I think the phrase is actually "the merry berry month of May" and its only February, but I've got my favorite fruit on the brain lately. Well, in all honesty, I'm always on the look-out for cute stuff with a strawberry theme. Its a disease. And someday, I'll have to draw a line...but not yet!
A recent trip to a flea market with my mom resulted in the above purchase. Three color-tinted lithographs from the US Department of Agriculture's annual regional plant catalog. The USDA used to put out this hand-drawn, leather bound book every year, beginning in the late 19th century. Every farmer in America was eligible to receive one, and it provided them with the latest hybrids and strains of all the various plants approved for cultivation in the US. And the best part? The artists were all women! My particular lithographs date from 1890, 1908 and 1914. I'll have to do a little research to find out when the USDA quit publishing the catalog.
Anyway, what to do with my new-found artwork? Originally, I planned to hang them on a wall in my guest room (which doubles as my crafting room, and predicatably there is a strawberry theme going on in there). But they look kind of awesome against the green walls int he living room. Hmmm....
