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!!!

Texas, Sports, and Arthur Cluck

I never watch baseball. But don’t feel bad, baseball. I rarely watch any sports aside from soccer. Those legs! And I did enjoy the hell out of a live hockey game once.

I never really played sports either, except for a brief stint on the Strawberries back in ‘81.



In Texas high school football was always a big deal. Of course, I was too busy doing other important high school stuff like attending rock shows at Fitzgerald’s, going to coffee shops, and generally thinking I was too cool, to notice. During my extensive college career I studied at UT Austin for a few semesters, all without ever attending a Longhorn’s game (sacrilege!). The ocean of orange in the stadium was pretty amazing though when viewed from afar.

You may have read about the Texas Rangers in the news recently. Apparently they’re awesome and are headed to the 2010 World Series. Almost every person I have ever met in Texas, no matter where they currently live, has suddenly turned into a huge gushing ball of Texas Pride.

You can leave Texas but it never leaves you.



On this day back in 1982 my grandparents wanted to take my brother and me to the rodeo. Our Texas pride wasn’t fully developed at that time and, as is evident, we had no desire to go.

So this past Saturday I was supposed to be shopping for Halloween costume supplies. While I managed to pick up most of my necessary props, leotard, and feathery objects, I also amassed a huge collection of books (9 for $33 at Value Village).

This started the fever:



The Story of Texas Under Six Flags by M.E.M. Davis. Ginn and Company, Boston, 1897. It has such a pretty decorative gilt cloth cover.

Even though in 1986 I was forced to participate in a square dancing routine for the Texas Sesquicentennial celebration at Benfer Elementary, I still have a soft spot for all things Texan. I’ll even start to slip into a southern drawl should someone from the region engage me in conversation.

Another great book came with this Value Village lot:

The Strange Disappearance of Arthur Cluck by Nathaniel Benchley with illustrations by Arnold Lobel. Published by Harper & Row, New York, 1967.

Mr. Lobel also wrote and illustrated Owl At Home which I wrote about almost a year ago. I love his pack rat, Gus. Gus and I have a lot in common. My bag of loot hath runneth over.

Good luck Rangers!

Beach House Creations

I won’t lie. Occasionally, I get to thinking that I’m meant to be here for some greater purpose. Once the alcohol wears off I’m back to my normal self and realize that we are all on this giant freak show of a sphere together.

While I intended for this entry to be entirely about the pieces of art I found around our beach house rental this past week, I can’t help but mention the film I just finished watching – Creation.



As a book collector I’ve been told about the magical issue of On the Origin of Species with the misprint of the word speceies (sic) on page 20 or something to that affect. As a human however, I was totally ignorant about Darwin’s family life. This mortal coil, I tell ya. I won’t spoil the film for those who have not seen it. The opening titles were awesome. Plus Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly are such pretty people.

Anyway, I did have the chance to investigate some sea life in the lovely coastal town of Yachats. Most of it resided within our circa 1960s vacation abode.

When you first walk into the house (through the weird garage) this piece is on the left wall. It kind of exudes some sort of religious symbolism. Or what was that poem with the Albatross? Regardless, it's an uncomfortable image. That yellow frame is painful.

Right next to the fuse box – this electrifying sunset.

This next one hangs in the stairwell. It looks a bit like a 1970’s river to heaven, am I right?

Okay, maybe not. These trees were just to the right of it. The real trees outside seem to be taunting the carved ones. In fact, this sculpture almost makes me sad.

This little gem hangs in the bathroom. Notice how it combines the fine art of oil painting with the "look but don't touch" aspect of sculpture.

Here's a nice detail of the 3-D "rocks".

Macrame anyone? A huge work, I'd say over four feet high. Truly a marvel.

An artistic rendering of a gull prepping to venture off for lunch or perhaps just landing...

I don't know, this next one's a bit California to me, especially with the blue sky killing the moodiness.

And at last, my personal favorite. If I patched up the roof I could make it my summer home.

If you can get to the Oregon coast, I promise you won’t be disappointed. Maybe you were expecting sunny skies, but trust me; you will just as easily fall in love with the carved out rocky cliffs framed by frothy cold water and misty, gray clouds. I feel certain Charles would have loved it here.