tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29671932021843397602024-03-19T23:58:30.926-07:00SquishtoidIt's squish, or be squishedhggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-43227378485722562952013-05-20T16:30:00.000-07:002013-05-20T16:40:49.458-07:00Hello, GoodbyeI say Hi<br />
You say Low<br />
You say Why<br />
And I say I don't know<br />
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I started this blog to talk about events and issues relating to leaving my day job and taking up art full time. Studio work, health care, what I was reading, over a 100 posts so far , including a long gap in which I was too busy surviving to keep up the thread.<br />
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Now it's time to say "goodbye", though I'm going to start this off by saying "hello". Yes, this is the farewell post for Squishtoid.blogspot.com, though it has already had its first post from its <a href="http://www.joehigginsmonotypes.com/" target="_blank">new home, JoeHigginsMonotypes.com</a>.<br />
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I had planned on a website to highlight my various activities since I took a very excellent "Internet Marketing for Artists" seminar with the good folks from<a href="http://creative-capital.org/" target="_blank"> Creative_Capital.org</a> in July, '12. The blog was already in a bit of a slump by then when the idea of importing it into my website hit me. The instructors at IMA said this was possible- importing a Blogger blog into a WordPress website. But owing to many projects and part time jobs on my table, the website didn't make it up until last week. As for Squishtoid, with my idea of giving it a fresh start in a new domain it kind of got lost in the shuffle. The perfect being the enemy of the good in this case.<br />
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It probably needn't have taken that long, but I'm not all that tech-adept, and wanted some time to sit and learn it, though the blog import was actually accomplished with a widget and was the easiest part of it. The moral of the story:<br />
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DO attempt this at home.<br />
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WordPress is a bare-bones open source program, and not your silky smooth, WYSIWYG, drag and drop, rocket ship style program like those made by Adobe. It requires a few good sized blocks of free time, some googling and help-center searching, but if I can do it anyone can. The page is no where near complete, by the way. I plan to add more portfolio pages, a workshop page, a contact page, and eventually, a You Tube channel and PayPal app for buying small artworks. But this time I decided not to let the perfect torpedo the good. I have several shows and workshops coming up this Summer, so it needed to get resolved. I also will have promo spot airing on Colorado Public Television ( Ch. 12) and needed a site to direct viewers to. More about that later.<br />
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I'll leave this page here for now, though I assume Blogger will come wanting their server space back at some point. You can follow future Squishtoid Blog posts at JoeHigginsMonotypes.com. You can also search the archives there, and look at a small library of recent monotypes. Eventually you'll be able to download info sheets and pictures. It will be updated pretty regularly because it's really sort of pointless to do all that work and not update. I think I learned my lesson there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37-tuJqLxJWLYWqX0e1BMjy93kpDiyEn3vAuJ_aVd8H4BsU_afuH9i0DnWpH6TvxYJe9Psa9bQov0MVqEcLi-DEjLJ63JkVt70Ram2cod5W9YueT_aiFdm2cnAlQdLPDszeNgnJin2F49/s1600/IMG_1533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh37-tuJqLxJWLYWqX0e1BMjy93kpDiyEn3vAuJ_aVd8H4BsU_afuH9i0DnWpH6TvxYJe9Psa9bQov0MVqEcLi-DEjLJ63JkVt70Ram2cod5W9YueT_aiFdm2cnAlQdLPDszeNgnJin2F49/s1600/IMG_1533.JPG" /></a></div>
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Above, a picture from near South Pass City, Wy. from an early Squishtoid post. It's pretty much the same view Oregon Trail travelers saw decades ago. You can see a long way. I'm entering my fourth Summer of pretty much calling my own shots. There've been some misses, but somehow, the Squish abides.<br />
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<br />hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-20268721683358793232013-04-29T14:42:00.000-07:002013-04-29T14:42:09.431-07:00<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Green Manifesto: "See" Change</span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9WAAQHIAv84dKO6OuZYMctH8qhz_XlmY8gKSCIkscTAavkCeZ0wrBOjesHdf1gO_8O713X0oW1cD4hKpa9t446NbTeSdWrXXhP8vsgmM2Yk11gl7jT54n-M4o7C9fJK5QThRHPm-rXEV/s1600/DSCN0218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9WAAQHIAv84dKO6OuZYMctH8qhz_XlmY8gKSCIkscTAavkCeZ0wrBOjesHdf1gO_8O713X0oW1cD4hKpa9t446NbTeSdWrXXhP8vsgmM2Yk11gl7jT54n-M4o7C9fJK5QThRHPm-rXEV/s400/DSCN0218.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Man With Torch" 30x42", Monotype. Will be shown at The Art Students League's Carson Gallery, "Modern Man and the Landscape", May 17-June 28 </td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Spring the light moves quickly. Spring is a good time for seeing. Slapped in the face by a fresh breeze, I realize that I have been looking at things through windows and I can now step out into the air to see them as they really are. But Spring moves at the speed of light. One day we look out and see a few diaphanous green leaflets, another, we are driving to work and see through the windshield a scrim of fully leafed trees. Spring reminds you that you are present; a green manifesto.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sight is the most mercurial of senses. Smells linger, cumin and cilantro just beneath the radar until we realize we are hungry, songs become earworms for days. But look away for a second from a glade of trees and everything has changed. The light has moved- it has parsecs to go before we sleep. Even in memory, sight is ephemeral. We struggle to recall the face or breasts or fingers of a past lover.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The top picture, though more autumnal than vernal, is one of my favorites because it shows a man poised very incrementally between past and future, memory and hope. He has a torch, which suggests bridges being burned, but also light shining (it also, some have suggested, indicates environmental disaster, a not incompatible theme). Environment, is after all, where we are now. And a job? A denial of the present experience in favor of an idealized future. Necessary, yes- but Spring reminds that the time is now, and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the word is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">light.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtcy20V-EleaP_amyRFO_zRzXxRi_sFEmz6sf0uI0IxoHK7V5j_l8DvUb_jRydHD9CQTCA0Lebwl4zUxWVzBGtd4aRKnFR3wUk8qDZGX06ZUfk65g-scIzcBf5nWcJB2Egz_6Z3vR9p2i/s1600/7296228684_2f3600126f_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtcy20V-EleaP_amyRFO_zRzXxRi_sFEmz6sf0uI0IxoHK7V5j_l8DvUb_jRydHD9CQTCA0Lebwl4zUxWVzBGtd4aRKnFR3wUk8qDZGX06ZUfk65g-scIzcBf5nWcJB2Egz_6Z3vR9p2i/s400/7296228684_2f3600126f_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An artist gets placed in charge of freezing light and time, a trickything to do. An artwork is always about a moment, as Mark Tansey's rather subversively iconic image of plein air painters documenting a shuttle launch tells us. The trick is to slow things down, get in the present, making art in real time, somewhere in the rushing stream of photons. Not an easy thing. So I guess I'll get out and take a walk.</span>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-63558236337415456972013-04-11T08:57:00.001-07:002013-04-16T16:34:50.998-07:00Riding on the MetroHaving to work means less time for social media. Fortunately, there's public transportation for catching up. I can check email, Twitter and Facebook on the way to the University of Denver. <br />
