Here We Snow Again

Okay… Let’s Do This.

Breakthrough

Breakthrough (Detail)

A friend told me that when he saw this drawing it made him realize that everything is going to be okay and that made him happy. Friends, this is one of the main reasons why I’m continuing to draw and share these large landscapes with all of you. Also: Thank you, Mark. Stay illuminated. Love, CDM

Sweep The Sky

Greetings from B-135...

STUDENT: “Montone, can we baptize my robot baby from child development class?” ME: “My name is Christian, I had 8 years of Catholic School and I’m an ordained minister so I got this.” How’s everybody else’s work day going?

Barrow House...

Come for the ambiance.

Stay for the graham cracker gelato.

10/10 would highly recommend!

When I was in high school, The Andy Warhol Diaries (released in 1989, two years after Warhol’s death) served up many a hot topic among those who were intrigued by all things Warhol. Before social media the vehicles of gossip, tell-alls and diaries provided the ultimate grapevine and these diaries (as dictated to Pat Hackett) sprouted quite a bit of fruit… some sweet, some sour. 33 years later, Netflix and Ryan Murphy have created a six part docuseries which brings these diaries to life with the help of Pat Hackett, John Waters, Julian Schnabel, Bob Colacello, Jerry Hall, Fab 5 Freddy, Jeffrey Deitch and Debbie Harry among others. An AI program mirrors Warhol’s vocal delivery for narration along with voice acting by Bill Irwin. A wealth of archival footage, photographs and related music and film clips frame not only Warhol’s pre-fame life and meteoric rise, but also spotlight intimate details of his life and career after being shot by Valerie Solanas in 1968. Fans of modern art and pop culture will definitely enjoy this multilayered feast. In addition, there’s enough fresh material here to keep Warhol lifers like myself (who have studied his moves for decades) fully engaged. Enjoy!

That thing where the art department spends thousands of dollars on 24 new 8 foot exhibition panels and I immediately cut up the shipping boxes. PS: I’m building a fort. How is everybody else’s work day going?

I waited to post about International Women’s Day until I had an appointment with my favorite dental assistant. Did I mention that she’s also the first woman I ever met? Happy International Women’s Day to my Mom and all of the amazing women in my life. I love you all. Enough said.

Vibe Check

Here We Snow Again

Chuckle Patch Report • Gnome Down

Photo Diary: Eight Days In January

What follows is eight days' worth of photos from home, drives, 

trips throughout Pennsylvania's markets and notes on current events.

Shep Fields  - Picture Disc Vinyl (1947)

New Addition To The Collection:

Dippy Canoes Corn Chip Canister (1960s).

I made a promise to Nate at Merchants Square Mall

That this vintage beauty would have a very nice home.

Last Saturday I happened upon a wonderful surprise which seemed divinely timed with my birthday week. I’ve been searching for an authentic Nkisi N’kondi figure from the Congo for thirty years and today I had the VERY good fortune to find one in Kaba’s booth. The Nkisi figure contains medicine behind glass panels in the eyes and belly. Nails are driven into it as a divination rite in which the inherent spirit is activated. I am very excited and grateful to have one of these beautiful figures for my home. Thank you, Kaba!

Welcome Home Nkisi N’kondi

Happy 75th Birthday

Dolly Rebecca Parton

Living National Treasure

20 January 2021

Good Morning, Friends. A light snowfall was brightening the landscape as I awoke. I’m ready for a brand new day filled with fresh energy, peace, light and positivity. Let’s gather our best energies, raise the vibration and move forward together with optimism. There is so much good we can create. Happy Inauguration Day. WE DID THIS!

• A • D • I • O • S •

...And Just Like That, The Sun Came Out

Thanks, Lady Gaga. We Needed That.

Sweet Memory Alert: These candies always make me think of my great grandmother (or “Granny”) Mae Costello (née Palmer) who lived from 1899 - 1981. I had the privilege of having Granny as a constant presence in my life until I was 8 years old and while I have many memories of her, few are as vivid as the boxes of multicolored orange wedge shaped gummy candies that she would give me every Easter. Some of my earliest color memories (and part of my life long attraction to anything that is brightly colored) began with Granny gifting me with these candies as well as a succession of boxes of crayons. I also vividly recall getting into a bit of trouble with my crayons under her watch. The story, as told in my family, is that I began reading and writing at age 2 or 3. It was around this time that I started drawing and my drawings were often interlaced with random words. One day, as I was seated in my high chair with Granny on my left, I was scribbling in a notebook. “What are you drawing, Chris?” Granny asked. I quickly covered the page I was scrawling on and asked “If you say a bad word that’s bad, right?” Granny assured me that this was bad so I asked a follow up question: “But if you WRITE it, that’s okay, right?” Giving me a disapproving, narrow eyed and raised brow look, Granny took the book from under my tiny hands and examined my handiwork... a series of multicolor circles with the letters S-H-I-T written across the page in black letters. Exasperated, she asked. “Where did you learn to spell this word?” I hadn’t “met” my imaginary friend / twin brother Timmy yet so, searching for a scapegoat, I quickly blamed it on my Aunt Susan. (Sorry, Sue... OK I’m not sorry.) Anyway, Love you, Granny! Here’s hoping you approve of all of my later work. I hope I’ve made you proud. XOXO

Rest In Peace Larry King (1933 - 2021)

For years, Larry King Live was appointment television for me. I was often amazed at the array of guests from the news and entertainment multiverse that he attracted to his desk in front of that Lite Brite-esque backdrop. His keen journalistic talents included an ability to connect to personalities that were larger than life and a gift for presenting them on a naturalistic scale without diminishing their largesse or dignity. Larry had a way of relating to artists that were often enigmatic, misunderstood or misinterpreted and spoke to them as respected equals. Two of my favorite interviews of his remain the ones he did with

Madonna

and

Prince

in 1999. His interview footage smartly contained enough “two shots” to equalize the host and guest and “one shots” to humanize that guest as they spoke their mind and took questions from callers. Thank you, Mr. King, for bringing us closer to all of these cultural icons or (at very least) bringing them into our homes for an hour.