ERICE, SICILY (3)
Sandwiches
WE'VE GOT NOTHING ELSE TO POST TODAY SO WHY THE FUCK NOT?
Clovis found this thing on the sidewalk today and put it in the scanner. It's a seed of some kind, from some low plant, he says. Very strange—but since we've been busy building things and hurting ourselves we figured why not post it up? By the way, if you're the dude looking for his coffee table, one more coat of oil and a little time to snap some photos in the studio and it's all yours. Maybe end of this week or this weekend if the weather stays fair.
CLOVIS AND THE SLIDE SCANNER, CONTINUED
Our friend Clovis Tillman keeps sending images to us—all produced by putting objects and materials into a slide scanner we let him borrow—and occasionally we see something we like. Mostly not. This one, made with packing tape and hole-punched bits of colored film, we like. The nasty scan of bits of his hair? No way, no thanks.
PHOTOS BY OUR MOMS: DONNA ALTIERI, PART 1
As promised, here's more proof that our moms can handle a camera. From a recent trip by Donna Altieri (Dexter's mom) to India. Lovely. And what's more, both of these fellas look like they could be part of the extended Tillman clan. That's certainly a Tillmanesque project above left—though it's hard to tell precisely what's going on—and goats are the quintessential Tillman beast. Well done, Donna. More to follow in the coming weeks and months.
HOP TREE
More from our friend Clovis Tillman and our trusty Nikon Coolscan. This time a seed from a hop tree, from the Denver Botanic Gardens. Whenever we see these scans we're a little stunned at the super-shallow depth of field and sweet macro effect. Sharp and blur, in the space of a small fraction of an inch. Makes sense, we suppose, given that the scanner is expecting a flat slide. Again, props to Clovis: nice work.
PHOTOS BY OUR MOMS: MARCIA LARABEE, PART 1
Our moms, both of them, have very fine eyes, especially when they're looking through a camera lens. Always have, always will. These here are the first offered proof of that fact. Taken by Marcia Larabee on a family trip to North Carolina to visit David's grandparents (Marcia's folks) one winter in the mid-70s. That's David squatting lakeside with big brother Kyle above left. Thanks, mom—the scanning worked out great. Keep the images coming. And Donna: you're up next.
DESIGN AFTER DARK PART 4: WALNUT ARMADILLO SOLD
Some fool took the bait and bit down on our offer at this year's Design After Dark. He (we think the winning bidder was a man, but at this point we don't know for sure) dropped sufficient cash on our piece and will get the mini Armadillo and the full-size beast. Of course now we have to make it. So we got started today, cutting the rough boards to size, doing a bit of joining and planing and gluing up part of the top. The piece shouldn't take too long—we hope to start the finishing process later in the week. If you're the lucky sucker who bought the thing, check back later in the week for an update. Or what the hell, check in every day and see what new blather we're spewing on this blog.
THE PAD ROOF IS DEAD!—LONG LIVE THE PAD ROOF!
From time to time we take a couple days to destroy then reconstruct some part of the shop compound. An old fence down, a new fence up; where there was a mud bog, now there's a fresh concrete pad. This past Friday the sagging, underbuilt, sometimes drippy roof over the pad outside the roll-up door of our shop came down. Very satisfying. Work on the new roof structure—a soaring steel post-and-beam lovely—is underway.