As usual, I have too much to blog about, so I'll just pick one topic for now and get to the rest another time. Right now, what's got my goat is people wanting art for free.
I was contacted earlier this week by a government agency here in town (won't say which one so I don't embarrass 'em). They have a construction project going on by their main entrance, and it has a wooden fence up to keep people out and to hide the really ugly construction stuff. The fence is about 8' high and about 100' long. The agency's director wanted some art that would (a) make the fence look better and (b) honor the people that the agency serves. And once the construction was over, the art would be removed from the fence and kept within the agency. Sounds pretty cool to me. I went out and looked at it, then talked with my point of contact on the phone. We were both talking about a pretty good-sized project, namely five 4'x4' diamond-shaped plywood panels with different things painted on each panel. Everything was going great until I asked him, "What kind of budget are we looking at?"
Stunned silence on the other end of the line. Then "Uhh, well, we were looking for a volunteer effort ... uh, we'd pay for the materials, of course ..."
Right. This government agency wants me to work for about six weeks on these panels. For free. Gee, I'm so honored. I mean, hey, everybody there is working for free, too, right? So is everybody in the construction company ... but the government is paying for the materials, of course!
I've sent them a written proposal that includes a fairly detailed description of what the job entails, how long it would take, and what I'd do it for. I'm even giving them a very cut-rate price since I admire the work they're doing. But it's not free.
The problem is, so many people think that artists are just dying to give their work away for free. This agency is no different from any non-profit, church, school, or tiddly-wink club. I get people all the time asking me for donations for fund-raising events. I used to give to some of them, but then I thought about the business side of it, and have slammed that particular door shut. Here's the business model, in a nutshell:
1. I do the work.
2. They take it away and sell it for maybe 25% of the retail price if they're lucky.
3. They keep the money. The buyer might get a tax break.
4. They tell me how much "exposure" my art got.
5. My collectors have now been "exposed" to the fact that other people are buying my work at a 75% or more discount.
6. I'm left without the art, without a tax break, and with collectors who are pissed off that their collection has just been severely devalued. Think they're gonna buy anything from me in the future?
Grumble, grumble, grumble. This government agency has got me in a grouchy mood. Time to go play with my dogs.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Canine Crisis, Part 3
Our sweet little Indie had her checkup yesterday. You may remember from previous posts that a couple of weeks ago she suddenly developed Addison's syndrome, which is when your adrenal glands quit working. We thought we might lose her. However, Addison's is treatable (not curable). In yesterday's checkup, all her blood chemicals were normal and her weight was back up to a rousing 13.4 pounds, about where it was when it all began. Just as important, her spirits are up, her attention level is back to normal, she's active and giving her sister hell. Her stamina is back to about 99% of where it was before, but then, she's very much a tomboy. So all is well in Indie-land.Side effects of the Prednizone we give her every day are minimal. Her water intake and outflow are up a bit - not quite as dramatically as earlier, but noticeable. The only odd thing is that she has taken a lot more interest in humping her sister. Hey, if it feels good, do it, right? Soozee is clueless, of course. We don't know if Indie is gender-confused, a hard-core incestuous lesbian, or just feeling the effects of the steroids. Whatever the case, it's just an amusing and mild side effect, and given the alternatives, we'll take it any day.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Art Cries Out
Art Cries Out is an online site dedicated to protest art. Some is about the Iraq war, some about Katrina, you name it. There's some very good work there. Those of us doing such socially-conscious work often have a hard time getting it exhibited. It's great to have a site like this where the focus is on the message and not on sales. I entered their Online Iraq War Memorial competition. At the moment, my painting "Warrior" is one of their three finalists. Go take a look - I think you'll find some thought-provoking material there.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
More Pictures of Jackson
I haven't posted any pictures of my grandson, Jackson, lately. Sorry for being so inconsiderate! Here are a few of the latest.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
An Open Letter to CBS Sunday Morning
I just sent this note to CBS Sunday Morning:
I’ve been a regular watcher of Sunday Morning for many years now. I’m a big fan of your slower-paced examination of all sorts of interesting things. As a visual artist, though, I’m not quite so happy with your treatment of visual art. This morning’s story on the Armory Show is no exception.
I’ve noticed that your stories on visual art usually fall into one of three categories:
- The retrospective. In this one, you examine a recognized master, who is always either dead or really old.
- The gimmick. This one looks at an artist who has a cute trick that sells well but is really meaningless. An example is the artist who created “paintings” out of old license plates.
- The “what the hell is that?” piece. Today’s Armory show falls into that category. It talks about how strange some artwork is (ie, “does that really go in somebody’s living room?”) and how much it costs (“somebody’s going to pay $42,000 for that?”), while simultaneously showing weirdly-decked-out art freaks (the two with shaved heads and heavy mascara, or the guy in the mask).
What I don’t see on your show are the stories that delve thoughtfully, and with respect, into some aspect of contemporary art that may seem strange to Middle America at first, but with a little attention, may become deeply moving pieces. There are a lot of artists who are working as hard as they can to create things that express something very personal and profound to them. Sometimes their methods are readily accessible to the average American. Sometimes they’re not at first, but with a little attention, and respectful listening, they can be.
I know this first-hand. I’m a painter and work in a very representational manner that is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. But my primary subject matter is war, so I often get asked by casual visitors whether I actually make a living at it, why I do it, and who buys stuff like that. The answer, of course, is that I do these works because I have to, regardless of whether they sell. I need to put my thoughts and feelings down in a way that means something to me. My messages are easily understood by the average Joe, but since they can’t imagine my paintings on their living-room wall, they still generate confusion.
This confusion is nothing compared to the confusion about artworks that are more challenging. Yet these are probably the ones that most need your quiet, thoughtful approach. Take, for example, Marc Quinn’s sculpture entitled “Self”. This appears at first glance to be a straightforward lifesize bust of the artist. However, it’s made of his own frozen blood, maintained in a beautifully-crafted cryogenic container. In a very real sense, it’s not just an image of him, it is him, while its required refrigeration equipment makes a strong statement about contemporary reliance on technology. If the equipment fails, the sculpture (literally) dies. A work like this can be repulsive at first, but very meaningful once you contemplate it for a while.
And please don’t talk about the “red-hot art market”. I keep reading about it and can tell you that it doesn’t exist except in the most elite part of the art world. It’s like talking about the “red-hot automobile market” because they’re setting records at the Barrett-Jackson automobile auctions, while in the real world, car manufacturers are facing huge losses. Something like 95-99% of artists don’t make a living at their art, even the extraordinarily gifted ones, and even in normal economic times. We do it because we need to, not because of ridiculous prices.
So please, add a fourth category to your repertoire of art stories. Add the “thoughtful look at some kind of challenging art or artist”. Don’t treat us like freaks; instead, assume that we have a good reason for doing what we do. Respect the artists, respect the works, and use your soapbox to shed a little light on something different from the Middle American norm.
Yours,
Skip Rohde
I’ve been a regular watcher of Sunday Morning for many years now. I’m a big fan of your slower-paced examination of all sorts of interesting things. As a visual artist, though, I’m not quite so happy with your treatment of visual art. This morning’s story on the Armory Show is no exception.
I’ve noticed that your stories on visual art usually fall into one of three categories:
- The retrospective. In this one, you examine a recognized master, who is always either dead or really old.
- The gimmick. This one looks at an artist who has a cute trick that sells well but is really meaningless. An example is the artist who created “paintings” out of old license plates.
- The “what the hell is that?” piece. Today’s Armory show falls into that category. It talks about how strange some artwork is (ie, “does that really go in somebody’s living room?”) and how much it costs (“somebody’s going to pay $42,000 for that?”), while simultaneously showing weirdly-decked-out art freaks (the two with shaved heads and heavy mascara, or the guy in the mask).
What I don’t see on your show are the stories that delve thoughtfully, and with respect, into some aspect of contemporary art that may seem strange to Middle America at first, but with a little attention, may become deeply moving pieces. There are a lot of artists who are working as hard as they can to create things that express something very personal and profound to them. Sometimes their methods are readily accessible to the average American. Sometimes they’re not at first, but with a little attention, and respectful listening, they can be.
I know this first-hand. I’m a painter and work in a very representational manner that is about as subtle as a sledgehammer. But my primary subject matter is war, so I often get asked by casual visitors whether I actually make a living at it, why I do it, and who buys stuff like that. The answer, of course, is that I do these works because I have to, regardless of whether they sell. I need to put my thoughts and feelings down in a way that means something to me. My messages are easily understood by the average Joe, but since they can’t imagine my paintings on their living-room wall, they still generate confusion.
This confusion is nothing compared to the confusion about artworks that are more challenging. Yet these are probably the ones that most need your quiet, thoughtful approach. Take, for example, Marc Quinn’s sculpture entitled “Self”. This appears at first glance to be a straightforward lifesize bust of the artist. However, it’s made of his own frozen blood, maintained in a beautifully-crafted cryogenic container. In a very real sense, it’s not just an image of him, it is him, while its required refrigeration equipment makes a strong statement about contemporary reliance on technology. If the equipment fails, the sculpture (literally) dies. A work like this can be repulsive at first, but very meaningful once you contemplate it for a while.
And please don’t talk about the “red-hot art market”. I keep reading about it and can tell you that it doesn’t exist except in the most elite part of the art world. It’s like talking about the “red-hot automobile market” because they’re setting records at the Barrett-Jackson automobile auctions, while in the real world, car manufacturers are facing huge losses. Something like 95-99% of artists don’t make a living at their art, even the extraordinarily gifted ones, and even in normal economic times. We do it because we need to, not because of ridiculous prices.
So please, add a fourth category to your repertoire of art stories. Add the “thoughtful look at some kind of challenging art or artist”. Don’t treat us like freaks; instead, assume that we have a good reason for doing what we do. Respect the artists, respect the works, and use your soapbox to shed a little light on something different from the Middle American norm.
Yours,
Skip Rohde
Thursday, March 27, 2008
4,000 Dead in Iraq - A Powerful, Personal Link
One of my links on the right is to the "Army of Dude" blog. The writer, Alex, returned from a tour in Iraq earlier this year, safe, but changed. During his time in Iraq, and subsequently, he has maintained an extremely well-written blog about his first-person perspective on the war.
A couple of days ago we passed the 4,000 dead milestone. The mainstream media has had a lot to say about this milestone. Very few of the commentators even knew any of the 4,000 - for most of us, these soldiers are just numbers, or maybe names in your local newspaper. For Alex, too many of them were friends. He has written a powerful and moving entry about them on his blog. Go take a look.
A couple of days ago we passed the 4,000 dead milestone. The mainstream media has had a lot to say about this milestone. Very few of the commentators even knew any of the 4,000 - for most of us, these soldiers are just numbers, or maybe names in your local newspaper. For Alex, too many of them were friends. He has written a powerful and moving entry about them on his blog. Go take a look.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Canine Crisis, Part 2
In yesterday's entry, I wrote about how my dog, Indy, had Addison's disease, which is a failure of the adrenal gland to produce the right chemicals. Today she seems to be a tiny bit better than yesterday: she's more interested in things, wants to play more, and even chased her sister around the churchyard during our afternoon walk.
