Mike’s artsy distractions


“See more”

Since signing up for NextDoor to help locate the home of a lost cat a few years ago, my email inbox is now jammed daily with NextDoor posts. While the sheer volume can be annoying, I find their truncated opening lines often make great teasers for some unwritten novel. Click through some favorites below:


June in Italy

Some images taken during a month spent in central Italy in June of 2022.


Garage Collage

Collage made up of items—newspapers, calendars, whiskey bottles—found in the walls of our old garage during its recent demolition.


Origami

Deer.jpg

Deer folded from my dad’s old hunting licenses I’d found in the basement yesterday.


Lumberyard Series

Fingerle Lumber Company had been in business since 1931, supplying builders with the basic materials found in many Ann Arbor homes. For 20 years, I walked past the site every day on my way to and from work, the yard bustling with forklifts hauling stacks of 2x4s and sheets of plywood. Since the sale of the property in 2018, it became a ghost town in the middle of the city, its long metal sheds eerily quiet and empty. Beyond documenting the remnants of a once venerable business, much like a blueprint, these photos are two dimensional representations of three dimensional spaces meant to reflect a builder's sense of structure through form, shape, and shadow.


Japan

Woodblock-style memories of a trip to Japan a few years ago.