I can also blog, thanks to Blogger's iPhone app. I have a larger post in "drafts", but chose to post this instead, because it's hard to concentrate on revisions when the Foothills are glowing with a new coat of snow on a mild Spring day. <br/><br/><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYU1fTI4bEgoSNnHqh_r7gCrlCNHLCLdOBFF_isOmTV6w92DIovqR8LsfLRxgnXTybvWvxcIv3xpDy79-cfQKVPBXV4iV3XVkyLWRJT3b8Q72N7bu7iis4tgQvhUgL_U4vfd2IBjnezKE8/s640/blogger-image-605703114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYU1fTI4bEgoSNnHqh_r7gCrlCNHLCLdOBFF_isOmTV6w92DIovqR8LsfLRxgnXTybvWvxcIv3xpDy79-cfQKVPBXV4iV3XVkyLWRJT3b8Q72N7bu7iis4tgQvhUgL_U4vfd2IBjnezKE8/s640/blogger-image-605703114.jpg" /></a></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-68226146013770005102013-03-09T18:09:00.000-08:002013-03-09T18:09:02.056-08:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My class at Art Students League did not fill, so it is cancelled. It's disappointing, and also leaves me with less income during a slow time of year. Fortunately, I have temp work at the University of Denver Bookstore to tide me over. I've been helping out during their beginning-of-quarter rushes for about three years now, and it's a fun place to work. Lots of great people, many of whom got into it (mistakenly, it turns out) from a love of books and culture. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I do see a lot of interesting books there, though during a busy time like this, only in passing. My basic strategy, being poor and of limited bookshelf space, is to note the books that interest me, then type them into the Denver Public Library search when I get home. Stickin' it to the man...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I get into a lot of great conversations at work. Books, movies, stickin' it to the man; a definite step above the typical workplace chat fare from my old retail job: weather, and Broncos. Then more Broncos and back to the weather. Scintillating stuff. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One interesting (and funny) fellow at work is Dave. He has combined a love of photographing sleep-deprived retail workers and a dry humor in a blog that winds up telling the tale of what happens to a bunch of interesting characters in a small bookstore as it is being taken over by a large mega-corporation. I'm in it quite a bit. Not because I'm a major player, but because I don't run and hide when he pulls out his camera. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbLpngTFvBuU7knOjJuiTzu8p65FI9_fscvGXMl3m4sTSEVjpLzgmoSIptTyF9ox7tHsDedIXgWRuN1rnU5-NcQkOUXlQxurhMUV81YVBObHLiabb5t3N0CYbcK4UTMvD5_75sy6oStFm/s1600/IMG_1063.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxbLpngTFvBuU7knOjJuiTzu8p65FI9_fscvGXMl3m4sTSEVjpLzgmoSIptTyF9ox7tHsDedIXgWRuN1rnU5-NcQkOUXlQxurhMUV81YVBObHLiabb5t3N0CYbcK4UTMvD5_75sy6oStFm/s320/IMG_1063.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I generally play along, contributing a bunch of nonsensical commentary, not to mention my sleep-deprived mug, as he snaps. I think this amply explains why <a href="http://davidnhoyt.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Dave Hoyt's Blog</a> is not exactly redlining the ol' Google Analytics, just as it does with mine. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's an iPhone picture of Dave, trying to figure out how to snap my photo without ruining his nice camera. It isn't a very nice pic, but I haven't been doing this as long as Dave. Cheese, Dave!</span>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-48735121572792620582013-02-11T16:13:00.001-08:002013-02-11T16:13:20.604-08:00<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fear of a Mac Planet</span></h2>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An artist/instructor where I teach responded to my casual suggestion that faculty could communicate and resolve various routine issues among themselves by using a dedicated Facebook group with: "I'M NOT GOING ON FACEBOOK; I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR FACEBOOK!" So much for the social media revolution. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps she's one of the few who have realized the Romantic Dream: making enough sales at a sufficient price level to not need to worry about marketing her work. If so, she should tone down the vehemence of her reaction- it makes her sound like a raving technophobe. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The rest of us will be making time for social media, thank you. One thing about leaving your day job, you DO have more time, but money, not so much. So social media, which is mostly free, becomes pretty huge. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is time consuming to do right, meaning: get a conversation going. Facebook and blogs require promotion. Twitter is reviled, even by Facebook and blogging afficianados, but if you devote regular time, it is easier to get its mostly younger, more savvy adherents talking, thus getting yourself into conversations you just can't enter in "real" life, such as at art openings. Or even on Facebook or the blogosphere. I suspect that some who put down Twitter and other social media are just not that comfortable with the idea of meeting new people online. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've had some success devoting Monday mornings and Friday afternoons to my various media accounts, with random tweets and posts thrown in when I have time. I'm also experimenting with using the Light Rail more for commuting, thus converting that time to productivity through social media and blogging apps on my phone. I try to apply that to blogging, but writing is not a spontaneous activity for me, so it's easy to postpone. It's clear "I don't have time for blogging," but I would never admit that I'm not trying to make time. Social media is not going away, no matter how much it scares you.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The picture is a "mash-up" of sorts, in which I cut up old failed prints and reassembled with some new ink on top. It's designed to have a number of discrete textures and visual timbres while conforming to a new, somewhat abstract, whole. What is your reaction?</span><br />
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<br />hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-40733463195726042962012-12-12T13:13:00.001-08:002012-12-12T13:13:48.137-08:00The light is stretched and thin after a couple days of clouds and a dusting of snow. It's warmed up, so I took a walk down by the lake this morning to get a little air. Then I sat down to start the site, after a couple of days of <a href="http://squishtoid.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html" target="_blank">reading and researching.</a><div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8388l_ZyNMJ8jYN8X79-r795rw0ANMNnLhcrhRXcEdc9W5dYKukoCObXrGqcvPnumWUuDt1cwQYew5AJDtQg7Z9TSNXpuyL3chFHhLUYcSOgi01X1dZLqrUNkdT64c2-JAT7GqsrD6TgN/s1600/Return+-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8388l_ZyNMJ8jYN8X79-r795rw0ANMNnLhcrhRXcEdc9W5dYKukoCObXrGqcvPnumWUuDt1cwQYew5AJDtQg7Z9TSNXpuyL3chFHhLUYcSOgi01X1dZLqrUNkdT64c2-JAT7GqsrD6TgN/s400/Return+-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Return" Monotype, 22x30", 2012.</span></td></tr>
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The domain name and hosting were easy. I chose <a href="http://blog.dreamhost.com/" target="_blank">DreamHost</a> because Internet For Artists recommended it, and because they handle domain name and hosting account in one spot. They donate some of their proceeds to Creative Capital.org, which puts on the IFA seminars. They do charge for one year up front, but it's inexpensive. My domain name will be JoeHigginsMonotypes.com.</div>
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I'm on to WordPress now. I'm working a temp job next week (to pay for the hosting, nyuk), so I'm hoping the software is pretty easy and fun to use, as this week is the last I'll be able to sit in front of the computer for long stretches. </div>
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I entered the picture above in a regional printmaking exhibition in November. I'll find out if it was accepted this week as well.<br /><div>
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hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-56886183147880071842012-12-02T19:08:00.002-08:002012-12-02T19:20:09.034-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This image is from my summer 1-man show at Zip 37 Gallery. It's pastoral, mostly, a bit of<a href="http://kultstudio.com/artists/eyvind-earle?gclid=CMei37ug_bMCFe5FMgodTy8Azw" target="_blank"> Eyvind Earle</a> creeping in I guess. But it contains a more subliminal component, and I can never convince myself that it's strong enough for people to notice. Thoughts?<br />
