Confession......I bought myself a Christmas gift this year. Actually, I bought myself a Christmas gift and then did a little extra legwork. Who wants to raise his or her hand and admit that they have bought themselves a Christmas gift? Well, go ahead and put me in that category, I'm guilty! Hopefully, I'm not the only one, but if so here is the story about my self-purchased Christmas gift and my favorite personalized vintage Americana artist!
My love of this retro art dates back a couple of years ago, when I walked into my friend's, Dustin and Susan's, house and saw this uber cool, really large, like over 6 feet tall, framed print. Knowing Dustin's family background was in farming, I had several questions:
1. Was this actually a picture of his childhood farm? Answer: No
2. Who did this for him? Answer: Mark Seafross
I went on to learn that Dustin used someone named Mark Seafross to create this poster. I immediately started thinking about mine and Jason's backgrounds and what could be made for us. Some of our professional roots contain a gas station owner, retail sales clerk, homemaker, doctor, nurse, mill worker and policeman, just to name a few. Surely with these unique roots we could have a vintage print made for a space in our house. It just so happened that Father's day was around the corner and I could remember a picture of Jason's late Grandfather's gas station that I had seen at his parent's house.
Such and cool vintage picture, but could Mark use it to develop a poster? After speaking to Mark, the answer was yes, and this became the first poster we ever purchased (we actually purchased two, but we gave one to Jason's dad for Father's day). Our first poster purchase but not the last!
A little research on Mark and I found out that he works as a graphic designer / art director in in Columbus, Ohio, but also owns and operates a small business, Farmhand Co., which creates vintage style posters. Mark also develops unique retro letterhead and font as seen on his website, Letterhead. Mark says that his business started from his passion for vintage Americana, when things were built to last. Old advertising, packaging and signage are things that he has always found fascinating and is what he tries to recreate in the look and feel in his work.
With our recent move and updated gallery wall in the kid's playroom, and with Christmas around the corner it was the perfect time to add another personalized retro print to our collection. Jason's vintage family print to the right of the window and mine to the left. I contacted Mark, sent him two family pictures of the building and he started working his magic for us once again!
The prints arrived! There are actually two prints gingerly rolled up in the tube. One small black and white for my mom and one larger color for me!
I was off to Hobby Lobby for framing! With some Hobby Lobby assistance, I was able to find standard in-stock frames and mats. My prints were framed within hours.
Testing Mom's picture in our living room!
Are you in the market for a vintage print or maybe a unique present for someone (even if it is yourself!). If so, open up the old photo album and gather one of your retro photos! If you don't have an image or photo, just contact Mark to discuss. He may use a stock image or create one himself, as he did with Dustin's farm print.
For a limited time, include this promo code: SHIP4FREE/JJHH for free shipping (US only)
Clink on the Farmhand Co. image below to go straight to the company's Facebook page.
