I posted my first Treasury on Etsy, which has since expired. These were some of my favorite picks for fine art from the online shop based in Brooklyn. It’s one of the more fun ways to sell online and they have a beautiful and efficient interface. Enjoy-

John Updike died January 27th at 76. Middle class life, 2 Pulitzers for novels and engaging short stories. His article The Writer in Winter is, if not exuberantly pro-aging, respectful of its wisdom. Luckily, painters often do their best work during this time.   And a poem by Wendell M Tomlin, Jr that speaks of [...]

I met a wonderful poet online at Etsy, where I’ve recently begun selling small paintings. We were both featured in a fine art ‘Treasury’, put together by members. His poem ‘Compost’ is apropos for my lead-in to Buy Fresh, Buy Local’s benefit, Down to Earth, that I participated in on Saturday, Jan. 24th. Compost BY GARY J. [...]

I’ve been pondering the interactions on Twitter and other social sites. Often it seems that people are overlooking simple forms of etiquette or what you could call the ‘Art of Woo’. Defined in their book titled the same, by G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa say that the art of Woo is ‘relationship-based persuasion, a [...]

Andrew Bird performing Anonanimal at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

I recently began selling my own paintings on Etsy. Smaller works, smaller pricing. Here’s Rob Kalin, the founder, talking about his philosophies on sustainability and micro systems of commerce. ‘Millions of local living economies’… Percentages are better on Etsy than QVC‘s last couple of years. And people are beginning to realize the high hidden costs [...]

I was reading a blog post that mentioned having a ‘week of silence’ from Twitter and not posting. That led me to think about the peculiar communicative style on the site. Seems to me that most people are talking into the wind, although we all know about its use as a networking and marketing tool. [...]

‘My Man Godfrey’ is a classic set during the (first) depression amidst ‘forgotten men’. Carol Lombard, William Powell, impeccable writing and worth 94 minutes of your time. The maid has some of the best lines. Cornelia tries to frame the butler Godfrey by hiding her pearls under his mattress. The police are at the residence [...]

I’ve been excavating old prints to sell on Etsy and came across these sketches that I did in life classes at the Chatov studio in my early years of study. I think these are all from the late ’70′s. I wish I had done an oil of the first nude. The second is Rosa, one [...]

Clyfford Still is one of the more odd abstract expressionists. His huge canvases remind me a little of a Brothers Grimm fairytale or something shaggy, like no knead bread before you bake it. There’s an intense life force in his work- you could call it energy- to which I respond. A true iconoclast, he had [...]