Tattoos, Scammers & Honest Abe --Cagle

Bits and Pieces IT ISN’T necessary to sell printers on the beauty and endurance of ink. Some prefer to take it home with them, and not just on their clothes.

The morning show of a Philadelphia-based radio station, WMMR, has a weekly feature it calls Tattoosday, in which listeners come in to the studio on a Tuesday morning to have a small tattoo applied by a local artist. On the morning of March 3, a man named Tom—who identified himself as an employee of a pressure-sensitive label plant in King of Prussia, PA—dropped in on “Preston and Steve.”

Tom told “Preston and Steve” that he wanted to get a Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse tattoo, but that would take a long time to draw and ink. He opted for a skull and crossbones, but vowed to visit the same artist soon to get the large and involved masterpiece.

I contacted the printer in question to see if we could get a picture of Tom, but the company declined to participate. Too bad...we would’ve liked to have seen how the fresh ink turned out.

If you’re reading, Tom, we’d really like to see the Four Horsemen art. And that goes for anyone out there who boasts truly original artwork on their person. Send in a high-resolution image of your ink, and we’ll publish it in a future edition of Bits and Pieces.

We all need to remember that ink puts food on our table, and is richly deserving of our appreciation. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget the role it plays in our lives.

PRINTER BEWARE: Jason Deron at SG Printing in Waymart, PA, sent us a heads-up about an e-mail scam that targets printers. The scammers are our good friends from Nigeria who brought us the original 419 Nigerian Bank Scam.

Perhaps you’ve seen the ruse previously. The “print buyer” blindly e-mails you an RFQ with specs for a flyer job. The English in the e-mail is atrocious, but the sender’s name has a “Rev.” in front of it to prey on your soft side. Maybe it’s from the “Save the Children” organization or other charity that purports to aid youth. Once you give this person a quote, they will send you a check/credit card number for the payment. Except the customer overpays...oops! Kindly send back a check to refund the overage.

The deception can be any number of things—stolen checks or credit cards being fraudulently converted, or the thieves try to rob you of international shipping charges.

The Pacific Printing and Imaging Association has a story on its Website that warns of these dangers. Sadly, it reported that a member was initially scammed, but got wise to the hustle...only after it had printed the job. At least the scammer didn’t get paid.

As bad as the economy may be, stay vigilant when it comes to poorly written RFQs from nebulous, charitable-sounding organizations. Ask questions and research the buyer. It could save you a huge headache, not to mention thousands of dollars.

ABE IN REPOSE: A rare and valuable photo of Abraham Lincoln, taken in front of the White House just prior to his assassination in 1865, has been found in a private album owned by the great-great-grandson of Ulysses S. Grant. It is believed to be the last image taken of the 16th president.

There are few known photographs of Lincoln—in fact, according to an Associated Press article, only 130 are known to exist. It’s not crystal clear that the person in the 21⁄2x31⁄2? photo is Lincoln, though several experts believe it to be Honest Abe. A handwritten inscription on the back, “Lincoln in front of the White House,” is believed to be the handwriting of General Grant’s great-grandson, Jesse.

Photo buff and Lincoln aficionado Keya Morgan purchased the picture from Ulysses S. Grant VI for a cool $50,000. It will join Morgan’s collection of artifacts and original images, worth roughly $25 million, the AP reported.

SPEAKING OF ART: Well-known Northern California artist and humanitarian Duane Armstrong recently donated 59 oil paintings valued at more than $1.7 million to Cal Poly’s Graphic Communication Department, according to department head Harvey Levenson.

“This is an outstanding gift and a tremendous investment,” Levenson states. “Other types of investments are on the decline, but art tends to appreciate. There are no strings attached to the gift; we may keep the paintings, display them, sell them, rent them, lend them to galleries or produce limited- edition prints. We plan to do some of each.”

Some of the donated paintings are by Armstrong’s wife, Annie Armstrong, who specializes in shells and floral images. The paintings have been appraised by an independent art appraiser, and the values range from about $6,500 to $87,000 each. Anyone who buys a painting will receive an appraisal.

The oil paintings, some with 70 coats of paint, range in size from a few square feet to approximately 7x7 feet.

During four decades as an artist, Armstrong, who was raised in San Luis Obispo, has created more than 7,000 fine art paintings and has influenced countless young artists.

For more information on the Armstrong collection, contact Levenson at (805) 756-6151, (805) 756-1108 or hlevenso@calply.edu.

—Erik Cagle