On the flip side, she hasn't regained her weight yet. I gave her a bath today and told her she was a bag o'bones. She just gave me a look of "yeah, whatever". The poor girl still has very little stamina. She tires very easily, which is really sad to watch because until last week, she was a tomboy, always running and getting into things. On our walks, she always took point, going out as far as her leash would allow, nose out front, on a mission, by God. Now she trots along beside or behind me. And after any kind of exertion, like after a walk or even a playtime, she needs a nap. The lack of energy is noticeable even when she's just lying there ... before, there was an alertness to everything; now, she seems more tired or almost depressed.
The doc has us giving her a small Prednisone tablet every day. We think the dosage may be a bit too high, as her water intake and (especially) outflow are much higher than before. Indy and Soozee have always been picky eaters ... to the point where we put their bowls down and almost have to beg them to "pleeeeze eat your dinner" while they sit back (way back) and try to decide if the food smells like it's suitable for royal princesses. But now Indy seems to have a bit less apetite, too, which makes trying to get her to bulk up even more difficult.
But she's still with us. And she's getting better, slowly. I don't know if she'll ever get back to full Indy-ness, but she's still here. And I thank God for that every five minutes.
On the flip side, she hasn't regained her weight yet. I gave her a bath today and told her she was a bag o'bones. She just gave me a look of "yeah, whatever". The poor girl still has very little stamina. She tires very easily, which is really sad to watch because until last week, she was a tomboy, always running and getting into things. On our walks, she always took point, going out as far as her leash would allow, nose out front, on a mission, by God. Now she trots along beside or behind me. And after any kind of exertion, like after a walk or even a playtime, she needs a nap. The lack of energy is noticeable even when she's just lying there ... before, there was an alertness to everything; now, she seems more tired or almost depressed.
The doc has us giving her a small Prednisone tablet every day. We think the dosage may be a bit too high, as her water intake and (especially) outflow are much higher than before. Indy and Soozee have always been picky eaters ... to the point where we put their bowls down and almost have to beg them to "pleeeeze eat your dinner" while they sit back (way back) and try to decide if the food smells like it's suitable for royal princesses. But now Indy seems to have a bit less apetite, too, which makes trying to get her to bulk up even more difficult.
But she's still with us. And she's getting better, slowly. I don't know if she'll ever get back to full Indy-ness, but she's still here. And I thank God for that every five minutes.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Canine Crisis
We had a rough week. Indy, one of our two Shih Tzu's, had a health crisis that came out of the blue. She was fine Tuesday, but then overnight began acting a bit unusually. On Wednesday she was dragging a little bit and wouldn't eat. On Thursday, she had no energy, wouldn't eat, couldn't walk far without tiring, and late in the afternoon started shivering. I made an appointment with the vet for Friday.
Overnight I got one of the scariest moments of my life. In the middle of the night, she wanted to go out ... that's normal, but she went out and around the corner of the house and disappeared. And didn't come back. I got dressed and went out to find her. She was lying at the edge of the woods, looking out into forest, and didn't want to move. If you know animals, you know that sign: it's what they do when they know they're about to die. It was like a cold ice pick to my stomach. I picked her up, carried her back into the house, and put her on the bed. She went back to sleep, but I didn't - I kept checking her every few minutes just to make sure my little sweetheart was still breathing.
So Friday we got her into the vet. She was down to 12.5 pounds, from her previous 13.7 - a serious weight loss. They said she was severely dehydrated, so they hooked her up to an IV, ran some blood tests, and kept her overnight. The diagnosis: she has Addison's disease, which is a failure of the adrenal gland to produce all the right things it's supposed to produce. People get it, too: JFK, for one, so she's in illustrious company. Addison's is not curable, but it is treatable, so for the rest of her life she'll have to have a shot once a month and take a pill every day to restore the chemical balance that her adrenal gland isn't doing anymore.
On Saturday when we went to pick her up, she was much better - still a bit tired, but more active and interested in the world. Today was even better. Her appetite is still not up to speed, and her normally bouncy personality is a bit subdued. It's like she knows she had a close call and is still coming to grips with it. But she's playing with her ball, and this morning she found a bone on our walk and snuck it home when I wasn't looking. The picture above was taken on Saturday afternoon and you can see the purple Ace bandage on her front leg where the IV was.
I've often said that if anything ever happened to one of our dogs, they were gonna have to put me down as well. It's scary to come so close to losing one of your children, you know?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Today's News
Barack Obama has been under fire for some incendiary speeches given by the pastor of his church. Today Obama answered his critics with a speech that is incredibly moving, powerful, energizing, hopeful, and applicable to all of us. For way too long, we've had politicians who bore the stew out of us. Obama, though, is a man who can put words together. Clinton has derided him has just a fancy speech-maker, but that's like saying Rembrandt was just a paint-slinger. This is a powerful speech. You can see the video or read the transcript here.
George Bush has also been speaking over the past few days. He thinks things are going great in Iraq and that invading the country was a perfectly fine idea. And although the Fed is in panic mode, slashing interest rates to their lowest levels in years and forcing bank mergers to keep them afloat, George Bush thinks the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Oh, and George Bush believes in the Easter Bunny.
I dare you to read Obama's speech and imagine George Bush speaking those words.
George Bush has also been speaking over the past few days. He thinks things are going great in Iraq and that invading the country was a perfectly fine idea. And although the Fed is in panic mode, slashing interest rates to their lowest levels in years and forcing bank mergers to keep them afloat, George Bush thinks the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Oh, and George Bush believes in the Easter Bunny.
I dare you to read Obama's speech and imagine George Bush speaking those words.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Admiral Fallon for Secretary of Defense or State
In a post last week, I talked about Admiral William Fallon, who just resigned as Commander, Central Command. The thing that triggered his resignation was an article in Esquire magazine. After reading the article, it's clear to me that Admiral Fallon has a fabulous strategic vision. When Barack Obama is elected President, he would do well to have Admiral Fallon as his Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense. We need smart thinking like that to correct the past seven years of massive stupidity in the Executive Branch.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Micah Wright
I just discovered Micah Wright, an artist who lives in San Diego and has done a fabulous series of satirical posters. He uses old propaganda stuff from the first half of the 20th century and turns them into something new. He's got literally hundreds of them. I've been doing smarmy takeoffs on old ads, but Micah's been doing much the same thing, longer. I'm in awe. Go take a look at his web site!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
"Old Times" exhibition and unrelated stuff
Many-Me, oil on canvas, 36"x48"My "Old Times" series of paintings is on exhibit in Knoxville at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Okay, so this is a shameless plug. Hey, it's my show, and this is my blog! Actually, there are two solo exhibitions there: mine and one featuring original prints by Susan Jenkins. Yesterday (Friday) there was a reception for the two shows. Had a good turnout and met a lot of interesting people. They asked us to do a brief artist talk, which is always fun for me to do. This coming from a guy who absolutely hates to be the center of attention! However, one of the things I learned in the Navy was that a lot of things in life depend on stagecraft, so I learned a bit about how to talk to groups of people, and have gotten to the point where it can be fun. Which it was last night.
Yesterday I also got to meet up with an old friend from my Tennessee Tech days (mid-1970's): Gifford Walker, who now lives in Knoxville. We made arrangements to get together for a couple of hours before the reception and catch up. I last saw Gif maybe five years ago. Yesterday, when I first saw him, I looked straight at him from maybe five feet away and DIDN'T RECOGNIZE HIM. How embarrassing. In my own defense, Gif shaved off the beard he had for about 30 years, so here I was looking for a guy with a full black beard, and instead saw a clean-shaven guy, so I went right back to doing what I was doing until he said something. I think I made a nice recovery ... Gif at least has a great sense of humor. We sat and talked for two hours and had a great time.
Today I made a neat discovery on the 'net. I heard somebody on NPR talking about a web site called "Pandora" and how it was such a great thing for music. So I looked it up. What a cool site! Finding good new music, for me, has been very difficult. Radio plays the same crap over and over again, so does MTV and its clones, and it's difficult to find stuff I like. Well, Pandora has a way to do that. You plug in the name of a musician or group you like, and Pandora will stream music like that straight to you. They call it the "music genome project" - each song has a unique fingerprint, and their system will give you other songs and artists with similar fingerprints. It's free, it just requires registration. Cool stuff. I've already found some good artists, some I'd heard of, just never heard, and others that are completely new to me. Check it out!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Jackson O'Hunkamunka
Three brand-new pictures of our grandson, Jackson, were in our in-box this evening. The whole world should take notice. Which is why they're here ... not that many people will ever notice, just you lucky ones!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
New Painting
American Style, oil on canvas, 18"x24"Here's the newest addition to my series on war. Let me know what you think.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Admiral William Fallon Resigns
Today the news came out that Admiral William Fallon, who is (or was) Conmmander in Chief of Central Command (CINCENT, which for all you civilians, is pronounced "sink cent"), has resigned. CINCENT is the guy who's in overall charge of all operations in the Middle East, including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean. He's General Petraeus's direct boss. In other words, it's a pretty potent position. And the news that he has suddenly resigned is very disturbing. Most of the civilian talking heads that I've heard today don't really understand what it might mean, and they're focusing on things that really aren't that important. So, as an ex-military guy, here's my take.
ADM Fallon is quite an accomplished military officer. He was a naval flight officer (NFO) and flew combat missions in Vietnam. He's commanded a jet squadron, a carrier air wing, a carrier battle group (meaning an aircraft carrier, all its planes, and all its associated ships), and served as Commander Second Fleet, Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet, Vice Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, Pacific. In other words, he rocks.
He's also, by some accounts, a bit arrogant and abrasive. Hey, he's a naval aviator, what the hell did you expect? But he's also a strategic thinker who knows how the international game is played. I'd put his real knowledge of international relations at several levels above that of Condoleeza Rice. While she was polishing her doctorate in a university, he was learning by doing. And, most critical to this particular story, he speaks his mind. No bullshit here: what he says is what he thinks. Old-school Navy.
Which is what got him in trouble. While our idiot President has kept trying to drum up another war, this time with Iran, ADM Fallon let his thoughts become public knowledge. And his thoughts weren't in line with Bush's. ADM Fallon thought, for example, that it was a good idea to talk with the Iranians, to negotiate with them, rather than attack them. Heresy! Now you and I can say this all we want, and nobody gives a rat's ass. But ADM Fallon is a heavyweight in international relations, especially in the most volatile part of the world, and what he says carries the weight of US official policy. So when the most recent Esquire magazine carried an article that claimed that ADM Fallon is the only one standing between Bush and a war with Iran, that was the kiss of death.
One of the things that distinguishes the United States from countries such as, for example, Pakistan or Panama, is that we have civilian control over the military. It's ground into our military officers from Day One. No upstart Admiral or General would even think of trying to take over leadership of the country while still on active duty. Civilians set the policy, the military carries it out. That's it. So while ADM Fallon wears the uniform and (especially) occupies the position of power, he has to do what the Prez says. Even if the Prez is a certified lunatic, such as our current one. If the Prez starts down a road that ADM Fallon (or any other officer) thinks is wrong, he has two choices: salute smartly and carry out his orders, or resign. Criticizing the orders in public is not an option.
Over the past few years, many civilians have wondered about the generals who served in Iraq or wherever, then retired and started bad-mouthing Bush. Why, they wonder, didn't the generals speak up when they were on active duty? Well, re-read the above paragraph. Military officers may or may not have an input to their orders. If so, it's behind closed doors. When the decision is made, we march off and do it. Or resign.
