Tag Archives: Vintage

The Butterfly Charmer

Posted in 1920s, Art, Creativity, Inspiration, Isle of Adelle, Jazz Age, Jazz Musicians, Vintage, watercolor painting by

The Butterfly Charmer by Cindy Adelle Richard

Agatha did not discover her love for the cello until she reached her twenties. She had always been extremely active as a young child and participated in lots of sports; the thought of slowing down to play an instrument never crossed her mind. In college, Agatha’s music theory class took a field trip to a museum, and as part of the experience, the students got to try out lots of different instruments. For some reason, the cello just clicked with Agatha. She had no idea how to play it yet, but it just felt right resting against her body. With the support of her music theory professor, Monsieur Lamb, Agatha found a good cello instructor and started taking lessons in the afternoons after classes.

One day when Agatha and her cello instructor, Mr. Kim, were practicing, they decided to go outside to play because it was too warm inside. By this time, Agatha was quite proficient and could play lovely songs on the cello. As she played, butterflies started to swirl around her – first one, then two, and by the time she finished, there were about 20. Mr. Kim had never seen anything like it. The next day, they came back to the field to play, and the same thing happened. Out of curiosity, Mr. Kim played his cello to see if the butterflies would gravitate toward him, but they just fluttered away. From then on, he referred to Agatha as the butterfly charmer. Whenever she performed outside, day or night, butterflies appeared and fluttered lazily about enchanting everyone present. Agatha loved this spectacle because she had always been fascinated by butterflies. It always made her happy to see that the butterflies enjoyed her music, and she kept them in mind when she started to compose music.

To bring Agatha and her butterflies home with you, visit Etsy

The Umbrella Man

Posted in 1920s, Art, Imagination, Jazz Age, poetry, Vintage, watercolor painting, Writing by
The Umbrella Man by Cindy Adelle Richard

The Umbrella Man by Cindy Adelle Richard

Wade believes in making rainy days more amenable by adding joyful surprises inside each of his umbrella – surprises like pops of bright color, lights, glitter, and clouds. No matter what is happening in the sky, when his customers look up, they only see images that make them happy. There is something special about having joyful umbrellas to make it through a wet weather event. People order Wade’s umbrella’s from far and wide, and he will customize each one to match the personalities of his customers. How? Wade has developed a set of 5 profound questions to figure out all that he needs to know about a person (they are top-secret of course).

I created a brief poem to accompany Wade’s mini-story:

Idiomatic Umbrellas

The rain taps lightly above.

Inside their dome

people gaze up

happy to be home.

Umbrella Man is now available on Etsy 

Hats of the Horoscope Calendar

Posted in 1920s, Art, Creativity, Horoscope, Jazz Age, Vintage by
Fancy hats showcasing the personality and color for each sign of the zodiac

Hats of the Horoscope Calendar by Cindy Adelle Richard

I finished my 2019 Hats of the Horoscope calendar just before Christmas, but I am just getting around to sharing the news.  I also wanted to provide a little background about the inspiration behind the calendar. In case you had not noticed, I have a thing for hats. I have been collecting images of hats for years on Pinterest and I am known to regularly sport hats whenever I get the chance. I am also fascinated by natal astrology (the one that based on calculating our exact birth dates, times, and locations to provide us with snapshots of our whole life). I combined the two in order to create something unique, and I am thrilled with the results! To keep things manageable, I decided to pick out hats that match one particular personality trait from each of the signs and to depict it in the color denoted for each sign. I included the interpretations below so you will be able to see what each one means.

Hats of the Horoscope Explanations

Hats of the Horoscope Explanations

I hope you enjoy reviewing each month. These calendars are also available for purchase on my Etsy shop.

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Molly’s Miracle Garden

Posted in 1920s, Creativity, Vintage, watercolor painting, Writing by
Woman sitting on patio looking at flowers

Molly’s Miracle Garden by Cindy Adelle Richard

I am always inspired by beautiful gardens with impossibly large blooms, and that was my inspiration for this week’s painting. I hope you enjoy this little story about Molly.

