Thursday 28 August 2014

More from Miss M. E. Porter

Here are a few more works by Miss Margaret E Porter; ones that appealed to me.  The image of the lady and butterfly above also has a strong Art Nouveau feel but also reminds me of Aubrey Beardsley's work with the swirling patterns and strong black and white.
 This Rose design was just a little too big to fit on my scanner, but is symmetrical.
I liked the swirly pattern in the centre of this design.
The vines design is one of my favourites - it works really well and has a really good flow around the whole piece.
 Mother and child reading, again, an effective use of monochrome.
Slightly softer in feel, with a more three dimensional appearance for these flowers.  She was a very talented designer and artist.

8 comments:

  1. Very, very talented. I see the Beardsley influence, but she has made it her own.
    I hope her life was full of the beauty that she created for others.

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    1. Thanks, EC. I hope so too - it is so frustrating not to know anything more about her life. She obviously valued her work as it has survived this long, so I am pleased that it can be shared.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  2. Oh she really was talented Ellie! These are marvellous, so professional. Yes I wonder too if she found work through her talent-at the time I would imagine it was not easy for a woman to find work like this-I do hope she did!
    My brother in law was a graphic designer and made his living doing similar work to this, did the designs for packaging of health products for years, painstakingly using lettraset! His work all dried up with the advent of the computer though, times have changed so much. Have a lovely weekend,
    Alison xx

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    1. Thanks, Alison. They are lovely, aren't they? I would love to know if she did make money from her talent for drawing and design. It was really interesting to hear about your brother. Despite the advent of computers, there is something special about a hand-drawn image. Maybe it's because the artist/designer puts a bit of themselves into their work...
      Have a good weekend too.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  3. Thank you for this post Ellie. I noticed the Beardsley style as well; she was very talented.

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    1. Thanks, Toffeeapple. She was indeed a talented artist/designer. It is interesting to think that she was busy undertaking this illustration course while the First World War was raging. I wonder whether she used her skills in poster/packaging/brochure design during the war...
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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  4. She was certainly very talented, it's beautiful!
    Wat a lucky find... Love from Mirjam.

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    1. Thanks, Mirjam. She was indeed very talented. I think we must have been meant to find the drawings. I was so pleased we could keep the work and letters together. There are also some of the lessons, so you can see exactly what she had to complete. A real link with nearly a century ago.
      Best wishes
      Ellie

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