portfolio

Monday, June 30, 2014

Saturday Matinee by K Henderson


Saturday Matinee, 24 x 20, oil on canvas

Remember when movies cost a dime and the cowboy serials were all the rage? Ok, neither do I. But this painting Saturday Matinee brings those time back with a  Tom Mix poster, our favorite cowboy, Howdy Doody, a cowgirl sweetheart, American Indian, a horse and a six shooter. What more do you need?

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Friday, June 27, 2014

Waitress - Vintage card by K Henderson

 
Waitress, 10 x 8, oil on board

This trompe l'oeil painting was inspired by a card from a vintage Old Maid game. I thought a coffee stain would enhanced the Waitress theme.

Priced for the beginning collector
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Thursday, June 26, 2014

Kitchen Maid Vintage Card

 
Kitchen Maid, 10 x 8, oil on board
This Trompe L'oeil was inspired by a card in the 1938 game, Who is the Thief . I wonder who she is calling.

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Chef Vintage Card by K Henderson

 
Chef, 10 x 8, oil on board

This trompe l'oeil painting continues my Food Service themed Vintage Cards. This was inspired by a card from a vintage Old Maid game. And why is it that cooks always have such spotless aprons? Not in my world!
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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Cowboy Vintage Card

 
Cowboy, 10 x 8, oil on Board


This trompe l'oeil painting was inspired by a card from a vintage Old Maid game.  A few bullet holes were added to create authenticity.

Yippee Ki Yay!
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tutor Vintage Card by K Henderson

 
Tutor, 10 x 8, oil on canvas

Music. That is my current theme for my Vintage Card trompe l'oeil oil paintings.

First up is Tooty Tutor. He is from an Old Maid card game
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Monday, June 23, 2014

Super Powers by K Henderson

 
Super Powers, 20 x 16, oil on cradled board

I had great fun putting this trompe l'oeil painting together. I chose each object to symbolize Superman or his powers.

The blue, red and yellow shield, of course, is Superman's trademark.

Superman has Xray Vision. This came from a comic book ad selling those cool glasses.

"splo..." is one of those comic book words we've all come to identify with Super Heros.

The round magnifier is used to symbolize Superman's Super Vision. He can see tiny things no one else can see as well as the ability to see far distances.

The 'S' from a scrabble board just stands for Superman

Superman is able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

"Kryptonite Is Superman's Worst Enemy". Well, that's the way they put it in the old radio shows. That makes it sound like kryptonite is going to sprout legs and go chasing after Superman.

Superman is faster than a speeding bullet

He's more powerful than a locomotive.

The stamp is just cool.

The steel ball is there because Superman is known as 'The Man of Steel' and because I really like painting it.

Where would Superman be without Lois Lane? Probably in a lot less trouble!

And the rocket, of course, because Superman arrived on earth in a spacecraft from his home planet of Krypton.

And the cardboard box? That's where most of us have stashed our toys and comic books from our childhood
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Sunday, June 22, 2014

The Singer Vintage Card by K Henderson

 
The Singer, 10 x 8, oil on board

This is the second of three in my Music themed Vintage Card trompe l'oeil paintings.

My Contemporary Realism still life paintings tend to be complicated with lots of 'stuff' in them. With these vintage card paintings, my goal is to keep them simple and add nothing outside the card. I broke my rule by adding a scrap of sheet music.
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Saturday, June 21, 2014

Little Feather Vintage Card

 
Little Feather, 8 x 10, oil on board
I haven't created one of my Vintage Playing Card paintings in a while and when I found this "Little Feather" character I knew he would be perfect for a Cowboy and Indian painting. Dastardly Bad Bill Bunion is a good counterpart for the young brave.

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Friday, June 20, 2014

The Pianist by K Henderson

 
The Pianist, 10 x 8, oil on board

This card is from a game called Who's the Thief?

I like to paint these cards in groups of 3 with a similar theme. This is the third card in my Music trilogy. The other two are Tutor and The Singer

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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Shining Star by K Henderson

 
Shining Star, 10 x 8, oil on Board

This is the first in my most recent Old Maid Cards trilogy. The theme of these three is Cowboys and Indians.

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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Corny Cowboy by K Henderson


 
Corny Cowboy, 10 x 8, oil on board
This is the second  in my most recent Old Maid Cards trilogy. The theme of these three is Cowboys and Indians.
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Tuesday, June 17, 2014

CowGirl Clarabelle Vintage Card by K Henderson

 
CowGirl Clarabelle, 10 x 8, oil on board

This is the third painting  in my most recent Old Maid Cards trilogy. The theme of these three is Cowboys and Indians.

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Monday, June 16, 2014

The Dentist by K Henderson

 
The Dentist, oil on board, 10 x 8

This is from my series of  small, fun trompe l'oeil oil paintings of  cards from vintage games.

  The Dentist is from the 1938 game 'Who is the Thief'.

Note: No vintage card was harmed in the making of this painting. I scan my cards and print them on card stock. I them take the print and rip, smudge, stomp and tape to give them the Character that I want.
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Sunday, June 15, 2014

Gumballs and Peanuts - still life


Gumballs and Peanuts is 18" x 24" oil on canvas.

This is one of my most brightly colored and most ambitious paintings. I love the bright pink gumballs and the texture in the peanut shells.

