A Visit to the Paint-By-Number Salon

I have a collection of really awful/fantastic Paint-By-Number paintings, which you can see here. But my collection is nothing compared to this!...

Baby It's Cold Outside!

A winter landscape from my Paint by Numbers collection.

We've had an amazing spell of weather here in Holland. The week before Christmas it snowed...a lot. Being from Mississippi, i still get all kinds of silly about snow. It's magical. Even makes a parking lot look beautiful. Now it's snowing again and it is damn cold. I heard that it reached -20ºC! As far as i'm concerned if you have to have winter then please let it either snow or freeze hard enough to ice skate. Otherwise, you just have cold.

So, i'm actually enjoying the extreme weather and wintery stuff like Snuggly Sweaters, Homemade Stews and Spiced Wine...mmmm. Hoping to ice skate soon with our ice buddies Coen & Paul. We had a ball skating last year. Of course Marko will also be on the ice, but i demand a stunt double!

The summer is definitely over...

But, i'm actually looking forward to the fall and winter. Of course i'll change my tune by January but for now i'm quite happy to tuck myself in my workshop during the dreary months and build some great instruments.

Another thing that i love about the fall is that it is mussel season. I love mussels. So easy to cook and so delicious. Throw them in a pan over high heat with some onions, carrots and parsley. Once they open up put some more herbs and spices in and a dash of dark beer. Cook for another 5 minutes and before you know it you've got a party in a pan. Serve them up with some beautiful warm bread and cold beer....Yum!

So to celebrate the fall, here is a painting from my "Paint By Numbers" collection depicting what looks like a fisherman harvesting mussels on the beach. (Hope he also has some cold beer in that saddle bag!)

Flowers by the Number

Look at this...The newest edition to the Paint By Numbers Gallery. It's a nice one too...uh, if you're into this kind of thing.

The frame isn't original, but it is nicely painted, has great colors & probably dates from the mid 60's to mid 70's. Oh, and, it only cost 4 euro's! Woohoo!

You think i'm silly for collecting them don't you. Maybe, but The Smithsonian doesn't think so! If you still think i'm nuts, take a 360º virtual tour of this collection!

Click on the image to ZOOM & experience the true glory of this lovely painting!

The Newest & Tackiest Addition to my Paint-By-Numbers Gallery

1 Euro at the Secondhand Market in Rotterdam. Nice addition to the Paint-By-Numbers Gallery!

My Gallery of 'Paint By Numbers' Paintings...

I've never collected anything. I'm crazy about Flea Markets and there are all types of things that i absolutely love; transistor radios, vintage dresses, classic furniture, old luggage and handmade items. But there was never that one thing that i compulsively shopped for. But last year, something snapped and i started buying 'Paint By Numbers' paintings. The question is, 'Why?' And like most collectors....i'm really not sure. Just love the whimsy i guess!


They were first brought to my attention by my buddy Marlin Seal who is one of the neatest guys i know and an avid gatherer of cool stuff. He has an amazing collection including things like boxes of 'Mr. T' Breakfast cereal, a 'Pee Wee Herman' Doll (still in the box of course), an autograph picture of O.J. Simpson from his professional football days, Star Trek Spaghetti O's. Actually i made the last one up, but who knows, he might have that too. All of this stuff is in storage somewhere in Mississippi....a museum just waiting to happen!

So,...hmmmm...Paint By Numbers.... I have about 20 of them now.
The cool thing about them is that they usually cost around 3 euro's. Typically, i'll find one at a market, hold it up to ask the vendor how much it is and he/she will say, "2 euro's for that frame" never guessing that i actually want the tacky picture inside of it! My favorite? Probably this Weenie Dog. He's just so pathetic!

And, just for the record, i'm not the only funny pants that does this. They are actually quite collectable in the states. I've since found out that the Smithsonian actually has an exhibition and a very interesting website on the subject. There was also an absolutely brilliant show at the Corey Helford Gallery in which they gave artists old 'Paint By Number' paintings to rework and then sold them for charity. To view 'before-and-after' shots of these paintings, which i highly recommend, click on this link, go to 'Past Shows' and then choose 'Charity By Numbers' in the drop down menu.

But gosh, I hope that they don't become popular here in Holland. Heaven forbid that they should go up to 5 euro's a piece!
(click on the photographs to view a larger image)