Which is why today's news is disturbing. Admiral Fallon is probably the most capable individual to serve in that critical position in recent memory. His track record of speaking his mind, and the Esquire article, might be the cause of his resignation, as both he and the Administration are saying. I doubt that's the full story. I haven't read the article yet (you can see it here), but the suddenness of his resignation indicates to me a high degree of possibility that Bush is moving ahead with his plans to attack Iran, and that Fallon took the honorable step of resigning rather than carry out insane orders.
All the TV pundits are talking about the Governor Spitzer sex scandal. They're missing the real and important story: Admiral Fallon's resignation and what might be going on in Iran. YOU should be concerned, too.
ADM Fallon is quite an accomplished military officer. He was a naval flight officer (NFO) and flew combat missions in Vietnam. He's commanded a jet squadron, a carrier air wing, a carrier battle group (meaning an aircraft carrier, all its planes, and all its associated ships), and served as Commander Second Fleet, Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet, Vice Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, Pacific. In other words, he rocks.
He's also, by some accounts, a bit arrogant and abrasive. Hey, he's a naval aviator, what the hell did you expect? But he's also a strategic thinker who knows how the international game is played. I'd put his real knowledge of international relations at several levels above that of Condoleeza Rice. While she was polishing her doctorate in a university, he was learning by doing. And, most critical to this particular story, he speaks his mind. No bullshit here: what he says is what he thinks. Old-school Navy.
Which is what got him in trouble. While our idiot President has kept trying to drum up another war, this time with Iran, ADM Fallon let his thoughts become public knowledge. And his thoughts weren't in line with Bush's. ADM Fallon thought, for example, that it was a good idea to talk with the Iranians, to negotiate with them, rather than attack them. Heresy! Now you and I can say this all we want, and nobody gives a rat's ass. But ADM Fallon is a heavyweight in international relations, especially in the most volatile part of the world, and what he says carries the weight of US official policy. So when the most recent Esquire magazine carried an article that claimed that ADM Fallon is the only one standing between Bush and a war with Iran, that was the kiss of death.
One of the things that distinguishes the United States from countries such as, for example, Pakistan or Panama, is that we have civilian control over the military. It's ground into our military officers from Day One. No upstart Admiral or General would even think of trying to take over leadership of the country while still on active duty. Civilians set the policy, the military carries it out. That's it. So while ADM Fallon wears the uniform and (especially) occupies the position of power, he has to do what the Prez says. Even if the Prez is a certified lunatic, such as our current one. If the Prez starts down a road that ADM Fallon (or any other officer) thinks is wrong, he has two choices: salute smartly and carry out his orders, or resign. Criticizing the orders in public is not an option.
Over the past few years, many civilians have wondered about the generals who served in Iraq or wherever, then retired and started bad-mouthing Bush. Why, they wonder, didn't the generals speak up when they were on active duty? Well, re-read the above paragraph. Military officers may or may not have an input to their orders. If so, it's behind closed doors. When the decision is made, we march off and do it. Or resign.
Which is why today's news is disturbing. Admiral Fallon is probably the most capable individual to serve in that critical position in recent memory. His track record of speaking his mind, and the Esquire article, might be the cause of his resignation, as both he and the Administration are saying. I doubt that's the full story. I haven't read the article yet (you can see it here), but the suddenness of his resignation indicates to me a high degree of possibility that Bush is moving ahead with his plans to attack Iran, and that Fallon took the honorable step of resigning rather than carry out insane orders.
All the TV pundits are talking about the Governor Spitzer sex scandal. They're missing the real and important story: Admiral Fallon's resignation and what might be going on in Iran. YOU should be concerned, too.
Monday, March 10, 2008
New Painting
Ma Petit Femme, oil on canvas, 24"x18"I just finished and signed this painting today. I'm going in a new direction with my paintings about war. The idea is, if we in the USA had to put up with the violence that's plaguing Iraq, Afghanistan, and dozens of other places, what would it look like here? Well, being devout capitalists, we'd capitalize on it, of course! So here's what an ad for fine leather accessories might look like. (And for those who forgot their high-school French, "ma petit femme" means "my little woman" ... now, are you gonna say that to an elegant lady toting an automatic rifle? Me neither.)
The Democratic Race
I gotta say something about the way the Democrats are handling the presidential race. Now, granted, political races are not for the faint of heart, particularly the race for the very tip top dog. However, you gotta draw the line somewhere. Ronnie Reagan, as much as I don't like him, said something important. His "eleventh commandment" was "thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican". It got him into the White House twice. Evidently Hillary never heard that message. She's been slandering Obama as much as the Republicans have, if not more. And I think it's counterproductive. Okay, she's a fighter. Okay, she's pretty smart and tenacious. But getting into a slime match when there's still one race to go is not the answer. Save the slime for the Big One.
Her now-famous "3 a.m." ad is a loser. I mean, if you want somebody with lots of experience to answer the phone, it's John McCain. If you want somebody who knows what war is about, it's John McCain. If you want somebody who thinks for himself, it's John McCain. If you want a leader who can inspire people, it's Barack Obama. But if all you need is a fairly competent manager, well, it might be Hillary ... or lots of others. There are lots of managers on Monster.com - pick one.
I'm still an Obama man. He really does represent a break from the past, which is sorely needed at this point. Both McCain and Clinton (actually, both Clintons) are responsible for the mess we're in, and I'm not talking about just Iraq. There's been sub-zero leadership from them on climate change, the deficit is unbelievable and getting worse, our relations with the rest of the world have tanked, the health care situation is approaching a crisis, nothing has been done to shore up Social Security, nothing real has been done to improve border security, our military troops are overtasked, their equipment is falling apart, and John McCain and the Clintons were three of the people most involved in creating the mess. Time for some new leadership. We know what Clinton and McCain have done; Obama can't screw up as bad as they have.
Her now-famous "3 a.m." ad is a loser. I mean, if you want somebody with lots of experience to answer the phone, it's John McCain. If you want somebody who knows what war is about, it's John McCain. If you want somebody who thinks for himself, it's John McCain. If you want a leader who can inspire people, it's Barack Obama. But if all you need is a fairly competent manager, well, it might be Hillary ... or lots of others. There are lots of managers on Monster.com - pick one.
I'm still an Obama man. He really does represent a break from the past, which is sorely needed at this point. Both McCain and Clinton (actually, both Clintons) are responsible for the mess we're in, and I'm not talking about just Iraq. There's been sub-zero leadership from them on climate change, the deficit is unbelievable and getting worse, our relations with the rest of the world have tanked, the health care situation is approaching a crisis, nothing has been done to shore up Social Security, nothing real has been done to improve border security, our military troops are overtasked, their equipment is falling apart, and John McCain and the Clintons were three of the people most involved in creating the mess. Time for some new leadership. We know what Clinton and McCain have done; Obama can't screw up as bad as they have.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Whitney Biennial
The Whitney Biennial is widely celebrated as the Superbowl of the American art world. Only the best of the best are even considered for inclusion, or so they say, and of those, only the most elite of the elite get in. The current Biennial just opened yesterday and I took a look at the website a few minutes ago.
Pardon me if I'm not impressed. As with any group of "the elite of the elite", this exhibition seems to have little or no relation to reality. I saw a few artists whose work I might look at for a few minutes, but not one piece made me say "Wow". Actually, I'd be hard pressed to even come up with a "hmmm". I got the impression that the artists were all striving to outdo each other in making "ART" that was geared towards a small circle of those who were clued-in. And if you're at all baffled by any of it, you'd better not say anything, or else you'll be labeled a RUBE and banished forever from art society.
Odd Nerdrum, who as a Norwegian isn't eligible for the Whitney, labels his works "kitsch" ... by which he means that he wants his works to be looked at, understood, and appreciated by everyday people and not just the art establishment. I find that I agree with that idea more and more.
Years ago, when I was taking continuing-ed courses at Maryland Institute College of Art, I went to one of their big student exhibits. It was in the gallery located in what had been a train station, and the adjacent tracks are still in use. Anyway, I walked through the exhibit and didn't see anything that appealed to me. It was all arty, not real. Finally I left and headed off to class. Next to the art building was a diesel locomotive, idling away and almost invisible in the darkness. Its rumble echoed off the stone walls and was eerie, threatening, and reassuring all at the same time. It was real in a sense that nothing in the gallery was, it had a conceptual power that nothing in there had, and to me it was art.
What was true then is true today. Give me a common diesel locomotive over anything in the Whitney.
Pardon me if I'm not impressed. As with any group of "the elite of the elite", this exhibition seems to have little or no relation to reality. I saw a few artists whose work I might look at for a few minutes, but not one piece made me say "Wow". Actually, I'd be hard pressed to even come up with a "hmmm". I got the impression that the artists were all striving to outdo each other in making "ART" that was geared towards a small circle of those who were clued-in. And if you're at all baffled by any of it, you'd better not say anything, or else you'll be labeled a RUBE and banished forever from art society.
Odd Nerdrum, who as a Norwegian isn't eligible for the Whitney, labels his works "kitsch" ... by which he means that he wants his works to be looked at, understood, and appreciated by everyday people and not just the art establishment. I find that I agree with that idea more and more.
Years ago, when I was taking continuing-ed courses at Maryland Institute College of Art, I went to one of their big student exhibits. It was in the gallery located in what had been a train station, and the adjacent tracks are still in use. Anyway, I walked through the exhibit and didn't see anything that appealed to me. It was all arty, not real. Finally I left and headed off to class. Next to the art building was a diesel locomotive, idling away and almost invisible in the darkness. Its rumble echoed off the stone walls and was eerie, threatening, and reassuring all at the same time. It was real in a sense that nothing in the gallery was, it had a conceptual power that nothing in there had, and to me it was art.
What was true then is true today. Give me a common diesel locomotive over anything in the Whitney.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Stuff from the past week
Well, it's been a busy week here in Lake Woebegone ... ooops, that's somebody else's line ... I keep meaning to get this blog caught up but stuff keeps piling up and I don't, so it piles up higher, so I still don't, you get the picture.
Last week I hung my exhibit of the "Old Times" paintings at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. The show looks pretty good. It's so nice to get these pieces off my racks and onto somebody else's wall where they can be seen. There will be a reception next week (Friday, March 14, 6-8 pm), along with an artist talk (also known as me blabbering incoherently about the works), so if you're in the Knoxville area next week, you're invited to stop in. In the meantime, you can see 'em on my web site. All the "Old Times" paintings are in Knoxville except three that have been sold, one that's in my Chapel Hill gallery, and one that was a bit too risque for a church.
I've been able to spend a good bit of time in the studio this past week, which is exhilarating. Got one painting that's close to being done, another that's about halfway there, and will start a third tomorrow. All of these are a bit different from most of my previous works. The underlying subject is still war, but not overtly so. My satirical side is coming out again, so these new works are along the lines of "Pleasantville": funny musings on what American life might be like if combat was as normal in this country as it is in, say, Baghdad. No, I don't have any photos of them yet, so I'll shut up for now and let you wonder what in the hell I'm talking about.
In my non-art world, this has been an eventful week. For the past three years, I've been doing a courier run for Sun Trust Bank here in Asheville. It's a pretty skate job: run bags around to our various clients, shmooze a bit, run the bags back to the branch. Took about an hour a day and it paid my studio rent and utilities in the months when my art income didn't ... which is about 10 months out of the year. But last Friday, I was told that Sun Trust corporate headquarters had decided to terminate the contract ... and since I'm just a sub-contractor, that was my last day. Bummer, but in the big scheme of things, not a big deal.
