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The Town of Scarfolk

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Link of the day

Published: 30 March 2018

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I visited this site a few years ago - it's been that long? It has. And what seemed then to be a couple of minutes in the future and a couple of steps to the left has already come to pass. The premise is less absurd than prescient.

Link: Scarfolk & Wiki on the Same

Dog Heaven

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Creative

Published: 20 March 2018

Hits: 1293

A friend, presuming competence, that generalization that because I'm good at my job and I'm terrific at holding my liquor I'm probably great at my artwork as well, invites me to paint the portrait of her beloved deceased dog.

Cue circus music.

Now I'd make the same mistake myself if I didn't know myself any better. But I accept the challenge - why not, dogs aren't people, you only have to realize a passing resemblance to the breed and people will invariably identify it as "their" dog. Not like people. Damnable people. People, you get a resemblance, eyes, nose, mouth, maybe even ears and a forehead, yet still they find something wrong. Dogs, come close on color, shape and size, and there's no complaining. This summer I'm going to set up at the Ferry landing and do doggie portraits, I'll make a killing, no complaints, I'm pretty sure...so this, this will be the necessary practice.

My art supplies, by grim necessity, are coming largely from "Dollorama". I've got to get used to the new color naming schemes, no Cadmium or Alazarin hues here, I'm making do with "Daffodil Yellow" and "Sapphire Blue" and "Pumpkin Orange". And Glitter, lots and lots of glitter. And you know, it isn't half bad, why ever in the hell did I need expensive top-of-the line oils and canvas when generally all I paint is shit? This is working out terrific...and I'm saving a bundle...

Attempt #1

At which point it was much admired and then she let me know her dog was a girl, hence the fire hydrant wasn't really a necessary prop.

I knew I could do better, and so I tried again:

Yeah, better, maybe, I'm loving the glitter, but not enough better, and so I thought on it for a while and went back to Dollarama for some better brushes. Acrylic brushes.

And I think I got it, maybe a little more abstract than she'd like, but it pleases me (mostly) and in the end that's all that matters...

You know, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos on how to paint clouds. Clearly it didn't sink in. But the whole bit about "Paint the background first" was a bit of a revelation, and upon reflection it kind of makes sense...

My Favorite. It doesn't get better than this. Dog Heaven.

Kitsch - Salt and Pepper

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Written by: Rod Boyle

Category: Images

Published: 17 March 2018

Hits: 1265

I had a friend once who wanted me to buy her all the kitschy Salt and Pepper shakers I could find. She was going to open a restaurant. The restaurant never worked out, and I stopped buying them, but since then I've always noticed them. 

Thursday, a trip thrifting south through Rossland and Trail - only to discover that the Rossland and Castlegar Hospital Auxiliaries are closed on Thursday (damn!!!) - and, looking longingly through the window of the Rossland shop, there are treasures inside, I can smell them, see them, it's the best thrift shop for a hundred miles, but not today....

Anyways, in one of the ones that was open I discovered someones Salt and Pepper shaker collection. Dozens of them. In every shade of kitsch imaginable.

Collected below for your enjoyment:

Because nothing says "early divorce" like a pair of wedding themed salt-and-pepper shakers. Notice as well the football and pots-and pans themes in the lower edge of the photo.

 

Hobos and Roosters, Bowling pins and balls, a pair of relatively ordinary glass salt and pepper shakers.

Made in Japan, Jimmy Hendrix? WTF? I have no clue, but I wouldn't want to eat anything sprinkled with that hair. Probably more in the line of "Grandma likes figurines, let's get her this....", as in the abysmally decorative, not at all practical.

A two-part salt-and-pepper poodle, trying to sniff it's own butt...

 

What can you say? They suggest to me a more traditional Asian aesthetic...

And then there's this. I checked the bottoms to see if they were Hummels. They weren't. Porcelain German kids sitting - when you lift them you see the joke - on the outhouse. Charming. The bears in the back, unglazed bisque, have a bit of cool to them, they hang on the branches of the tree...

And, finally, chipmunk or other forest wildlife in hat/right front. And in the back a trio of skunks with REAL FUR tails and "amusing" sayings on the pedestal. I don't recall the sayings, they really weren't that amusing.

There were more, lots more. Count yourselves lucky.