conjunction junction

I sing involuntarily. Grocery store, cutting grass, funerals... whenever. George Carlin makes the distinction that some people are "musically talented" and some people are "musical". This often being pointed out by those who are "musically talented". His description of those who are musical:

" If you hit me in the head with a lead pipe...I make a noise!"

"Conjunction Junction" is a biggie for me. Although it goes through some "changes" on occasion, I try to stay faithful to the spirit of the thing.

-conjunction junction, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

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Entertainment Weekly and me...kinda

My buddy Benjamin Holcomb out in L.A. has written a wonderful book about my favorite toys! This book is Mego 8" Super-Heroes: World's Greatest Toys! , and I have had the distinct privilege of contributing my paintings of these toys to this book. This week's Entertainment Weekly ( aug 31, 2007, #951) has a feature about Benjamin and his book.

I cannot say enough about the amount of effort and artistry ( and time...he's been working on this for over 4 years) that has gone into the creation of this book. This will become the hallmark of what other collectible books will be measured by. Here are some of the comments of praise about this book:

"...a stunning visual experience that will leave you weeping like a nine-year old who just misplaced Robin's removable mask."
— Chip Kidd, author of Batman Collected

"I've waited thirty years for this magical, beautiful book. And now, Benjamin Holcomb has given it to us."
— Brad Meltzer, author of NY Times Best-Selling The Book of Fate and
DC's Justice League of America

"This book, so full of fond memories both personal and professional, could be improved only if it included footy pajamas and a Christmas tree."
— Ken Abrams, son of Marty Abrams and
grandson of Mego founder D. David Abrams

I loved these toys as a kid. I love them now as a semi-adult, and I am immensely proud to be a part of this project. This book is available for pre-sale at Amazon and I would encourage everyone to check it out.




This is a portion of one of the paintings included in this book. Pin It Now!

peaches records and tapes

I grew up in two cities. Cleveland, Oh and Atlanta, GA. All growing up there was an emphasis in my home on music and...the pursuit of records. The super rare soundtrack to Bullitt ( Japanese pressing) or some really cool Elvis outtakes or...

Either way, both cities had a great record store chain called Peaches Records and Tapes. Cleveland had one in Parma up until the early 90's I think. Atlanta had really cool ones in the 70's and 80's that were multi-leveled and filled with huge crates of great albums. I remember that most new albums ( you know like Yes' 90125...new stuff) were $6.99.

Opening the shinkwrap on a new record isn't the same as a CD. The 12" gatefold with some kind of poster or insert made it feel like you were getting more. Size matters...when it comes to music formats.

-peaches records and tapes, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

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little chocolate donuts

"Little Chocolate Donuts. They taste good, and they've got the sugar I need to get me going in the morning. That's why Little Chocolate Donuts have been on my training table since I was a kid."

-little chocolate donuts, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

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sky king

I used to ride this thing in my gramma's basement on the parkway in Parma Hts., OH. We had it repainted, but it has one wheel thats not completely round. Its better when something ( or someone for that matter) you really cherish has a flaw in it. That way when I ride my tricycle to the big rally in Sturgis, I'll know which one is mine.

-sky king, 2007

8" x 8", oil on gessoed panel

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happy birthday to me... again

This is my 100th 6" x 6" painting! I love this size!

BY the way, I apologize for any additional notifications on this blog ( Blogger was acting screwy, but it seems okay now).


-happy birthday to me, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

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Victor Cherry

Elvis used to use Dr. John Carpenter as his pseudonym when he checked into hotels and public places.

Fun Fact: Elvis' karate name was Tiger!

Okay, the Victor coffee cup is my favorite, but add cherries and...you have the perfect:

A. Bond villan name

B. Male lead adult film star

or C. Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin's contact in Chile name

Either way...its a cool name.


-Victor Cherry, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

Click HERE to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

cherry glaze

Here's a painting for my Gallery Piquel in PA. Also, I made a little movie too.

cherry glaze, 2007

24" x 24", oil on gessoed panel

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slip

I've been listening to a fantastic book on tape ( yes, on tape...) by David Niven called "Bring on the Empty Horses". This book is read by Niven and is FANTASTIC! He tells the story of his career path in old Hollywood and the really big freinds that he made along the way. Fred Astaire, Bogart, Cary Grant, and Errol Flynn to name a few. He tells little cool stories about these stars and the impact they had on his life and career ( the Errol Flynn stuff is great).

One really good story is about Charlie Chaplin and an after-dinner drinks discussion about filming the famous banana-peel-fall-on-your-ass scene. The discussion was about how to make a tired and old bit funny. Chaplin's method was a scene-by-scene narrative of how this could play out effectively on film.

First, shot of large woman in high-heels carry a load of packages.

Second, shot of banana peel

Third, woman approaches banana peel...Walks around it...and falls into an open manhole.

-slip, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

Click HERE to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

watermelon and fork

I'm working to get some big work done for my gallery in PA ( I'll post some pics this weekend). I've been listening to some real "gems" too. Beach Boys "Sunflower", the new Rush album, and an old favorite Seals and Crofts "Greatest Hits". I get into a situation where I'll listen to a group of albums through a painting OVER and OVER again.

Here's the weird thing ( well two weird things). First, and I do this without really thinking about it, I'll keep many paintings going at once, but I'll only listen to a certain group of albums for each different painting. Weird! Like, I'll get up and change the album ( LP or CD...Hey, I can't be limited by availablity).

Second, when I hear certain songs I get a little touch of deja-vu of a particular painting ( I'll remember painting it or a portion of a painting). Also weird!

In the beginning of a painting, I'll be working along thinking that "Hummingbird" is AWESOME! Cut to day three, and I start to think ,"Man, this really sucks! Who is this mellow?"