As a young girl growing up on a farm, Molly discovered early on that she had a special gift with flowers. Better than a green thumb – more like a golden thumb. See, as soon as Molly places seeds in the ground, flowers begin to grow. Not as fast as what you see in time-lapse videos when everything is moving fast, but within 24 hours, they are in full bloom. It doesn’t matter what the soil is like or the weather, or even if they have received water. They spring up perfect and as a big as they can possibly grow in vibrant colors like cotton candy pink, indigo, and corncob yellow. Molly’s favorite flower is the dahlia – she never gets tired of gazing at its perfection. The townsfolk all know about Molly’s talent, and they flock to her floral shop to buy choice blooms for all sorts of occasions.

Molly has taken up the violin to balance out the ease with which she grows flowers. She really has to work at the violin to get it to sound decent. She squeaks and sqwacks along, breaking bow strings and assaulting the ears of her patient music instructor. It surprises her how happy it makes her to work at something that challenges her. One day, she hopes that playing the violin will come as naturally as growing flowers, and she’ll have the added satisfaction of knowing she worked hard to learn how to play.

Painting available on Etsy

The Fastest Boater

Posted in 1920s, Art, Creativity, Imagination, Inspiration, Jazz Age, Simplicity, Vintage, watercolor painting by
Watercolor Painting of a Man in a Boater Hat with a Canoe

The Fastest Boater by Cindy Adelle Richard

Will moves so fast that anyone watching from the shore would only see a blur when he glides by in his trusty canoe. He canoes early in the morning before others get on the lake so he can go as fast as he chooses to go. He is not interested in competitions; he just enjoys being out on the lake slicing his canoe through the water as dawn breaks just beyond the pine trees. While he is moving, he does not think about anything – he just enjoys the quiet, calming sounds of nature.

Wendy Chidester: Giving Relics New Life

Posted in Art, Creativity, Inspiration, Research, Vintage by
Painting of a dress form

Adjust o Matic Dress Form by Wendy Chidester

About a year ago, I read about Wendy Chidester’s paintings in an art magazine and found out that a gallery in Boston was showing them in person. After seeing the vibrant images in the magazine, I just had to see and experience them in person. I was not disappointed! They were even more captivating in person because you can see the variations in colors and brushstrokes. I was amazed out how inanimate objects could look so alive.

Painting of Books by Wendy Chidester

Painting by Wendy Chidester

Wendy’s work causes the viewer to pause and linger a little while, to reflect upon simpler times, and most importantly, to smile when positive memories flood one’s consciousness. Even though her paintings are of relics and antiques, they still have a contemporary feel plus a touch of playfulness and whimsy. I certainly felt a little happier when I walked away from the gallery.

Painting of Pool Balls by Wendy Chidester

Painting by Wendy Chidester

After my visit to the gallery, I wanted to know more about Wendy. Wendy actually started her career as a landscape and figurative artist. One rainy afternoon, she ended up painting an antique camera that she borrowed from a local antique shop, and something clicked. She has been painting items from a bygone era ever since. Her goal is to show appreciation and respect for their years for service.

Painting of a Vintage Record Player by Wendy Chidester

Painting by Wendy Chidester

Wendy loves imagining the story behind all of these old things – who they belonged to, where they might have been, or how the person used them. She wants to honor the human ingenuity and craftsmanship that went into making each piece. She finds color fascinating and often uses saturated colors that she adds patina to so she can gracefully show their age.

Painting of Vintage Cameras by Wendy Chidester

Painting by Wendy Chidester

Wendy usually paints from life, borrowing pieces from antique shops or inheriting old pieces from family and friends. She works out of her studio in Draper, a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah.

If you are interested in learning more about this artist, please visit http://www.wendychidester.com/

Circus Calendar: Enter the Circus Tent

Posted in 1920s, Art, Imagination, Vintage by
Vintage Circus Performer

Enter the Circus Tent by Cindy Adelle Richard

I created a 2018 circus calendar inspired by the film THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. I adored the film from start to finish – the performers, the costumes, the music, and much more. I felt great after leaving this movie, and I went home and got right to work on some sketches of a vintage circus straight from my imagination.

This calendar is available on my Etsy shop at http://adellecirca1920.etsy.com

Here is the full gallery for the calendar:

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