A Deck of Cards

Over the years, my work has been reproduced on postcards, books, wine labels, calendars, & probably other items I'm forgetting here. I've always wanted to put my work on a deck of playing cards, but until recently this has not been possible, or at least too expensive to consider. However, I recently came across a company apparently based in Hong Kong, that will affordably put your photos or artwork on not only the back of playing cards, but also the front. This was a prototype, so I only used 16 images for the fronts (major suits plus 2 jokers), and also one ("The Eye of Heaven") for the backs. I had to crop the images slightly to make them fit, which is a compromise, but not too bad. I was quite happy with the results...I may do another version where all the images on the faces are different artworks. Watch this space...

The deck of Ayton artwork cards

Rico Lebrun

Thanks to friends Scott & Betsy for the gift of this book, In the Meridian of the Heart (selected letters of Rico Lebrun). It's been on my nightstand for a while now, & I have actually read it (as opposed to just looking at the images). Lebrun is an artist who has been mentioned to me before, in the sense of someone who is not all that far away from what I do. It's true...I can see the parallels: he uses a lot of monochrome, his instinctual, emotional repsonse to the human figure resonates with me, & his influences of Picasso, Goya & Michelangelo are also not that far from mine. He is an artist well worth checking out, not as well-known as he probably should be. He died in 1964, so his work is from that post-war period (especially in the case of this book which concentrates on his later years (1950-68) & his stays in Mexico, New Haven CT, Capri, Rome & Los Angeles. His letters illuminate his struggles with abstraction & the human form, & the development of the mural of Genesis in Pomona CA, among other subjects. A very thoughtful & well-made book.

In the Meridian of the Heart, selected letters of Rico Lebrun