Old Forgotten Friends (Lost and Found, No. 15)

                                     An original, mixed media painting, on illustration board
                                     5x7", unframed - (mat size, 10x12")
                                     $80.00, - (plus $7.00, pack and ship)



     Last fall, I began the chore of digging through decades of the accumulations of
possessions which seem to define one's life, in preparation for an estate sale of some
sort.  In the process, as I was rummaging through the book cabinets which flank the
living-room fireplace, I ran across things which I hadn't noticed in many decades.
Tucked behind some dusty, old sets of encyclopedias, I discovered two sets of
children's, card games, which haven't been played with since the mid 1940's.
 
     There are six games of miniaturized cards in each set, boxed up to look like six
little books, on two little, library tray-shelves, six to each tray.  There are printed foil
labels on the front of the trays which identify them as Library of Games, and
Mickey Mouse Library of Games.  The first set has some of the more commonly
played children's games, such as Old Maid, and the second set also has six games,
but each is named after one of the animated characters which helped to create the
Disney empire.

     The third "volume" of the Mickey Mouse set of games, was named for Mickey
himself, and featured him on the cover of the little box.  Since I had been doodling
around with my Lost and Found series at the time, it became logical to include
Mickey in one of the series, along with the little Snow White dwarf which started
me down memory lane in the first place.

    
  

The Old Red Top ( Lost and Found No.19 )

                                                 An original, mixed-media painting, on illustration board
                                                 3.5x5" unframed, - ( mat size, 8.5x10")
                                                 $45.00, ( plus $6.00, pack and ship )

     This is another of the miniatures which I used as something to occupy my time
while I was remaining still, during recuperation from heart surgery.  The little red
top I included in this one, was one of several tops which were passed down to my
brother and I when we were boys, from a time-worn, toy collection which our
father and his brothers played with when they were boys.

     In this new electronic age, the old days of simple, hand-made, wooden toys
must seem like very ancient history to today's generation of children.  Tops such as
this one must look like odd little curiosities to them, and I doubt that any of the kids
would have any idea of how to play with them.

     Ancient history it may be, but I can still remember hours devoted to seeing how
long we could make the tops spin, by carefully wrapping the top's string around them
before we launched them.  The more tightly the string was spiraled around the top,
the faster it would spin when it was thrown with great force, while still holding on to
the end of the string.  Then, like things which had come alive, the tops would hop
around a bit when they first hit the pavement, but they would quickly right themselves
to stand on their points and spin as if determined to drill their tips into the concrete.

     But sooner or later the tops would loose their high-speed velocity, and they would
begin to wobble a bit, and then spin in arcs, as they struggled to maintain a vertical
stance, before finally toppling over and rolling to a stop.

     There is a metaphor in that for us isn't there?  We spend our lives spinning along
at top speed, until we finally begin to loose our momentum, and then we start to wobble
a bit and loose our balance.  And usually when it about over, that wonderful spin
turns out to have lasted for a much shorter time than we were hoping for when we began.      

A Wintry Blast

                                                        An original oil painting on stretched canvas
                                                         48x24", unframed
                                                         $3,000.00, (plus $60.00, pack & ship)


     I pulled this painting out of storage because I thought it made an interesting
contrast to the painting in my previous posting called The Winter Solstice.
The two paintings are examples of how views of very, similar subject matter,
can be developed into two such widely divergent works of art, not only in size
but also in technique and style of expression.  The small, mixed-media painting
is a more traditional viewpoint, of the serenity and beauty of new-fallen snow at
first light of day.  By contrast, the big oil painting is an expressionistic viewpoint
of the more violent aspects of winter weather, showing an old pine tree, sagging
under the weight of ice and falling snow, creaking in the wind, and perhaps even
snapping and breaking its branches.  It shows a different kind of icy beauty than
the peaceful serenity of The Winter Solstice.

                                                             (Click on image to enlarge.)

   
     There is a bit of a double meaning to the title of this painting.  A "blast" can
refer to an enjoyable painting session, while working in the abstract expressionist
manner of just cutting loose with a large brush and letting it attack and dance the
paint onto the canvas, balancing stroke against stroke, and passage against
passage, until a satisfying whole is achieved.

The Winter Solstice

                                        An original mixed-media painting, on stretched canvas
                                        10x8", unframed
                                        $200.00, (plus $12.00, pack and ship)


     This is another of the paintings which I made as a Christmas card design,
but it may have a more lasting appeal than that, for some viewers of the blog.
The original design included a buck deer with a large rack of horns, but I finally
felt that the painting was more satisfying without anything other than the early dawn
light on the snow covered, mountain landscape.  So, I decided to use the deer
in a larger painting, and simplified the composition in this painting.  As a general
rule, I find that small paintings are more successful if their compositions are very
simple and uncluttered.

 

Why "Y"? (Lost and Found, No.8)

                                          An original mixed-media painting, on illustration board
                                          3.5x5", (mat size, 8.5x10")
                                          $50.00, (plus $10.00, pack and ship)

     I don't really have an answer to the question posed by the title of this little miniature.
I suppose I chose that title simply because of the semi-amusing alliteration, created when
someone asks the question.  If there are some viewers of this posting, who feel that they
may have an answer or a story to fit the question, please feel free to leave your comments.

Only Twenty Four Letters To Go (Lost and Found, No.7)

                                           An original mixed-media painting, on illustration board
                                           3.5x5", (mat size, 8.5x10")
                                            $60.00, (plus $10.00, pack and ship)

"N" Is For Nash, (Lost and Found, No. 14)

                                           An original mixed-media painting, on illustration board
                                            3.5x5", ( mat size, 8.5x10")
                                            $45.00, (plus $10.00, pack & ship)

     "N is for Nash, and P is for Packard, and S is for Studebaker, and W is for ....."

     In the late 1930's, perhaps that kind of memorization was used to help children learn
their letters. when they were playing with their alphabet, building-blocks and toy cars.
Those were the days when practically all the cars on America's streets and highways
were the proud products of American car companies.  Sadly enough, for American
workers, the time would soon come when many of those proud names would be gone.
After World War ll, the overpowering competition from foreign and domestic car
makers, swallowed up many of the once-proud, brand names, and now we are left
with only vague memories of so many of those gleaming icons which once ruled
America's roads.

     The tiny, toy car in this miniature, which I found in the bottom of a long-forgotten
toy-box, dates from those years shortly before the war.  That was in the days before
war-shortages of commodities such as metal for castings and rubber for wheels, made
the manufacture of such toys a rarity during the early 1940's.

     The little toy car appears to have traveled many an imaginary mile in the busy hands
of the two small boys of the household at that time, who were my brother and I, living in
a much more carefree age.  The car suffered some paint loss and is a bit bent,  but
it still rolls on its original wheels, even after more than seven decades of waiting for a
child to come along and take it out for another ride.

     They made them well in those days. They made them strong, durable and reliable:
the cars, and the toys........and brothers.