Farmer Craig

Several years ago I stumbled onto a 1931 Classroom Printer rubber stamp set in an antique store. It consisted of 100 or so images, 200 words and a full alphabet in caps and lower case. For period of time I used them to make art. I proofed all the images in the order I found them and I would place a blank sheet of paper in front of me and stare at the 2 sheets of proofed images until an idea came to me. It was always a spontaneous thing, the idea would hit me and I’d grab the stamps and start stamping. I flipped the creative idea concept. Instead of having an idea and creating an image to go with it I allowed the image to dictate an idea. I produced hundreds of “stamp prints” on a variety of themes ranging from musical gig posters to politics and factory farming. One image was a farmer in overalls wearing a straw hat holding a basket and a rake, that is me! During the growing season, every morning, I pull on my overalls, put on my hat, grab my basket and head to the garden. “Farmer Craig” became my spokesman. During this time I was diagnosed with cancer (cancer free now!) and the work got darker and darker. I never exhibited them but did post some on fb years ago. Here is the whole series.