, ink and pencil practices I've stuck with for so many years. In the next blog, the working materials are of a completely unrelated nature, although entirely associated with the usual subject matter. A little hint:

... See you soon with more goodies!

Bees, Buddies, Moths and Schmidt... Revisited

Earlier this week, Matt and I took a couple of days for a return visit to one of our favorite places - New Orleans. This time around, we were lucky enough to meet up with some truly wonderful friends, all just as vintage in musical and artistic tastes as we are - Blaine, a Louisiana native (who has a level of adoration for NOLA that defines infectious), and Richard, who is both a traditional jazz nut and highly respected pioneer in Coney Island preservation. His charming wife Liz joined in the festivities, and all had a hell of a lot of fun. Despite our many new discoveries during this visit, I woefully took only a couple of photographs - frankly, I was enjoying the sensory experience far too much to bother with my camera. But the two photos I did take are gems, and are posted here.


In one of last year's posts I mentioned George Schmidt, and all that his presence encompasses - so it shouldn't come as a surprise that we spent a bit of our visit with him. He's working on a handful of beautiful pieces for an upcoming show - I should have taken photos... I repeat my reasoning, regrettably. One in particular featured one of the finest representations of greyhounds I've seen in a long while - my adoption friends would have loved it. This time around I presented George with the sheik's robe I had promised him - it matches Matt's, and was very well-received. I was delighted when Patty, George's wife, showed just as much appreciation for it as he did - but after all, the ultimate Pharaoh of the Oriental Fox-Trot certainly deserves such a gift. Looking at these photos again, I'm reminded of how gracefully he uses his hands - my late mother was a fiend for hands with character, and would surely have been a little nuts for these. A born artist, to be sure.

And now, for a little update from the home front, and the little garden that graces our porch. This year the star attraction has been the Sacred Datura plant - it's in its second season, and coming up like gangbusters. The honey bees in particular have taken an enormous liking to it, crowding around the blooms at sundown.

Granted they are large flowers, but to see seven bees busily gathering pollen in a single blossom is pretty incredible stuff. The above photo still surprises me. Of course, bees aren't the only visitors we get - I'm almost certain that this is a tobacco hornworm moth. Regardless of its specific name, the thing was enormous, fooling us into believing it to be a large hummingbird. Just compare it to the bees in size - that should give you an idea!

Finally, more for the hell of it than anything else, a little photo of Brick and Doo-Dad. Each day that passes makes me prouder of them both - Brick for learning to share his home after some years of single-hood, and Doo-Dad for finding his place in our family, and respecting Brick's limits of patience (being a senior pup and all). Seeing these two fit into brotherly roles brings me a lot of happiness - I figured I'd pass that cheer along.

As a little side-note, I'm really looking forward to seeing what NOLA's influence brings, sewing and illustration-wise, this time around. Visiting several galleries and clothing boutiques was inspiring, to say the least...

Orchestra Banners, Volume 2

I mentioned in a recent entry that I had a little update, regarding the Slingers banner - here it is, in a wonderful photo taken at the recently restored Kessler Theatre. If you can look past Matt's fantastic 1920s Odd Fellows robe, you'll see the set of six stand-flags that I designed and executed. They come from the same panels of surplus velveteen and crushed velvet as the original orchestra banner (standing faithfully in the rear) - just smaller versions, focusing on the lotus flower element. I would have gone with an initialed concept, but seeing the letters "SS" just might not have communicated the positive vibe I was going for...

As with the banner, the flags were initially designed on newsprint, which was then cut into a template. After much cutting and pinning, the layers were sewn by machine (my much-beloved Pfaff 7550) - finished, they are secured to the music stands with velcro. I'm very happy with how they turned out, adding yet more vintage character to the performances.

I'm currently working on a couple of costume projects - once ready, I'm eager to post photos here. Once again, keep your eye out!