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A reminder: Tuesday, December 4, is <a href="https://www.givingfirst.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Gives Day</a>. Any 501c3 type charity is eligible for this (all proceeds go to the charity), but consider the Art Students League of Denver if you haven't decided on a recipient:<br />
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*In these times of reduced educational funding, ASLD teaches critical thinking skills to children.<br />
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*ASLD employs artists and other creatives, thus helping Denver's creative economy, a real asset to companies looking to relocate.<br />
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*ASLD provides community in an inner city neighborhood, and is preserving a beautiful Richardsonian 19th C. Building.<br />
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<br />hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-14004522368977780392012-11-28T15:26:00.000-08:002012-11-28T15:26:58.507-08:00<h2>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse</span></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50iJ3njyVI59xSQaxIViBsm5P5k5bLK9NjOGyMa-PoAnfzxViybxzsIzk7IdrEEpJGb3lT17P7jE84ehDGCE-chmvkosIrParAJXjLBFpNx4PG5IovKbamNmnJOx5BCpUpLySmYZG8GuC/s1600/HANDGRAVE+THEME.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50iJ3njyVI59xSQaxIViBsm5P5k5bLK9NjOGyMa-PoAnfzxViybxzsIzk7IdrEEpJGb3lT17P7jE84ehDGCE-chmvkosIrParAJXjLBFpNx4PG5IovKbamNmnJOx5BCpUpLySmYZG8GuC/s320/HANDGRAVE+THEME.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh look! I have a blog.</span></h3>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a fine blog it is, too, though a bit errrm lifeless. But now, just in time for Holiday surfing... Zombie Blog lives! BwaHaHa.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually- and like any dead blogger worth his salt, I'm quoting Zombie Shakespeare, now- I come here not to raise Squishtoid, but to bury it. Though not for good. In fact as the blog-less weeks rolled by, I wondered whether my approach to Squishtoid blog needed a re-think. Then I took an Internet Marketing for Artists seminar from the fine folks at <a href="http://www.creative-capital.org/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">Creative Capital</span></a>, a very informative weekend that made me certain of it. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What the fellow artists teaching the IFA seminar convinced me of was that I needed a website. One with (cue the scary soundtrack) ...a blog! So, and this will surprise no one who knows my penchant for over-complicating things, the reason I've ignored my blog is, I want to launch a website. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To those more tech-savvy than I, this must undoubtedly seem like that moment when the heroine (me, I guess) runs headlong from her first frightening encounter with the first zombie ( blog, duh) and straight to the front door of the zombie hideout! She opens the door, and turning to make sure she's lost the zombie, actually BACKS into the room ( cue the screechy, warning buzzer-like portion of the soundtrack). Well, I think you get the idea. Talk about beating a (un) dead horse. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Long story short, after a very busy Fall of shows and teaching workshops, I'm starting a website. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The busy, working artists who presented the IFA seminar made a very good case for using Word Press, which is <a href="http://www.computercourage.com/wordpress/top-10-reasons-to-use-wordpress-org-for-your-website/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">summarized briefly here</span></a>. I don't know how long it will take, but I'll probably import this blog (yes, it can be done, I checked) and go live with the basic elements as soon as I can. I'll add some of the more complex elements as the long dark winter goes on, and hope to be fully functional by Spring.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm looking to have the basics -blog, profile, portfolio, and news/events; plus more complex features such as a shopping cart and embedded You Tube channel for printmaking videos. I'll keep you updated on the whole horror show here. They tell me any idiot can do it, though I'm definitely not just any idiot. Heh.</span><br />
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<br />hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-53772013217088596652011-12-05T10:21:00.000-08:002011-12-05T11:41:10.947-08:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The word "economy" refers primarily to the movement of a nation's resources; and secondarily, to an attempt to spend less. This sums up President Obama's "balanced" approach to stimulus and deficit cutting, in that order. Polls show this agenda is favored by a majority of Americans.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The GOP-dominated Congress has a radically different set of priorities, obviously, and we won't go into that now, other than to note that more Americans favor a Communist takeover than favor Congress right now. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">'Nuff said.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">The underlying issue, when to spur on, and when to rein in, spending is one every household and small business faces daily. For example, it would be counter-productive for me to stop spending on nice new frames for fine art prints, though I'd love to spend on nice new art books. So it's off to the library I go. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">Ironically, it's schools and libraries and art museums that are the first to feel the blind GOP hackings, but I promised not to get into that.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">So when non-profits come soliciting, it's easy to reflexively squeeze the coppers, but there's solid evidence that that's the worst thing we could do.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.coloradocreativeindustries.org/">Here's a few facts</a>:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>* Colorado's creative enterprises employed 122,000 people, according to a 2008 study. Another 64,000 worked in creative occupations in other sectors, for a total of 5 billion in earnings.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>* This ranked as the 5th largest cluster of jobs in the Colorado economy, almost at large as IT and Biotech, and larger than Agribusiness. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>* Creative occupations were expected to grow by 30-45% in the next 10 years, exceeding the state growth rate of 25%.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"> </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">While these numbers undoubtedly pre-date the Bush recession, the potential for creative enterprise to help us climb out is clear. So I'm asking you to consider giving to the creative sector on <a href="http://GivingFirst.org/">Colorado Gives Day</a>, Dec. 6th. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">And here's why: A consortium of Colorado foundations, including the First Bank Incentive Fund, will be increasing each donation. For this penny-pinching artist, that's an offer I can't refuse. Shall we call it "Gold Tuesday"?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">And since's it's my blog, I'm going to tell you where the Squish's hard-earned fun tokens are going. The <a href="http://GivingFirst.org/asld">Art Students League of Denver</a>, which employs many creatives itself ( ahem), and which goes a long way toward filling in the gaps left in the state's education budget. I can tell you first hand that many who come to the League on a lark, wind up contributing to the state's creative economy. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;">I won't quibble with those who contribute to any charity, creative or not. It'll put money in circulation where it's needed most, and take people off the street. That's leadership! Just promise me we won't start acting like... Congress.