Jim Seffens Papier-Mache Artist

Jim Seffens is the most talented papier-mache artist I've ever met and I'm pleased to share he has a new website.
It is an unbelievable craft and he makes it look too easy. His studio/store in Hell's Kitchen NY is where I first started selling my cutting boards. I always enjoy stopping by his shop to see what new piece he is working on and he has always been happy to share his process with me and anyone wanting to know more about papier-mache.
He has been featured on PBS' Antiques Roadshow and is a top mask maker for many theatrical productions.
He is also a big supporter of other artists, inviting them to sell or show their work in his studio.
One day soon I hope to sit down and interview Jim and share more about his craft, but until then
check out his website.

Vertical Gardens & Sky Farms

A friend just sent me a cool article about Vertical Garden & Sky Farms-Courtesy of Environmental Graffiti, a UK based blog.

April Fool's Joke Not Ridiculous Enough

April Fool's joke goes Unmentioned.
Perhaps it was the all too believable photoshop photo I made,
or the convincing story that a multi millionaire would tinker away in his garage making a hand crafted mahogany time capsule.
Maybe I just didn't push the envelope enough-maybe the time capsule should have opened and everyone's face melts off.

Harrison Ford Time Capsule Celebrates Clinton & Obama

Kodak Theatre Hollywood California March 31, 2008

Carpenter turned Hollywood A-List Actor, Harrison Ford, has resurrected his tool belt and artisan skills in a gesture of political posterity.  Ford's long time companion Calista Flockhart, "Indiana Jones" director Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and former President Bill Clinton mixed with Hollywood brass and political big-wigs as Ford unveiled a hand crafted mahogany time capsule meant to commemorate the momentous occasion of Presidential Candidates Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama being the forerunners for the top executive position in American politics.  California State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said of Clinton and Obama's candidacy, "This is the first time anything has happened in American Politics that could have happened in a movie I was in.  No longer can they say only in Hollywood".

Yellow Pencil;Carpenter Couture

Policeman have badges. Doctors have stethoscopes.  Yuppies have blackberries.  Carpenters have pencils.

Of course there are many writing & marking implements to choose from, but none quite as a versatile or as wearable as the yellow graphite pencil that sheaths so neatly above the ear.  

Always at the ready, it is an essential for measurement dictation, plan-sketching & creating an easily removable mark on wood being milled for fabrication.

The first American wood pencils were made in 1812 by William Monroe, a cabinetmaker from Concord Massachusetts.  In the 1800's the best graphite in the world was found in China. Pencil manufacturers began painting pencils yellow to identify the Chinese graphite.  The color, which then symbolized Chinese royalty, has since become synonymous with wooden pencils.

Although the flat and chunky "carpenter's" pencil is a top choice for many, the yellow no. 2 is sleeker, looks smart and proves useful for many things beyond carpentry such as artistic sketching, crossword puzzles and all brands of standardized testing like the SAT's.  That's right kids, it's not just a cool looking earpiece that resembles a school bus dangling on the edge of a cliff, the pencil is a tool and a fashion.  (Another plus, it usually comes with its own eraser).