North Adams

We took a road trip to Western Massachusetts recently.  Highlights included a trip to Herman Melville’s house, where he wrote Moby Dick.

Mass Moca and the new Sol LeWitt Installation, on view now through 2033. (It feels weird to type 2033!)

and a trip up Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Mass during peak foliage.  Herman Melville could see this peak from his study, and took inspiration from it for Moby Dick because the snow covered profile reminded him of a Sperm Whale’s back.

All pictures from our trip are here.

Flower Window

In an effort to declutter I have decided to take some pics of old projects that are getting grungy and taking up too much space in my life.  I made this 3-D cardboard piece many years ago (in the 90s) after a visit to Siena, Italy.  It is a combination of cardboard, paper painted with pen and ink and tin foil.  It was inspired by a visit to the cathedral above.

Tool Box Redesign

I spray painted and decorated an old dingy toolbox, filled it with some basic tools and gave it to my brother as a birthday gift.

Blurry Walking Shot

Taken by David & Holly of us a while ago . . .

Monhegan Island

Finally got around to posting our Monhegan Island pics from our trip back in July.  Highlights included high cliffs, fairy houses in the cathedral like woods, Artist’s at work, Poets and stunning hikes.  You can visit for the day, but we found it was worth a longer stay.  For more details of the island visit the Monhegan Maine wikipedia page.  A highlight for me was viewing minky whales from the shore. We were lucky to have beautiful sunny weather most of the time, but found it was great when foggy as well.  Below is a picture of the amazing rock pilings that can be found near an old shipwreck:

If you go you may even have the opportunity to purchase a handmade buck toothed clam from local kids.  I think it is the only souvernir that we purchased as there are very few stores.

The Museum Effect

Make your dreams of having your art work exhibited in a museum come true with the Modern Art Museum Effect.

The Hockney Effect

My creation

Originally uploaded by jjzach

I was playing around with something called the Hockneyizer that allows you to make a quick collage from a single photograph. I’m a sucker for all the cool flickr tools out there.

The Most Amazing Quilt

We went to an exhibit called The Art of the Needle and I was really taken with a quilt by a woman named Ida W. Beck from Easton, PA. From afar it didn’t seem that unique, but the detail work was amazing. It is clear that it took many year to plan and make this quilt that includes many different alphabets, flowers, months and seasons. Ida W. Beck lived from 1880 – 1967 and was described as a shut-in who specialized in needlework and monogramming. She donated this work to the Shelburne Museum collection in 1955. The center of the quilt is a monogram that contains all letters of the alphabet except for the letter I. The Posy Collection sells a needlework design of the center portion of the quilt.

Spell with Flickr

Here is a fun Flickr tool called Spell with Flickr that lets you type in a word or sentence and it spells it with photographs. If you don’t like the first letter it gives you click on the letter and you can scroll through until you are happy. I may use this to make some cool signs for the walls at school.

Gocco is Back!

I just got an email from the Paper Source and the Subject was We’ve got Gocco! I checked the Save Gocco site and it looks like the fate has turned around for this product. As soon as I got one I heard that it was being phased out so I was afraid to use up my supplies. Now everybody can Gocco away.