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-36474104252116372011-11-25T14:45:00.000-08:002011-11-25T15:34:43.351-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjg6AEy6O7rx_c35vraLfDV5qSC_csGTvYOC4Xd2oBTSRa4u79dUEgS5aWevAnSDuE0et3qyXo5dtWnii89s2jngoRup54TWj_qgEsXeZgZ6HmILDK8aDxnZzEP1CovvW-QFnXMgQqc3nq/s1600/Albany+11+04+188+copy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjg6AEy6O7rx_c35vraLfDV5qSC_csGTvYOC4Xd2oBTSRa4u79dUEgS5aWevAnSDuE0et3qyXo5dtWnii89s2jngoRup54TWj_qgEsXeZgZ6HmILDK8aDxnZzEP1CovvW-QFnXMgQqc3nq/s320/Albany+11+04+188+copy.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679080177578674562" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">National Novel Writing Month</a> is November, and I signed up to pledge my 50,000 words, like thousands of others. Is that why I haven't been posting here? Well, no. Turns out I'm just as bad at regular fiction writing as I am at regular blogging. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">But here, just to get the ball rolling again, is an excerpt from the very rough draft of my "novel", an exclusive peek that is sure to go viral. I'd like my Nobel Prize in chocolate, please...</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">My Empty</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>What he actually thought he might see when he got to this point, he has no idea. Right now, what he does see, out through the cracked and fogged windshield, is nothing. An infinity of shifting white nothing. A swirling, thickened, distance-less nothing, a palpable absence of form and light made weirdly tangible in the failing grey afternoon only by the flakes that float, lift and corkscrew into the one operational headlight the old truck has. Out beyond the cracked and rattling side mirror, scrims of white flakes, sometimes parting, but only to reveal more flakes, moving in all directions, tiny inscrutable dramas of gravity and physics being played out, all according to stage directions unreadable to him.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>He grips the wheel too tightly, without any sense of purchase or direction on the pavement, only a greasy gliding sensation. The tires aren’t that good, and he tells himself that relaxing his grip on the wheel, breathing deeply and gradually slowing down, will keep the worn rubber and drafty metal on the road. Just go with it, he tells himself. But he cannot shake the claustrophobic sense of dread that has gnawed and chilled him in this heater-less pick-up since Kearney.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>It was then, he’d finally known that he was not home anymore. Home was back there, not a memory yet, nothing so real as that; yet omnipresent, though suddenly ephemeral and hazy, though he’d never left it before. He resolved to stop thinking about it. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Past Kearney early this morning, not thinking about home, then past Cheyenne. Its flat metal buildings and jumbled, fenced enclosures of junk cars, farm machinery, dessicated wooden relics of some sunny past, Interstate detritus beneath impossibly tall truck stop neon and dust blown gray asphalt, clustered and defending against... what? Outside the gray concrete ribbon with its halo of fast food trash, rolling sage of an almost blue/green against the dun ochre, cresting and troughing without definition, held, it seemed, only by the occasional blasted barbed wire fence, pinned tenuously, almost randomly to the Earth, though of course it was “earth”, but of a sort that didn’t seem to amount to much. Clouds appeared in the endless sky and suddenly overtook the sun. Cadres of fluffy white chargers stretching limitlessly into the distance, now thickening and turning gray, and soon he knew what it must be like to stare into the teeth of a vast and violent horde, seeing clearly your fate. Welcome to oblivion.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Rock formations now appeared on the ridge, squat and hunched like beaten soldiers, as the gray upon gray clouds, steel colored clouds, torn and ragged in the hoarse wind, rolled into the dun colored canyons and stunted blackened evergreen scrub, shearing off the tops of the mountains and blurring whatever features in the landscape the wind had not scraped away or turned flat and faceless. An unforgiving nothing. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The truck chugs up a long grade. There are a few other cars whirring past, rushing to warm places trying to beat the storm. Lights are sparse and receding as the buildings and cars grow fewer. A fat snowflake, then more. He is in the teeth of something, and doesn’t know where he even is, though of course he is not home. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The vast and meaningless landscape now closes around him, tethered to concrete, navigable reality only by the withered barbed wire fences and split, crone-like posts that recede grayly into the chill void. Another vehicle, lumpish and ghostlike, leaves a double furrow ahead. Its tail lights glow pinkish. Telephone poles slide by at measured intervals, carrying into the lowering darkness messages unheard, the whispered trivia of strangers, uncomfortable silences. As the tailights disapear, he finds the poles to be his only anchor in reality. The truck whines and gnashes through the icy slush, then seems to breathe and to settle in. he takes his foot off the accelerator. They are at the summit. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>It is dark now and silent. Agitated luminescent flakes part and veer away into the blackness behind him. He downshifts carefully, feeling a slight swerve as he does, a loosening of discernible intention, a failure of control. Like a hurtling missile, he is without purpose, really. The trajectory has been pre-measured and between theses steep canyon walls, swooping from left to right gingerly in long switchbacks, his path is no longer under his control. He is floating, weightless, part of an object without sentience or compassion, a missile bound to the end of its arc, from whatever weird impetus put him on this road, toward whatever lay at the bottom of this steep descent. His momentum is palpable, thrilling, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;">lethal</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;">. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;">Swirls of dry snow rise from the wheel wells, ghosts of whatever silent trackless gradient existed before he hurtled through.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Then there is a black spot, and another, hissing wetly as his wheels hit. He dares not antagonize the brakes until another, larger one appears and then a stretch of liquid glistening pavement and he slows, and the road clears, the grade softens, and behind a long looping curve and the steep black silouhette of a hill are the occluded lights of a medium sized town, glowing vaguely through the storm, a long way away still, but he’s off the mountain and rescued from his terrible momentum and calmed down enough to reach for a cigarette and he thinks about a beer. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>“You won’t like it there.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The memory of her voice, bodiless, separating itself from the whining tires in the road hiss.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>“How do you know?”</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>“My dad went through there once. There’s nothing there.”</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>White letters on a green reflective sign. A place name he’d seen in a western movie, then never troubled himself about again. Well it would have to do. It wasn’t where he’d intended to stop, but it would be home for tonight, wherever it was. He slowed and the first billboard appeared, then fences again, rusting agricultural metal in the darkness. An empty parking lot by a shut down road house, and then a giant cowboy, white, yellow and pink neon reflected in mercurial rivulets in the wet asphalt, tipping a blue cowboy hat in the air, then replacing it on his blue-haired head then tipping it again. "Howdy! You’re at the Ranger, where the West begins! Vacancy."</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>“Howdy,” he mumbled through the cigarette filter, then cranked the wheel into the lot, and coasted up to the bar.