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Author Archives: Mark
The Back Room
Is Not the Gift Shop…
The Gift Shop is for fungible goods- T-Shirts, posters, mugs and the like.
The Back Room, however, is for special stuff.
Occasionally, I offer one of the original pieces featured on this website for sale, or I may choose to sell an item had been the subject of of a photographic study. Signed, limited edition series of photographs will also be made available here occasionally- as opposed the very nice mass produced offerings in the Gift Shop.
Like everyone does sometimes, I have regular stuff for sale, This is where you’ll find it.
Who knows, something from my Food Consignment venture may even show up here, Stay tuned.
In any case, please note that there will not be any ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Add to Cart’ buttons associated with the items in the ‘Back Room’ pages. I you’re interested, please contact me via the link at the bottom of any page. Ask any questions you have, and if you like, I’ll work out a custom shipping cost based on your location and send you a one time Paypal invoice which you can review before making your purchase.
Specials Currently Offered:
Donations Accepted
If you’d like to help keep this operation operating, this is the place.
All donations, regardless of the amount, will be received with a mixture of solemn respect for your good judgement and generous nature, and giddy celebration at being reminded that the world is indeed a friendly place.
This is a simple, secure process handled by Paypal. No information is collected, no awkward questions are asked, and no further commitment is required. Just a warm glow of civic pride.
Untitled, Painted Wood
I
can’t honestly say that I always have a preconceived idea of what I’m about to make when I begin a project. In fact, I enjoy that the most. All too often, what can be imagined doesn’t translate well into the language of reality. Other times, an idea is simply incompatible with reality, and it can be a sad moment when that becomes apparent.
2005, Painted pine 10″x22″
Continue reading
Kokopelli
A professor friend asked me to come up with an illustration for her new book. After a little discussion and research, we settled on the trickster figure Kokopelli. I’m not an expert when it comes to Native American lore. I approached this simply as a illustration project, although I did try to find a border motif whose origins are arguably consistent with the central figure. Continue reading
Timeline
The first digital camera I ever used was a Barbie Cam, around 1998 or so. It came with a Barbie Photo Design game, and had a resolution of 160×120 pixels, barely enough for a recognizable thumbnail. Prints were marginally acceptable at 3×4″. Still, it was fun for the kids (and me) to make greeting cards and the like. Continue reading
Desultory Graphics Dept.
Over the years, I’ve accumulated a sort of scrap heap of images. Some were the product of whimsy; doodles for their own sake. A few were created for website customers yet remain my property to use or repurpose. Some have a story while some remain a mystery, even to me.
Unlikely Projects
Projects That Can’t or Shouldn’t Get Off The Ground…
Guitar Rift
This guitar was handmade by some guy I met in a field. I bought it from him right then and there. Rash purchases are often followed by remorse, and this case was no exception.
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Hephaestus
This piece is built around my first welding helmet. I retired the helmet long ago, but never got rid of it. It hung on one wall or another for twenty years or more, silently watching as I went about my life.
Then one day, surfacing from deep and distant thoughts, I found myself staring at it, and this is what I found looking looking back at me.
I didn’t recognize him immediately, but once the mask was complete, I realized I’d captured the image of the Divine Welder. Continue reading
The Old Future
I first heard the expression ‘the old future’ when my daughter was about 14 years old. We were driving, and as we approached an intersection, we were presented with a splendid view of a nice old Airstream trailer cruising by. “Isn’t that a cool thing?” I said. “Yeah,” she agreed, “It looks like the old future.” Continue reading
Improbable Occupation: Private Investigator
Sooooo…
I didn’t actually have any aspirations to become an actual private investigator. This started as an idle doodle on a napkin about the same time I took delivery of my new graphics tablet. A little while later, I had this swell logo, a two eyed eye, and no real purpose for its existence. Unless, of course, I created detective agency called 2II Private Investigation, which seemed a bit extreme. Continue reading
Consumer Cycle
This Yamaha is a festival of useless cosmetic flourishes. Its drooping lines and pudgy bulges are just silly. Its ancillary components are remarkably overweight. The design team been must have told We don’t care, it just can’t look like last year’s model. I really didn’t want to start a new project, but I just couldn’t resist. Like picking at a strip of peeling wallpaper.
Entropic Chic Interrupted
As a species, we scramble around trying to improve our situation. We invent, experiment, build and create, all in the hope of finding something better than whatever it is that we already have. We like change.
Nature, however, prefers things as they were. What follows is an example of that ongoing disagreement.
Shackle Bookends
These old shackles probably should have been retired long before they reached this level of wear. On the other hand, their extended service has given them a look that the most creative of ‘distressing’ efforts could never match.
Excelsior No.1 Table
Even though ‘repurposing’ has become an overused and somewhat annoying buzzword, I think the underlying concept is sound on many levels, and even noble in an environmental context. Continue reading
The Ants & the Grasshopper (Retold)
One bright day in late autumn a colony of ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.
