I’ve seen plenty of art museum exhibitions over the years that have given me artistic inspiration, but one in particular has been lodged in my brain and has provided motivation for ten years now. A Jim Shaw exhibition at the New Museum in 2015 included, among other things, his collection of Thrift Store Paintings. Shaw … Read more
I was on a day trip exploring various parts of western New Jersey when I rolled into Frenchtown, NJ. I parked the car and started to wander, when a store sign caught my attention: “Casa Bizarro.” Who can ignore a name like that? I went in to see what inhabited this location that inspired a … Read more
Let me start my story with an explanation of where I was: exploring Ellenville, NY, at the recommendation of a friend who moved to nearby Wurtsboro and was giving me suggestions on interesting Catskills-area towns. I was walking around New York State Route 52 in the middle of town (as seen below), and was checking … Read more
It started innocently enough, and with good intentions … I was starting a business in the early 2000s, and as I researched and read about my area of interest and found good ideas in magazines, newspapers and other print materials, I’d rip out the page with the valuable ideas and save them for future reference … Read more
I happened upon a sale of local ceramic artists in a funny way: I was going through my emails trying to clear out junk mail and click on “unsubscribe” links to try to slow the flood of future junk mail. I saw an email from the “Nextdoor” app, and thought it was a good candidate … Read more
I started collecting baseball cards when I was a kid, I believe in 1975, when I was a first grader. I developed a big collection over the years, getting older cards either via trading or at baseball card conventions, as well as eventually buying complete sets. When I was in college in the late 1980s, … Read more
A while back I was visiting my aunt in Santa Fe, and enjoying all there was to do in such an arts-filled town. While I plan on writing more about that later, this post relates to the fact that shortly after I returned home, I received a package from her which included this Native American … Read more
I don’t remember the exact year, maybe it was 1979 or 1980, and I was still in grade school. There was a kid in my class who was a year older (we were in an “Open Program” class, with multiple grades), and one day he asked me if I would be interested in collecting beer … Read more
I was going through some boxes in storage and happened upon a collection of football cards and stickers from the 1970s. I pulled out these stickers that I hadn’t looked through in ages, and had forgotten that wherever or whenever I got them – in a trade with some other kid, I believe – that … Read more
I remember visiting a Pier 1 Imports store a few years ago, I was shopping for some items for my kitchen. As I got on the line to pay, I noticed the couple in front of me, holding some mass produced image on canvas, I think it might have been some clouds, or some sort … Read more