1970s Folk Craftsmanship
At the Boys & Girls Club, my favorite thrift store in Ventura, I found an ugly Brutalist folk art style wood carving. This one-legged man sits with a cane. For …
Overcoming Artist Block
My Montecito artist friend, AWS, experienced the phenomena we call “artist block.” He taught a class to a local Arts Association about ways to overcome “creative block.” He called last …
Masks of the Zaire Region
KMcD sent me a photo of four African masks purchased in Tanzania and Kenya, originally from Zaire, the Congo. I love these masks because I spent two years in upper …
Modernism Philosophy Centered Around Affordable Furniture
At age twenty I worked as a dancer in Michigan with a touring company of Showboat. I loved the Grand Rapids area. One day off in the late 1970s I …
Dating Portrait and Gender By Clothing Style
In many collections of American portraits of young children from the 1830-70s we ‘moderns’ cannot distinguish the genders of the sitters. SC sent me a little portrait of a child …
Insurance For a Caucasian Soumak rug?
In 3300 BCE, Otzi the iceman was murdered high on a mountain between Italy and Austria then buried in a glacier until 1991. At the time of the murder diverse …
Disney Figurines: Prototypes or Production Pieces?
R sent me two Disney ceramic figurines from the 1950s, both under six and a half inches. R’s parents sourced this dapper Jiminy Cricket and frustrated Donald Duck, with his …
Damage Caused By Kids In Museums
My two grandchildren are old enough to experience an art museum. Thus, I added a family membership to the wonderful Santa Barbara Museum of Art and one to the fabulous …
Settee For A Great Dane
My brother and sister-in-law live in a sophisticated New York high-rise near the Dakota. They’ve cared for a string of Great Danes, their favorite breed, suffering many elevator rides for …
Vintage Graphic Design Work
A gift the universe gives the right person is rare. Take Emma Howard, a talented local designer who gave me permission to use her name. She owns Studio 3 Hand …