Ken Logsdon
Around 1991, I met an artist in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, at an arts fair. Turned out this artist, Edie Dismuke, lived just a few blocks from me in northwest Denver. She made postage stamp jewelry and cards. One day when I was visiting her home studio, I suggested she add Churchill quotations (a passion of mine at the time) to her Churchill stamp cards. She declined but said something like "Be my guest." Thus Post-a-Quote was born. In two years time, I left a successful business partnership and moved with my wife Lynnette and two children to Columbia, Missouri, to pursue Post-a-Quote fulltime. I've been at it ever since.
Post-a-Quote was named before there was a worldwide web like today's. The name was a pun. On a blank greeting card I would handwrite a quotation to match an image on a postage stamp. The buyer of the card would then, in the British manner, “post” it to friends or family.
I have continued for the last 22 years to handwrite the quotations on each and every card. I'm often asked why, and I always say I do it because it further connects me to the words. I came to Post-a-Quote as a reader and collector of quotations, not as an artist. In that regard, I am self-taught. That's not to say that in addition to Ms. Dismuke there have not been people along the way who have helped me better myself as an artist.
Though I began with postage stamps as the anchor for the quote, over the years I began using vintage illustrations, artwork by noted Oklahoma artist D.J. Lafon and photographs by my sister, Claudia Hunter. Eventually my photo bug of earlier years was reignited. I discovered I could be my own illustrator for all those quotes I loved and for which I couldn't find a matching image. It is my own photos that I use now almost exclusively.
A couple of years ago I became involved with the Columbia Art League and have exhibited my photographs in several shows. The themed nature of the exhibits has challenged me and, I believe, made me a better artist. The Interpretations show of August 2013, dreamed up by Diana Moxon, the executive director of CAL, challenged me further artistically than anything so far. I look forward to more challenges in that venue.
In addition to quote cards I also do photo cards. Both are available in Columbia or can be purchased online. You may email me to see if I have a retailer in your area.
-Ken Logsdon
contact:
W:www.postaquote.com
