The Blog

My Baltimore neighbors, Spud and Steffi, took me to Paper Moon one evening after work. I’d never seen so much art in a diner. The food was just okay. If you are in the area, pay them a visit anyway.

Pictures taken with my iPhone.

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I’d been working on a story in Baltimore that led to a meeting with Dan Van Allen. He’s a local artist in the city’s southwest little-known art district, Sowebo. You would not assume anything about Van Allen’s home if you stood just outside the door. A few adornments on the door subtlety hinted at the kaleidoscope of trinkets and antiques that you had to take care not to bump or knock over.

He’s got a Mayan room. A voodoo room. An Egyptian room–his bedroom. And his backyard, littered with artfully placed Barbie doll heads on long, thing wooden garden stakes.

Although I was there to work on a story, I couldn’t help but take photos with my iPhone camera (I took several, only a few really came out.) He says he has people over taking pictures of his home “all the time.”

This guy’s home is a castle, disguised as a three story row home.

Van Allen’s snake altar in his basement kitchen.

Van Allen’s Mayan room, complete with a hammock for napping.

In Van Allen’s backyard, Barbie head on a stake.