WELCOME TO MY MADNESS

Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

how to stay creative without a studio

Well kids, Moving, been here, doing it again. This is my second move with me identifying as a creative and thus moving my studio. I learned a lot from the first move it ended up being 6 months without a studio. I don’t anticipate this move will take that long, but you never know. I have my journal and sketch book handy at all times, I keep all my ideas in these two places. A regular review of past entries is important, I’m prolific in my generation of notes to myself. Revisiting these moments brings my “stuff” into clarity ad drives early iterations of designs and styles. I will have a lot of new “stuff” to get into the process over the next couple of months. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

mikes tool box

INSTALLMENT #2

So I have been using mikes old tool box for several weeks now and the process of what goes where is ongoing as “stuff” has been moved around a lot in the box. I also have already packed up a lot of assets that I will use in the box. Right now I have several pieces of old glass in use in the box and hope to add more after the move into the new studio. I am using this Paraphernalia project to keep me sharp and focused on my style that will grow and morph until it is complete. Right now I am planning for this project, paint inside and out, renovate all hardware and drawer slides, lights (got to see your “stuff”). Again I work in flows and my vision is mostly complete at this time (subject to change with no notice). Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

flower (WEED) smoking

Ok Kids, for you all who use concentrates, edibles, vapes or the such, smoking flower is serious business. Smoking weed starts real simple, smoke the joint, puff the bowl, tear off a nug jam it in the bowl and apply fire, enjoy. This process turns into a monster, grind the weed, store the weed, and use the weed, all of these steps all require paraphernalia. The storage of this paraphernalia has always been a challenge to me personally regularly moving from storage place to another. I now have my ultimate paraphernalia storage unit in the Mattize process, check the pics out at works in progress. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

Mikes Tool Box

installment #1

Well I have acquired my late father-in-law’s mid 70’s upper and lower Snap on Tool box. The box measures 27 inches wide, the top box is 12 inches deep with a top tray and six drawers, the bottom is 18 inches deep with three drawers and a garage door bottom compartment.

My plans for this magnificent piece of industrial workmanship is to repurpose the tool box into a weed paraphernalia center. I will attempt to chronical my thoughts and the actual processes used to “Mattize” this tool box as only I can and truly make it mine. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

Thoughts on MY creative space

I have always set my studio up to facilitate my production of art. I create art works in series, rather fast, very prolific. I like to use the same colors for specific types of tools and spatter paint is now my standard for a ton of things. I love a lot of colors, color is my life now, the next studio will see a bunch of infrastructure “stuff” getting the Matt treatment as I like to call it. I love to Paint things, I love to make things “mine”, I don’t need any owner name tags on stuff, It’s obvious who this stuff belongs to. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

repurposing our stuff

So kids, I have acquired over the last couple of years several free standing wood cabinets/bookcases, a ton (6) of Ikea drawer units, several rolling storage carts, four metal tool boxes, a couple of metal tool boxes, you get the idea. So I’m totally for changing the use of any or all of these items and how or what I store in them. I like having optimal availability to my tools and supplies. My art creating is fast paced repetitive in the nature of the materials and tools. I have mastered several disciplines over the years thus I have “tools” and '“stuff”. It will all find a home in the new Casa de Cuckoo III.. Deja Vue all over again. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Well we are in the process of relocating, going to stay in the Phoenix area. I have shut down my studio and packet it up, needless to say I’m not making beautiful things right now. I do have several “projects” I will be sharing with all you wonderful people over the next month or so. We have some experience in this moving thing, it isn’t a horrible experience it once was (I learned some shit along the way). I will start sharing some of my projects, some of my thoughts on life and art, and as always it is old hippy created and old hippy approved . Peace and Love

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

META SUCKS T*RDS

So kids, I have left the Meta world, been off of FB sense Nov 2024, left a place keeper on IG. Meta owns these platforms, they make the rules, they change the rules all the time. Meta is a tool for the company to make money, they create the algorithms that control their world. This is my website and I can post MY content how I like without jumping thru a bunch of everchanging hoops that supposedly will help generate followers. so I will attempt to post here daily about my art and life and what’s going on in FRAZZERRATT land. Peace and love

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

mY FIRST YEAR BEING A FULL TIME ARTIST

So kids, my first full year of NOT working for the man was great. You gotta learn this retirement shit, get all your shit straight and continue to live like I have always lived. Creating full time is interesting in itself, being an artist is the best when you tell people what you do. I like the surprise in their eyes when they see “what “ I do. I attract my people in public, maybe cause I wear tie dye every day, I get tons of comments on my apparel and style. I will continue to bring happiness and joy to “my people” with color and hippy style. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

PERSONAL GROWTH

Well a new year has arrived, seen a couple of these before. My standard thought process on a new year is seems like yesterday all over again. I choose to make time here on earth run as a stream of conscience behavior 24/7 until I check out of the system. The years don’t mean a whole lot to me now except to track what I have done in the past. I will strive to grow my style, and color choices for this year and see what new and exciting Hippy Shit I can produce for “my People”.

