Pickle Fork!

A vintage pickle fork....

this was the prop I looked for late one night for my first Tiny Pages Art Exchange card....and I can't believe I found it. It might have been my grandmother's...it looks like something Bessie would have had.

The prompt for our first card was "chuckle"....and my card went to Becky.  And Becky's pickle fork story always makes me chuckle.

And I just learned that Tracie (also in the art group) gifted Becky a pickle fork...so she's in on the chuckle too!

"Pickle Fork" is a line Becky uses in those situations when she just feels like she can't have nice things or when things don't go as planned.  It comes in handy when something gets broken...or pieces and parts of something are missing or when the critters dig in the plant pots.

Because when you actually need the pickle fork...where the hell is it?

Saying "pickle fork" out loud diffuses the situation...puts things in perspective and hopefully makes you chuckle about whatever it was. I find myself saying it....and when I was visiting Becky a month ago I know I said it outloud at least once. And every time I say it...I chuckle.

Cyanotypes have become a big summer art focus for me...so could I do a cyanotype of Bessie's pickle fork?  Yes I could!  And why not add a few pretty leaves....I believe these are from my meadow rue.

Of course I couldn't fit the whole fork on the card...but the message was clear...and I chuckled all the way through making it. And I hope it made Becky chuckle too.

Rather than leaving the leaves plain white from the print...I lightly watercolored them giving it a little whimsical interest. And now that I think about it...it's a nod to the floral pattern at the end of the fork! 

This was my practice fork....and I love the deep tone of the blue on this card...so I sent that to Becky too.

Every type of paper....and every print takes on its own blue personality. The Tiny Art Page ended up being a more muted blue than this practice piece.

In hindsight...I wish I would have printed the whole fork in the practice run...just for chuckles.

Here's the back...where we were supposed to write the theme...and do whatever else we wanted. I actually put the chemical solution on the back too....and meant to sun print something....but I forgot to turn it over before I rinsed it. 

So I did a light watercolor wash instead....and added a little snippet of another print. In hindsight I should have printed the end of the pickle fork on the back. Now THAT really would have got me chuckling.  

And look what's all polished up!

And I'm actually going to use it and keep it where I always can find it! Ane every time I stab a pickle...I'm going to think of Becky...and have a chuckle.