I locked the door to my stone-walled, tower office. The office was accessed through a lone, tight set of spiral stairs. It was a beautiful space, but at times I felt like I was sitting in the middle of a big bullseye target. I rushed over to a corner of my large office and lay […]
Category Archives: period room
One-Night Stand: Walking Home Purple
Old Salem Tavern Sneaking into my mom’s kitchen pantry, I marveled at the myriad pasta types. Our Italian-American family had so many varieties. Slyly, I’d lift several boxes, and once back in my bedroom/art studio, I would spread out my loot. Back then, my bedroom was my sanctuary, a place to draw and make buildingContinue reading “One-Night Stand: Walking Home Purple”
One-night Stand: It’s All In How You Use It
Have you ever made plans to meet someone, and then when you meet them, they don’t look, sound, or relate in the manner that you had expected? This happened to me when I finally met my adult self, and I suspect a similar thing happened to Wharton Esherick when he slowly became acquainted with hisContinue reading “One-night Stand: It’s All In How You Use It”
One Night Stand: Leaving Crumbs Behind
Gadsby’s Tavern & Hotel Alexandria, Virginia March 16th, 2016 NOTE: This is part of a long-term series of “One Night Stand” ™ blog posts that will document overnight stays in actual historic house museums. I want to understand these sites as more than merely decorative arts galleries – I am interested in them as places ofContinue reading “One Night Stand: Leaving Crumbs Behind”
The Beauty of the Undefined
Photographs used for educational and non-commercial purposes only. “I can’t paint what I dream because I paint memorandum of my dreams…I have so many dreams about angels. I paint imitations of angels just as I imagined them. I do not paint an angel, because they come from the throne of God. We can get theContinue reading “The Beauty of the Undefined”
The frustration with professionalism, and why not to listen to me
“Faced with any new object, reason asks, ‘in which of its earlier categories the new object belongs? In which ready-to-open drawer shall we put it? With which ready-made garments shall we invest it?’ Because, of course, a ready made garment suffices to clothe a poor rationalist.” The Poetics of space, Gaston Bachelard, from Henri- LouisContinue reading “The frustration with professionalism, and why not to listen to me”
Preservation, Demolition, Destruction, Decay and Death
Photographs used for educational and non-commercial purposes only. This is a new thread of investigation – In what ways does “preservation” help us avoid death? How does the purity of our preservation efforts directly reflect personal feelings of loss? Our world is in a continuous process of demolition (Pruitt Igo Housing demolition), destruction (ISISContinue reading “Preservation, Demolition, Destruction, Decay and Death”
Contemporary Art Happenings in Historic House Museums
Contemporary Art Happenings in Historic House Museums. F. Vagnone Presentation given at the Thomas Cole Historic Site, Catskill, NY
The destruction of the sacred
I watched the screen in disgust as the crowd began to tear apart the tree. They ripped off whole limbs with their hands and women grabbed leaves and began to stuff them inside of their jacket pockets. The mob grew larger and eventually the assault on the tree resulted in the bare trunk being pulledContinue reading “The destruction of the sacred”
The narcissism of details
The narcissism of details New York City, 2014 I don’t mean to pick on Old George, but he really slept around. A lot. Have you ever noticed that the official messaging for a historic house site usually involves an obscure detail? The most obvious – “George Washington slept here”. I have been stunned to learnContinue reading “The narcissism of details”
Twisted Preservation 