The Encyclopedia of Antiques

Tuesday night on Nob Hill is trash night which means there is always stuff sitting out next to the sidewalk waiting for a new owner to come along. My friend Nicole was walking home from Astronomy on Tuesday and found this book, The Complete Encyclopedia of Antiques, edited by L.G.G. Ramsey. The entire book is filled with images and descriptions of every type of artifact you can imagine. The sections include: Clocks, Books, Rugs, Coins, Furniture, Glass, Jewelry, Metalwork, Mirrors, Embroidery, Painting, Pottery, Prints, Scientific Instruments… literally everything you can imagine. Images of the most valuable pieces accompany each section.

The cover and a Victorian mansion parlor.

A book published in 1827. A drawing of rare long-billed ducks.

A vase and plate decorated in florals. A print of a wild turkey.

A painting of pheasants and hunting gear. A porcelain teapot with birds pecking grain.

An etching of the countryside. A fountain composed of glass birds.

A hinge and key set, beautiful metalwork. A print of the now extinct Dodo bird, and a print of a parrot eating cherries.

Stay Fly.

This is a picture that was taken on a road trip to Meadow Vista at some rest area park.  There were so many ducks and geese of so many different sizes.  As I was waiting for an opportunity to take a picture of them, these five all lined up outside the car.  They remind me of an AT&T commercial.  I mostly that they actually happened to be in order from smallest to largest and that it’s not just a perspective trick.  I’m glad the picture came out as well as it did, because it gave me fits to take it before the birds moved out of their positions.

Re-purposing Is The Best…

As a Fashion Journalism major at the Academy of Art, I am clearly meant to be a periodical junky.  Often, I spend about $80 a month on various fashion/art/culture rags, and I am always plagued with guilt when it comes time to dispose of the ones that I don’t keep for my library.  So what to do with all of those beautiful images inside them, you ask?  Cut ‘em out.  That’s what I do.  I cut the magazines to shreds, removing any and all inspiring elements from them and pasting them into my collage book.  Generally, I theme my collages and this one was one of my first experiments, so the theme is kind of buried, I guess.  I don’t particularly think the things I do with these images are very interesting/special, but what else is an artist to say about his own work.  Judge me.

My favorite image in this collage is the girl licking the bottom of her shoe.  She’s funny.

Ring Around the Rosey

My friend Mary, who lives in Salem, Oregon, came down to SF to visit me during her Spring Break, and while she was here we wanted to go to the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. As we walked through the park I began showing her and her friend, Marleta, all of the places I go with my friends on visits to the park. After entering the park at the northwest corner we began walking toward one of my favorite hills. At the base of the hill was something I’ve never seen there before. Laid out in an intricate pattern on the ground, were pounds and pounds of leaves and flower petals. The design was entirely symmetrical, aside from colors being alternated throughout. Clearly, someone had spent a long time laying out this display, but for what purpose? We speculated that it must have been some sort of healing ritual symbol, designed to convene one’s mind with nature. That was the best idea we could conjure. I happened to have a really crappy disposable camera, and did my best to get the entire design into the shots by climbing into a tree, for an aerial view. We also wondered how the artist got the sand into the design as there is none in the park, other than that in playgrounds. The design was beautiful and quite breathtaking.

A Sentimental Heart

Last summer, my friend Cassie Raney, a fine art photographer at the Academy of Art University, spent the break taking photos in our native Oklahoma. Her photos are all shot in natural light, and this one was taken in my back yard near a sailboat in my neighbor’s yard. That’s me in the picture with one of my dogs, Lucy. I hadn’t seen this photo until Spring Break when it was given to me by Miss Raney. The most interesting part of the story is that Lucy ran away over Winter Break while I was home, and she never came back. This was the last picture taken of her, and I just happen to be in it as well. Just a bit of sentiment, also I really like the vintage feel of the composition with the photo mounted on stained wood.

Life In The Mines

I found these images in a book that was purchased at Argonaut Book Shop at 786 Sutter St. in San Francisco. The shop is full of rare books about many things with an emphasis on Western U.S. history. The book Life In The Mines; or, Crime Avenged contains several “thrilling adventures among miners and outlaws.” Published in 1898, the illustration by H. S. DeLay give a vivid picture of life in a mining town in the Belle Epoque. The clothing seen is that of a time when women were exiting the Bustle era, and men wore what we call “dress clothes” on a daily basis.

I’m aware that the images are supposed to be upright, but I have no means to make them upload correctly.  The great folks at WordPress have yet to inform me on how to correct that minor glitch.

Native Experiences with Annalise

My friend Annalise Lundeen is a studying fashion design and these are two inspiration boards she used for a design development project. I love them because they remind me of Oklahoma. She is from Colorado and we both have this underlying need to have native experiences. I’m part Cherokee and Kiowa, and growing up in the southwest, Native American heritage was always around. Annalise is not part Native American, but has always admired Pocahontas’ ability to convene with nature. This project became an expression of that admiration. The earthtones and turquoise capture the southwestern Native American aesthetic quite precisely. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.