Flat Matthew and the arts

Today Flat Matthew helped me send some books out. I have been writing magazine articles for many years, but recently I published my first book, a mystery novel. Although people can buy it online, some order it directly from me. So Flat Matthew helped me pack the books to take to the post office.

I pointed out to Flat Matthew that by keeping this journal of his adventures, we were writing a book little by little. After I explained about writing, he told me that I should write a book about Round Matthew and how he volunteers at the Riverside & Great Northern Railway and what he does every day helping his dad and mom and the other adult volunteers. I thought that sounded like a good idea, too. I will have to talk to Round Matthew and his parents about it.

I write and Tom paints. After helping me with the books, Flat Matthew looked at some of Tom's paintings. This one in our living room is of the street where Tom and his family used to live in Chicago.

We have a lot of art in the house, but not all of it is Tom's. The pots you see above the painting are on a lighted shelf that runs the whole length of the room near the ceiling. The shelf was made for plants, but neither Tom nor I thought we wanted to climb up on ladders all the time to water plants. Tom's wife Helen had made the pots, and she gave them to him to put on the shelf.



These black and white paintings are of people from the neighborhood where Tom and I used to live. The paintings hang on the wall at the entry to the house, and they are big. The one just above Flat Matthew is three feet high and four feet wide. You can see how small Flat Matthew is in comparison.

Here Flat Matthew is standing in front of a painting in Tom's office, which he also uses as a studio. It is the front of an old pickup truck. Can you tell that that is what it is?




Here Flat Matthew is swinging on a panel of stained glass that hangs by the door from the library onto the deck. It was made by an artist who lives nearby. He also gives classes, and Tom has thought about learning how to do stained glass himself. This panel is called Autumn Solstice, and it uses fall colors and shapes that make us think of nature.

It is hard to see Flat Matthew in the picture because the light behind the window, that makes it easy to see the stained glass, makes it dark around Flat Matthew.

Do you have any hobbies like writing or painting?

Michael