What T-mas Means to Me

Everyone knows T-mas as a strong-selling greeting card, but did you know it is also a semi-real holiday? It was invented by my sister Dana in 2004, and appreciates a dedicated following. Here are some tips and suggestions, from my family to yours, on how to have that perfect T-mas:

1) T-mas can be celebrated on any day of the year, but a few rules apply. No one can speak ill of one's mother, and if any mother is disrespected, T-mas must be cancelled and held on another date (remember, when you put down one mother, you're putting down mothers all over the world).

2) The construction of wooden 'fools' dates back to the Middle Ages, but that practice, of building a large fool in the town square and lighting it ablaze at twilight, can be brought into the home using craft or popsicle sticks and any variety of classroom art supplies.

3) Perhaps the most important activity of T-mas is the Pity List. Make a list of all the individuals from the past year whom you have reason to pity. Don't share your list with anyone. Instead, cast it into the fireplace, and if the ashes are carried up through the flume and caught by a north-blowing wind, then perhaps a certain someone will hear your wishes, and take it upon himself to pity those fools...

How is T-mas celebrated in your house? Perhaps next year we can add to these traditions, together.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I made a new painting, "The Darkness and the Light:"



If you're thinking, "Hey, that would make a swell greeting card to send my friends and family," well then you sir or ma'am are in luck.

A neat trick for creating darkness and night is to paint full-value/daylight, let that dry, then cover it with a layer of sticky black and use a rag to rub out the highlights and midtones. You get lots of little subtle transitions, but unfortunately a lot of that doesn't always show up in a digital file. Perhaps you will just have to see the painting in person at my solo show in Los Angeles August 11, 2009.

I've added a bunch of other products to the site, too. The full listing (I think) is: Noam Chomsky posters, Cone Dog posters, restock on SVU Valentines, lil' Devitomon prints, Zugzwanged! prints, Bob Ross surf dog prints, Teshh!! prints, X-Files prints, and some cheaper/smaller prints of things that used to be only big (Jen Sisko, King of the Cage, Two Warriors, Jabba, a mini Bajor set), and a few bigger things that used to come only small (Norton by Bird, giant Crimefighters).

A lot of these are standard frame sizes, like 11" x 14", meaning if you bought one you wouldn't need to then spend a bunch on a custom frame job. In general, I tried to add items that are more affordable but still smack of value. Is that the way to go? I always want to hear input about what kinds of things are missing from the store, what could be better, etc.