</span></span></p></div><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><br /></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-46926988402813627832011-06-30T14:14:00.000-07:002011-06-30T14:35:31.310-07:00What a Day for a Daydream<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Art Students League Summer Art Market is my biggest show by far each year. This year was no different, as a more spacious layout made for a more pleasant experience, and the traditionally perfect weather made a return, after last year's chilling drizzle. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I really enjoy this show on many levels, though its ability to pay bills certainly colors my perspective. But the people, many of whom are now longtime friends, really make for an enjoyable though exhausting weekend. And friends and family seem to have picked up on how exhausting, yet important the show is to me. I get lots of offers to help schlep art and equipment, bring me food, or just to come down and say high during the long days. Thank you to all from the bottom of my heart!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But the show has become a validation, for many of us in the struggling artist brigade, of what we are trying to accomplish. The art has gotten stronger, sales steadier. Even on a most basic level, it's refreshing, while standing 10 hours a day on hot asphalt, to see so many people starting to get it. Buying original art is a very different thing than buying a giclee reproduction, or decorative object. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When you buy art, not only do you put cash into the local creative economy, thus making it stronger, more innovative and more able to contribute to the region's educational and cultural needs, but you make the art itself stronger. Money is time, and more time spent by experienced artists in the studio means you won't have to fly to NYC to see great art; mature, well conceived and refined. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">While you are doing that, you can bask in the mountain sun, drink a beer, and talk to those same artists in your flip flops. How they got in your flip flops, you'll never know. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">My next street fair show is July 16-17 on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. Stop by and say hello. </span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-23141804651741488062011-05-11T13:52:00.000-07:002011-05-19T11:31:36.606-07:00Voices in the Dark<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmVNlYIcjmpy9ChXUueYn2xEuu7VON_H020nZi9y0jt9QqHepKXN7-Vqx7ZdFgK8OrWO1md-xtuOWdvmlSr4i9vnKG2AQH3esb8zs8a1aR97y-nSaRSf6gC-ZEGu2czuntcyYi0e9JOxE/s1600/DSCN1385.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMmVNlYIcjmpy9ChXUueYn2xEuu7VON_H020nZi9y0jt9QqHepKXN7-Vqx7ZdFgK8OrWO1md-xtuOWdvmlSr4i9vnKG2AQH3esb8zs8a1aR97y-nSaRSf6gC-ZEGu2czuntcyYi0e9JOxE/s400/DSCN1385.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608218587595700594" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So I headed west,<br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">to grow up with the country.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Across those prairies, </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">with those fields of grain.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And I saw my Devil, and I saw my deep blue sea...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">-Gram Parsons </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Gray, heavy sky; dark days with steady rain and sodden ground- glorious weather, really. Parts of our state have had no significant precipitation since September.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I had made quite a few monotypes this spring, but then hit a sort of wall. It's normal to take a break, then come back to finish strong for the show season, but also I hadn’t really figured out what the monotypes were about. This isn’t all that unusual. I often work off snippets or glimmers of an idea, hoping that improvisation and gesture, or just day-to-day experience, would provide a full concept.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So I worked on this telephone pole ( above), which is actually outside my back door. I've put it in a number of large monotypes, so it made sense to do a small polymer plate etching. The subject gets admired a lot. People admit somewhat sheepishly, their fascination with the subject, though I can't remember anyone buying one!</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What I like about the admittedly somewhat prosaic image is that it's a visible manifestation of absence. It's interesting to me that a conversation between faraway strangers may be passing above me, just out of earshot, so to speak. The rain and clouds add a bit of pathos, I guess. Hence the title, "Signal To Noise". It's a metaphor one of my favorite authors, Thomas Pynchon, explores in his novel "V". You would think that with the technology for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">transmitting</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> the message improving everyday, we wouldn't </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">miss so many.</span></span></i></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A polymer etching involves a thin metal plate coated in a photo-sensitive emulsion. Many people expose them in the sun, and y</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">ou can also do a monotype right on top of the plate, then etch it, and that's what I've done here. I added Chine Colle' for a bit of color. It's a nice thing for me, since I don't produce the monotypes very quickly. Now I can print 5-10 images, sell them throughout the year, and at a more affordable price. Can you tell show season is coming? As marketing psychology tells us, one must have bins chock full, or sales suffer.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span></span></span><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrtUid7N5Sn8tjZsgZWN877A7asaXYfC-z21Mqy2LmMGUjORkihvV598MpUwkjGaA7Gpe8DgK2E0JEmA0k3c_dr3Rl2DXwZZnl5pBakeJLxg0IrvMiIyZ-mI3EjL48N4seDAI_-FXcEvK/s320/DSCN1375.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608493394189283346" /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">At the same time, constantly making the smaller work can be vaguely frustrating. The smaller, improvised images often make the jump to larger and more refined iterations. I have to "jump off my train of thought" to refill the bins, as those are the popular purchase around here. Sometimes I've felt like I'm constantly starting, and never really finishing, an idea.</span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The second image, a monotype, is a better example. I love it, but I'm pretty sure it's nowhere close to where it could be. Where could it be? As the rain continues to come, and I'm still spending my nights on the couch, I'm starting to look to my current reading for an answer. Where better to look for metaphor and message than to the writings of the American Romantics?</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Melville, Whitman and Dickinson, along with the Luminist painters, such as Martin Heade and Fitz Hugh Lane, captured the search for American identity in the pre civil war years of cultural ferment. </span></span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Cynthia Griffin Wolff in her eponymous biography of Emily Dickinson, has a good sense of those times, and what makes us tick, even now. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I recall Dickinson being taught as a reclusive genteel eccentric . But her most famous poem features her narrator in a carriage with death, driving "out past the sunset". Oh-oh. A spiritual journey that ends in darkness, this from the Belle of Puritan Amherst. </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Wolff places her in the context of her times, in which authors like Emerson and Thoreau, but also the Hudson River School and later Luminists defined the American spirit. </span></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">They understood America's westward path is toward the light and away from darkness, yet also into vast space and isolation. The Luminist painters especially, but also Melville and Dickinson, understood the spiritual absence where the conflicted Puritan soul met the </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">isolation of the vast American landscape and its implicit relationship to the American experience.