Then my truck started acting up. Kept getting a "chirp" noise from the engine compartment at medium to high engine speed. Thought it was the serpentine belt, which was worn so we replaced it, but then yesterday it did it again and then the "check engine" light came on and the truck started running rough. Uh-oh. So $700 later, the dealer had it fixed. Bummer again ... I had big plans for that $700, mostly involving lots of likker and wimmen ... yeah, right!
A couple of days ago, we had a big storm blow through here. Big winds, too ... enough to blow down a 40-foot maple tree right in front of our house. I mean RIGHT in front of our house. Fortunately, it fell sideways and didn't hit anything, not even a bush. Poor ol' tree, it's had a rough decade. When this house was built nine years ago, they dumped a lot of dirt over half the tree's root system. And if that wasn't bad enough, they gouged a big chunk out of the bark. So the tree's been struggling and frankly losing out a bit more each year, to the point where it might have died last fall. Well, it's certainly dead now. And the vultures are circling. We've got several neighbors hitting it with their chain saws and building up their stocks of firewood. They hauled off about a third of it today. Makes my cleanup job easier, that's for sure.
So if you're wondering why I haven't written in the past week, there ya go.
Last week I hung my exhibit of the "Old Times" paintings at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville. The show looks pretty good. It's so nice to get these pieces off my racks and onto somebody else's wall where they can be seen. There will be a reception next week (Friday, March 14, 6-8 pm), along with an artist talk (also known as me blabbering incoherently about the works), so if you're in the Knoxville area next week, you're invited to stop in. In the meantime, you can see 'em on my web site. All the "Old Times" paintings are in Knoxville except three that have been sold, one that's in my Chapel Hill gallery, and one that was a bit too risque for a church.
I've been able to spend a good bit of time in the studio this past week, which is exhilarating. Got one painting that's close to being done, another that's about halfway there, and will start a third tomorrow. All of these are a bit different from most of my previous works. The underlying subject is still war, but not overtly so. My satirical side is coming out again, so these new works are along the lines of "Pleasantville": funny musings on what American life might be like if combat was as normal in this country as it is in, say, Baghdad. No, I don't have any photos of them yet, so I'll shut up for now and let you wonder what in the hell I'm talking about.
In my non-art world, this has been an eventful week. For the past three years, I've been doing a courier run for Sun Trust Bank here in Asheville. It's a pretty skate job: run bags around to our various clients, shmooze a bit, run the bags back to the branch. Took about an hour a day and it paid my studio rent and utilities in the months when my art income didn't ... which is about 10 months out of the year. But last Friday, I was told that Sun Trust corporate headquarters had decided to terminate the contract ... and since I'm just a sub-contractor, that was my last day. Bummer, but in the big scheme of things, not a big deal.
Then my truck started acting up. Kept getting a "chirp" noise from the engine compartment at medium to high engine speed. Thought it was the serpentine belt, which was worn so we replaced it, but then yesterday it did it again and then the "check engine" light came on and the truck started running rough. Uh-oh. So $700 later, the dealer had it fixed. Bummer again ... I had big plans for that $700, mostly involving lots of likker and wimmen ... yeah, right!
A couple of days ago, we had a big storm blow through here. Big winds, too ... enough to blow down a 40-foot maple tree right in front of our house. I mean RIGHT in front of our house. Fortunately, it fell sideways and didn't hit anything, not even a bush. Poor ol' tree, it's had a rough decade. When this house was built nine years ago, they dumped a lot of dirt over half the tree's root system. And if that wasn't bad enough, they gouged a big chunk out of the bark. So the tree's been struggling and frankly losing out a bit more each year, to the point where it might have died last fall. Well, it's certainly dead now. And the vultures are circling. We've got several neighbors hitting it with their chain saws and building up their stocks of firewood. They hauled off about a third of it today. Makes my cleanup job easier, that's for sure.
So if you're wondering why I haven't written in the past week, there ya go.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
SellOut Is Gone
I just deleted the link to the SellOut blog. Had to. After only a couple of months online, Deborah Fisher, the owner, closed it down. SellOut was a blog about the business side of being a fine artist. There were a lot of really good discussions on there, and I liked the fact that it was oriented towards those of us creating artworks because we have to, not because they sell. Evidently a lot of artists felt that way, because readership and input took off. Deborah went from being an artist with a business blog on the side to being a blogger who couldn't keep up with all the traffic. So, to keep her sanity, she closed it down.
Good for her. Sad for the rest of us. I'll miss SellOut. But I'd do the same thing if I were in her shoes. And since almost nobody reads this blog, I don't have to worry about it!
Good for her. Sad for the rest of us. I'll miss SellOut. But I'd do the same thing if I were in her shoes. And since almost nobody reads this blog, I don't have to worry about it!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Looking at Artists Again
I'm going to try this again. Earlier this evening, I got out my current issue of Art in America magazine and went through it, commenting on the various artists who caught my eye. Unfortunately, when I hit the "publish" button, Blogger dumped the whole thing. An hour's worth of exceptionally creative and absolutely brilliant art critique was lost forever. Well, okay, that's overstating things a tiny bit, but you get the idea. I was on a roll and now it's lost.
To set the stage: when I first go through the magazine, I flag pages where there's some interesting artwork. Later I'll go look up the artists on the internet to see more of their work. Sometimes I find some really great artists (see the list "Artists I Like" on the right). Other times the initial positive impression doesn't last. That's life, isn't it?
I wrote about a bunch of artists earlier this evening, but in this recreation of the Lost Blog Post, I'll only talk about three.
David Shevlino had a full-page ad for his show at DFN Gallery in New York. David's work is a soft abstraction on a photo image. He's much more concerned with the image's formal elements of color, shape, line, tone, and composition than with the image's subject matter. This image, for example, isn't really about cars at dusk (although that's the painting's title). It's about the color of the background, the lines, the geometric elements, and the spots of bright color. It has much more to do with Piet Mondrian than with landscapes. This approach carries over into his work with figures, too. They are not specific individuals, they're interesting human shapes in a geometric setting. It looks like David can really paint: I like the quality that I see, he pays attention to edges and how one layer of paint sits on top of another layer. His approach is very different from mine. I take my cue more from Lucien Freud and Alice Neel ... not that I'm in their class, but I need my people and places to be specific and recognizable. David doesn't give a hoot about that, which makes it very interesting and enjoyable for me to look at his work.
Kim Cogan had a full-page ad for his show at Gallery Henoch in New York. His approach is, on the surface, very similar to Shevlino's. Kim paints cityscapes, but they're very bleak and devoid of human presence. It's as if they came from one of those disaster movies where all the people have died but left their lights on. His drawing is superb and his compositions very dramatic, with sharp light/dark contrasts and strong diagonals. Unlike Shevlino's works, Kim's scenes are very specific locations. I really like the feelings I get from the images. As an artist, I'm always interested in process, and Kim is both brave and courteous enough to have a succession of still images showing the development of one of his paintings. It didn't develop at all like I'd have thought, and not at all like I would have done it ... which is probably why he's in Gallery Henoch and I'm not. Kim is a good painter. Go take a look.
The third artist was Robert Selwyn, who was featured in a review of his show at DFN Gallery (yes, the same gallery I mentioned above). The magazine had an image of a suburban house distorted as if seen through water. The web site showed that the paintings were of two very different groups. One group consisted of these suburban houses seen through water, and the other was paintings apparently of a still from a TV newscast. Frankly, once I looked through them all, I was disappointed. With the houses, it seemed as if he'd found an interesting gimmick and then repeated it over and over. I can see one or two interesting conceptual foundations for these: the idea that the houses aren't really as perfect as they seem on the outside, or with the current mortgage crisis, that they're on shaky ground. But saying the same thing six times was overkill. With the newscasters, they were all the same, too: female newscaster staring straight at you, mouth partly open while she's saying something, with something disastrous happening on the screen behind her. Again, saying it once might be interesting; saying it six times isn't.
To set the stage: when I first go through the magazine, I flag pages where there's some interesting artwork. Later I'll go look up the artists on the internet to see more of their work. Sometimes I find some really great artists (see the list "Artists I Like" on the right). Other times the initial positive impression doesn't last. That's life, isn't it?
I wrote about a bunch of artists earlier this evening, but in this recreation of the Lost Blog Post, I'll only talk about three.
David Shevlino had a full-page ad for his show at DFN Gallery in New York. David's work is a soft abstraction on a photo image. He's much more concerned with the image's formal elements of color, shape, line, tone, and composition than with the image's subject matter. This image, for example, isn't really about cars at dusk (although that's the painting's title). It's about the color of the background, the lines, the geometric elements, and the spots of bright color. It has much more to do with Piet Mondrian than with landscapes. This approach carries over into his work with figures, too. They are not specific individuals, they're interesting human shapes in a geometric setting. It looks like David can really paint: I like the quality that I see, he pays attention to edges and how one layer of paint sits on top of another layer. His approach is very different from mine. I take my cue more from Lucien Freud and Alice Neel ... not that I'm in their class, but I need my people and places to be specific and recognizable. David doesn't give a hoot about that, which makes it very interesting and enjoyable for me to look at his work.
Kim Cogan had a full-page ad for his show at Gallery Henoch in New York. His approach is, on the surface, very similar to Shevlino's. Kim paints cityscapes, but they're very bleak and devoid of human presence. It's as if they came from one of those disaster movies where all the people have died but left their lights on. His drawing is superb and his compositions very dramatic, with sharp light/dark contrasts and strong diagonals. Unlike Shevlino's works, Kim's scenes are very specific locations. I really like the feelings I get from the images. As an artist, I'm always interested in process, and Kim is both brave and courteous enough to have a succession of still images showing the development of one of his paintings. It didn't develop at all like I'd have thought, and not at all like I would have done it ... which is probably why he's in Gallery Henoch and I'm not. Kim is a good painter. Go take a look.
The third artist was Robert Selwyn, who was featured in a review of his show at DFN Gallery (yes, the same gallery I mentioned above). The magazine had an image of a suburban house distorted as if seen through water. The web site showed that the paintings were of two very different groups. One group consisted of these suburban houses seen through water, and the other was paintings apparently of a still from a TV newscast. Frankly, once I looked through them all, I was disappointed. With the houses, it seemed as if he'd found an interesting gimmick and then repeated it over and over. I can see one or two interesting conceptual foundations for these: the idea that the houses aren't really as perfect as they seem on the outside, or with the current mortgage crisis, that they're on shaky ground. But saying the same thing six times was overkill. With the newscasters, they were all the same, too: female newscaster staring straight at you, mouth partly open while she's saying something, with something disastrous happening on the screen behind her. Again, saying it once might be interesting; saying it six times isn't.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Afghanistan Article
My last post was about Iraq, where the situation is a bit improved over the past six months. Afghanistan is a different matter. Read this incredible article from the New York Times. This is the real war. And it's ugly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/magazine/24afghanistan-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/magazine/24afghanistan-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
Thoughts on Iraq
Have you noticed that none of the candidates for President are talking about Iraq anymore? Well, McCain is occasionally, mostly to denounce the Democrats for wanting to "lose". But Iraq certainly isn't on the front pages any more.
