A Book

Bookcloth hard cover

Inside covers

Marbled paper - detail

Mohawk superfine pages

A Book - $100

Standards and Legitimacy are very important to me. I wanted to create a book that looks like a book; no gimmicks, no fluff, no "flare". I started with my paper of choice, mohawk superfine. This time i opted for cream instead of the bright white variety. Strathmore Charcoal sheets supply a nicely textured pottery green paper, which I used for the inner leaving. The Book is hardcased with black book cloth and adorned with marbled paper I acquired from Bookmakers Inc. in College Park Maryland. This is one of my "stock" books and is for sale. The only thing that is not exactly standard is the dimensions (7.25" x 6"). I like books that are easy to hold. The book is acid-free and bound to be durable. waxed linen and spine reinforcements used for added stability. $100 factsmyth@gmail.com

Patch Somerville - Studio Visitors

This is a painting of me and other friends that patch painted in while I visited him in New Orleans last year. That was one of the best experiences I have had to date. I was there for a week but it felt like a weekend. I ate everything I laid eyes on though it was before i realized that I have a pretty serious gluten intolerance. Please visit www.Patchsomerville.com to see more work.

Giving A Hand To Hands

It's evident that my fascination with hands is real. In retrospect most of my work has a hand or two in it. We are surrounded by what our hands have accomplished. this may seem incredibly obvious but hands are more important than i have the capacity to express. I just want to take a moment to show my appreciation...."thanks guys, sorry for treating you like crap, but we have a lot to do, your Master, GHOOM." Boom.

Book

Here is another book commission. The request was for the book to be portable, durable, accessible, and subtle. I immediately thought of the Japanese stab-bound method. The front cover is hinged for easy access to the pages, and the back cover is rigid for more stability for writing on the go. Another request was for some of the paper to be graphed, so for every ten leaves of blank paper there are five sheets of graph paper (there are about 100 sheets total). The cover is book cloth finished with shellac which makes the book water-resistant and extra resilient to everyday abuse. The inside cover is adorned with a striking masked figure that I found in an old magazine. The waxed linen used is "Victorian Rose" ( I purchased the thread solely because of the name). Finally the book is about 5.5 x 7.5" which is ideal size for those with average sized hands. Commission #3

Studio Collab

This is a collaboration I did with Sera Baghdadi, One of my studiomates. We met in the middle with this idea since we both have been drawing these obscure little characters for years. You could say that my little guys were inspired by everyday objects like hot dogs, balloons, and jelly beans, though I have left them unnamed to leave any dialogue about them open for interpretation. If I could speak for her characters, I would say that One sees these buddies in everything from childhood drawings to popular video games from decades past. Either way they remain ambiguous. Both characters fill the gap between the real and intangible. They can be both unobtrusive, migrating in and out of the periphery of idle thoughts, or be very meaningful, symbolizing a full spectrum of names, concepts and ideas. The ghosts can be a simple caricature of how we perceive the paranormal, or can represent lost moments. the objects surrounding the ghosts have less ethereal connotations and reach more for the tangible side of ambiguity. Where the ghosts show their joys and frustration through those little raisin eyes, my guys simply express the importance of placement and pattern, or the lack thereof. Either way the duplicity is evident. As for the sludge - it serves as a binding agent; a viscous glue that holds the image together. The sludge, on the other hand, separates the objects, keeping them isolated in the chaos in which they exist. These are some pretty heavy symbols that we carry with us, but its nothing to take seriously.

Open Studio Tour D.C.

I think I will be sitting in for this on the Sunday of this weekend. See you there.

Fact Checking

Just as I suspected; Garnet is the suitable abrasive for horn. I should have used garnet to sand down all this horn I've got Lying around. It goes to show you, no amount of hard work can account for incompetence. Oh well.