My Mom

Went over to Mom's yesterday. She was working out on her treadmill Like the good woman she is and look what shirt she was wearing!
Here's a photo of Dad and Mom (no longer together) on their wedding day.

All About BITCH

What is the deal with this word and why do women find is so offensive? I guess it's not so much that they find it offensive than it is used as a way to piss another woman off or to let her know just how pissed off the bitchee is. A man calling a woman the B word is an altogether different subject.

When my sister and I lived together there was an unspoken rule that to call the other one a bitch was inexcusable. To get around the never discussed rule, there were levels of BITCH that could be used to show how much of a BITCH the other was being. The first level being calling one a "B" i.e. "Don't be a B!" This one could be used without escalating the situation. The next level went straight to B.I.T. for example: "What a B.I.T.!" or simply stating "B.I.T." when getting a little angry. There was no B.I or B.I.T.C. that I recall, I could be wrong.

BITCH actually morphed into a term of affection for us too in the form of "Beich" which then made it into the mainstream in the form of "Beoch".

Oh The Things You Will Find

This graphic piece was found as backer board in one of the old prints I took apart at the frame shop where I work. I'd say it's about100 years old. There were a couple of them in there. I live in Rochester, so the RO is probably the start of that. You find all sorts of things entombed with the layers of prints and backers, mostly other prints, which is why this is my favorite. I framed it and it hangs on my wall, no longer hidden.

Ursillo

This painting was found in a thrift store and on the back it says Pasco T. Ursillo, and San Francisco Arts Festival 1961. The man in the painting was holding up a ship if I recall correctly, I have since painted the ship out but could never come up with anything good enough for him to be showing the bored little boy...

Ebay Offerings

Just listed a ton of new original paintings last night, these three are some, click here to see ALL!

Is This Success?

I think I may have finally hit it big. I was at the frame shop where I work today and one of my collectors came in and was looking at some of my paintings on the wall.
"My wife just loves your work you know, well, I really like it too." He says. Then he adds, "You know, we named one of our dogs after you."
Me: "Get out!"
Him: "No, really, you can call my wife right now and ask her. We named our dog Sara."
Then he went on to say that the dog was a real Tasmanian Devil...hmmm, not sure if they named the dog before or after they found out she was a Tasmanian Devil, but needless to say, I was quite flattered. (Now there's TWO Tasmanian Devils out there named Sara!)

El Chupacabra

This is a mask bought in a small town in Mexico by my friend Geoff. I believe it's supposed to be El Chupacabra A blood sucking BEAST that may or may not be real...on this one, you can see a little piece of tape that was there when given to me. It says "Pa" on it and I left it there because it seemed randomly odd.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Trailer Park Trash

Trailer Park Trash
Originally uploaded by skipgoforth

my youth

Yes, this is me in my prime (25 years ago) looking for adventure! Did anyone else wear bandanas around their foreheads like this? I have pictures of a BUNCH of us at Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario, ALL of us wearing bandanas just like this. Where'd we get that from-Olivia freakin Newton??

New For You

Here are my latest ebay auctions on sale right now:

Spring Celebration...EVERYBODY is happy when Spring comes along!

The Stranger: Saaaaay...who is that up in our tree? is it Frankie? nooooo, is it Smitty? noooo....who IS that?!

Teamwork...gets the job done right!

Find them all HERE

Cue the Twilight Zone Song...

do do do do, do do do do, do do do do


That's the soundtrack for this strange painting I did last year. I did a series of them and sold some, I have one more left and this one titled The Stars Are out Today... on ebay right now: HERE.

Just a coupla things

Top of the mornin to ya! Actually it's after 5pm on St. Patty's Day and I'm not even wearing any green. This little fella looks Irish doesn't he? I found him about 20 years ago (geesh!) and have hung onto him dearly, he hangs on my Wall of Fame where all the other pictures are of famous people: and they are all signed to me! Course, I signed them myself, but it fools everyone. typical response, "When did you meet Tim Conway?" or "You know Al Green?!" Yup, in mah dreams I do indeed...

