An essential thing for Day 12 #100DaysStudioObj

I've been using this same Xacto knife for as long as I can remember. Maybe 15 years? I always keep the blade from being a weapon when not in use with a Sine Qua Non cork.

The knife is thick and bumpy with glue residue and suits me just fine. It is an essential object in my studio.

This particular SQN cork pictured on the knife is small, but in the past I've used larger. This is maybe my fourth or fifth cork. I had a panicky moment a few months ago when the big SQN cork I was using as a safety rolled off my drafting table. Despite frenzied efforts, and nearly tearing my studio apart, I could not find the cork anywhere. This made me very sad. 

If you know me more than casually you know that in my 20's I worked for Manfred Krankl in Sine Qua Non's infancy. The experience continues to influence me, all these years later. What I choose to emphasize shifts over time, but in the recent past I think most of Manfred's fearlessness and singularity as an artist. He takes immense risks, is relentlessly determined, and endlessly productive. And the wine kicks ass too.

Sorry to have lost the big cork, happy to have plenty to replace it with. Grateful for his tutelage in important moments in my life—then and now.