As Seen From the Couch

My Work From a Completely Different Angle

The other night I had just sat down on the couch to watch an episode of Ancient Aliens, one of my favorite "documentary" TV shows, lol. I started to look around at all of the art on the walls, wondering if I should change out some for the "extra" ones I have leaning against the walls in every room. I have about 75 pieces at home right now, and perhaps a dozen more out on loan. I liked the way they interacted with each other from the odd angle created by sitting on the couch so I grabbed my camera and shot away. Above, Roses Are Green is highlighted.

All images clickable to enlarge.

Besides my art, I "decorate" with my vintage collectibles and posters. I like the juxtaposition of three-dimensional items and my flatter wall art. In the center above is one of my very few pieces on stretched linen, The Cook, based on a portrait by my grandmother of a worker at one of the area's turn-of-the-century hotels. The butterfly toy dates to about 1930 and when pushed on its wheels, its wings flap up and down.

One of my lesser-seen pieces, Pals, includes a typeset poem of mine from the 1980s, as well as scans from a 1920s children's book, Kitty Cat. Learning a lesson told to me by a wonderful local artist known as the "Nut Lady," Elizabeth Tashjian, sadly now deceased, I frequently photograph my art pieces and then use those images in new art. Referencing her earlier work in new pieces was something she did quite often and I was really smitten by the concept.

Another closeup detail view of Roses Are Green. That's my aunt Hoohoo's face peering out from the bottom. We used to see how many nonsense poems we could make up, hence the title. And the green rose in the center, of course, lol.

One of my more subtle pieces, and one that I seem to like more every day, is Hands Across the Sea. It utilizes scans of World War One-era collectibles of mine. It's created from two salvaged chestnut floorboards from a more than two hundred year old house that was being dismantled.

Twentieth Century Modern, bottom, includes vintage linoleum scraps given to me several years ago by a friend that knew I liked things like that. The rest is paint and graphite. At the top is What They Fought For, and is based on a photograph my father shot in 1946 aboard his Naval destroyer. The sailors are holding a puppy! At the bottom of this piece, arranged like military medals, are small images of cars, homes, games, clocks—cherished items that might have been in their homes safe and sound as they fought in World War Two. On the top left is Gifts from Charles Sanborn and is a portrait of my grandfather taken by my grandmother in 1924. Around the perimeter of that piece are images of collectibles from his home and actual two-cent stamps he used on postcards sent home during the first world war. The black and white ink piece is by my friend Meghan.

A nice closeup detail view of Twentieth Century Modern. I encourage people touch my art, to run their hands over the surfaces. This piece is so smooth and softly burnished it feels like velvet.

  

I have vintage beads hanging around my apartment, too. I like their colors and shapes, and they contrast nicely with the rigid geometrics of the wall pieces. In the center is a hand-tinted photograph of my little three year-old mother taken in 1921. I placed it in a vintage shadowbox frame with dried flowers and raffia. Top right, almost out of the photo, are faux leaded-glass bric-a-brac I made from crafts kits when I was ten years old.

Scoop! Works in Progress:

Partially hidden behind a '68 Mustang fastback, a 1950s bowling ashtray and a vintage tin box, is a brand new piece of mine, not quite finished yet. The image is of my mother and a friend of hers from 1921-22, each about 3-4 years old. Barely visible behind it to the right, is another work-in-progress, a self portrait from a 1965-66 photo of me. The beautiful color portrait of the woman, right, is a dumpster find, a hand-tinted portrait by Harold Haliday Costain, 1897-1994, a Scarsdale, New York based photographer of some renown. It was quite the find!