Half of the credit for this goes to General Petraeus. We finally put a guy in charge of things over there who knows how to do things the right way. The Republicans want you to believe that "the surge worked", but that's not quite right. If lots of troops aren't being used well, then adding more troops just means you have lots+more not being used well, which means more troops getting shot at and killed for no good reason. But Petraeus shook things up and started putting the troops where they'd do the most good. The "surge" let him do the most good in a few more places.
The other half of the credit goes to the Iraqi city and tribal leaders who finally got sick of all the killing. The Sunnis turned against Al Qaeda and the Shi'ites reined in their death squads. This past week, Muqtada al-Sadr announced that his Mehti Army would stand by their cease-fire for at least another six months. Good on 'em. Iraq certainly isn't a Sandals resort yet, but at least the death tolls are way down. Progress is finally being made.
Which may be good news for me, personally. Back in November, I started applying for some one-year jobs with the State Department in Iraq. (Take a look at my Nov 19 entry for the mention). This past week, they finally contacted me about one of them. And they're being pretty aggressive about it, too. Which indicates to me that I'm on a very short list of potential candidates ... which means that I may actually be in Iraq before too much longer. And I'm pretty excited about it, too. We screwed everything up with the Bush/Rumsfeld invasion, we have to put things as right as we can, and I want to do my part.
Half of the credit for this goes to General Petraeus. We finally put a guy in charge of things over there who knows how to do things the right way. The Republicans want you to believe that "the surge worked", but that's not quite right. If lots of troops aren't being used well, then adding more troops just means you have lots+more not being used well, which means more troops getting shot at and killed for no good reason. But Petraeus shook things up and started putting the troops where they'd do the most good. The "surge" let him do the most good in a few more places.
The other half of the credit goes to the Iraqi city and tribal leaders who finally got sick of all the killing. The Sunnis turned against Al Qaeda and the Shi'ites reined in their death squads. This past week, Muqtada al-Sadr announced that his Mehti Army would stand by their cease-fire for at least another six months. Good on 'em. Iraq certainly isn't a Sandals resort yet, but at least the death tolls are way down. Progress is finally being made.
Which may be good news for me, personally. Back in November, I started applying for some one-year jobs with the State Department in Iraq. (Take a look at my Nov 19 entry for the mention). This past week, they finally contacted me about one of them. And they're being pretty aggressive about it, too. Which indicates to me that I'm on a very short list of potential candidates ... which means that I may actually be in Iraq before too much longer. And I'm pretty excited about it, too. We screwed everything up with the Bush/Rumsfeld invasion, we have to put things as right as we can, and I want to do my part.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Aaron Hughes and the "Warrior Writers" Book
Aaron Hughes is a young man with a lot of talent and a lot to say. He did a 15-month tour in Iraq with the Army National Guard in 2003-4. Subsequently, he earned a BFA in painting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since then he's been very active in the anti-war movement, using his art to speak his mind and make a difference. This image showed up in my "in" box, announcing a closing reception for his show "Shifting Memories". It was a collaboration between Aaron and Drew Cameron and was published in the book "Warrior Writers". It just blew me away.
In life, there are those who talk and those who do. Aaron is a doer. I've added his web site to my list of favorite artists. Take a look.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Ups and Downs
What a roller-coaster of a day. We had a great weekend - got a lot of stuff done, I got to watch the Daytona 500 which had a really good finish and a really good guy won it. Got started on an interesting new painting yesterday. Today the news reported that Castro was resigning (yay!), and the Pakistani elections went off well and Musharaf got beat (a very very important yay!). Then I got a phone call from a dear old friend of mine. He has inoperable pancreatic cancer. Doctors give him four to six months to live.
Damn.
News like this just takes all the wind out of your sails. We all have to go sometime, but most of us don't know how soon. So we all go about our lives as if we have unlimited time left. Some of us, though, do find out how long they have left. This isn't a comforting feeling. In six more months, a man that taught me a lot about art will (probably) no longer be here.
And what is it with cancer lately? I've now had four friends come down with different versions in the past fifteen months. Two caught it early and are well on the road to recovery, thank God. One died. And Gary, unfortunately, is going to leave us as well.
But Gary isn't moping. He's still his ornery self, determined to pack as much in as he can. So I'm not going to write his obituary in this blog. Not yet. Not as long as the sumbitch is still planning a trip to Paris!
Damn.
News like this just takes all the wind out of your sails. We all have to go sometime, but most of us don't know how soon. So we all go about our lives as if we have unlimited time left. Some of us, though, do find out how long they have left. This isn't a comforting feeling. In six more months, a man that taught me a lot about art will (probably) no longer be here.
And what is it with cancer lately? I've now had four friends come down with different versions in the past fifteen months. Two caught it early and are well on the road to recovery, thank God. One died. And Gary, unfortunately, is going to leave us as well.
But Gary isn't moping. He's still his ornery self, determined to pack as much in as he can. So I'm not going to write his obituary in this blog. Not yet. Not as long as the sumbitch is still planning a trip to Paris!
Monday, February 18, 2008
New Oil Paintings
Flag Waver, oil on canvas, 24"x18"
Veteran, oil on canvas, 24"x18"
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Watercolor Sketches
Krista #5
Krista #6
Krista #7
Krista #8
All of these watercolor sketches came from last week's life drawing session in the studio. The figures were all quickly drawn with an artist's pen on watercolor paper. Over the next few days, I went back in on them with layers of watercolor, just playing around to see what happened. These are a lot of fun to do. Unlike my "serious" paintings, these have no underlying message, they're just exercise and play. I've got a couple more in development from last night's session with a different model and might post them here in a few days. Let me know what you think.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Non-Political Ramblings
Wednesday night we had our regular life drawing session in my studio. Since I'm a figure painter, I need to work from the figure on a regular basis. In our recent sessions, I did portrait studies in oil. This time we had the model doing shorter 20-minute poses and I worked in charcoal for the first time since before Christmas. It felt good to get the ol' drawing mindset going again. Here's one of the drawings:
Yesterday we got a new batch of photos of Jackson. Here's one of them. Evidently his dad has dreams of Jacks being a future Tiger Woods and supporting Dad with all his winnings!
Yesterday we got a new batch of photos of Jackson. Here's one of them. Evidently his dad has dreams of Jacks being a future Tiger Woods and supporting Dad with all his winnings!
Y'know how a minor project can grow all out of control? I'm still trying to work through a "project" from over a week ago. Janis had spotted a stain in the ceiling in the office, meaning a water leak somewhere. I found the source: a vent pipe was right over the stain, and the sealer around it was pretty much gone. It didn't take much to fix it: a run to Lowe's and some time on the roof and it was done. But in checking out the source, I had to get up into the attic ... and on this side of the house, there's only one access hatch, a tiny little thing in the top of the closet in the office. So everything in the closet had to come out. And here's where it became a Frankenproject: I thought, hey, it's dumb to just put everything back, I bet there's a lotta crap in there that should be thrown out. Boy, was I right. There were all my old military records and stacks and stacks of old bank and credit card statements dating back to (I kid you not) 1990. Yes. Seventeen years worth of statements. And do you think you can just throw this stuff away? No, mon chere, you can not. The military thought that my name was not officially my name without my SSN tacked onto the end, so every bit of official correspondence had it prominently displayed. And bank statements ... well, they're bank statements, with account numbers and all that. So I've spent lotsa hours this past week hunched over the shredder, feeding it a page at a time. And meanwhile we've been tracking little bits of shredded paper all over the house. You'd have thunk it snowed, only the stuff didn't melt. But I've just got a few pages to go now (I'm taking a break to let the shredder cool down) and it'll be done.
And you'll be happy to know that my roof repairs don't leak.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
News and Stuff
So John McCain now has the Republican nomination all locked up. Mitt Romney packed it in today. No big loss. I've seen a few Romney bumper stickers around here and every single one - I'm not kidding - has been on a late-model Cadillac with an old white guy driving it. And yes, they were all different Cadillacs. We don't need a Prez who only represents the gated-community set. Goodbye Mitt, so long Mitt, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
The south got hit hard the other day with lots of tornados. Ever been through one? I have. Back in the mid-1970's, I used to work in a company in Olive Branch, Mississippi, which is just south of the TN-MS border at Memphis, the same area that got hit Tuesday. Our building was a big 4-story box, with two walls being brick and two walls being glass. One day somebody yelled that there was a tornado outside. So what did we do? We all ran over to the window to watch! Yessir, we sure did. I was standing there watching stuff flying around and then this big sheet of steel came flying through the air and sliced through the roof of the company president's car, like it wasn't even there. I turned around and went back to the middle of the room and hid under my desk until it was over. Afterwards, all the power was out, so we were sent home, and the devastation was amazing: houses demolished, trees down, cars upside down, trailer parks obliterated. Never want to see that again.
Speaking of stuff I never want to see again, I just read an article in Newsweek magazine that horrified me. Back in February, 2003, three US contractors were taken captive by the FARC guerrilla group in Colombia when their single-engine plane went down. Two other men in the plane, one American and one Colombian, were executed. Since then, President Bush has mentioned the three men exactly one time in public, when he was asked about it at a news conference. That seems to be the extent of American efforts to get the men back. There has been no negotiation between the US and the FARC, and no effort to work with any countries who could be an intermediary, even though at least three (France, Spain, and Switzerland) are available. This is obscene. The men are Americans, they are under contract with an American company, to the American government, and the American government is doing diddly squat to get 'em back. You can read all the details here. I urge you to write your Senators and Congressman to put pressure on the Administration to get their ass in gear. (My Senators won't: they're mindless Republican footsoldiers who march in lockstep to whatever George tells 'em, but you gotta tell 'em to do it, anyway.)
Tomorrow I'll post some cheerier thoughts. Promise.
The south got hit hard the other day with lots of tornados. Ever been through one? I have. Back in the mid-1970's, I used to work in a company in Olive Branch, Mississippi, which is just south of the TN-MS border at Memphis, the same area that got hit Tuesday. Our building was a big 4-story box, with two walls being brick and two walls being glass. One day somebody yelled that there was a tornado outside. So what did we do? We all ran over to the window to watch! Yessir, we sure did. I was standing there watching stuff flying around and then this big sheet of steel came flying through the air and sliced through the roof of the company president's car, like it wasn't even there. I turned around and went back to the middle of the room and hid under my desk until it was over. Afterwards, all the power was out, so we were sent home, and the devastation was amazing: houses demolished, trees down, cars upside down, trailer parks obliterated. Never want to see that again.
Speaking of stuff I never want to see again, I just read an article in Newsweek magazine that horrified me. Back in February, 2003, three US contractors were taken captive by the FARC guerrilla group in Colombia when their single-engine plane went down. Two other men in the plane, one American and one Colombian, were executed. Since then, President Bush has mentioned the three men exactly one time in public, when he was asked about it at a news conference. That seems to be the extent of American efforts to get the men back. There has been no negotiation between the US and the FARC, and no effort to work with any countries who could be an intermediary, even though at least three (France, Spain, and Switzerland) are available. This is obscene. The men are Americans, they are under contract with an American company, to the American government, and the American government is doing diddly squat to get 'em back. You can read all the details here. I urge you to write your Senators and Congressman to put pressure on the Administration to get their ass in gear. (My Senators won't: they're mindless Republican footsoldiers who march in lockstep to whatever George tells 'em, but you gotta tell 'em to do it, anyway.)
Tomorrow I'll post some cheerier thoughts. Promise.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Super Tuesday Eve
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, meaning that if you're reading this, you probably already know the results and I am likely to sound like a doofus for saying things that won't turn out to happen. But that's never stopped me before ... being a doofus is, unfortunately, a natural state of affairs for me. So here's my thoughts on the political events so far.