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Conversely, the revival movement of Emily Dickinson's girlhood, which stressed "wrestling" or struggling with faith, just as Jacob wrestled with God, sought to define American experience in the absence of any state endorsed religion, or, I might add, artistic academy system. Jacob "strives" until dawn, forcing God to bless him before He leaves. As Wolff points out, God is not seen in face to face encounter with Man again in the narrative, appearing as a burning bush, blinding light, etc. She notes too that Moby Dick is the mostly absent force of nature whom embittered Ahab, whose name relates to Jacob, struggles against.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; min-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "></span></span></span><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ZLMyvUh4Z6oFegMIQTancMLCEk36riW6iXBYtIX9yxYcUWu3VHgg1VJrL5LeoEnZNaf5Jc8-a4jAKxKRHSAdKTi3SfXKoFGqCEWcha3T3IXsvpXQkb58CpKLnYWsACGrMRJiQ9TuMUOv/s400/800px-Upper_Mississippi_John_Frederick_Kensett.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608217905695253922" /></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Emily Dickinson sought an identity in a society that offered few choices- mother, person of faith- to women. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dickinson rejected the revivalists and rarely left her room, where she met God, the Devil and the details of meaning and poetic space on her own terms. She understood the role of existential absence in American spiritual experience. Her famous dashes are tokens of a self actualized subjective voice, but they are also tangible marks of absence. </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Her writing, at turns simple and agreeable, then abruptly dark and isolate, calls to mind one of the beach scenes of </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frederick_Kensett"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">John Kensett</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Melville died in obscurity until rescued decades later by academics. Whitman's bold incantatory affirmations of identity were revived by the Beats. Dickinson's dashes were posthumously removed by her first editors. The struggle to come to terms with the anger and idealism at war in the heart of the Puritan soul continues, now more than ever, in this </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"damp, drizzly November in [the American] soul". Puritan idealism is exemplified in its original assertion that each person may treat with God without the mediation of a higher (state, or Papal) authority. This is the essence of spiritual identity. </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But as soon as Cromwell turned westward toward Ireland, the darkness and violence began. King Phillip's War, and Sand Creek eventually, inevitably, followed, each westward step bringing us closer to nature, yet farther from God, and into absence and isolation. Irish, Native Americans, Women, Gays, all "striving" then and now to find identity in the face of the Puritan anger that vitiates our culture. Just as Puritans themselves once did. </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It turns out that ruling one's soul, and ruling others' as well, are mutually incompatible things. </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 16px/normal Georgia; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p><p></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A monotype, or any kind of print, seems a good medium with which to interpret a poem. The white space that is, I believe, at the essential heart of any print, mimics the striving for meaning from absence at the heart of Ahab’s struggle, and the dark inky bits mimic the words on the page with which the American Romantics forged a cultural identity. </span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Graphics and printmaking have been the medium of advertising messages and mass communication before the electrons took over. Prints brought visions of the American west back to immigrants, and helped to fill in the void. They were cheaper and more quickly produced, and thus less beholden to elites. They are part and parcel of the American "message" in the turbulent and earth-shaking 19th century, as were the poets and novelists of the American Romantic era. </span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A poem or print is certainly more concise than this misty digression. The iconography of print- its dashes and white voids, even its squishes, blobs, smudges and spatters tell a story. As always, one can only hope the message is getting through. </span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><br /></p></div><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><br /></span></div><div> </div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-51735005385177420352011-04-21T18:11:00.000-07:002011-04-21T18:16:55.104-07:00House Keeper<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I hope to write a proper post soon, as it's been a while. I've been pretty busy, ironic since there's actually plenty to talk about. But to keep things fresh, here's </span></span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joe-Higgins/68715838565?sk=photos"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">a link to what I've been working on</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> in the studio. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I like the house images, but obviously did not want get away from the interiors, either, and the best way I can explain that is, the most wide open spaces are always inside one's head. I'll try to explain more thoroughly soon.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">For now, that'll have to do. But at least you know that the Squish is staying out of trouble!</span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-22504696619012440952011-04-13T15:40:00.000-07:002011-04-13T16:04:40.187-07:00Blue Fox<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9fodfeg1FGWf79J3QFcMpEl9G2n2CwDjW4XEhWLXBBF-d4pBBvE2DEIXQaazEkDELOLoPczU1S3tJuIFj4P-rAvaF4E6nhLCrQREcmrWZVE2hMt78qecKE8jEbmL_XEk1SYly51XHBfm0/s1600/IMG_0597.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9fodfeg1FGWf79J3QFcMpEl9G2n2CwDjW4XEhWLXBBF-d4pBBvE2DEIXQaazEkDELOLoPczU1S3tJuIFj4P-rAvaF4E6nhLCrQREcmrWZVE2hMt78qecKE8jEbmL_XEk1SYly51XHBfm0/s400/IMG_0597.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595207018731223298" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Just to wrap up on my previous post on </span><a href="http://squishtoid.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-work.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">a series of sketches</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> I'd been doing in the print studio. Here is the final version, at least for now, as I'm not sure how or whether to pursue the idea. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I'm already working on a different thread, and you can get a preview of small work-ups for that over on my Facebook page. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's nice to be busy in the studio in mid April (and I have been), because I find the rush of logistical and publicity details somewhat distracting as May winds down, with the first show approaching in June. That will be the Art Students League Summer Art Market, a fun but exhausting show in south Capitol Hill. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">After that comes The Boulder Open Fest in July on the Mall, a gallery show at Zip 37 Gallery in North Denver in early August, and possibly, the Modernism show at the Stock Show Arena near Labor Day. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I guess I should also put in a plug for my 8-week </span><a href="http://asld.org/faculty/index.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">workshop at the ASLD starting in late June</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. You can search my name for current workshops at any time. A Fall workshop will be announced soon, and you'll notice a one-day Summer Sampler in August if you just can't commit the time for the longer classes. I've grown quite attached to bright sunny mornings in the Art Students League print room, and I've made some great friends there!