No. 354: Patsy Cline (and a Damaged Rose)

Patsy Cline, in vintage restored frame, Christmas 2016

There is really a Patsy Cline rose.

It's a hybrid tea rose, mauve, patented in 1985 by Armstrong Nurseries in Ontario, Canada. It has a strong fragrance and its parents are Angel Face and Double Delight.
"It is a medium-height, bushy plant that is attractive in the garden," and has an average rating of "excellent."

Patsy Cline rose (Armstrong Nurseries)

Truth be told, Patsy Cline is still beautiful.
And, she will make me cry if I drink enough.
Her songs convey either great joy or crushing heartache. There is no in-between.

She was just "pop" enough, but still "country."
She died in a plane crash at 30 because the pilot couldn't fly by instruments.

My first blush with Patsy Cline was when I was a tiny boy. Mom and Dad had one of those "20 Country Greats" el-cheap-o compilation records, and one of the photos was of a lady with tall hair.
Patsy Cline had tall hair like my mother.
Now, in this particular drawing, her hair is under control and she's all gussied up. It's not an easy photo to find and the two versions that I did stumble across were each cropped in a different way.
So I guessed at the neck line and coat sleeve. And I used a 33 1/3 rpm record to round off the bottom.

There are a lot of Patsy Cline records, legit and otherwise.
Crazy. I Fall to Pieces. Walkin' After Midnight. She's Got You. Back In Baby's Arms. Faded Love.
A Poor Man's Roses (the flip-side of Walkin' After Midnight) ...

"I must make up my mind today
What to have, what to hold
A poor man's roses
Or a rich man's gold"
(Bob Hilliard/Milton De Lugg)

Sadly, she has been repackaged more than three-day-old fried chicken at the grocery store. The Everest and Decca albums are legit, even the compilations.

But the cheaper Hilltop records, with shameful cover art, are just cash grabs from sessions before she was famous.  Still some great stuff, but trashy presentation. Even the Vocalion "Country Great" album simply copies a Decca cover, just cropping it in a different way.
No way to treat a legacy.

As for the damage referenced in the title of this piece, well, her life wasn't always easy. Two marriages, hard knocks on the road and all. Not the easiest way for a girl to make a living, but she was great at it and in-demand.
But really the damage refers to the picture frame.

Before the ride home.

I love this picture frame almost as much as the drawing that it holds. It had hung in a closet in a furniture consignment shop for months, and I kept looking it over, admiring its flaking glory, wondering what I could possibly do with it.
It was $50, and then $25 and today, $15.
And, another truth be told, I knew all along that I would put Patsy Cline inside of this frame.

 

Now, it is a very old and heavy frame. But it was falling apart, losing its petals (really, its flowers were flaking off) from water damage. It was pretty shaky and not quite sturdy, but mine at last.
After a good cleaning I discovered that the original pegs used to hold in the backing could not be used because the wood had gone soft. So I resorted to reliable 2016 General Electric silicone caulk, and weighted it down 'til it dried.

To keep more flakes from falling, I watered down Elmer's glue and washed it over the floral pieces, and glued back on the chunks that had fallen to the floor, or in the car. It dried clear and matte, which is desired.

I debated leaving it be, worn and torn. Sometimes you should just treasure what the years have left behind.

But after some experimentation, I figured out a way to repair the rose. I used a worn-out kneaded pencil eraser -- the very same eraser that I used on the drawing, and about 100 others. It's like a putty but it never really hardens. So I stretched and pushed and squeezed it into the vacant spaces, and then used a screwdriver to sculpt the pattern back into existence, as reasonably accurate as possible.

Some gold Testors model paint, rubbed in with my index finger to take away that new sheen, was used to match the original. It's close, and from a distance, it sings.

I feel very good about this Christmas vacation project. The frame is strong, the drawing is clean and flat, and the pencil shading leaps off of the white paper.
No longer ... falling to pieces.

Restored frame, insulated and sealed.