“What!” cried the ants in surprise, “haven’t you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?” Continue reading
Bird House
“Sometimes a television is just a birdhouse” (S. Freud, 1922} Continue reading
Wood Screw
A visual pun. Lag screw made of wood. Sorry.
Flying Fish
This is special to me. I started it a long time ago as a present for someone, but didn’t finish it in time to give it to them. Many years later, I set out to complete it, but found it had become something different in the intervening years, both in appearance and in its meaning to me. That’s all I really care to share about this aspect of the Flying Fish. Continue reading
Melt
A small and rather personal sculpture. Small, because it’s not very big. Personal, because during it’s creation, watching steel melt in the flame hypnotized me, for the lack of a better word. I was transported to a different place, and I merely observed as this emerged. Continue reading
Foundry Flasks
I work part time at a small foundry. I come in once or twice a week as an independent contractor to maintain the machines, repair equipment and fabricate things as need be. At one point I was asked to build a few flasks- frames to hold patterns. Continue reading
Ada C. Lore (A Memory)
I worked several years for a shellfish company in New Haven. I was hired as a captain, and I operated a number of boats for them, clam boats primarily, from fifty-five to a hundred feet in length. The boat in this anecdote was the Ada C. Lore, about 90′ as paced off on the dock If you do a Google search, you’ll find stories and photos of her post-retirement life as a restored charter schooner in Maine, but when this story happened, she was was a just a tired old clam boat.
About Me
This is the ‘About Me’ section. Every site has one.
I’m Not Xapno
In the 1930’s, Harpo Marx visited Russia in the combined role of ambassabor and performer. The Cryillic alphabet rendered his name as something like Xapno Mapcase. I learned of this many years ago while reading his autobiography, and have often used it as my online identity. It was a unique alias at one time; less and less as time goes by. In reality, though, I’m not Xapno. Continue reading
Memories
I had a pretty nice ride home this afternoon. Peering out through a raindrop spattered windshield at a silvery December fog triggered a string of memories of running a fishing boat out of New Haven, Ct in the 1990s. Exploring these normally dormant recollections pulled me into such deep reverie that I nearly cruised past my exit. Continue reading
Shop & Field: Broken Zinc
This may seem too boat-specific to have broader value, but it might apply to anyone who uses threaded pipe fittings.
Continue reading
Moving House
Yes, after a long, long period of stability, we’ve sold out, and are looking for a new home base.
This isn’t really the sort of thing that I expected to post here, but it is relevant in that it affects my progress and activity in most other matters. For instance, many if the pieces I would like to photograph for inclusion this site are in storage, as well as most of my photography stuff
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Waring Blendor Lamp
Fred Waring was a very popular musician from the 1920s into the 1950s. During this career, he earned both the appellation ‘The Man Who Taught America To Sing’ and the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor the U.S. government can bestow on a civilian. Personally, I’d never heard of him prior to doing this bit of background research. Continue reading
Bust of Triliminal Entity
Original sculpture incorporating copper, glass, industrial and organic remains.
Motorcycle Tribal Mask
Increasingly, we see the term ‘Tribal’ applied to tattoos and other graphic designs that vaguely resemble genuine ethnic cultural symbols. That got me to wondering exactly what makes something ‘tribal’. Continue reading
Sculpture Portfolio
3-Dimensional Works in Various Media
Oscilloscope Wall Mirror
This used to be an EICO Model 460 DC Wide Band 4.5 MHz Oscilloscope. Once the oscilloscope lost its ability to analyze signal frequencies with any degree of accuracy, it was simply cast off, its useful life ended. Continue reading
Furniture Portfolio
Original and Re-purposed Pieces
Antique Tool Chest Table
I found this old carpenter’ s box lying on a tarp in the middle of a vast flea market. There were a few hand tools still in it, possibly original, maybe not. The box is plainly made and humble. I imagine it was built for the simple purpose of holding its owner’s tools. I wonder who made it, and how their story went. Continue reading
Portrait of an Obsolete Machine
I consider this a portrait, in that the subject presents its worn, patient visage with inscrutable dignity.
Continue reading
Margaret Tarrant Reprints
Margaret Winifred Tarrant (1888-1959) was a prolific and popular English illustrator, best known for the charming illustrations she produced for various fairy tale and children’s books.
In my ongoing effort to preserve things worth saving, I have digitally restored a collection of her classic fairy tale illustrations. Additional prints will be added as they are completed. Continue reading
Buick Hubcap Guitar
I was commissioned to build this guitar featuring a vintage Buick hubcap as a resonator. The earliest musical instruments were made from found materials- gourds, shells, and even human skulls were used as resonating chambers, so a hubcap makes perfect sense. Continue reading
Potential Projects
Things that Might Happen
Practicalities
Notes and Musings on Work-a-Day Life…
Non-Photo Graphic Portfolio
Sketches, Digital Images, Painting and Other.
Current Projects
A List of Projects Currently Underway.
Bits and Pieces
A Smattering of Unrelated Stuff…
Early Days, Late Nights
My fond first memories hearken back to my carefree zygote days. What times those were; talk about potential! It was an era of no regrets, no apologies, no baggage. Continue reading
Combing the Catalog
I’ve embarked on a mission to regain control of my accumulation of photos, numbering over 10,000 in digital form. Paper prints, slides and negatives amount to perhaps three times more than I can lift. I can easily lift all the digital ones, however.
Like many people I know, my collection of digital photos has grown like an untended garden, the good and valuable hidden and strangled by the weeds of poor planning and neglect. (A lot like my actual gardening experience.)
I’m still looking for a series of photos that I know exist, many weeks into my efforts. It took years to create a mess this dense, and there isn’t a single-click solution that can take the place of my personal judgement as to how these photos relate to one another, or which ones belong and which ones should be tossed.
About My Emporium
About The Images:
- For the most part, the images that you see on this website are my work.
- My images are all Copyright Mark Pelloth, All Rights Reserved.
- Exceptions include the occasional photo included in the body of a post, which will be identified as the work of others.
- Also, images that are in the Public Domain are not copyrighted, although my modification of them is considered Copyright Mark Pelloth, All Rights Reserved.
- For permission to use any of the content of this website, including images, please contact me using the ‘Contact Me’ link at the bottom of any page. Use without permission is prohibited,
About The Gift Shop:
- The items offered in the Gift Shop are produced by fulfillment company that I’ve selected for
- their awareness of social and environmental concerns
- for the quality of the printing and the items upon which the printing appears, and
- their commitment to providing good customer service.
- Your purchase request is delivered directly to their facility, and they ship the finished products directly to you.
- Please contact me if you have any difficulty with the purchase, delivery or quality of any item you buy. I want to know, and speaking from experience, so does the fulfillment staff.
About The Printed Garments:
-
- Shirts are printed on Brother DTG printers with genuine Brother GT-3, water based pigment inks, CPSIA compliant and Oeko-Tex™ certified, which means they’re safe for children’s clothing, and have a reduced environmental impact.
- I try to choose all or mostly cotton, because it’s what I like. I personally have washed these shirts many times without significant fading.
About the Prints:
- Photgraphic prints are printed with Epson Stylus Pro 7900 printers using Epson UltraChrome HDR ink-jet technology.
- Prints are printed on Epson Premium Lusterpaper, which, when used with UltraChrome inks has permanance rating of 71 years.
- The surface finish of this paper is a smooth satin gloss that brings out the nuance of photographic images
- Framed prints (where offered) use black wood (Alder) frames and acrylic covers, and produce a final size of +1″ on all sides (i.e. 24″ x 36″ = 26″ x 38″).
- Matted prints are not available. Images resulting in non-standard aspect ratios (such as 7″x15″ as opposed to a standard 8″x10″) may have a ‘faux mat’ incorporated into the design to yield a print that will fit a standard frame.
- Note that signed prints produced using a photographic process are sometimes offered in the ‘Back Room’ section of this site.
About the Posters:
- Acid-free, archival, museum-quality posters
- All posters are printed on thick, durable Epson Enhanced Matte Paper
- The surface finish of this paper is a nearly flat sheen, perfect for graphics
- Framed posters (where offered) use black wood (Alder) frames and acrylic covers, and produce a final size of +1″ on all sides (i.e. 24″ x 36″ = 26″ x 38″)
About the Mugs:
- White, glossy, ceramic mug.
- Made and printed in the USA.
- Available in 11 oz and 15 oz sizes.
- Dishwasher safe.
- Microwave safe.
- From the manufacturer: ‘This brawny version of ceramic mug shows it’s true colors with quality assurance to withstand heat in the microwave and put it through the dishwasher as many times as you like, the quality will not be altered.’
About Payments
- The Gift Shop uses Paypal as the payment processor. It’s secure and familiar, and does not require that you even have a Paypal account.
- The Back Room section also uses Paypal, but there is no ‘shopping cart’. Each payment solution is individually arranged by mutual agreement.
- Donations…Always welcome! It’s a one time Paypal transaction. Contribute any amount and feel the universe sigh with contentment.
This Website.
This isn’t my first website.
In fact, at one time, I built and maintained websites for a number of local small businesses. I was a one man operation- sales, web designer, graphic artist, customer service, bookkeeper and diaper changer. (My kids, not my customers.) Liitle by little, though, my customers wanted business integration features beyond my self-taught abilities. Slowly, it evolved from fun to work to chore.
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zzz- combined OlympusTG820
Ruggedized Olympus…
80 days around the world, we’ll find a pot of gold just sitting where the rainbow’s ending. Time – we’ll fight against the time, and we’ll fly on the white wings of the wind. 80 days around the world, no we won’t say a word before the ship is really back. Round, round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Round, all around the world. Continue reading
Megapixelmania
Here’s a series of photos captured with the 1.3 mp camera on a 2006 Nokia 6133 flip phone. Toy cameras currently offer higher resolution, but the lesson can’t be ignored: the best camera is indeed the one you have with you. Continue reading