This morning I played a game of tug of war with lady on the front lawn, she doesn't understand the rules of fetch, and I guess I don't have the patience to try and teach her. After she had completely exhausted me I lie in the sun, its a brisk 45 degrees but the sun made it feel a lot warmer, that and the fact that I had worked up a sweat chasing after Lady, she seems to never tire.  I was pondering about what to write this week, truth is we have a long list of things but it's really all in the timing. Many of you have asked about the items that we collect and more specifically Bens Cabinet of curiosities.  I have always had an infinity for unusual objects. I love bones and bugs and used to have a bigger collection of them, many I have used in my sculptures or parts of them, when creating a sculpture I try to re-create each bug meticulously by hand, using whatever material seems most appropriate and molding and forming it to resemble the body, a wing, antenna even the little hairs of an emperor caterpillar, fashioned from the barbs of a feather. I think I probably said this before but I’m a little bit obsessed with details.   I get pleasure from replicating an insect or the beautiful wings of a butterfly and finding the perfect materials to replicate each little detail. 

Our collection is comprised of things that bring comfort, I probably more than Ramon love “things” items that retain a sort of fascination and wonder. We embrace the unusual, the sentimental even the Kitsch or what some people may call the macabre.  There is no clear curatorial vision, just an assortment of items we have collected on our travels, a few are even gifts from some of our dear friends.  As I mentioned in the previous post, I have always had a thing for owls, but there is a bit of a danger in attaching yourself too close to a particular fetish. At one point I had boxes of owls that friends had given me, they ran the gamut from kitsch to refined and collectible, some of them I liked, others not so much.  

We have quite a few deer and antlers, to me, antlers are majestic like a crown and lend a rustic and somewhat Nobel vibe to an interior.  Ramon just loves antlers. For his birthday this year our new friends Clair and Lee gave him 3 deer skulls complete with antlers, he couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. 

Staying with the same theme I bought a beautiful large stag replica at a local nursery Blooms and Bushes, it was meant to be a Christmas decoration but why not enjoy it all year round. I spent some time trying to get the glitter off of it and will probably decide to re-finish it at some point. 

Back some years ago I did an artist residency at Kohler, you know Kohler faucets, sinks, tubs, and toilets. They have an amazing artist residency usually it's for 3 months I ended up doing 5 as mine fell over the Christmas holiday and I decided to stay.  The residence is very competitive so I was thrilled when I was excepted, that and the fact I had never done any ceramic work.  So the residency is split into two disciplines, ceramic and metalwork, I was chosen to do ceramics.  Artworks are created by making molds and casting, it is a whole process that I will probably discuss further in a future post. One of the works I made while at Kohler was an owl with antlers, a sort of hybrid creature, I ended up making an edition of 10 plus 2 proofs. I probably would have made a bigger edition but ceramic is fragile (its slip-cast vitreous china to be exact) and I lost many of them in the production process. 

Many items have sentimental value like the clown cupcake.  This is actually meant to be a Christmas tree ornament, It was something that used to hang on our Christmas tree as a child and always reminds me of my mother, she passed away a few years ago and I treasure these small tokens that remind me of her, they bring me comfort. 

There is also a great collection of arrowheads that my father gave me, he was an avid rock hound and loved to collect all kinds of things like rocks, crystals, and fossils. He used to love to take us out on the Utah deserts to hunt for treatures. 

Another odd object is a wooden millinery hat mold we purchased one summer on a weekend trip to Woodstock New York with our long-time friend Beth. it's very curious and is made up of sections of wood that slide apart, it's always a great conversation piece. 

We usually don’t like things from big box stores, things that are mass-produced. We prefer to happen upon something, in an antique store, a garage sale, hey I've even been known to go dumpster diving on occasion. Objects are what create a home, that bring us comfort. Collecting is an ongoing process and each piece tells its own story and adds to the uniqueness that makes a home a special place.