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

MY PEOPLE

So I sell my “stuff” at flea markets. I sell my stuff to “my People”. If you get what I’m doing, you may be “my people”. If you think my “stuff” is cool, you may be “my People”. If I provide you with lots of choices and that makes picking one hard, you may be “my People”. My “stuff” isn’t for everyone, my stuff is made especially for “my People”.

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

Wizard sticks II

So, I wanted a trekking/questing/wizard stick, I made one for me that contains a number of my talismans and will contain even more over time, this is a living thing. I produced a run of 8 Wizard “starter sticks” with the intent of the new owners can add their own talismans and write their own story. People got it, my people got it they embraced the concept and purchased their own Wizard stick.

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

more on materials

So kids, I decided to make indoor pieces, leading me to use indoor materials such as plastic. Now I have never really looked at the plastic “stuff” at the getting places as I had little or no use for most of it. fast forward to now and I absolutely love the materials I have found so far and it is cheep to purchase at the getting places. I get to learn about all this new plastic stuff, mostly its limitations and issues when combined with other materials. I’m currently having a blast creating at full tilt and seeing future iterations of these designs. I have several directions I cant proceed with which is good for me as a creative. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

know your materials

So kids, this story begins 4 years ago with me producing a ton of art for outdoor use. I use a lot of glue, my relationship with super glue is long and sticky and is weather resistant. The other two adhesion materials I used at that time were hot glue and E600. Unfortunately both these glues are not water proof. Lessen learned, lots of take apart and reassembly was involved and other adhesion have taken there place that are all weatherproof. This is a good thing because my pieces were created with the thought that they would all be hanging outdoors.

So now I am making indoor pieces utilizing recycled plastic, and guess what, E600 is the only glue I have that will stick to a lot of this plastic. I grabbed my glue tote (yeah I have a lot of glue) and pulled 8 tubes of E600 out to use on my creations again.

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

It is a 70’s thing

So yeah I was in High School in the early 70’s, I make “stuff” predominantly for me, I wanted one so I made it. Now if other people think it’s great and all, I really like that and will produce more of the variant. While in High School, I had art class both my 3rd and 4th year of school, and 12 hours of ceramics at MWSC, now jump 50 years and here we are. My “stuff” works in progressions if I made art it will be original I need to move forward and growth and change is all part of the story.

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

New Series, old thought process updated to 2024

So Kids, I have been working on this new indoor series. Very liberating gathering “stuff” for this work, I can now use all sorts of interesting plastic pieces. This is a new experience for me as in the past I was concerned about the piece surviving in the great Arizona sun. I realized my designs are based on tribal geometric line tattoo produced in 3D. This realization took 4 years to crystalize as I knew my style had roots on art deco, mid century modern, brutalist, and geometric art. I wasn’t quite sure where my pieces originated at the time of creation but I knew I was doing “original” work. check out the pics over at works in progress. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

New series started

So kids I started a new series of pieces, these will all be wall hangers, something new to me, additionally they will be indoor pieces. I have been doing my usual extended submersion in style and color studies before actually making anything. I have been gathering pieces and parts to produce my style of art, repurposed recycled “STUFF” as I like to call it. New to me in this series is the prevalent use of plastic. I have shied away from plastics in the past due to the inability of plastic pieces to maintain shape in a hot outdoor environment. I have now embraced to plastic god at the getting places (Goodwill, Desert Industries, and dumpsters). Pictures will be up in works in progress soon. Peace

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

TRUTH

"I’m not too concerned for the Mother Earth, seeing how the Universe is approximately 13.772 billion years old, the Earth is 4.543 billion years old, and humans are a mere 200,000 old and civilization is approximately 6,000 years old. The Earth will do just fine without its human infestation as it has for more than 4 billion years. Unfortunately, the good Earth will not be inhabitable or recognizable in several hundred years. Like kids left to their own devices we do not poses the intellect nor the foresight to comprehend all of our actions we undertake for purely selfish reasons. It’s been a great run lots of fun was had and all for what? Well the future will be great for somebody someplace even if it’s not on this rock circling the sun in this solar system."  

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Matthew Houston Matthew Houston

ok then

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