Txt me- a collection of hand lettered text messages between friends and family.

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There was a time before texting, you know. While the world has become enchanted by the mobile phone and its unchallenged convenience and up-to-the-minute-ness, we’ve lost the charm of the hand-made message. Following on from the land lettered nursery rhymes project which is now underway, here is something a little more grown up. Here is a request too; send me your bet, funniest, saddest, memorable text message and I’ll try to give it the respect it deserves.

I’ll hand letter it and you can have it back as a download or a postcard or some other printed form for a small fee. I’m working out the prices but really what you pay for a priceless memory?

Ring a ring o’ roses sketch

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Complete with spelling mistakes, here is the solution for the Ring a ring o’ roses rhyme. I decided at the beginning of the project to show everything, or as close to everything as possible. Painting will start on Thursday. It would be great to get this one right because I know from seeing them that children love to sing this rhyme and play the game.

Ring a Ring o’ Roses

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© Ken Wilson-Max 2011.

I think there is still some thought about the decoration of the type and the flowers that has to happen, but wanted to post it anyway as I’m fairly pleased with the progress.

Ring a Ring o’ Roses

The historical context for this rhyme dates back to around the time of the Great Plague of London (1665). The symptoms of the plague included a rosy red rash in the shape of a ring on the skin and violent sneezing. People carried sweet smelling herbs, or posies, as they believed the disease was transmitted by bad smells.

The death rate of the Great Plague was over 60% and it was eventually brought to a fiery end by the Great Fire of London in 1666 which killed the rats that carried the disease.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

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© Ken Wilson-Max 2011

The earliest publication for the “Baa, baa black sheep” rhyme or poem was 1744. The Music that we know today was first published in the early nineteenth century. The song  makes a link between wool and sheep. Babies imitate the sounds or noises that animals make –  onomatopoeia – as part of  learning through playing.

The rhyme has had its controversial moments too but it seems unfounded. That is there is no way to prove or disprove any controversy.

Incy Wincy Spider

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The perils of rushing. I made a mistake on this latest version… boo-hoo! It’s back to the drawing board. The sun dries, not washes, silly. This is the corrected piece.

 

Three Blind Mice

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Three Blind Mice
The ‘farmer’s wife’ refers to the daughter of King Henry VIII, Queen Mary I. She was a staunch Catholic whose violent persecution of Protestants earned her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’. Three blind mice refers to the massive estates which she and her husband, King Philip of Spain, owned.
The ‘three blind mice’ were three Protestant noblemen who were convicted of plotting against the Queen – she did not have them dismembered and blinded as in the poem but she did have them burnt at the stake instead.

More Nursery Rhyme sketches

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This was the first sketch for this rhyme. I don’t think there was a second.