First off, I've basically ignored political reporting on TV and the net and everywhere else for several weeks now. The reason is that politics is being treated like a sport, right alongside the NFL playoffs. It's all polls and little substance. The evening news comes on TV and I wander off into the kitchen to see if there's anything interesting in the fridge. Seeing green algae growing on an old loaf of bread is far more entertaining than listening to George Stephanopolous pontificating for the 2,347th time.
But a few interesting things have happened. I was greatly pleased by the wisdom of the Florida voters in sending Rudy back home to his (third) wife. Any man who builds his wealth and fame on the deaths of the 9/11 victims is not morally qualified to hold any public office.
Fred Thompson has gone back to pretending to be a politician on TV rather than pretending to be one in real life.
John Edwards stepped out of the race, too. Of all the candidates, he was the one with the most highly developed set of ideas and proposals. I wasn't confident of his abilities to carry them out, which is why he was only my #3 choice, but hope he'll continue to be involved in developing the Democratic platform.
The Republican party is in big-time turmoil and it's hilarious to watch. Rush Limbaugh is apoplectic over the prospect of John McCain becoming the Republican nominee. I stay away from his show (it ranks with the insides of septic systems on my list of favorite things), but have heard snippets on news reports here and there. And Ann Coulter even said she'd campaign for Hillary if it came down to a contest between Clinton and McCain! Holy moly, what a concept. I figure, anybody that is hated by Limbaugh and Coulter has gotta be a pretty sharp cookie.
In the South Carolina primary, Bill Clinton really stuck his foot in it. The guy never met a TV camera or microphone that he didn't like, but in SC he got pretty nasty. All that reminded me of what it was like in the latter part of the Years of Bill, and frankly, it wasn't pleasant. I really, really do not want to go back to that.
So here, on Super Tuesday Eve, are my picks of Prez, listed in order:
1. Obama.
2. McCain.
3. Clinton.
4. Bloomberg.
Yes, that's right, McCain is #2. He's been a dipshit over Iraq, but then, so has Hillary, and McCain at least knows a thing or two about war. And my #3 and #4 listings could easily trade places, depending on what I hear.
First off, I've basically ignored political reporting on TV and the net and everywhere else for several weeks now. The reason is that politics is being treated like a sport, right alongside the NFL playoffs. It's all polls and little substance. The evening news comes on TV and I wander off into the kitchen to see if there's anything interesting in the fridge. Seeing green algae growing on an old loaf of bread is far more entertaining than listening to George Stephanopolous pontificating for the 2,347th time.
But a few interesting things have happened. I was greatly pleased by the wisdom of the Florida voters in sending Rudy back home to his (third) wife. Any man who builds his wealth and fame on the deaths of the 9/11 victims is not morally qualified to hold any public office.
Fred Thompson has gone back to pretending to be a politician on TV rather than pretending to be one in real life.
Dennis Kucinich has gone home to canoodle with that hot babe wife of his. I'll miss seeing the wife.
The Republican party is in big-time turmoil and it's hilarious to watch. Rush Limbaugh is apoplectic over the prospect of John McCain becoming the Republican nominee. I stay away from his show (it ranks with the insides of septic systems on my list of favorite things), but have heard snippets on news reports here and there. And Ann Coulter even said she'd campaign for Hillary if it came down to a contest between Clinton and McCain! Holy moly, what a concept. I figure, anybody that is hated by Limbaugh and Coulter has gotta be a pretty sharp cookie.
In the South Carolina primary, Bill Clinton really stuck his foot in it. The guy never met a TV camera or microphone that he didn't like, but in SC he got pretty nasty. All that reminded me of what it was like in the latter part of the Years of Bill, and frankly, it wasn't pleasant. I really, really do not want to go back to that.
So here, on Super Tuesday Eve, are my picks of Prez, listed in order:
1. Obama.
2. McCain.
3. Clinton.
4. Bloomberg.
Yes, that's right, McCain is #2. He's been a dipshit over Iraq, but then, so has Hillary, and McCain at least knows a thing or two about war. And my #3 and #4 listings could easily trade places, depending on what I hear.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Surprise Painting
Yesterday I got a call from a former student of mine. Kate Condon wanted to come by the studio because she had something for me. This was a BIG surprise, since I hadn't heard from Kate in two or maybe three years. When she came to the studio later, she gave me this painting. What a wonderful surprise! I had not seen this before ... I remember her taking some photos, but never got to see what she was working on. Bigger surprise: this was her first time painting a person! I'm completely blown away. Kate did a beautiful job - it's a good likeness of me, and the fact that I can tell which dog is which shows her attention to detail. My studio partner, Christine, and I also appreciated how Kate "cleaned up" our studio for us ... I can only wish it was that pristine. Anyway, this was a heartwarming highlight to my week. Many many many thanks to Kate!
Monday, January 28, 2008
A Bit of This and That
Y'know how it is when you clean out your junk drawer, and you have a lot of nitnoid stuff that doesn't fall into any one category? Well, that's today's blog post.
I'm adding a new link to my "Links and Blogs" list for a discussion blog called "Sellout". This is a new site that's dedicated to the business side of being an artist. The more I read, the more I find that's worth reading. Lots of good discussions in here about all different facets of being a struggling working artist.
A few weeks ago, I decided to find out what all the fuss is about "social networking" sites. So I signed up for three: FaceBook, Art Scuttlebutt (hosted by Art Calendar magazine), and LinkedIn. Now that I've played with them a bit, I've developed some thoughts.
- First, I am not impressed with FaceBook. It isn't as open as I thought it would be. There's too much time and space on useless stuff (Example: every time I log in, it asks the question "What are you doing now?" What kinda question is that? What the hell do you think I'm doing? I'm on the FRICKIN' COMPUTER!). And when the first "discussion" entry I see reads (and I'm quoting here) "yo foodlion skatepark rocks yo" ... well, let's just say that I passed the skateboarding age quite a few decades ago.
- Art Scuttlebutt is okay. It lets you get your work out in front of other artists. I've only seen one non-artist on there ... meaning that it might be good for general discussion, but if you're looking to drive business to your web site, you've probably got a long wait. There are a few very interesting artists there. Think of it as an unjuried group show at a nationwide local arts council and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
- LinkedIn has proven to be a surprise. This is a networking site for executives. There are very few fine artists enrolled, so I seem to be a bit of an oddity (well, that's nothing new ...). The surprise is that it has already become the #2 source of referrals to my web site. I initially put up a half-assed profile that didn't say a lot, but then started seeing more and more LinkedIn referrals showing up on my Google stat counter, so I spent some time polishing my profile into something respectable. And when I started building my own network on there, I found quite a few old Navy buddies plus some of my art-world friends. I figure that if I keep getting looks from all these execs, sooner or later, somebody will have some kind of project for me. Let's hope! Overall, LinkedIn is a very good professional networking site.
George Bush's final State of the Union address comes on in just a little bit. The best thing about it is that it will be his final State of the Union address.
We saw a good movie over the weekend. "The Hunting Party" stars Richard Gere and Terrence Howard as a couple of journalists in Bosnia in 2000. They're trying to find an accused Serbian war criminal (based on Radovan Karadzic), ostensibly for an interview, only they get mistaken for a CIA hit squad. The story is loosely based on the true experiences of a group of five reporters. Much of the movie was filmed in Sarajevo, and it was really cool for me to see how the city has developed since I was there as part of the peacekeeping forces in 1996. I thought the flick was highly entertaining ... not an Oscar-winner by any means, but certainly better than most.
One political note about Bosnia. An unanswered question raised in the movie was why the UN, NATO, and all other forces had not gone after accused war criminals like Karadzic and others (like Ratko Mladic). There were a few conspiracy-theory ideas bandied about, like Karadzic had the goods on some US people, so he was allowed to live as long as he was quiet. Well, that's not true. When the peacekeeping forces went into Bosnia in 1996, the NATO leader was Admiral Smith. His idea was that we were there to build peace. Everything else was secondary. But the cease-fire between the Serbs, Bozniaks, and Croats was extremely tenuous. At one point, a low-level Serb general literally took a wrong turn on the road, wound up at a NATO checkpoint, and was arrested. The Serbs went ballistic and the whole peace process damn near fell apart. It was that close. But even in spite of that, there were calls from all over the world for us to go after Karadzic and Mladic. ADM Smith said no. He stuck to his policy of building peace first and worrying about bringing K&M to justice later. It made sense then. Now that we're twelve years on, it probably still makes sense. Peace in Bosnia is balanced on a knife edge. Do you want to have people getting on with their lives while K&M wander around Serb territory? Or would you rather have a resumption of civil war while K&M go through a war crimes trial in the Hague for ten years? I don't think K&M are worth it.
I'm adding a new link to my "Links and Blogs" list for a discussion blog called "Sellout". This is a new site that's dedicated to the business side of being an artist. The more I read, the more I find that's worth reading. Lots of good discussions in here about all different facets of being a struggling working artist.
A few weeks ago, I decided to find out what all the fuss is about "social networking" sites. So I signed up for three: FaceBook, Art Scuttlebutt (hosted by Art Calendar magazine), and LinkedIn. Now that I've played with them a bit, I've developed some thoughts.
- First, I am not impressed with FaceBook. It isn't as open as I thought it would be. There's too much time and space on useless stuff (Example: every time I log in, it asks the question "What are you doing now?" What kinda question is that? What the hell do you think I'm doing? I'm on the FRICKIN' COMPUTER!). And when the first "discussion" entry I see reads (and I'm quoting here) "yo foodlion skatepark rocks yo" ... well, let's just say that I passed the skateboarding age quite a few decades ago.
- Art Scuttlebutt is okay. It lets you get your work out in front of other artists. I've only seen one non-artist on there ... meaning that it might be good for general discussion, but if you're looking to drive business to your web site, you've probably got a long wait. There are a few very interesting artists there. Think of it as an unjuried group show at a nationwide local arts council and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect.
- LinkedIn has proven to be a surprise. This is a networking site for executives. There are very few fine artists enrolled, so I seem to be a bit of an oddity (well, that's nothing new ...). The surprise is that it has already become the #2 source of referrals to my web site. I initially put up a half-assed profile that didn't say a lot, but then started seeing more and more LinkedIn referrals showing up on my Google stat counter, so I spent some time polishing my profile into something respectable. And when I started building my own network on there, I found quite a few old Navy buddies plus some of my art-world friends. I figure that if I keep getting looks from all these execs, sooner or later, somebody will have some kind of project for me. Let's hope! Overall, LinkedIn is a very good professional networking site.
George Bush's final State of the Union address comes on in just a little bit. The best thing about it is that it will be his final State of the Union address.
We saw a good movie over the weekend. "The Hunting Party" stars Richard Gere and Terrence Howard as a couple of journalists in Bosnia in 2000. They're trying to find an accused Serbian war criminal (based on Radovan Karadzic), ostensibly for an interview, only they get mistaken for a CIA hit squad. The story is loosely based on the true experiences of a group of five reporters. Much of the movie was filmed in Sarajevo, and it was really cool for me to see how the city has developed since I was there as part of the peacekeeping forces in 1996. I thought the flick was highly entertaining ... not an Oscar-winner by any means, but certainly better than most.