Fun with Folkwear

This summer I've taken it upon myself to review and strengthen my sewing skills, reaching outside of my prior comfort zone with new patterns, fabrics and techniques. The Slingers banner posed new design challenges (more on that with an update to come) - this time around, I couldn't help but play with wispy textiles. When I saw this wonderful, Art Deco-inspired yoryu fabric in the clearance section of Joann Fabrics, I knew I would finally work on a pattern I'd longed to approach: Folkwear #214, a 1927 tea frock.

The design is very simple, and offers several options - long or short sleeves, collar or no collar, smocking or a flat drop-waist, as well as period-correct embroidery patterns. I decided to go with short sleeves (they're like fluid little wings!), and the basic waist - adding a sash to the left side, thus concealing the closure hooks and snaps. It had to be cool and free-flowing for dancing, as I'm gradually retiring my fragile vintage pieces, in favor of dance-friendly new ones. I performed on April 8th in this, and it is Ideal for the Charleston. The yoryu was a joy to play with, especially once I'd figured out the secret of sewing sheer fabric on top of newsprint - it made the work immensely faster and easier!


The cloche is an original, circa 1927-29, found at a wonderful estate sale on Eastern Avenue in Cincinnati, OH back in the early 1990s. These photos were taken at a garden party today, at our dear friend Rawlins Gilliland's beautiful home - Matt and Tom Pecena (a great friend, as well as my dance partner) were happy to pose for these photos.

I'm certain there will be more costumes to come - I recently bought a slew of reprint patterns from the 1910s -1930s, and expect this summer to be busy! Stay tuned...

A Moment of Calm in a Creative Storm

This is just a quick update, before photographing (and posting) a few recent projects that I'm happy to share. With the increase in Slingers activity this season, I've been working at both the drawing board and sewing machine - one project is shown today, several more to follow in very short order.

So, to the poster! For this event, I wanted to break away from my recent tendency toward pretty ladies, and decided to simplify. I figured that muted colors, simple lines and kooky whimsy would work well - so I went with dancing instruments, a male crooner (based on Matt's wardrobe) and a background largely inspired by the ceiling of Cincinnati's Art Deco masterpiece, Union Terminal:

This is a landmark that I grew up admiring - as would any Cincinnatian with any level of good taste. The building is graced throughout with magnificent architectural details, but what strikes me indescribably is the incredible ceiling. Soft tones radiate from the center, trimmed with silver-leaf... impeccable artistry. Like so many marvels in our country, Union Terminal was once at risk of being razed - fortunately it now serves as Cincinnati's Museum of Natural History, as well as its original purpose - the city's passenger train station.

The illustration was done, as usual, with colored pencil and ink. Mica-based metallic inks are such a joy to work with - this piece was no exception.

Keep your eye open for another post, coming along this evening - with a focus on costuming. Thanks as always for stopping by!

Getting the Word Out

The weather is finally beginning to break, my jasmine plants are sprouting forth new leaves, our pups have a little extra bounce in their step... as such, I couldn't resist cherry blossoms, rose bushes and parasols, as demonstrated in today's blog illustration. (But first, a closer look at our model's lovely face, framed in a straw cartwheel hat. I'm a stickler for delineating woven details...)


With the resurgence of springtime here in Dallas, The Singapore Slingers are putting on two Valentine-centric concerts - and naturally this brought forth my illustrative tendencies. I'm so pleased that Matt enjoys and nurtures my work, encouraging me to create posters and announcements for the orchestra - to say that this kind of work feeds my spirit is an understatement. (Another peek at those tasty cherry blossoms...)


The Slingers are currently in a stage of wonderful growth, following a recent article in the Dallas Morning News. More press equals more listeners, and the last couple of shows were sold out completely. This weekend (in the second listing on the above poster), they will be performing for the first time at the Kessler Theater, a restored, early 1930s movie house, complete with a beautiful dance floor - a rarity at Slingers shows. With the ongoing increase in shows and followers, you can bet that more related illustrations are on the way - as well, more costumes. For instance, a certain lemon yellow length of silk is calling my name, aching to be made into a circa 1927 tea dress, ideal for dancing... meantime, enjoy the featured poster, assured that more good things are on the way. (And finally, we'll finish with feet. My underlying fixation on ballet shoes is never far beneath the surface of just about everything I draw...)