Paint Storage

I hadn't thought of posting something as basic as this, but several people have commented on the paint storage system I use in my studio, and since I haven't seen it anywhere else I thought people might find it useful. Basically, I just got tired of having my paint tubes festering in drawers, getting gummy from leaking oil and impossible to find when I needed them. The "system" such as it is, is just hanging the tubes up on readily-available "handbag clips" (technically "Binder Clips" so you can Google them) so you can see all the tubes at once and tell what's there.I have a couple of them--one a shallow box, and the other just a board with nails to hang the tubes from. I attached a couple of picture hangers to make it possible to hang the boards and reposition them if necessary, although I suppose you could just screw the things into the wall (or just drive nails onto the wall if your landlord is a tolerant type). As you can see the method is cheap, easy, and really adaptable. The clips come in several sizes for different paint tube sizes, and it's easy to use the tubes while they're attached. Hope this is useful!

A Dream Fulfilled....

OK, if you're like me, you love hanging out in graveyards. They're quiet, often beautiful places with sometimes moving, sometimes extravagant artwork and epitaphs all over. This past weekend, we spent some time in the Catskills region with some friends, and naturally our agenda included hiking around in the local graveyard, a more than usually gorgeous one in a striking hillside setting.

Now, if you're like me you also can't resist having a look through the little ventilation holes in or next to the doors of the picturesque family crypts that graveyards often have. I'm always curious about how the dear departed are disposed around the place--on shelves, in boxes, in boxes within boxes....all neat, squared off, and looking recently dusted, most of them. In fact, until now I haven't had the luck to find one looking less than well-maintained. Diligence, however has paid off.

Decaying wood and metal coffins? Check.
Stove-in or open parts of the coffins? Check.
Somewhat jumbled arrangement looking like the bearers left in a hurry on account of vampires/revenants? Check!
Visible bones and friable bits? Check, check and mate!

Anyhow, if you're like me you couldn't resist using your powerful little miniature flashlight and iPhone camera to record the scene for possible use in a future illustration or something. At the very least to record the fact that after thirty or forty years of hanging around graveyards, you finally found a crypt that had a worse housekeeper than you.

OK, you're not like me, but here's the photos.