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Denise Hall donated some of these materials to the University of Central Florida Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Department in 2005. Other materials were purchased in 2006 from Mike Caruso and 2008 from John Goodlin and Gloria Ellis.
The materials were placed in pH neutral folders and boxes, and photographs were weeded to reduce the number of insignificant snapshots in the collection.
The entire collection is open for research, although framed paintings are in storage so may only be seen in photographs.
Unpublished records are protected by copyright. Permission to publish quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
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Joy Postle Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.
Katherine Joy Postle was born on January 20th, 1896 in Chicago to Oliver Hambleton Postle and Mary M. Brown. Joy, as she was known, earned a scholarship to attend the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied both music and art. After graduation, Postle moved to rural Idaho becoming certified to teach music and art. When she opened a studio in Boise, Idaho and was receiving attention as an interior decorator and artist, a local journalist named Robert Blackstone came to interview her. She married him a year later on Dec. 6, 1928, and he became her manager.
After their marriage, the couple travelled through western America in a home-made trailer that they called the “Brownie House”. As they explored the country, Postle practiced her art, undertook commissions, and collected inspiration for future work. They arrived in Florida 1934 and continued their nomadic life, camping, hiking and bird watching; these explorations gave Postle the opportunity of closely studying nature and refining her craft. In 1937, Postle was involved in the WPA Art Project. Three years later, Blackstone conceived the idea for their “Glamour Birds” act in which bird song, recorded by Blackstone, and music accompanied Postle as she painted birds and educated her audience. Postle believed that “a painting must have movement. It’s a dance performed with a brush and pigment on a stage of canvas. It should be spontaneous and joyous”. Postle published several books:
Postle and Blackstone eventually settled in Florida purchasing a house on Lake Rose in 1942. A fire at the house in 1968 killed Blackstone and badly injured Postle. After extensive surgery over several years, she resumed her performances and exhibitions. She continued taking commissions for pet portraits, exhibiting her work, and selling paintings well into old age. In 1984, Postle broke her hip and moved into West Orange Manor Nursing Home; nevertheless she continued painting. Joy Postle died on June 1st, 1989 and her ashes were spread at her home at Lake Rose in Florida.
These papers are divided into two topical series.
Series I: Biography, 1912-2006 holds materials that describe Joy Postle's life. They include news clippings, photographs, correspondence and a scrapbook created by a friend.
Series II: Art, 1921-1988 contains examples of her work in a variety of media. Here may be found her poetry, manuscripts, pen and ink drawings, watercolors and oil paintings. Photographs of murals and paintings are held in this series as well as photographs that Postle took for inspiration in her work.
These materials provide some information about Joy Postle's life including news clippings and correspondence most of which concerns her teaching certificate in Idaho. The Derringer pistol was given to Joy in the Everglades to protect herself against bootleggers; it was damaged in the fire that killed Blackstone. Joy possibly owned the ink pen from childhood. Memorials include an audio cassette tape recording of Jesse Baker and Suzanne Gifford performing a tribute to Postle in 1986.
Many photographs are held in the series, which are arranged by format. The color images are arranged topically with separate folders holding photographs of Guy Beattie, Albin Polasek and Joy Postle. Photographs of places include the Watergate Hotel, Lake George, N.Y., and Vermont. Florida Photographs include images of Disney World's Opening Day in 1972, Rollins College and Postle's home and garden on Lake Rose. Black and white photographs are arranged chronologically and focus on Postle and Blackstone's early married life. These photographs chronicle their travels and show many images of Postle, Blackstone and their "Brownie House". The negatives mostly belong to the color images in both series but a few are for the older black and white images.
Most of these materials are examples of Postle's art and are arranged by format. The folder of documentation contains price lists, some calendar pages from the First National Bank in Stuart, which show part of her mural, and information about paintings loaned to the Loch Haven Art Center. Her "Glamour Birds" act is well illustrated by photocopies of sheet music and poetry that she used. Postle wrote most of the poetry herself; some of the prose describes her work and the rest appears to be semi-autobiographical fiction.
Manuscripts are artwork used in preparation of planned publications not all of which were ever published. Acrylic paintings show lampshade designs, underwater scenes, Florida scenes and birds. This collection indicates that Postle often used watercolor in her early work. Her watercolors document the places that she visited, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Arizona, Idaho and the Smoky Mountains. Pencil sketches include portraits, birds, animals and Idaho. A portrait of Hermann Von Holst is titled, and one clearly shows Guy Beattie; however, the rest may show some people in photographs that have not been identified. Crayon drawings show unidentified landscapes. Oil Paintings show birds, flowers, pets, an orange tree, seascapes, a bell tower and Texas landscapes. One set of bird paintings is entitled "Rhapsody in Rose." Some of the oil paintings are framed and these include pets, birds and landscapes. These items are in storage, therefore, access will be by photographs only.
Pen and Ink drawings include Idaho landscapes, birds, nature, portraits, an example of the artist's signature and cartoons about cats. Some photocopies of the cartoons are also held in this series. In some cases, the artist's complete work may be seen from original pen and ink drawing through block prints to hand coloring producing a finished product for sale. These items are held in the Originals and Prints sub-series. Block prints without the supporting drawings are held separately and include birds, nature, cats and industrial scenes; some of these prints are hand colored. Box 8 and 9 contain spare copies of prints that are held elsewhere in the series. The "Secrets of the Everglades" folder was apparently a design for a folder intended to hold a collection of prints. Other examples of Postle's work include a notebook and a New Year's card.
Some of the best examples of Postle's work are her murals and these are well illustrated in the photographs. Other photographs show her work either as individual items, exhibitions, or during her performances of her "Glamour Birds" act. This sub-series is arranged by subject. Postle took many photographs that she used to create her art. These studies are also arranged by subject and many of the themes seen in the photographs appear in her paintings. She was commissioned to paint pets, and some of these photographs correspond to the oil paintings in the collection. Finally, her publications show that she not only wrote her own books, she also illustrated books written by others.