16 Comments
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Danny Toops's avatar

Keep doing what you do.

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Sunshine's avatar

Reading this feels like watching someone gently reveal the secret clockwork behind what makes art and life feel magical. The way you describe the process, how the ordinary becomes extraordinary and then circles back to reveal even more mystery, is exactly how your work lands for me. You have a gift for turning the smallest moments and materials into something that pulses with wonder, and your words remind me why we keep making, and sharing, and looking for enchantment in the everyday.

As an artist, I am constantly inspired by your openness and the care you put into every piece. It is not just the collages or the writing, but also the way you nurture conversation and community around it all. Thank you for showing up with so much generosity, and for reminding me that the real magic is not just in the making, but in the sharing, the seeing, and the believing together.

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Duane Toops's avatar

This is just so wonderfully kind! Thank you! As cliche as it sounds it really is all about the little things. It’s the small moments that matter most. They are what we have far more of than anything. Our lives a just culmination of little instances that add up to something bigger. Everything big or grand is upheld by millions of minute miracles. The most important thing a maker can do is notice them, point at them, and invite as many people as possible to look at them too.

“The believing together” - this is so perfectly put! Yes!! This is everything! The point of it all this fostering and facilitating the best of one another. If I’ve done anything well it’s only because I’ve been helped and guided by so much of the incredible work that others have done and that I’ve had the privilege of viewing, it’s helped me to hope and believe continually. I do my best to look for ways to give that back in any way I can.

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Anne Silver Mondinot's avatar

Dear Duane, thank you so much for mentioning me and our exchanges. I believe in the magic of words and how they work in us, both as readers and as the ones that the words are moving through. The word « enchantment » is used perfectly here. That’s how I feel when reading your posts— spellbound. ✨✨

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Duane Toops's avatar

The pleasure was absolutely all mine! Getting such thoughtful and interesting comments like yours is what makes me love doing this so much, it’s what i look forward to week after week. It really keeps me going! Thanks so much!

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The Sea in Me    (Síodhna)'s avatar

Looking for the magic ⚡Joan as a policewoman

https://share.google/YIRBsOmqWl3TSwV6l

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Duane Toops's avatar

Definitely going to be spinning this!

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Emily Foucart's avatar

LOVE these two last Collages!

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Duane Toops's avatar

Thank you! The second to last one was a struggle. I took it apart at one point and re-did it. Something just wasn't right about it, but was worth the effort.

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KKS Handmade Guitars's avatar

Any the idiots think it's actually magic or is it

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Duane Toops's avatar

I’m amongst the idiots, so I’m not sure I can give a valid answer

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KKS Handmade Guitars's avatar

At least you know your amongst them

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Duane Toops's avatar

It's the little things

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KKS Handmade Guitars's avatar

Of course it is

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Una Temporada En El infierno's avatar

Hola , Ese Angel Es Sobrenatural. Un Saludo.

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Duane Toops's avatar

¡Muchas gracias! ¡Me alegra mucho que te guste!

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