Root Canal Inspiration

I survived my first (and hopefully last) root canal today. Here are my latest Root Paintings just finished Tuesday night. They are wee little works, 3.5 inches square.

Underground Disco (2011)

Footsie (2011)

Chair Envy

Used to be that my mid-century Made in Sweden chair was the highlight of my studio apartment. It certainly has become my cat Norman’s favorite furniture to sleep on.

A few weeks ago I noticed a slow collection of garage sale items amassed on the front porch of where I work at Oldimprints.com. In the center of it all was an old and dirty rocking chair. I’ve always wanted a rocking chair so I asked my boss, Elisabeth, “How much?” She and her husband, Craig, said I could have it, gratis.

Craig told me the chair is about 100 years old, came from somewhere in Ohio, and is made of oak.

To Cane or Not to Cane

I happily took the dirt covered chair home, determined to spice it up by re-caning the seat cover so that one day I could sit on it whilst reading a lengthy novel.

After taking the disintegrating leather seat cover off I determined that a portion of the wood was cracked and caning was no longer an option. I would make a new seat cover myself and add re-upholstery to my long list of useless talents.





Fabric Choice

Before leaving for their exciting new life in New York City, my friends Suzie and Don left me a bunch of items including a half completed skirt. Recalling my painful experience trying to sew an apron, I knew well enough that I would never finish the skirt. The fact that it had the same basic shape as the old leather seat cover made the decision to reclaim the pretty purple fabric quite easy.

I trimmed it to the approximate size, added some batting and backing, and finally machine quilted it together. There was no way I was going to produce any form of straight line so I opted to create some wavy, fake wood-grain type of lines. I then re-covered the seat with the fabric by hammering it tight with tack nails.

My Rockin’ Chair

And here she is. A thing of beauty. Oddly enough I have yet to see Norman try to sit on this one. In fact he’s curled up on the Swedish chair right now.

A Heart's Journey

Sometimes the most beautiful heart is the one with the most stitches.




A Heart's Journey (2011)
7 x 7 inches
Watercolor, ink, thread, and antique marbled paper.


I'm finishing up another version on stained wood. A little darker. Maybe even some blood involved! Fake paper blood of course. Stay tuned...

Forest Layers

Today I finally figured out how to take the best photos possible with my sister's camera that I have basically hijacked since I bought it for her. The bright sun really helped too. These are some old paintings mixed with a brand new one. Enjoy!

Forest Layers (2011)

Finally a new tree painting! The recycled cabinet doors from the Rebuilding Center are being put to good use.

Reichstag (2005)

This belongs to my sister now. I've never been able to capture the color accurately until today which is super exciting for a nerd like me.

I See Myself in You - Symmetry (2008)

The silver background used to be an issue but now you can see all of the detail.

My Dad, The Conqueror (2002)

My all time favorite painting of Mr. Berretta which was inspired by an old photo of him standing by his hobby horse.

Some of these are now available as archival prints at my Etsy shop!

A Fine Artist

Etsy recently featured a seller, Jeremy Miranda, whom is what I consider a true fine artist. His large compositions of haunting icebergs and shelves of books looking out at open seas are as amazing as the smaller studies made in the process.

Library by the Sea No.2

But I’ll be honest. The thing that really tugged on this art history nerd’s heart strings was reading his interview and learning that Winslow Homer and Rockwell Kent (a.k.a. in my circle as The Other Rockwell) were influences on his work.

You can read the entire interview here.

Just this afternoon I spent a few hours going through our collection of Winslow Homer wood engravings. I’ll have to photograph most of them next week. Lucky for you my favorite is already on our website at oldimprints.com.

The Bathers by Winslow Homer
Wood-engraving from an 1873 Harper’s Weekly

Awhile back I found a copy of Voltaire’s Candide illustrated by Rockwell Kent. It was published by The Literary Guild, New York, 1929. My personal favorite images from the book are the title and publication page:

Last Tuesday I found this well loved and worn antique book:

The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Published by James Miller, New York, 1870. With illustrations by Sol. Eytinge, Jr., W. J. Hennessy, W. Thwaites, and C. G. Bush.

Works by these artists were also found in Harper’s Weekly. In fact, this image kind of reminds me of a Homer…just a little.

Romance of the Swan’s Nest

Who would of thought I'd be reading poetry?

Single White Female

It was a tale of unrequited love during my latest treasure hunt.

I found this lady sitting on the edge of a shelf.

Where was her man? I swear I spent an hour looking for him, certain he had gotten cold feet and was an aisle or two over. No such luck.

She originally belonged to a set of vintage circa 1950s porcelain kissing bride and groom salt and pepper shakers that sat on a wooden bench. But alas, sometimes love goes awry or simply falls off of the kitchen counter. Made in Japan.

And then I came across this sweet Miss.




I checked her back to see if at one point she had wings as I’ve seen little ceramic angels similar to her. No wings. No one to kiss. She stands about 3 inches high and has an oval paper Made in Japan sticker.

Who is this young lass singing her heart out to?

She’s quite tall, about 7 ½ inches, and wears the cutest pink and white polka dotted scarf and skirt. Also made in Japan. Call me crazy, as many have and still do, but doesn’t her cute face remind you of Michelle Williams?

I can’t quite tell if that is supposed to be a violin or tiny guitar. I’ve always been a bit jealous of the musically inclined but feel bad for this gal. Her duet partner is MIA.

My weekly artistic creation didn’t quite pan out since this is birthday time so I will instead include the card Paige painted for me. Enjoy!

Gifts from Ghent

When I was a kid Australia was my favorite country. Even though I had never been there I felt certain it was the coolest place on the planet. Maybe the wildlife inspired me. I did have a great koala bear stuffed animal. And kangaroos! What’s not to love?



(Image from The History of the Hoppers, by B. Parker with illustrations by N. Parker, first published in 1912 by W.R. Chambers Limited. My copy is a 1979 edition by The David Ell Press but I’m always looking for the original!)

More than likely I came across articles about life “down under” in the endless issues of National Geographic Magazine stacked on our game room bookshelves and the spell was cast. I remember cutting out pictures from different sources and making myself a one-of-a-kind poster for my wall. An image of Ayers Rock (or Uluru) was right in the middle.

Decades later I have yet to hop on a plane and fly there but have been fortunate enough to have met two of Australia’s coolest citizens right here in Portland: Suzie and Don. I write about Suzie often because she manages to bring me back the most amazing gifts whenever she travels. A recent trip to Belgium was no exception.

Whilst visiting Ghent (such a beautiful place!) Suzie wandered through an antique market. These are some of the amazing pieces of ephemera she found and brought back for me.

Fontainebleau, Edition A. Bourdier, Versailles. No date. Ca. 1920s.


A collection of hand-colored panoramic views of the Palace of Fontainebleau.

My favorite images are the library of course…

And “Cour des Fontaines. Comedie et Pavillon Napoleon I”

Souvenir de Paris, L’Abeille, Paris. No date. Ca. 1920s.

A collection of 12 postcards, six of which must have been sent out to someone special many years ago. Here are two views of the Eiffel Tower:

And Suzie also found a group of vintage prayer cards, dozens of them! These two are my favorites. Circa 1934.

The Virgin Mother. Just lovely. And “Sanctus Joannes” whom I believe is Saint John of Patmos.

I can’t fully express how truly wonderful these gifts are but I owe Suzie a trip to Pix Patisserie very soon. Thank you Suzie!!!