‘Ink, by Japanese artist under the nickname Avogado6
—
‘there is something magical in seeing what you can do,
what texture and tone and colour you can produce
merely with a pen point and a bottle of ink.’
*-ida rentoul outhwaite
*Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, was an Australian illustrator of children’s books.
Her work mostly depicted magical creatures, such as elves and fairies.
—
—
through her imagination, all things become possible.’
-nadia janice brown
—
art credit: john goss, great blue heron
mill creek park north, huron river, dexter, mi, usa
winter 2025
after a wonderful lunch with friends at the polish village restaurant
a bakery visit, and trip to the local grocery
in hamtramck, michigan
(a small city on the edge or detroit
now filled with a mix of polish and yemini people)
we stopped to visit the famous
hamtramck disneyland
located in the middle of an old neighborhood
a one-man folk art display
created over 30 years
in his backyard
it’s really a lot to take in
ao incredibly creative and wonderful
see the story below:
Dmytro Szylak grew up in Ukraine and immigrated to the United States with his wife in the 1950s. Mr. Szylak worked for General Motors for 30 years; after retiring in the mid-1980s, he began building Hamtramck Disneyland atop the two garages on the properties he owned. The project took nearly 30 years to construct, and was constantly being updated and modified by Mr. Szylak until his death in 2015, at the age of 92.
In its heyday, the installation filled the air with whimsical kinetic structures that rattled and whirred as they spun in the wind. The garages were painted in bright stripes, and the space in between was filled with found photographs, posters, and classic Americana images mixed with those of the Europe of Mr. Szylak’s past. It is one of Michigan’s most significant works of folk art; thousands of visitors from all over the world have made Hamtramck Disneyland one of their stops.
After Mr. Szylak passed away, his estate was in limbo, with no plan to protect or keep the art. Driven by the energy and support of the community, a group of residents and artists formed to save this great local treasure. Hatch Art, which operates an art gallery and studios in the former Hamtramck police station, took ownership of Hamtramck Disneyland in May of 2016.
Hatch Art repairs and maintains the installation, preserving the core components of the artwork while proceeding with gradual updates as materials succumb to the elements. The intention is to honor Dmytro Szylak’s work by keeping the future of the installation as lively as he did in the past.
“Hamtramck Disneyland” has been the subject of two documentaries and is one of the top tourist attractions to Hamtramck, a city located within the boundaries of Detroit. It is one of Michigan’s most significant artist-built environments, along with the Heidelberg Project and MBAD African Bead Museum, among others. Thousands of visitors a year from all over the world have made “Hamtramck Disneyland” one of their stops. In 2006, famed photographer Bruce Weber did a photo shoot with Kate Moss at this location.—
‘art is life seeking itself. It is our intractable expressions of love
for the beauties, ideas, and epiphanies we regularly find.’
— vincent van gogh
—
text source credit: hatch art, detroit
at the songbird cafe
extra pennies left
for those who might need them
along with a tiny paper crane
for those who might need this even more.
—
“a master of origami said he tried to express with paper the joy of life,
and the last thought before a man dies.”
-tor udall, a thousand paper birds
she was in the checkout line just in front of me
something about her looked tired
like her shoes
world weary
her cart filled with simple things
beans, bread, eggs, milk, cans, pasta
and what looked to be a special treat
one small bright orange
maybe for someone little waiting at home
when it was her turn
she paid
with what was left on her food card
then tried a credit card
and still
didn’t have quite enough
she looked back at me
with apologetic eyes
sorry for the trouble
she fumbled in her purse
looked to see
what she could put back
not sure what to do
I heard the clerk tell her
that she needed
one dollar and seventy cents more
my heart went out to her
not knowing her life
I said that I had that money
I was happy to give it to the clerk
she looked at me with shy eyes
nodded thank you
carried her bags out
and I thought about
how that one small orange
would make such a difference
for someone special
maybe
my small act
had made a difference
in her life too
made it
a bit easier
just for a moment
and at that moment
I knew
there was absolutely
no finer way in the world
for me to have spent
just one dollar and seventy cents.
—
‘remember that the biggest thing you could do today is a small act of kindness.’
-cory booker
I didn't have my glasses on.... 