And this is a vintage TV dinner table tray that I couldn't pass up for a buck at the thrift store.

This painting was a gift and seems to be a less exuberant version of this. Her name is Rosie and was painted by Eleanor K. Schoff in Rome, NY 1985. She seems quite sad here as she leans on her cane, but at least she is in a pretty setting.

In the Realms of the Unreal

I have this movie poster hanging in my livingroom. The movie is about Henry Darger, who, when he died in 1973, his landlords found that the recluse had led a much more vibrant life than anyone imagined, through the writing and painting that had been the focal point of his life. Darger’s 15,000 page fantasy manuscript The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, the work which give this film its name, was the centerpiece, a story of child slavery, epic world war, and battles between the Christians and heathens. A fascinating movie, I highly recommend.

saturday fun!

see more crazy cat pics

Spring Folk

This is the elusive Harbinger of Spring...not really because cardinals are around all year long around these parts...but it's nearly here and we can all sigh a collective sigh of warmth of our back and sun on our face:)

This is a folk art whirligig, wings missing or taken away because let's face it, he can't whirl up there anyhow...

Cooperation

That's what we need right now, a little cooperation goes a long way...instead of being a hard-headed steamroller like this guy, give in a little, hold someone up so that they can help someone else...sometimes you can get more done as a team than alone...

original painting on ebay right here!

Let Us IN!

Just listed this original painting on ebay. It's from my pet as pets series and combined with the series I do with the funky borders. In this piece, Cat has forgotten that he left his "pets" outside and it's starting to rain...!

My Little Red House

This embroidered house was found at the thrift store. i stretched it and framed it so it would be square. It's such a sweet little piece of folk art, and it's got my colors: red, green and brown! I love the trees in the foreground. I have this on my HOUSE wall which I will show you once I am done with this project.

Back To The Project

ok, we're back to the project of chronicling all the stuff on my walls that is not my own. Now, i know my photo taking skills are the not best, but c'mon, isnt that kind of a nice departure from all the really good photos you are used to seeing, (like this, for instance) at least you know i'm keepin it real. You'll keep visiting me, right? well, i hope so anyhow...

here we have 2 vintage photo albums that i framed with extra large white mats and black frames:


and here is a vintage cat print i found that i updated by painting the background maroon (hi kitty!):

that's it for today folks, thanks for stopping by!

Ahhhh, Spring

This is my fluffy new backyard as of this morning. Yes, we here in Upstate NY are very excited to see signs of spring. Shoveling, extra layers of clothing, shoveling, warming up and deicing the car, and shoveling are some of the more popular springtime activities around these parts. To learn more about springtime in NY go to Alaska.

Ebay Buys

These three are all Ebay purchases I have made. this first one was done by a guy named Chad, can't remember his last name but his ebay moniker was Jihad and it was right before 911 (i didnt even know what jihad meant at the time. I think I received this the day after 911 and was all upset because I thought there were obscure references to the event...


This is a horrible photo of a large Carter Wellborn drawing:


This was a trade done with Sal Paradise and myself, not sure what his real name is but he no longer sells on ebay:(

Trio by a Trio

This group of paintings was done on an Art Night (where we get together, drink beer and paint. Everyone passes the paintings around til everyone has painted on them. You all go to bed excited that you have made such masterpieces... the morning reviews are usually a little less enthusiastic). looking at these again however, I have to say that I really like them. They are done by my sister Marty, my friend Steve and me:

Thrift Store Finds

Here are 3 pieces I've stumbled across in my thrift store rummagings. This first one is a wonderfully painted reproduction of a Margaret Keane painting, I couldn't find the name for it, but here's the original. It's signed simply: Millie. I painted the background red because I like red...

And this is relief painting of acrobats I found in Boston of a Chagall knock-off (got it for a buck):

And this is a tiny painting of the Boston Tea Party, sorry it's a little blurry.

PBN

I used to collect paint-by-number paintings, but that obsession is over now and here are the aftermaths: