Dogs and Duotones

I love this book of photos, beautifully reproduced as duotones, by Michael Crouser, Dog Run. Published by Viking Penguin, the book was printed in Barcelona through Imago.




I grew up with dogs, and shared the last 8 years of my life with an unforgettable dog named Forest, who died an untimely death of cancer this past Spring. Once you have shared your life with a dog, you know all about dogs playing: the best kind of fun is when the fur is flying, bodies are racing around, teeth are bared, and everyone gets covered with mud.


I love Crouser's photos for this raucous, down and dirty, real life view of what it is like to play like dog.


Crouser himself notes that these are "the first pictures of my life that actually make me laugh."






Just before Christmas, we made the decision to bring another dog into our lives.




Its a hard decision, because you love them so much - a dog enters your life and changes it - and the time you have with them is so brief.



And ...



it is an easy decision ...



because ...


... it is not a good life if there is not a dog in it.

Photos of me and Luke by James McEntee (www.JamesMcEntee.com)

An Artist, A Collector, A Museum

I spent this past week trying to close some deals, drum up new business, and put some trips together to Georgia, The Carolinas, Tennessee, Santa Fe.

In the middle of this, I took a break and went up to The Boca Museum of Art which has a new exhibit of the works of M.C. Escher. I love the fantastic buildings and mazes and landscapes where you think you are getting somewhere but in fact you are getting nowhere. Or - looked at another way - maybe you ARE getting somewhere, but it is somewhere strange and mysterious, somewhere you could only get to in a dream.

I happen to meet up with collector Rock J. Walker, whose collection of Escher's works forms the basis for the Boca exhibition. Walker was prowling the hallways of the gallery - perhaps checking to make sure all the works were hung to his satisfaction. "You know Escher don't you?" he barked. I answered that indeed I did - but I was fascinated to see all the other kinds of works, all the other subject matter, which I hadn't previously associated with Escher. Walker travels the globe, from Amsterdam, to London, to New York, to California buying and selling contemporary artworks. "It's not as glamorous as it sounds" he rumbled. Hmmmm. I wonder.


The exhibition is titled The Magical World of M.C. Escher and runs through April 11, 2010.

We Don't Just Print Books (Part 3) - Creative Gifts

Here are some magnets to take away from your visit to The National Gallery in London. I love how all the pieces are odd-sized, and work on their own, or create a bigger picture:




And from The Royal Shakespeare Theatre:




Produced by Imago.

We Don't Just Print Books (Part 2) - Products for the Ecologically Minded

And now for something more PC.



Worried about that big ole' carbon footprint you're leaving all over the place?

This "CO2" eraser, produced by Imago, can take care of some of the dirty work.

We Don't Just Print Books (Part 1) - Great Packaging

Oh No! Promoting cigarette smoking?????

Yes. And let me tell you, if you had a cool rubberized case like this to carry your butts in, you'd do it.


Produced by Imago.