The Art of Story Maps
Last fall, I ran across a Facebook advertisement for a beautiful set of story maps that had me clicking with great interest. The link took me to the Elizabeth Wade Studio. Once there, I found a treasure trove of gorgeous watercolor story maps of some of my favorite classic novels. The drooling began.
I didn’t expect to buy anything since art prints are usually out of my price range, but then I discovered she had tea towels with the same art! And at a much lower price point. My mnd began spinning with possibilities.
I have a home office now. One with available wall space. And since I would never actually use such beautiful tea towels for anything as pedestrian as drying dishes or wiping kitchen counters, that meant I could use them as art. Out came the calculator and scratch pad as I started figuring out the dimensions and the possibility of finding frames that would fit. Excitement built. I think this could work!
A few clicks later, I had purchased a set of four tea towels, a four pack of 17″x24″ gold picture frames from Amazon, and four large self-adhesive foam mounting boards from Michaels.
Then came conferences, the holidays, book deadlines and a hundred other things that kept me from moving forward with this project. Until God sent a snowstorm. When it hit a couple weeks ago, it kept me home from the day job for several days, and I finally had time to start the framing process. I ironed the towels then measured and cut the mounting boards. I realized I needed more fabric on the sides to properly mount, so I ripped out the side seams to give me more real estate to work with. (It tore out a little bit of my heart to cut into these masterpieces, but it had to be done.) At last, I got them all in their frames and this past weekend, I hung the finished product on my office walls. It only took about 6 months, but the wait was worth it.
Here are close-up versions:
I’m quite pleased with how they came out.
What is a project on your to-do list that has taken far longer than it should have to accomplish?
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I love this! What a great idea and it look fabulous!
Thank you! This is one impulse buy I don’t regret. Ha!
Oh, this looks SO fantastic!That was brilliant to frame the tea towels and hang them as a gallery wall. I discovered Elizabeth’s studio about the same time you did, Karen (and wondered if she was related to our own Becky Wade?) One of my last unfulfilled dreams as a writer is to have a hardcover book with maps on the endpapers. I wish I could afford to hire Elizabeth Wade for that project, but I guess since I’m married to a very talented artist, I need to get him on that!;)
Enjoy your new views!!
I was so impressed with Elizabeth’s work. She’s based out of Nashville, and I think there’s a good chance she’s a Christian because she also has hymn-inspired tea towels. Wouldn’t it be fun if there was a family tree connection with Becky? 🙂
These are gorgeous, Karen, and such a fantastic idea! Also some of my favorite classics. A project I have been working on for a number of years is compiling a cookbook of my recipes, which includes some of my mother’s, for my children and grandchildren. I’ve purchased the cookbooks, made a list of the recipes, and even started writing some of them out. But life gets in the way. My husband was ill for two years before he passed to glory in January, 2023. Lots to do after that, and I’m finally settling into my “normal” routine now. You give me inspiration!
That cookbook sounds like a treasure trove for your kids and grandkids, Betty! They will be so blessed to have that heritage wrapped in food memories.
I ADORE Elizabeth Wade’s work! I received my first one from my son and daughter-in-law, then bought another. Both hang in my office. But I’ve also purchased her story map tea towels as gifts so many times. I know you are enjoying them on your wall, as I am!
How fun that we likely have matching offices, D’Ann! You obviously have great taste. 🙂
I love the style of her art work! What an ingenious way to display those maps at a great price.
Thanks! I have a strong thrifty streak. Ha!
I started embroidering a tablecloth back in 1996, before my Daddy passed away. I’m still working on it!! It got put away (since I live in FL, it gets really HOT with that thing up in your lap!) and I didn’t work on it at all for a long time. Then, in 2002, I broke my right wrist (I’m right handed), and tried working on it some. I worked on it quite a bit back in 2022, then back in the drawer it went. We’re to actually get cold again this coming Monday and Tuesday, and I’m going to get it back out!!