Ellicott City Station 1970

I ran across this old photo today. It shows the B&O Station before the stockade fence was installed and before it was "restored".  Note the station had 4 chimneys, 3 of which were destroyed in the name of restoration. Also of note are the two windows as they existed before an arched doorway was installed in this wall, forever obscuring this view.It also shows the Opera House before it's facade was redone, and Angelo Castle before the siding was removed.

Windows Into History

Window displays, another lost art from the past. Shopkeepers used to decorate their store windows to attract customers into their shops.

Bob's Five & Dime always had a few mechanical figures decorating a Christmas tree in the window. Santa and Mrs. Claus, and an elf, always making the same motions, but real magic in the eyes of a small child.
More about Bob's Five & Dime. 

Leidig's Bakery filled their windows with mock wedding cakes from Spring to Summer, and replaced them with Gingerbread houses for the Christmas season.
More about Leidig's Bakery.

The Patapsco Pharmacy displayed large glass amphoras filled with colored water. An amphora is a container that cannot stand up without a separate stand. As I recall, it was used in ancient Greece to assure the return of containers to be refilled with olive oil or wine.
More about The Patapsco Pharmacy.

I am sure there were others examples that I have forgotten, perhaps a reader will remind me of them.

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Another Drawing of the B&O Station

This time, it's one of mine. It was done in 1990, ten years after moving out of town. Even now, whenever I think about drawing something, I think back to my time in the old town for my inspiration. It reminds me of one of my favorite contemplations about art, and that is: Why is it that we toil endlessly at a job for small amounts of money, when we can just pick up a pencil and a piece of cardboard, and make something worth $100 just about anytime we feel like it?

Etching of Margaret Smith Gallery

Here is another etching, this time by artist Alice Web. It is printed from a single plate using black ink, then reworked with watercolor. This etching was sent out to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Margaret Smith Gallery, now closed. For a detailed description of how an etching is made, read this post.

B&O Railroad Station Print

Here's another print by artist Ted Koppel, this one dated 1959. A great view from the passenger platform, and showing the 2 parallel tracks as they existed before the flood of 1972.

Generations of Artists Find the Old Town Inspirational

Here is a nice drawing by artist Ted Koppel. It is dated 1961. I remember seeing his work for sale around town in the 1960's. His drawing of the B&O station was an inspiration to me. There were so many artists that found inspiration in the old town before me, and after my own inspired time, which was from 1970 to 1980. This drawing shows upper Main Street, with the old fire house, court house and historical society visible in the distance.

Ken Olin Etching

I began working for Ken Olin in 1971. He was the owner of "Olin's Art Shop". Mr. Olin took up painting at about 70 years old. He also acquired an etching press, and took up etching. Here is on of his prints of the "Oliver Viaduct", done about 1973. Etching is a very early printing process first used extensively by Rembrandt. A copper plate is covered with a tar-like coating, and the drawing is made on the plate with a pointed metal stylus, exposing the copper. The drawing must be done in reverse so that it prints correctly. The plate is then soaked in acid, which eats some of the exposed copper away. The tar is removed, and ink is applied, and the plate is wiped off. This leaves ink in the lines "etched" by the acid. Paper is placed on the plate, and both are rolled through 2 heavy steel rollers. Etching can also be a much more complicated process, using multiple aligned plates for separate colors, and other techniques can be used to draw on the plates, and the plates can be re-coated, and  re-worked. Etching is one of the "lost arts" of our time. You may also recall the infamous phrase that famed artist Louis Icart said to one of his models, "Come upstairs and see my etchings".

Old Fels Avenue

Some of you old-timers may recall this scene of Fels Avenue before it was torn down to make way for "improved housing" for the residents. The name of the artist is "Hodges", and is dated 1965. Fels Avenue was one of the oldest parts of the town, and still retained some very early buildings. The street still exists, off of Rogers Avenue, behind the old brick Fire department building. This street is where I was born.

Reprint of Old Lithograph of Ellicotts Mills Available

During the mid-1800's, there was a printmaker in Baltimore known as "Sashas", or a similar name. They produced prints in the old style known as "stone lithography". The process was begun by drawing on a flat piece of limestone with a wax crayon. The image had to be drawn in reverse, as the printing process reverses the image. After the drawing for each color was made on a separate stone, each stone would be covered with a ink, and paper would be placed over it, and rubbed to transfer the ink to the paper. The ink was absorbed by the stone, but remained on the surface of the wax. As each color was added to each of the stones, and the paper placed on the stone, the alignment had to be exact so the image would form. If any of the alignment was off, the print was destroyed. it is a time consuming process. "Sashas" produced the finest print of old Ellicott Mills that has ever been done using this process in 1854. When I was working in the Marino Gallery back in 1973, we had to reframe the original print that the Howard County Historical Society owned, so I got a very good look at it. I would say that fewer than a dozen survived of the 100 or so that "Sashas" printed. I have recently learned that this print has been re-printed using modern methods. If you need a great looking print of old Ellicott Mills, here it is.