The TypEtching Art of Winifred Caldwell - Part 2

 Yes, this is the second half of a story! If you haven't, go back and read part one first.

 

 

As I mentioned at the end of Monday's post, I reached out to Mike Devaney, grandson of Winifred Caldwell, through Facebook and explained to him how I had come into the magazine featuring his grandmother and her letter.

He told me that she was quite the promoter of her art and that he had several pieces of correspondence from people that she had reached out to but did not have any of the letters that she sent out.

He offered to send me a reproduction print of her art that was made in the 60s and would sell for $7.50. While I was interested to see if he wanted the items, I wasn't looking for anything from him when I contacted him. It just felt like the right thing to do! Can you imagine if someone contacted you with 60 year old documents relating to a family member?

During out chat, he mentioned that he took some of her art to an Antiques Roadshow audition in 2019. He didn't make the final cut but was sorted to be considered by the producer. You can see him, and the art, in a 2 minute video of the event over at the Courier Journal. The appraiser he met with told him each original piece could be worth between $500-$1000 dollars!

Mike owns her original art as well as several things, like postcards, that inspired her TypEtchings. The only piece of her art he doesn't own is in the Kennedy Library.

I got the items sent out to him and as he said, he was nice enough to send me a pair of art prints as a thank you.

He also included a few note cards, similar to the one you may have seen in his grandmother's I've Got a Secret appearance.

Here is one of the prints and a close up below.

It still blows my mind. I can't imagine having to manipulate the paper in the typewriter and selecting the right characters to make things come out the way you want.

This piece is of George Washington's Birthplace in VA. The art may look blurry, but it's not your eyes. It's multiple layers of typing over each other.

And that concludes my fun brush with history to kick off the new year.

Hope you enjoyed it!