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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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What trips your trigger? For me, it's abandoned metal, cracked and chipped paint on an old piece of wood, an old chest of drawers with the legs missing... rusted elements of some forgotten automobile. ... read more

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It's so delicious when one explores genius online. This "Screw You I'm Fifty-Two" post just made my day. ... read more

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Some people want a Porsche, others lust for clothing or a large house, perhaps a trip to Paris. Me? What do I dream of owning? It's simple, really. A work from the hands and mind of Emilio Merlina. I can spend time thumbing through my giant compedium of Max Ernst work and then mogate over to the book shelves and pick up another book filled with "the Masters" or grab a portfolio of some other artists but my mind returns to images of Merlina's work. He proves, to me, that simplicity conveys intense detail. ... read more

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