Howlin at the moon

Tis the season, not vacation, not fishing... garage sales! Oh the season kicked off a couple of weeks ago around here, but now we're hitting prime time. I have previously admitted My addiction to this, quite possibly the second oldest profession (trying to get someone to give You money for Your old junk) (and by that I refer to the garage salesmen, not the oldest profession, so please no letters) Some don't "get garage sales, or browsing through "junk" shops, their loss, Me thinks. Sneaking a peek in a lit window, when passing by in a car or walking down the lane (not to be confused with, standing on Your tiptoes, and licking the window, or something along those lines) has been brought up in discussion recently. Well garage sales are kinda like that, except instead of a quick glance (where, what You usually see, is some guy watching tv, very seldom do You come across a "postman rings twice" scene being played out on the kitchen table...sigh) Now where was I, Oh Ya garage sales where People say, "come in here examine My life, see what books I read, what movies I watch, that I once payed good money for a singing bass plaque" how cool is that!, Margaret Mead, eat Your heart out. I love finding treasures, just the kid in Me. I'm not talking about one of those finds You see on Antique Road Show, where like it was found in a dumpster, and it turns out to be an ashtray, that George Washington made in the 3rd grade or something, and its worth something like what You would pay on Ebay for a waffle that looked like the Madonna (we're talking serious coin) No I'm talking about treasures, like some old tool, and nobody knows what it's for. or a cool old book, or sometimes just something sparkly...ooooooo sparkly. I picked up a cool book the other day for $1, it's "the Vincent Price Treasury of American Art" copyright 1970 it's one of those coffee table books, I don't even own a coffee table, what the hell was I thinking, well ,anyway, it was still a steal, I've had no artistic training, I've admitted My ignorance, about art history, so this is pretty cool for Me (a $1 treasure) oh oh first thing before I ramble right past it...1st page of the book with artwork on it is titled "Artist Unknown" and right below that is the picture "self Portrait-Thomas Smith"....unknown? Gotta Love that kinda stuff. anyway back to that thin stream I was following. Noah's ark- Edward Hicks 1846, Corn Husking Frolic-Alvin Fisher 1828,Daniel Webster-George Peter Alexander 1852, I could go on, and on there is so much of good art, I haven't seen, and if someone ,like Myself ,that has a very real interest in art, (although admittedly quite ignorant) where am I going here... if people that think of themselves as artists, and I'm guessing that I'm not alone in My ignorance of these great artists (this is where I find out everyone is a devotee of Alvin Fisher?) and,don't know of these guys. RAMBLE ALERT- I once read on an art website, an interview with an art columnist , and He talked about a recent assignment, where He got to interview, an older Nationally Established artist. He thought that this would be a great break, from interviewing Young, angry artists, pissed off at gallery owners, and the art public, what He found was the old dude was just as pissed at the same people, just from a different angle. So recognition will always be elusive for nearly all artists. I guess, then being part of the "coffee clatch" and getting a few "atta boys" from My fellow artists here, help keep the old dobber up (as they say) and hope like hope that 150 years from now, some dope buys a book,looks through it and says "Now!, that is one cool picture... but , who's this Todd Peterson dude?" or at the very least someone some day shows up on Antique Road Show, with one of My pieces, and isn't told that the frame is worth more than the artwork. Of course I won't be around, so for now Ill just say Thank You to everyone that has left a comment, about My artwork. We all just want a little recognition (and maybe a sale now and then) but the encouragement from fellow artists is nice, yup that fits.... it's very very nice. Yup tis the season... now where was I? oh ya garage sales...zzzzzzzzzzzz