Sweet Freedom

You’re Holding The Key When You Believe It _____________________ The song Sweet Freedom by Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers is one of those songs that takes me instantly back to a particular time in my life. But besides taking me back to a past time, it is also one of the greatest – yet […]

Context Blindness

Current Issue of ETC: A Review of General Semantics (Our review of the recent book Context Blindness: Digital Technology and the Next Stage of Human Evolution by media scholar Eva Berger appears in the current journal of ETC: A Review of General Semantics. The journal is a publication from The Institute for General Semantics. Our […]

The Atlas Diorama Project

Mode for Trane _______________________ John Fraim I got the idea for a cross section diorama when I saw the builds of Boylei Hobby Time and Australian Luke Towan. Both superb modelers on an international scale. Luke more the traditionalist of creating unbelievably realist scenery. Boylei Hobby Time more experimental on creating fantasy landscapes and situations.  These […]

The Genna Getaway

Genna at Two Years Old With My Stepdaughter Sarah in New Albany Peace Piece / Bill Evans ___________________________ Someone once said that a dog is the only thing in the world that loves you more than it loves itself. This is certainly true with the ten-year-old greyhound Genna we had to put to sleep just […]

The Henry & Edsel Ford Diorama

Henry & Edsel Ford / On Occasion of the 15th Million Model T Sold Miles Davis / In A Silent Way (1969) _______________________ John Fraim Those followers of Midnight Oil Studios know that the last two posts were related to our visit to the home of Edsel & Eleanor Ford and the relationship of Edsel […]

The Symbolism of Place

Edsel & Eleanor Ford’s Home Duke Ellington / Take the A Train (Popular in the 40s) _________________________ Henry & Edsel Ford Dynamics of a Father and Son Relationship Expressing This in a Diorama? John Fraim One of the more interesting books I’ve read is the book Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives by Frank […]

The Two Fords & The Two Americas

Castle-like Home of Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan “I believe a home isn’t four walls; it’s a place where you get the strength to go on.” Henry Ford Stardust – Artie Shaw (A popular song in the 1940s in the Edsel & Eleanor Ford Home) ___________________________ John Fraim The old adage “Like father, like son” […]

The Last Dinosaur at Night

The Last Dinosaur / Re-envisioned at a Different Time Sunflower / Milt Jackson (Song by Freddie Hubbard) ______________________ Have been experimenting with lighting effects in my studio using various lights I have. I spent half the day reorganizing my equipment and taking things out of boxes so that I can see them and so they’re […]

The Context & Content of Dioramas

Professor Galaxy Diorama / John Fraim The Warmth of the Sun / Beachboys _____________________________ I left the International Plastic Modelers Society (IPMS) maybe four years ago but certainly am still creating models. But also placing them in the dramatic context or environment of a diorama. Something pretty much outside any model making club today. Many […]