"A Little Study in Black & White"

Strange postcard. No idea what it's supposed to mean.

Glass Ambrotype of Man with Shotgun

Really nice ruby glass ambrotype of a man aiming a double-barreled shotgun! Sold for $ 515.00 on eBay.

"End of Day" Pottery Head

Here's a nice clay figure of a head that's probably an end of day whimsey. Small (2 1/2" tall) and has a hole on the top, so might have been a match holder. Recently sold on eBay for $ 105.83.

Santa Train By Cliff Roberts

New Bathing Pavillion

By Joseph Yoakum.

Untitled by Jay Van Everen

The Life and Work of Calvin Black, 1903-1972

Nice film by Allie Light and Irving Saraf. Click Here to view film.

Thanks to FolkStreams.net for posting this!

The Backwoods World of Norman F. Pettingill

Just finding out about this artist, who did a series of incredible black and white ink postcards in the early 1950s. I understand that the Kohler Center has a collection of original pen and ink drawings in their collection. Anxious to learn more...

Masterpiece Museum of American Folk Art piece in this RPPC

Incredible, original early 1920's RPPC, Real Photo Postcard of a High Wheel Bicycle Carving that is now in the Museum of American Folk Art in NYC.

Currently listed on eBay, the seller's description continues:

According to a newspaper article recently it stated that the Trade Sign which is in the Museum was a "life-size wooden messenger mounted on a high-wheel bicycle that served as a trade sign for a repair shop in Vermon". This Photo shows the Sign at S.V.Holden, Antiques, Brattleboro, VT Wantastiquet Inn. The other amazing and more prominent subject matter of this photo is the Huge Presumably Carved Stagecoach and TWO HORSES.

"Yellow Kid" Mask in Rare Tintype

Don't get me started about the political incorrectness of the Yellow Kid character, but this is an incredible shot.

Crossword Puzzle Quilt!

Folk Art Carved Eagle Lectern

19th Century African American Folk Art Limberjack

Nice 19th century folk art carved limberjack I recently got on eBay. Quality ones like this are getting so damn hard to find these days. I'd say that only 2-3 really nice ones have shown up on eBay all year. Well, needless to say, I paid a lot (for me) for this, but it was a hell of a lot cheaper than what something like this would bring at auction these days.

1950's Cowboy Teens with Nice Patterns

Pretty funny shot of some cowboy teens in the 1950's. Love the visual cacophony of their plaid shirts against the drape fabric. The one guy on the right has his black leather drinking glove on!

Calvin Black Possum Trot Figure Sells For $ 82,500.00!!!

This Calvin Black Possum Trot figure just sold for a hammer price of $ 82,500.00 at the Slotin auction! I know the folk art market has been pretty heated over the last few years, but this one really surprised me. It wasn't long ago that Christie's Robert Greenberg Collection of Folk Art came to market with just so-so results and a similar figure sold for $ 13,145.00 (as listed in Slotin's description). Slotin had an estimate of $ 6,000-12,000) for this one. Some very happy people at that auction house right now.

Original 1900's Photo of the RED CROSS QUILT of Rensselaer County

Wow, this is one of the best vintage photographs that I've seen in a loooong time! A graphic tour de force, this is labeled as a "Red Cross" quilt and you can see in the detail shot that there are actually names either written or embroidered within the design. Absolutely incredible!

Reverend J.E. Cross "Artist Evangelist"

Very rare cabinet card of the Reverend J.E. Cross "Artist Evangelist" and his family. Great image of one of his paintings in the background!

African American Quilts

Some nice African American quilts from the upcoming auction from the collection of Jonathan Demme.

Happy Halloween!

Some Items from Upcoming Skinner Auction...

"Untitled" by Richard Campbell

Marker on paper.

Ambrotype of a Woman's Back

Sketch for a 1930s GAS Trade Sign

Reverse Painted on Mirror Optometrist Sign

Lost this one this past weekend. Sold for $ 230.00. Why do I always bid so passively? Maybe it's the lack of money! :)

Beautiful Shot of a Nude Woman

Beautiful risque nude shot of a woman, probably 1940s-50s. Meant to be salacious, and is, but also approaching something like art.

Bizarre and Sexy Sometimes Works!

World's oldest wall painting unearthed in Syria

I rarely (ok, never) comment on news stories, but this one caught my eye this morning on Yahoo! News. French archaeologists have discovered what they think is the world's oldest wall painting in Syria. From what I can tell from the very small photo that was released, it's a beautiful abstract form of rectangles that, as the article goes on to describe, is akin to the work of Paul Klee. What's funny is that the forms are very close to what I'm doing in my own paintings these days and I find it particularly inspiring that one of the world's oldest painters and an artist working in L.A. at the beginning of the 21st century are both fussing over the same things, maybe for different reasons, maybe not.

Here's a link to the article.

1940's Salesman Sample Billboard NY State Route Road Sign

How cool is this? An original salesman sample Billboard Advertising Sign! Currently on eBay with starting bid of $ 499.99 with reserve.

Here's the seller's description: "The story was told that this hung in a Bus Station in the city. It looks to be from the Monticello Chamber of Commerce Advertising the Trip on NEW YORK STATE ROUTE 17K up to Monticello, NY. This is amazing, it looks to be all handmade by a skilled hand. The wooden frame and lattice work is identical to an OLD Real Full Size Billboard. The Sign surface appears to be an old advertising for soemthign else at one time but the PAINT IS AMAZING!! Note the crazing and aligatoring to eh paint surface, simply GREAT!! This can stand or hang! One of a KIND, OOAK!!!. Monticello, NY is where the proposed newest casinos are slated to be made."