</span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-44504005662069213762011-03-30T16:21:00.000-07:002011-03-30T16:44:40.603-07:00Class Act<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXYWmlZ0Ns_dBiZT2OtQXA7XWC4GuU-94RJhY5EMTFTF_NAkIMZot5c7gpP7tDzJHrrcj5uEfpa-qfQjPUQZhfE-gUCbqYMHvOJIPODN-QeaheLZAeBjLfZAru9ayTcSCyJD-qgDrM1C9/s1600/IMG_0570.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHXYWmlZ0Ns_dBiZT2OtQXA7XWC4GuU-94RJhY5EMTFTF_NAkIMZot5c7gpP7tDzJHrrcj5uEfpa-qfQjPUQZhfE-gUCbqYMHvOJIPODN-QeaheLZAeBjLfZAru9ayTcSCyJD-qgDrM1C9/s400/IMG_0570.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5590018011306021714" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Stefan from the Tuesday morning Monotype class has been working with fields of color. This is one of his first abstracts from the workshop, and I like it because it has a very balanced color scheme ( the photo exposure may suggest a brown for the darkest swath; it's actually a rich, wine-y red), simple composition and fresh spontaneous brayer (ink roller) work.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I posted a small portfolio of other works from the class on my Facebook page, and will have more soon. It gives me a chance to catch up with some pictures and videos of my own work that I will post soon. For instance, I have staged photos of the different phases of one of the first large works to come out of all the sketches I've been putting up, also on Facebook ( link at the top). I'll summarize the project in a future blog post, too. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I may be taking on a few too many projects, but I'm feeling a burst of energy with the spring, and at this point, probably too many is better than not enough. The videos are the ones that often get pushed to the side, partially because confidence level is still tentative with the new software. But I think they're eye catchers, especially on Facebook and other social sites, so it makes sense to learn it. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As I mentioned, I've posted a number of videos to the soccer fan page I manage, and also to Zip37's page. So I guess Squishtoid is due for the next world premiere! Will begin work on that this weekend. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What I'm reading: A whole stack of histories of US and Britain, hop-scotching from James I (Simon Schama, History of Britain, Part II) through Andrew Jackson (American Lion, Jon Meacham).</span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-69067143330949975642011-03-18T14:17:00.000-07:002011-03-18T14:42:03.098-07:00New Work<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYGAo7SNQztj-df2_dh-D1pBIleZHF8juka47S-tRfhM-XPwHYIu6dt5IxHDESJUs400s-498pBUnCfjz299ETLYxofIpazSK3azmMJd7EiY3fJgUwq_hmfrA1COOQVGY6NPjE6ucXguT/s1600/DSCN1325.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYGAo7SNQztj-df2_dh-D1pBIleZHF8juka47S-tRfhM-XPwHYIu6dt5IxHDESJUs400s-498pBUnCfjz299ETLYxofIpazSK3azmMJd7EiY3fJgUwq_hmfrA1COOQVGY6NPjE6ucXguT/s400/DSCN1325.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585536244344336322" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I did get some video of Monday's work session at Open Press, as well as Tuesday's demo for </span></span><a href="http://www.asld.org/index.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Introduction to Monotypes at the Art Students League</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. I'm getting more familiar with iMovie, as evidenced by t</span></span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150131062117431&oid=132528190145413&comments"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">his 5 minute monster</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> I did to promote my soccer supporters group friends.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So I should have at least a small video to post fairly soon, at least in time for the Summer Art Market, the League's popular, signature art fair, in June. I may put up some raw footage as soon as I get a chance to sort through it. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But for now, it's Opening Week for Colorado Rapids football, and I'm enjoying all the zany activities surrounding that. Next week, back to the grindstone, but for now, here's another in a </span></span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=68715838565&aid=296639"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">series of sketches</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> (above) I've been doing to prepare for larger work.</span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-89151052472722216172011-03-06T14:40:00.000-08:002011-03-06T15:18:44.503-08:00Art Star<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdcsEpRNa-_AGai7jUsGRkSS0Am9j-NFGuXImX73J6-_GyKxPBuzwQdh_MoSFlYhdjhCf7FzaXj0fUDS0xq3IqKKEDiRu8wsPyQGcevl1nd0tj0ReVgxbgTLCvoO2WMwZdJLA5RSv_0Bw/s1600/IMG_0480.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUdcsEpRNa-_AGai7jUsGRkSS0Am9j-NFGuXImX73J6-_GyKxPBuzwQdh_MoSFlYhdjhCf7FzaXj0fUDS0xq3IqKKEDiRu8wsPyQGcevl1nd0tj0ReVgxbgTLCvoO2WMwZdJLA5RSv_0Bw/s400/IMG_0480.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581109768120777266" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Took a break from </span></span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=296639&id=68715838565&fbid=10150118573848566"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">my own projects</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> to go watch a favorite Denver artist do a demo at the Art Students League of Denver. Homare Ikeda has done a lot of monotypes, which is why I often bump into him at Open Press. He's also on the faculty at ASLD. Here he was doing a painting demo, which was well attended and very interesting. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I don't do a lot of painting anymore, and don't usually work in the abstract when I do. I like </span></span><a href="http://www.homareikeda.com/mono_09/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Homare's loose, open ended forms and his thoughtful, deliberate way of working</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, though. So chalk it up to networking and professional curiousity when I stopped by. I sent out a few snippets on Twitter, and admired Homare's laid back narrative style. I do a lot of demos myself, and I can always learn. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Homare related that, as a student at </span></span><a href="http://www.skowheganart.org/index.php?page=overview"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Skowhegan</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, he'd gotten a studio visit from Komar and Melamid, the Russian Pop Artist team. K&M pronounced Homare's work "constipated". </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"I figured that was a good thing", Homare related with his shy little laugh. The crowd laughed too. He'd turned the potentially crushing, off hand remark into a small creative victory with his unassuming humor. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Later he tried to explain that being an artist is, to him, nothing special. He's right, and the sometimes idealizing ASLD students need to hear stuff like that. There are geniuses in art, sure. And like many things, art can be done in an inspired way, but before that happens it's mostly just hard work, done with commitment. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">He finished up with some sumi-e drawings of traditional subjects; fish, bamboo, birds. It's a fairly unassuming art form, done by a fairly unassuming guy. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Make no mistake, there's more than a little magic in that. </span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-48456181745891495202011-02-08T14:16:00.000-08:002011-02-08T18:08:12.059-08:00Hey Kids! Comics!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUPc0Ga1B6XuOv_nErDqkNxxkjs7zAmctkRijkamD4zAyKxrqa1zXRhYQzocxHJ0fKSA2Qrkkwho6blPYhwXiGeXsSQ9Nx0ZNNkO6DUebKKdKGq4yU0hdnAHd5SaVkuIaKl9Ct6LksusQ/s1600/DSCN1305.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUPc0Ga1B6XuOv_nErDqkNxxkjs7zAmctkRijkamD4zAyKxrqa1zXRhYQzocxHJ0fKSA2Qrkkwho6blPYhwXiGeXsSQ9Nx0ZNNkO6DUebKKdKGq4yU0hdnAHd5SaVkuIaKl9Ct6LksusQ/s400/DSCN1305.