the trick

"after Xenia Hausner" sjacobsfabian

I especially love the last part of this poem. Hauntingly gentle. Cheers to the last day of 2008. Goodbye, Year.

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship
and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song
and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face
and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again,
for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call
that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day
with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume,
and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again
to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way
where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn
from a laughing fellow rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream
when the long trick's over.

John Masefield

Commitments and Pillows

Sweet Hol-i-freaking-day. New Year's Day "day before" tomorrow. A bleak, poor day will be uplifted with a momentary celebration at midnight. First moment, New Year. Crystal sheen, pristine gleem.

For breakfast on Christmas day my Sunny Boy committed to having a permanent ally. Son-shine and Lollipops. Niiice.

Sooo, that and a pillow. Comfort. Peaceful ammunition in a crazy, saturated world. My pillow. Hey, have you ever had your favorite pillow bunch up perfectly under your head without even having to rearrange it over and over? First damned time? Perfect pillow, perfect position. Kind of like validation in a warm hug. Baby steps in life. Necessary fuel. Congratulations, Sun and Lolly on your baby step - your warm hug. I hope it's 1,000 thread count and king-sized.

Beguile, the Encaustic Way

Another featured genius for you. BS ART STUDIO subhead reads " No BS, Just Awesome Affordable Abstract Art". Quite frankly, it's true but "ethereal" might have been more fitting. These panels don't demand definitive interpretation. I envy those who create encaustic paintings so beautifully. Her vision is our fortune. And she doesn't demand Jasper Johns prices!

Just what is encaustic? Shelly describes it this way... "Encaustic is the process of painting with wax, resin and pigment" The process, unlike basic oils or acrylics, paints a dimensional surface like no other. The wax seems to levitate opaque content in a chimerical way. The fantastical outcome is quite unexpected. To illustrate what I mean, here's the detail from one of the "mixers", as Shelby calls some of her offerings... Paint is suspended in the wax and is almost granite-like in appearance. Plus, BS ART's color spectrum is so varied that I can't imagine there isn't one that would grace your home beautifully.

Mixing and matching the panels really gives the buyer control of the end effect. Appealing as that idea is, be sure to consider other paintings at BS as well. The triptychs are stellar. Some of my favorites? SUMMER HEAT and LAZY RIVER. The difficulty of managing the end vision is where each encaustic artist is challenged. Once the heating process is finished, the painting hardens quickly but BS ART has mastered it beautifully.

At the risk of sounding like an addict, and I assure you that I'm not - unless you count art as drug, I dare to suggest these paintings seem representational of altered states. Her paintings seem opiate-like but without the toxic effect. Lucky for us. No B.S.!

No fair! I saw it first!

Forget about Rodeo Drive. Who can really afford that? There's fabulous talent on Etsy. I kid you not. The thing that sold me on Etsy is that there's unusual stuff that you won't find anywhere else. If you want beautifully crafted items that... well surprise... it's almost certain to be at your fingertips on Etsy.

Check out lunaticart's great jewelry, especially the rings. This is so unsual. She has more fab choices. You must see the listing to see the surprising way this one looks when worn. Sweeet.


Or try catherinechandler.etsy.com. She only has 1 square one left that I can see. And it's absolutely exquisite. It's a Labrodite Marquis Ring that you simply must see.

AND, it's not just women that have great stuff there. How about the sports freak in your life? Try gemini studio's shop. The golf lover might like this handmade art collage. It's a great way to control what goes on the wall (hint, hint) that'll meet with his approval. How can you possibly miss?

Noooo, they don't pay me to promote the site. I just believe in it sooo much. It's a no-brainer. Hop aboard the Etsy express. My family has always felt strongly about paying the artist for his or her works directly. No Walmart, No middlemen. There are so many options on Etsy. Fine tune your searches for unique Etsy gifts by searching with keywords. If you like bugs, there's tons. At last count, 488 whole pages of bug items. You get the idea... It's not too late to purchase cool s@!#$ for your original giftees! There's even an endless array of recycled works if you love the idea of being "green" AND original.

Get clicking! Have fun shopping in your jammies! See you at the Etsy junction. Whooooo, wooo! Warning! It's hard resist shopping for yourself. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

Freaking Fantastic Ferris

Julian by Michael Ferris, Jr 2008


Hellooooo, fine art fans. This is soooo worth checking out. http://www.michaelferrisjr.com

Michael Ferris, Jr. is an accomplished artist whose works are... simply stated - brilliant. Recycled pieces give breath to his complex works of art. As he has stated (and I quite agree), these works are "bold patterns that recall Maori tattoos and Byzantine mosaics." The temperament and intriguing message of his work is one that seems to take aim at an intricate, 3D missive. I dare say that, were it possible, they're sculpted hallucinatory states captured in textural form.


Be sure to visit his site. We're incredibly lucky to be able to ferret out an endless source of artists' works. For some of us, these artists are an inspirational feast. Bon Appetit! Mr. Ferris' work is a veritable banquet for the eyes. Be sure to check out his "Rosemarie". She seems to be putting on an aloof demeanor but she still seems - well, you tell me.

Madness in tangible beauty. That's what I see. Love this stuff!

Community, We're in This Together

sjacobsfabian original diptych
2008 copyright

Tootin' ma damn horn here. Toooot, toooot! Happy as a clam with how this one came out. Got one dipytch done for my Etsy site and I'll be soo sad when it's sold.

How often can an artist say that? Nobody ever knows how many failures an artist creates because we only get to see the good stuff. Even the masters have had failures. Wouldn't you love to see some of those boo boos? hmmmm

Name that Artist! cont'd

This is a 10 minute, quick study I drew of a work by a hugely famous artist done in graphite. Not bad for 10 minutes, eh? So, which artist is it? Huh, huh?

Anybody else have a quick study piece to share?