One political note about Bosnia. An unanswered question raised in the movie was why the UN, NATO, and all other forces had not gone after accused war criminals like Karadzic and others (like Ratko Mladic). There were a few conspiracy-theory ideas bandied about, like Karadzic had the goods on some US people, so he was allowed to live as long as he was quiet. Well, that's not true. When the peacekeeping forces went into Bosnia in 1996, the NATO leader was Admiral Smith. His idea was that we were there to build peace. Everything else was secondary. But the cease-fire between the Serbs, Bozniaks, and Croats was extremely tenuous. At one point, a low-level Serb general literally took a wrong turn on the road, wound up at a NATO checkpoint, and was arrested. The Serbs went ballistic and the whole peace process damn near fell apart. It was that close. But even in spite of that, there were calls from all over the world for us to go after Karadzic and Mladic. ADM Smith said no. He stuck to his policy of building peace first and worrying about bringing K&M to justice later. It made sense then. Now that we're twelve years on, it probably still makes sense. Peace in Bosnia is balanced on a knife edge. Do you want to have people getting on with their lives while K&M wander around Serb territory? Or would you rather have a resumption of civil war while K&M go through a war crimes trial in the Hague for ten years? I don't think K&M are worth it.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
New Oil Sketch
I've finally been able to spend some time in the studio doing some painting. This is an oil sketch titled "Jennifer" from our life drawing/painting session tonight, a two-hour session.Sunday, January 20, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Grumble, Grumble
So last night I went to a meeting of the River District Artists. The really good thing about these meetings for me is that I don't have to run them anymore. I was the Prez for three years and we made a lot of progress, but then last year I was able to railroad ... er, persuade ... somebody else to take the job. But I kept my fingers in the pie a bit. This year we have another new Prez who's going to do a great job and I see my involvement scaling back even more. This is a Good Thing for both me and for RDA. The reason it's good for RDA is that it is much less personality dependent now than it was several years ago. Back then there were only a few of us who were really active. Now we have a lot more people, which means more people willing to volunteer, which means the jobs don't necessarily have to be the near-full-time ventures they once were. And it means that the organization is taking on a life of its own now. I feel good for having helped get it to this point.
But anyway, sometime during/after the meeting last night, one of my good gloves disappeared. I spent a good hour looking for it last night with nothing to show for it. So I was pretty grumpy. Then when J got home, the garage door opener made a funny noise and quit working. I opened it up today and one of the gears inside (made of nylon ... now, I mean, who the hell makes load-bearing gears out of nylon??) had shredded itself into something closely resembling grated parmesan cheese. Wonderful. Instead of spending the day doing studio stuff, I get to spend it buying and installing a new opener. As if I had a spare $200 lying around doing nothing, anyway.
So there I am, sitting there with my cuppa joe, getting all pissed off at the world (or at least garage door openers in general and my missing glove in particular) when Soozee sits down at my feet and gently paws my leg. She didn't want anything more than to sit in my lap for a few minutes and be held.
So much for being pissed off.
But anyway, sometime during/after the meeting last night, one of my good gloves disappeared. I spent a good hour looking for it last night with nothing to show for it. So I was pretty grumpy. Then when J got home, the garage door opener made a funny noise and quit working. I opened it up today and one of the gears inside (made of nylon ... now, I mean, who the hell makes load-bearing gears out of nylon??) had shredded itself into something closely resembling grated parmesan cheese. Wonderful. Instead of spending the day doing studio stuff, I get to spend it buying and installing a new opener. As if I had a spare $200 lying around doing nothing, anyway.
So there I am, sitting there with my cuppa joe, getting all pissed off at the world (or at least garage door openers in general and my missing glove in particular) when Soozee sits down at my feet and gently paws my leg. She didn't want anything more than to sit in my lap for a few minutes and be held.
So much for being pissed off.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Looking at Artists
I'm going through my new issue of "Art in America". I gave it a once-over and flagged some artists that I thought looked interesting. Now it's time to look 'em up on the net and see what I think.
One that caught my eye is a Chinese artist named Yang Shewei. There was only one real hit for him: the chengdoo.com website that features just one of his works. This one is very witty: a rather angry-looking official in authoritative uniform wearing a cheerful mask, the kind that Japanese and Chinese people use to prevent the spread of germs during cold season. How ferocious can somebody be when they've got a brightly smiling cartoon bear on their face? What a great way to disarm the suposedly powerful. This painting, and the one on page 69 in Art in America, show somebody who's a very good draftsman with a sharp wit and something to say. I just wish there was more of his work that I could look at.
Next up was a small ad for Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City, California. I bookmarked this gallery just now - he has quite a few artists that I really like. This painting, for example, is by Joe Sorren, who does exquisitely crafted paintings of these strangely stylized people, usually in very carefully and realistically rendered landscapes or spaces. To me, the mixture is unsettling, almost nightmarish, but very powerful. The gallery has images from its past shows on the web site, and they're all exceptional. Check out Carrie Ann Baade, Nicola Verlato, Gary Baseman (previously written up in Art in America, I believe), David Anderle ... heck, check 'em all out. This is a good gallery.
The final one I found was another Chinese artist, this one named Wei Dong. He's represented by Stefan Stux Gallery. Wei's paintings are filled with luscious, often bald, women, wearing fabulously textured clothing worthy of European royalty. They're usually in ambiguous situations that tell a story, but you can't quite figure out what ... but it's fun trying. I browsed around the gallery and there was a lot of good work there. For example, look at the "Chinese Relativity 2" exhibit, which is a group show of Chinese artists. I focused on the painters, and these guys can paint. The works are conceptually gripping, well composed, and extremely well painted. I'm in awe.
And sadly, those were about the only things I found worth looking at in this issue. I had a few other pages flagged, but after looking up the artists, I didn't care for what I saw. Seemed to me to be mixtures of poor concept, poor execution, no substance, too much hype, or any combination of those traits. So in the spirit of "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", I'll keep quiet.
But the ones I wrote about above are good. Go take a look.
One that caught my eye is a Chinese artist named Yang Shewei. There was only one real hit for him: the chengdoo.com website that features just one of his works. This one is very witty: a rather angry-looking official in authoritative uniform wearing a cheerful mask, the kind that Japanese and Chinese people use to prevent the spread of germs during cold season. How ferocious can somebody be when they've got a brightly smiling cartoon bear on their face? What a great way to disarm the suposedly powerful. This painting, and the one on page 69 in Art in America, show somebody who's a very good draftsman with a sharp wit and something to say. I just wish there was more of his work that I could look at.
Next up was a small ad for Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City, California. I bookmarked this gallery just now - he has quite a few artists that I really like. This painting, for example, is by Joe Sorren, who does exquisitely crafted paintings of these strangely stylized people, usually in very carefully and realistically rendered landscapes or spaces. To me, the mixture is unsettling, almost nightmarish, but very powerful. The gallery has images from its past shows on the web site, and they're all exceptional. Check out Carrie Ann Baade, Nicola Verlato, Gary Baseman (previously written up in Art in America, I believe), David Anderle ... heck, check 'em all out. This is a good gallery.
The final one I found was another Chinese artist, this one named Wei Dong. He's represented by Stefan Stux Gallery. Wei's paintings are filled with luscious, often bald, women, wearing fabulously textured clothing worthy of European royalty. They're usually in ambiguous situations that tell a story, but you can't quite figure out what ... but it's fun trying. I browsed around the gallery and there was a lot of good work there. For example, look at the "Chinese Relativity 2" exhibit, which is a group show of Chinese artists. I focused on the painters, and these guys can paint. The works are conceptually gripping, well composed, and extremely well painted. I'm in awe.
And sadly, those were about the only things I found worth looking at in this issue. I had a few other pages flagged, but after looking up the artists, I didn't care for what I saw. Seemed to me to be mixtures of poor concept, poor execution, no substance, too much hype, or any combination of those traits. So in the spirit of "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", I'll keep quiet.
But the ones I wrote about above are good. Go take a look.
An Opening in Marshall
On Friday evening, we had an opening reception for my "Meditation on War" series in the Madison County Arts Center in Marshall, NC. There was a really good turnout - it was much more crowded than this picture suggests, and because I wound up talking all night with different people, this was the only picture of the event I could take. Getting my paintings up on somebody else's wall is always a good thing and this one is no exception. We had a lot of fun. Madison County has a lot of interesting people and it seems they all showed up on Friday.
This week ought to see me getting back to normal in the studio. About time, too. The holidays threw a monkey wrench into my painting schedule and this past week was taken up with getting the Marshall show prepared and hung. Tomorrow (Monday) I need to do a road trip over to Knoxville to retrieve a painting from a juried exhibition. But after that it'll be back to painting. I have several works in mind and I'm eager to get started.
I just read an interesting article on CNN/Money about the economic cost of the Iraq war. It was written by Lawrence Lindsey, who was the chief economic advisor to President Bush until he told a reporter (in 2002) that the cost of the Iraq war could be as high as $200B. Since that was four times the amount being advertised by the Pentagon, he was forced out. As it turns out, Lindsey was more or less right about the ongoing cost of the war ($100B per year) but not about its length. Still, he thinks the war was worth it. I disagree most strongly about this position, but found the article to be surprisingly objective in its consideration of true economic costs and their impact on the economy. You can read the article here.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Jackson
As promised, here are some pictures of Jackson. He's already starting his professional career as a model in San Diego.
Granny Ro and the GrandJacks!
Granny Ro and the GrandJacks!
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Politics Again
Okay, I promise, just this one post about politics and then I'll get back to the important stuff, like posting pictures of my grandson. I had a very witty entry written last night for this blog that had some brilliant insight and wicked skewers of some egos, but my connection burped and all my comments were lost. Sigh. And, of course, I'm not feeling very witty right now (some say I never am anyway), but I'm overdue for a posting, so here it is.
With Iowa and New Hampshire now behind us, it's clear that the front-runners are pretty much the same ones we had before Iowa and New Hampshire. Actually, I was very encouraged by Iowa, where the caucuses for both parties clearly went for change. Obama and Huckabee are very much outsiders with a very different message than what we've been hearing out of Washington for the past too many years. So I was pretty excited. New Hampshire, tho, went for the status quo. Clinton and McCain have both been around a long time in one fashion or another and had a hand in making the mess we're in right now. So Iowa says "CHANGE!" and New Hampshire says "STAY THE COURSE!" I vote for change.
I'm getting really really really sick of Romney. His ads have been running on our local TV stations because their broadcasts go into South Carolina. They're the worst mash of pablum and distortions I've ever heard. Romney in general bothered me, but I couldn't really put my finger on it, but then heard the Huckabee comment where he told Leno "People are looking for a presidential candidate who reminds them more of the guy they work with rather than the guy that laid them off." Right on target. I see Romney stickers on Cadillacs around here, probably the folks who live in the gated communities, while it's the pickups with "We Still Pray" stuck on 'em that have the Huckabee bumper stickers.
Huckabee also slammed Romney for his refusal to issue a pardon to a decorated Iraq vet who wanted to pursue a career as a security guard or policeman. He'd supposedly shot a classmate with a BB gun when he was 13 and wound up with a childhood felony. I thought, no way, this can't be true. Well, yes, it is. You can read the full story here. The guy really did shoot a classmate with a BB gun, got a record for it, went to Iraq many years later and earned a Bronze Star (that means a high degree of bravery in combat), and now can't get a permit to carry a weapon because of that BB gun incident. And Romney refused to pardon him. So I say, let's send Romney back wherever the hell he came from. He doesn't deserve this job.
