While researching Cubist collage techniques, the history of Matisse and his Cubist contributions, this nice bit of "how to" came up on Google. Many thanks to Ken Schwab for posting a lesson plan geared toward high school-age art students on IncredibleArt.org. ... read more
Category Archives: ephemera
Using Adolescent Novels to Disseminate Agricultural Information
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Some of the oddest items in my collection would have to be my boy-hero novels from the early 190s to the 1930's. No decent segue here -- bear with me.... ... read more
Plastic Sleeves for Matchbooks
I stumbled into an amazing cacaphony of matchbooks about three years ago. Michael Cable's Woodside Antiques, an auction house in Farmville North Carolina, offered box loads of stuff at the end of a large estate sale. Cable is a marvelous auctioneer who inserts bits of trivia with every round of bidding. I hesitate to admit how much of my household detritus and ephemera was purchased through his auctions. Lots of decapitated dolls and schmucky bric-a-brac which somehow became art... ... read more
Shelter Island vs Rodeo
Well, the rodeo won out, with Shelter Island viewing coming in on Monday instead of today. We're going to the Bob Martin Agri Center and I'm hoping the sights and scenes will provide much artistic fodder. Artists and writers must get out of the studio and observe, duh... of course you know that, but for me the real treat is in observing and photographing those who dwell outside my comfort zone. ... read more
Thoughts occurring during the quiet before Christmas.
None of us will really go gracefully into that dark night. You should know we will kick and scream and try to stop death. You should know it's not always visible -- the struggle and yearning to stay right here in this very moment. It's hidden sometimes, just behind the eyes, the fight to remain in this stage and not to transition to the next. ... read more
Don’t close this browser window until upload is complete.
Are we ever really finished uploading the celestial orb? Wih the MacAir, the "don't close" message is seemingly non-existent. When I worked in a Microsoft environment, I knew that the order to not close the window meant REALLY do NOT close the browser window... fatal system crashes would occur. *Update: In 2010, this type of message rarely occurs for the every-day web surfer. We have enough RAM to consider completing myriad tasks and objectives. The CPUs of old didn't have enough memory to download a new program or software package while performing other functions. The reason for the warning appears to be one for older CPUs. ... read more
Vintage MatchBooks size C8 — ISO paper size.
Do you ISO or do I?
Found out something truly fascinating today when I perused a knowledge lidbit (which is slightly more than a tidbit) concerning what the dimensions of a piece A4 paper is. Come to find out, standard paper sizes are based on a single aspect ratio of the square root of 2 or [√2 = 1:1.4142] The way to figure out dimensions is to fold an A4 size piece of paper in half, do it again, again, again... ad infinitum. Wikipedia puts the explanation of paper sizing standards thusly: "The main advantage of this system is its scaling: if a sheet with an aspect ratio of √2 is divided into two equal halves parallel to its shortest sides, then the halves will again have an aspect ratio of √2." ... read more
Vintage matchbooks in assemblage art
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Been working my little collage fingers to the bone. Well, that ain't really true, because it went from collage to assemblage in one fell swoop. Blammo... it started when I found these provocative
matchbooks in the pile o'what can I do with this? stuff in the studio desk drawer. Rather than just have the matches sitting around collecting dust bunnies - I plucked out the flammable portion and commenced to frame the little suckers. Then, once framed and snappy snippy, I used the matchbook - faux - art as background for the cigar box rooms I'm creating. Sound wacko? It is. Assemblage art is only for the bonkers and the wacko of those of us who can handle the insidious side-by-side of disparate objects. ... read more