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Fireman Vintage Card by K Henderson

 
Fireman, 10 x 8, oil on board
I had extra fun with this Trompe L'oeil. This vintage card depicts Fireman Damper Downe. It's from an Old Maid deck.
Looks like he has gotten a little close to the fire yet his bunker gear remains nice, bright and clean

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Friday, June 13, 2014

Orbit Space Game by K Henderson

 
Orbit, 20 x 30, oil on linen

Here's my latest Trompe L'oeil painting in my Vintage Board Game series. This game was manufactured by Parker Brothers in 1959.

My Orbit game is in pretty good shape. Fortunately, I have 2 very beat up Monopoly games that I used for inspiration for the tape, dents and dings.


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Thursday, June 12, 2014

Rubens Crayola No. 18 by K Henderson

 
Rubens Crayola No. 18, 18 x 24, oil on cradled board

 I have a few boxes of Rubens Crayola and this one is the oldest. Although I don't know the exact date of this box, the Rubens No. 18 (my box only has 17 crayolas) first came out in 1905.

The Rubens Crayola line, started in 1903 was directly targeted at artists and designed to compete with the Raphael brand of crayons from Europe.

I love the picture of Peter Paul Rubens and the filigree. The paper wrap on each crayon also has the word 'Rubens' and the face of  Ruben although he is facing towards the right instead of the left as on the box. These vintage crayons are over 100 years old and  in great shape. 

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Monday, June 9, 2014

The Making of a Cowboy by K Henderson

The Making of a Cowboy ,oil on canvas , 24″ x 18″
This Trompe L'Oeil oil painting is all about our favorite cowboy, Howdy Doody. With his patent, and accessories you can see how to make a cowboy. What cowboy is complete without his badge, handkerchief, garters, boots and plaid shirt? He is shown hanging from a rustic wood panel . Howdy was the first tv character to have a copyright.

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Sunday, June 8, 2014

Singing Cat by K Henderson

Singing Cat, 24 x 18, oil on cradled board

I love these vintage boxes of 'School Crayons'. I wish I could find more of them.

Felix the Cat sings along as a young boy plays the pipe organ. The box has seen better days but the cat keeps singing.

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Saturday, June 7, 2014

Wonder Woman by K Henderson

 
Wonder Woman, 24 x 18, oil on cradled board

Wonder Woman is not technically a Super Hero because she has no Super Powers. She's just your ever day Amazonian who is as Beautiful as Aphrodite, as Strong as Hercules, as Wise as Athena and as Swift as Mercury.

Wonder Woman first appeared in Comics at the beginning of World War II and fought along side our troops against the Evil Axis. That's what this painting is about.

Wonder Woman's war propaganda  included the "Keep 'Em Flying" campaign. The slogan was used in recruiting for the Aviation Cadet Program.

Like Superman, Wonder Wonder disguised herself by putting on a pair of glasses. She instantly became Nurse Diana Prince.

I couldn't find an invisible plane to use in this painting so this blue game piece represents both Wonder Woman's plane and the plane that Steve Trevor crashed on Paradise Island

Rounding out the painting is the Golden Lasso of Truth and the bullet deflecting Bracelets



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Friday, June 6, 2014

Buck Rogers by K Henderson

 
Buck Rogers, 36 x 30, oil on cradled board

I love books. I collect books. I have lots of books. Oddly enough, I rarely have books in my paintings. 

As a first step in remedying the situation I gathered up my Buck Rogers Big Little Books for this painting.


Buck Rogers first appeared in Phil Nowlan's science fiction tale titled Armageddon—2419, published in Amazing Stories in August of 1928. The Big Little Books were published between 1933 - 1943.

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Thursday, June 5, 2014

A Perfect Mason by K Henderson


A Perfect Mason, 30" x 30", oil on canvas
I've painted several small Coca Cola paintings this year and decided to create a larger Coke painting. My vintage Coke Bottle is joined by an Atlas Mason and a Ball Perfect Mason jar.

Yikes! This painting was a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be. The raised letters on each of the bottles required shadows and highlights on each of them.

The patina on the Zinc lid  added a contrast to the colorful shiny glass.

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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Wonderful Cat by K Henderson


Wonderful Cat, 18 x 24, oil on cradled board

I came across this Felix the Cat Crayon Box  while engaged in my never ending search for vintage toys. The colors of the box and the pencils screamed out "Paint Me!" so I did. I don't know if any of the pencils are original to the box but I don't really care.

This Trompe  L'oeil shows a box of colored pencils manufactured by the American Lead Pencil Company. These were called School Crayon Boxes although these are obviously pencils. Felix the Cat is painting up a storm!

By the way, Felix is one old cat! He first appeared around 1919 and is still going strong!

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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Monopoly Game by K Henderson


Monopoly Game, 12 x 9, oil on cradled board

I often like the box the game comes in better than the game itself. The instructions in this box are dated 1951.

I included the red dice because I like the way the light shines through. And I've always been fascinated by the detail in the little shoe.

Which is your favorite Monopoly playing piece?

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Monday, June 2, 2014

Super Kiss by K Henderson


Super Kiss, 30 x 30, oil on Linen

This painting is another trompe l'oeil in my Chocolate Kiss series. This includes a panel from a Superman Comic and of course that's Lois Lane giving the Super Kiss.

More Superman still lifes to come.......... 
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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Chocolate Fund by K Henderson


Chocolate Fund, 24 x 18, oil on cradled board

While doing research on WWII propaganda posters I came across this poster for the American Chocolate Fund. I knew it HAD to be included in a painting.

The American Chocolate fund's goal was to send 1000 pounds of chocolate EACH WEEK(!) to the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Wow!

This Trompe L'oeil includes the poster along with a Hershey's Chocolate Bar in a World War II era wrapper.

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