Jackbear Makes History

Last week I had two really exciting stamp projects come to finality.

First I delivered an order of five hand hand carved stamps, ten buttons, and ten magnets (all adorned with a portrait of Susan B. Anthony) to the Susan B. Anthony House here in Rochester, NY.  The citizens of Rochester know the legends of Susan B. well.  Her work along with her sister suffragettes were pivotal in getting the vote for women in the US.  One of her homes is here in Rochester, along with her grave.  Many sites in Rochester honor her with her name.  Household name in Rochester?  Absolutely.

So when I was contacted by Joann at the Susan B. Anthony House gift shop, it took me all of 3 seconds to know I wanted to do something to help them promote the name of Susan B. Anthony.  We agreed to an initial order as listed above.  She said that others she knew had purchased my pins at other art shows I had done, and told her about my work.  Can't beat word of mouth!  So if you want one of these buttons/pins, magnets, or stamps, drop by the Susan B. Anthony gift shop at 19 Madison Street and help support the SBA mission.

The second historic order I got to do was for Jim with the Welkins Base Ball Club of Port Huron, MI.  Jim was looking for a way to mark some of the vintage baseballs for this team.  The Welkins play vintage base ball (yes two words) with other similar clubs in Michigan an Ohio.  They are in their seventh season in 2013, and play other teams like the Royal Oak Wahoos and the Midland Might River Hogs.

Jim sent me the "shield" they use on their uniforms, and I carved that for the ball logo.  The carving was straight forward but stamping on a sphere is not trivial.  Taking something that is flat and trying to roll it onto a ball is an exercise in patience.  From the pictures that Jim took, looks like he has the knack for it!  I did the stamp in the softer "pink stuff" carving material to allow for some more "squishiness" to take into account the leather and the curve of the material being stamped.

It is exciting to think these little logos might get cracked into the air.  I'm glad this stamp turned out to be a home run.  (Sorry, couldn't resist the horrible pun).

Susan B. photos by John Ballou
Baseball photos by James Fisher