Doesn't matter. I'll go back to Seals and Crofts eventually. I always do. It really is AWESOME...isn't it?

-watermelon & fork, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

Click HERE to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

Red Rock Rose

Tonight is for big fun! The second season of "The Incredible Hulk" come out. David Banner ( Bill Bixby) is actually the entertainment part of that show. It seems every week that David gets some REALLY crappy job ( or even better...they make up jobs just to make him lose his cool...poison taster...bullet catcher...whatever), and gets REALLY involved with the lives of his co-workers ( by "involved" I mean he meddles...). If I turned into a big green monster everytime I got mad, I would probably turn down the job of snake wrangler.

-red rock rose, 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

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Mom's toasters...

My Mom is a collector of many things. She has a HUGE collection of vintage chrome kitchen items. The great thing is that all of these cool things look and work like new. When we've been out on the prowl for things she ALWAYS gets the best stuff. She has got "the eye". What's funny is that it seems very normal growing up in a kitchen with 40+ chrome coffee makers that she used in a rotation style. There's one that I found ( and she bought) that is chrome with a glass body with LIGHTS INSIDE that show all the percolating action.

-toast, 2007

8" x 8", oil on gessoed panel

Click HERE to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

pin cushion ( home made)

Hey, when you need something...sometimes you need to make it yourself. I've not researched this, but where does the whole tomato-styled-pin-cushion-thing come from? Oh, and what is the deal with the little strawberry thingy attached to it. Why are there no apples with blueberry things attached? I'm sure this is some information that everyone but me knows.

-pin cushion ( home made), 2007

6" x 6", oil on gessoed panel

Click HERE to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

Rubik, Robert Evans ,and Patton Oswalt

One of the best comedy album's I've gotten in a while is Patton Oswalt's Feelin Kinda Patton. I had tickets to see him and David Cross ( also super awesome!) perform here in Athens at the world famous 40 Watt club a few years ago.

Well, through some mishaps I didn't get to go. I was a little mad, but...Okay, it turns out that the album Feelin' Kinda Patton was the ACTUAL RECORDING of the SHOW I MISSED!!The point is that there's a great bit about Robert Evans involving a Rubik's cube. I've had one since they hit the market, but I now can't look at one without thinking about that bit. I owe some thanks to Patton Oswalt.

Incidently, this was a color mixing feast!!"

Rubik's Cube No.2" , 2007

12" x 12" , oil on gessoed panel

Click on the image to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

I'm a Pepper

I have several things to say about this one. First, if you actually drank Dr. Pepper a 10:00, 2:00, and 4:00 you might not have any teeth or high level of kidney function after a while. Secondly, I have a relative ( who shall remain nameless) who actually had a brief "situation" with David Naughton ( the "I'm a Pepper" guy). I think she thought that he was going to take her away with him to Pepperland ( "we're in love and NO ONE will stop us!!").

Yeah, that never happened. I wonder what I'm going to call the second one of this series? Hmmm...

Incidently, there is no reserve on this one.

"I'm a Pepper" , 2007

14" x 14" , oil on gessoed panel

Click on the image to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

Some large stuff

Here are two paintings I did for Gallery Piquel in PA. These are on canvas ( the boards get to be REALLY heavy when you get over 30") and are 36" x 36" each. You can contact Gallery Piquel for purchase info on these. Here's the title info on them respectively:

-Redneck Slinky, 2007

36" x 36", oil on canvas

-Pep-O-mint, 2007

36" x 36", oil on canvas


I'm finishing up some more paintings for ebay this weekend of some of my antique silver and glass collection. My favorite venue for antiques is now gone in Atlanta so it looks like I'll have to find a new one ( there's an indoor one once a month but its not the same...). Pin It Now!

does anyone have a fork? I'm not good with tools...

This is a larger version of the Chinese rice carton ( 16" x 16"). I've been asked to do some larger works and here is one of the first of the batch ( group, series, ?...).

I put this one on with a reserve of $500.00.


does anyone have a fork? , 2007

16" x 16" , oil on gessoed panel

Click on the image to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info.

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Chinese rice

I guess angst is relative. I know that red hot anger when I drop, spill, break, ruin...anything. But...its really important to remember that things can be picked-up, cleaned, fixed, and reworked. Everytime I see E's True Hollywood Story I feel that things are gonna be okay.

I listen to a Frank Sinatra radio show from the mid 50's called Rocky Fortune. He's this drifter that gets into misadventure through his "employment agency" ( AKA the plot moving device). Well, in one episode he's applying to be a rocket test pilot ( yeah...I know...) and Rocky has to get a physical.

Doctor: "Is your health good?"

Rocky Fortune: " Nah, but I ignore it."


"chinese rice", 2007

8" x 8", oil on gessoed hardboard

Click on the image to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

a twist of Lemmon

One of my favorite performers is Jack Lemmon. His 1959 album A Twist of Lemmon is fantastic! His vocals are great ( it sounds like Jack Lemmon singing in tune) but his real strength is his piano playing. I think his son wrote a biography about him under the same title. Hey, where did the triple-threat actor/singer/dancer go? Gene Kelly was really the only one to pull it off with precision AND a little masculinity. He also has a great singing voice ( Our Love is Here to Stay... its wonderful...or should I say ...S'wonderful?)

"A twist of lemon", 2007


8" x 8", oil on gessoed hardboard


Click on the image to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info. Pin It Now!

blue oreo

"blue oreo", 2007

8" x 8", oil on gessoed hardboard

Click on the image to bid on this painting or to see my other work listed on ebay. You can get on my mailing list by subscribing to my google group above ( I send out a note when I list a new painting) . Also, check out ottolange.com to see more work and get more info.

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