Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Framed Jokers on the Wall

This display of jokers is I think it is one of my best. They make a colorful ensemble, none are overwhelmed, overwhelming, or clash.  Note how the two on the top right are oriented back towards the picture's middle. And how the BeeBoy in the top left is marching back towards the middle. 

This display was made for my nephew Will whose reflection you can barely see in the glass.


This next framed set of jokers is for my nephew Jay. Also excellent, it has the darkest background and a very classy set of jokers.


Here's the framed jokers in my office. I put this set together maybe in the late 1980s (yes, I've been doing this for a long time now)!


This framed set of jokers in my company office (Time4Learning.com). It is bolted to the wall. I've spent a lot of time staring at this selection and I feel that I made some mistakes. I wish I had not put in the seagull, horse, or the seal joker. I put them in for diversity but I think they wreck the aesthetics. I also regret the modern Congress joker and the juggler in the middle row.  The peacock joker in the bottom right is among my most lovely jokers and is extremely rare and valuable (ie ~$45).

The framed set of 23 jokers shown below is my most recent (11/2020) and is my only vertically oriented one. I think it demonstrates a new level of sophistication and maturity in the selection and balancing of the ensemble.  My photography is still weak and if you look hard, you can see my reflection in the glass.  I'm going to try to get info on each of the jokers in this picture and create a post about it (it’s now done! Checkout my article called Who are these jokers to learn about those in the frame). These jokers hang in the condo in my living room.


This was the original set of framed jokers, made in the 1970s. I think I hung it in my offices and homes in the 80s and since then. The jokers are a little faded. I should have used museum glass that protects art from fading. But I created it in high school using an old frame that I found around some art that was being thrown away.

These are Jill's jokers which are hard to photograph without a reflection.

This is one of my best efforts, this framed set of jokers are at Lester and Michael's condo.



The jokers below is a hand-painted one of a kind joker. Florencia made this, she starts with a card from a deck of cards, scrapes off the image, and then paints on it.  She'll do this as a commission. 
 



BTW, the lady below looks a lot like my wife.  

My children have received some framed joker selections for their walls. 

Many readers seem to want to know how many framed sets have been created; the Catalog shows that I've made 14 so far:

  1. Original 1975. Above
  2. Office version. Somewhere between 1990-2002. Above
  3. David’s. His is above and in this article: my legacy for my children.
  4. Kate's -  look at this article: my legacy for my children.
  5. Ariana’s -  look at this article: my legacy for my children.
  6. DJ & MG - 2015? - need photograph
  7. Laura and Ian - need photograph
  8. Jay - above
  9. Will - above
  10. Harry Gruner - need photograph
  11. Sam Gruner - need photograph
  12. Lester & Michael - 2018-19 ? - above
  13. Jill 2018-19 - above
  14. John & Carmen, condo living room - 12/2020 - Above and also, the framed jokers in my living room analysed
While the collection is organized thematically, I've dabbled with historical views of American jokers: American card publishers:  Dougherty , ARRCOor Standard Jokers  See also, the framed jokers in my living room analysed and whether I have all the jokers from the Joker Poster, plus what resources I find useful.

1 comment:

  1. Wow! so good to see I'm not the only one framing! my collection is very small, this is inspiring!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your input and for reading and thinking about jokers.