my parents used to have this framed on their dresser when I was young. not sure when they took it off the dresser. maybe when we moved? or they got divorced? anyhow, my mom gave it to me several years back and it resurfaced when we were purging our house getting ready to move. I fell in love with it. (insert narcissistic jokes here) I mean, I just loved the artistry of it. so it went back in a box to Virginia.
once in Virginia I scanned it and started using it as my twitter picture and now on my blog.
one day I was wondering... well, it is signed I wonder if it's ok to be using someone else's work? although, I'm in no way claiming I did it. so I googled "Wallie Spatz" and I found this article by Don Moore.
Wallie grew up in Iowa and discovered her silhouette talent as a teenager after watching it done in a movie. during World War II her family moved to Los Angeles. one day she received a call from the Hollywood canteen requesting she volunteer to cut out silhouettes of the servicemen. this job blossomed into others at the Los Angeles USO, camp parties, hospital wards and Hollywood parties. She meet lots of stars and her husband, Hugo Spatz, in Hollywood. After his Army service, they were married and moved to Cleveland. Hugo was not thrilled to have a "working" wife. so,Wallie would ask his permission to do the silhouettes in front of customers in their optical shop. Eventually, her silhouettes became more than just pocket change and she had a booking agent. In the sixties she was requested by President Johnson to a political fundraiser where she made silhouettes of the president, first lady, senators and congressmen. Wallie has also done silhouettes of Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr, Pope John Paul II, and me...
how cool is that?
Wallie Spatz was my Aunt. I think she cut millions of silhouettes. She could cut these in just minutes. She was doing this well into her 90s. I have a silhoutte of every member of my family. I sometimes see people still selling these on Ebay.....
ReplyDeleteWallie Spatz was my Aunt. I think she cut millions of silhouettes. She could cut these in just minutes. She was doing this well into her 90s. I have a silhoutte of every member of my family. I sometimes see people still selling these on Ebay.....
ReplyDeleteWallie Spatz cut silhouettes of me and my 2 sisters in the 1960s. We each now own them, but until 2015, they hung in my father's home.
DeleteWallie Spatz cut my silhouette in the mid-fifties, in Cleveland, Ohio. My mother had it done at one of the downtown department stores. It remains a treasured item.
ReplyDeleteWallie Spatz cut silhouettes of myself and my siblings in Cleveland in the late 1970's, also in a downtown department store. So glad to hear how appreciated she is...I was amazed by her work at the time.
ReplyDelete