Okay, I'll shut up now. Next post will be something much more fun. I promise!
With Iowa and New Hampshire now behind us, it's clear that the front-runners are pretty much the same ones we had before Iowa and New Hampshire. Actually, I was very encouraged by Iowa, where the caucuses for both parties clearly went for change. Obama and Huckabee are very much outsiders with a very different message than what we've been hearing out of Washington for the past too many years. So I was pretty excited. New Hampshire, tho, went for the status quo. Clinton and McCain have both been around a long time in one fashion or another and had a hand in making the mess we're in right now. So Iowa says "CHANGE!" and New Hampshire says "STAY THE COURSE!" I vote for change.
I'm getting really really really sick of Romney. His ads have been running on our local TV stations because their broadcasts go into South Carolina. They're the worst mash of pablum and distortions I've ever heard. Romney in general bothered me, but I couldn't really put my finger on it, but then heard the Huckabee comment where he told Leno "People are looking for a presidential candidate who reminds them more of the guy they work with rather than the guy that laid them off." Right on target. I see Romney stickers on Cadillacs around here, probably the folks who live in the gated communities, while it's the pickups with "We Still Pray" stuck on 'em that have the Huckabee bumper stickers.
Huckabee also slammed Romney for his refusal to issue a pardon to a decorated Iraq vet who wanted to pursue a career as a security guard or policeman. He'd supposedly shot a classmate with a BB gun when he was 13 and wound up with a childhood felony. I thought, no way, this can't be true. Well, yes, it is. You can read the full story here. The guy really did shoot a classmate with a BB gun, got a record for it, went to Iraq many years later and earned a Bronze Star (that means a high degree of bravery in combat), and now can't get a permit to carry a weapon because of that BB gun incident. And Romney refused to pardon him. So I say, let's send Romney back wherever the hell he came from. He doesn't deserve this job.
Okay, I'll shut up now. Next post will be something much more fun. I promise!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
The Presidential Race
We're FINALLY down to the last few hours before the Iowa caucuses. I'm getting really tired of the general mainstream media reporting, both from real news stations and from the Fox propaganda machine. The only things the media reports are (a) poll results and (b) gaffes. They may as well put it on their sports reports, since they're only reporting on the race, not the substance. And only eleven more months of this to go, too.
The other day I watched one of the Big Three evening news programs. Their headline was the Iowa race, with latest poll results, pundits, a few interviews, and other human interest stories. Then they went into some human-interest end-of-year reporting. Basically, they wasted their half hour on non-news. Then I switched over to the BBC. What a difference! They reported on things like the violence in Kenya over the stolen election (a very big deal for the African continent and our interests there), some substantive new information about the Bhutto assassination and what it means for Pakistan, and how 2000 people were stranded in Colorado due to a blizzard ... none of which was mentioned by the American mainstream media ... and then they had a few words about Iowa, not one word of which was "poll". Good stuff.
Now that we're about into the first contest of the election year, I wanted to go on record with my picks and pans. This is how I like them, not how I think they'll do in the elections. So here goes:
1. I like Obama. Yes, he's light on experience, but the past seven years has proven that experience is vastly overrated. Obama has a positive, unifying message that is inclusive in nature and reaches out. He's a little short on details, but then, as President, he doesn't pass laws, he only suggests and then implements after Congress is done mucking around with it. He's been beaten up a bit during the campaign over the past year and has come out of it looking strong, steady, upbeat, pretty honest, and a good leader.
2. My number 2 pick goes to Edwards. If you want details, look at his plans: he was first to spell out the nitty-gritty of what he would do, and I like what he says. I also like his populism, the fact that he is campaigning for the little guys against the big guys, and his concern about the growing shift in wealth from the middle and lower classes to the richest. On the negative side, he had the worst attendance record of any Senator and didn't really accomplish anything. And his mega-million damage awards he won as a trial lawyer have upped insurance premiums for businesses across the country.
3. My number 3 pick is Hillary. She's smart and knows her way around Washington. Of all the candidates, she best knows how to get things done between the White House and Congress. Her biggest issue is her last name, which automatically sparks rabid hatred from the right-wing loonies. I'm tired of that sort of thing, and this country desperately needs to put the Bush-Clinton-Bush years of partisan extremism behind it. If she's elected, she'll do a good job as President, but the Republicans will have you believe she's Satan incarnate, regardless of what she accomplishes.
4. Bill Richardson comes in next. Every time I've heard him talk, or read something he says, he's made sense ... note that I certainly haven't heard all that much simply because the media doesn't give the second-tier candidates any coverage.
5. Any of the other Democrat candidates would be my #5 choice.
Note that I haven't mentioned any Republicans yet. None of 'em have said anything that would make me vote for any of them even if they were the only ones in the race. Although they claim to have a "big tent", in reality their whole platform is built on exclusivity and Nancy Reaganism "just say no". You want to immigrate into this country? No. You want a peaceful resolution to Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Israel/Palestine, Pakistan, or Sudan? No, bomb the crap out of 'em. You want to work with the rest of the world, instead of ordering them around? No. You want to work for a cleaner environment? No. You want to reduce our crippling budget deficit? No. You want to make sure our health care system reaches everybody? No.
And look at the things the Republicans are for: banning gay marriage, building a wall across our borders (they're not really doing anything about the root causes, or improving port security, or any of that stuff; they're just handing out big contracts to build a frickin' wall), handing out monstrous no-bid contracts in the name of "downsizing" the government, and staying the course in Iraq. Any of that make sense? No.
The candidates themselves are frightening. John McCain would've had my vote seven years ago, but now he's older than even Ronnie Reagan was (and Reagan was probably going senile during his last couple of years in office) and he's wedded to the Iraq fiasco. Rudy is a nutcase, a certifiable loonie, who ran New York like a capo runs a mob family and on September 10, 2001, was about the least popular man in the city. Romney will say and do anything to get elected and all I've heard out of him is pandering to the right, which is not exactly my direction of choice. Huckabee seems like a nice guy, but when you dig deeper into his personal beliefs, things get alarming. Anybody who believes that the earth is only a few thousand years old, as he does, should be barred from the post. And then there's Fred "I'm not a politician but I play one on TV" Thompson, who might or might not be actually running a campaign.
So there ya go. For me it's clear: any Democratic candidate is better than any Republican candidate, hands down. At least this year.
You want real change? How about Dennis Kucinich versus Ron Paul? Wouldn't that be fun?
The other day I watched one of the Big Three evening news programs. Their headline was the Iowa race, with latest poll results, pundits, a few interviews, and other human interest stories. Then they went into some human-interest end-of-year reporting. Basically, they wasted their half hour on non-news. Then I switched over to the BBC. What a difference! They reported on things like the violence in Kenya over the stolen election (a very big deal for the African continent and our interests there), some substantive new information about the Bhutto assassination and what it means for Pakistan, and how 2000 people were stranded in Colorado due to a blizzard ... none of which was mentioned by the American mainstream media ... and then they had a few words about Iowa, not one word of which was "poll". Good stuff.
Now that we're about into the first contest of the election year, I wanted to go on record with my picks and pans. This is how I like them, not how I think they'll do in the elections. So here goes:
1. I like Obama. Yes, he's light on experience, but the past seven years has proven that experience is vastly overrated. Obama has a positive, unifying message that is inclusive in nature and reaches out. He's a little short on details, but then, as President, he doesn't pass laws, he only suggests and then implements after Congress is done mucking around with it. He's been beaten up a bit during the campaign over the past year and has come out of it looking strong, steady, upbeat, pretty honest, and a good leader.
2. My number 2 pick goes to Edwards. If you want details, look at his plans: he was first to spell out the nitty-gritty of what he would do, and I like what he says. I also like his populism, the fact that he is campaigning for the little guys against the big guys, and his concern about the growing shift in wealth from the middle and lower classes to the richest. On the negative side, he had the worst attendance record of any Senator and didn't really accomplish anything. And his mega-million damage awards he won as a trial lawyer have upped insurance premiums for businesses across the country.
3. My number 3 pick is Hillary. She's smart and knows her way around Washington. Of all the candidates, she best knows how to get things done between the White House and Congress. Her biggest issue is her last name, which automatically sparks rabid hatred from the right-wing loonies. I'm tired of that sort of thing, and this country desperately needs to put the Bush-Clinton-Bush years of partisan extremism behind it. If she's elected, she'll do a good job as President, but the Republicans will have you believe she's Satan incarnate, regardless of what she accomplishes.
4. Bill Richardson comes in next. Every time I've heard him talk, or read something he says, he's made sense ... note that I certainly haven't heard all that much simply because the media doesn't give the second-tier candidates any coverage.
5. Any of the other Democrat candidates would be my #5 choice.
Note that I haven't mentioned any Republicans yet. None of 'em have said anything that would make me vote for any of them even if they were the only ones in the race. Although they claim to have a "big tent", in reality their whole platform is built on exclusivity and Nancy Reaganism "just say no". You want to immigrate into this country? No. You want a peaceful resolution to Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Israel/Palestine, Pakistan, or Sudan? No, bomb the crap out of 'em. You want to work with the rest of the world, instead of ordering them around? No. You want to work for a cleaner environment? No. You want to reduce our crippling budget deficit? No. You want to make sure our health care system reaches everybody? No.
And look at the things the Republicans are for: banning gay marriage, building a wall across our borders (they're not really doing anything about the root causes, or improving port security, or any of that stuff; they're just handing out big contracts to build a frickin' wall), handing out monstrous no-bid contracts in the name of "downsizing" the government, and staying the course in Iraq. Any of that make sense? No.
The candidates themselves are frightening. John McCain would've had my vote seven years ago, but now he's older than even Ronnie Reagan was (and Reagan was probably going senile during his last couple of years in office) and he's wedded to the Iraq fiasco. Rudy is a nutcase, a certifiable loonie, who ran New York like a capo runs a mob family and on September 10, 2001, was about the least popular man in the city. Romney will say and do anything to get elected and all I've heard out of him is pandering to the right, which is not exactly my direction of choice. Huckabee seems like a nice guy, but when you dig deeper into his personal beliefs, things get alarming. Anybody who believes that the earth is only a few thousand years old, as he does, should be barred from the post. And then there's Fred "I'm not a politician but I play one on TV" Thompson, who might or might not be actually running a campaign.
So there ya go. For me it's clear: any Democratic candidate is better than any Republican candidate, hands down. At least this year.
You want real change? How about Dennis Kucinich versus Ron Paul? Wouldn't that be fun?
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year!
Happy new year to all! Despite the tone of some of these posts, I am a very happy man. There is so much to be grateful for ...
... thanks to his parents Rick and Julie.
And I'm also grateful for my sister Robin, her husband Terry, and their three kids Blaine, Holly, and Gabe ... and since my sister rarely sends any pictures, I only have this one of Blaine and Holly ...
... like my wife Janis ...
... my two spirited "daughters", Indy (left) and Soozee (right) ...
... my grandson Jackson, who's the most photogenic kid ever born ...
... thanks to his parents Rick and Julie.
And I'm also grateful for my sister Robin, her husband Terry, and their three kids Blaine, Holly, and Gabe ... and since my sister rarely sends any pictures, I only have this one of Blaine and Holly ...
... and then there are all of our other family and friends here scattered around the world. May 2008 be a wonderful year for you all!
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