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571502059034554290" /></a><br /><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Blustery and frigid winter has made February its home here. We got a mild November and December, January could not make up its mind, but the last 2 weeks have been definitive, lock down winter. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">We even have snow, of which the Squish approves. I feel cheated when it's frigid and brown. I love the kind of minimalist landscape and diffuse light that the snow brings, and would probably be distilling the bleached gray blues and fat yellowy whites in ink on paper right now, if I hadn't committed to some part time work to pay some bills. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">That will come. Right now I'm bunkered in, fiddling with my rabbit ears to pick up al Jazeera reports on Egypt; peeking in on the yearly cultural car wreck of the Helmet Bowl, the epitome of American Sporting Exceptionalism (one team wearing garish satin capri pants will be declared "World" Champion, but I've usually forgotten which one it is by May). </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Mostly I've been reading. I have a small stack of Atlantic Monthly, featuring the usual blend of abstract speculations, mixed with hard nosed, iconoclastic bubble-bursting (After expounding on Tea-Baggers' inherent self absorption, one recent issue advised that coal is the key to our energy future.) </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The latest McSweeney's is always a good read, if you can ignore their bizarre, almost perverse, love affair with Roddy Doyle. OK, I actually read the latest thing for once, and it was a sort of a departure, meaning, not quite as "Commitments"-like. You also have to indulge them in a typical, gratuitously silly short story about a Pontiac Sunfire that enrolls in high school. But I like that they're not afraid to try different things.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But this here bloggy-blog is going to be about comics. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">There are several graphic novels out in the last few months that are worth a peek. I've been playing catch-up on these, as the outlay has gone up, and all the big names get a release date near Christmas. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">For those who don't indulge in this far corner of the literary universe (including those who don't consider it even a </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">part</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> of the literary universe), a bit of recent history: As the alternative comics movement, which traces its lineage back to R. Crumb and Mad magazine, has made a progressively larger impression on the mainstream, with some of the bigger names appearing in the Times and New Yorker etc, the publishing strategy has transitioned from traditional comic book format to a more European "album" format. This means top artists are being seen in nicely bound, even hardback Tintin-style books which appear about once a year. This makes for attractive, more easily accessible complete stories that appeal to the adult they're written for, rather than the booklet form, which adult readers still associate with adolescent entertainment. it also makes for prices in the 15-$25 range, rather than 3-$5, but perhaps I'm getting bitter. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I'll start with a title <a href="http://squishtoid.blogspot.com/2009/12/worlds-mess-its-in-my-kiss.html">I've spoken of before, Love and Rockets</a>, which is a continuing story (30 years, now!), but which contains semi-complete episodes within the larger whole. Love and Rockets New Stories #3 is such a jumping on point. There are several stories written by two brothers, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. Gilbert's stories tend to be bizarre, cinematic and hyper violent. They have their rabid fans and are interesting to me, but I'll concentrate on my favorite of Los Bros, Jaime. He presents three separate but subtly interconnected tales here, and looks to have returned to his "Locas" ( "Crazy Women") storyline after a diversion into a tangentially connected space fantasy. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Two of the tales take place in modern day suburban L.A. and concern his primary heroine, Maggie Chascarillo, and one takes place in 50's Oxnard, CA, and fills in details about Maggie's youth. They're worth reading for their cleanly written dialogue and simple graphic power. You sense the vast backstory underlying the characters, but the subtly interacting narratives here are perfectly functional as independent tales. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">"Wilson" , by "Ghost World" auteur Dan Clowes is a completely self contained book , which actually features a series of blackly humorous one-page gags. There is a complex set of influences in the shifting styles, including "Peanuts" and Mad Magazine, and as we follow the main character, we realize that these gags are interconnected, too, and a satiric narrative on the notion of "family" emerges.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">"Wally Gropius", by Tim Hensley, a newcomer, satirizes 60's comics such as Richie Rich and John Stanley teen comics with a visually kinetic and subversive, sometimes even surreal, sight-gag type humor. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Comics superstar Chris Ware has also published a new episode in his ongoing Acme Novelty Library (#20), and though interconnected with other ongoing characters, this story is actually a stand-alone tale of one person's life and struggle to find meaningful connection. Ware can be a real mope, but his quiet depiction of aging, and his hugely influential design sense which has expanded well beyond the borders of comics and into popular culture at large, make him the first name in modern graphic narrative. Though he will probably never equal his breakthrough masterpiece, "Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth".</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">X'ed Out is the latest opus of Raw Magazine veteran Charles Burns. This may be the most intriguing new book on the list. Raw, which kept the flag flying for cutting edge, adult oriented graphics during the 70's and 80's, has given us many breakthrough artists over the years, such as Art Spiegelman (Maus); Gary Panter (Jimbo, Peewee's Playhouse, and countless Zappa LP covers) and David Sandlin (Land of a Thousand Beers). </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Burns has been contributing to The Believer magazine, and has now released a hardback album format graphic novel, which is not complete, but this is the first segment, so it's a good time to jump in. Burns traffics in the horror that lurks just behind the mundane, and seems to be on his game here. We enter immediately a dream-like mise en scene which carries over even after the main character has "woken up", as if the whole story was the kind of lucid, cyclic dream in which you believe you've awoken, only to realize you are dreaming still. The art is clean and depthlessly noir. We'll have to see if Burns can keep the narrative moving as briskly as the first segment; his last major work, Black Hole, did seem to bog down a bit. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">You can get a nice, inexpensive overview of current efforts by these and other artists by seeking out The Anthology of Graphic Fiction by Ivan Brunetti, which seems to have entered the close out market. Brunetti, with out getting didactic, tries to link all the diverse strands of this movement toward comics' artistic maturity, and even throws in a few of the lesser known classics of the newspaper era. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia; min-height: 19.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Georgia"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Ultimately, the recent history of graphic fiction and humor is one of censorship and marginalization. Creative magnificence abounds, as well as truly affecting characterization, but as with 80's and 90's Rock, there's no way to see what you've been denied until you just jump in. </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-25817117789019532082011-01-25T13:03:00.000-08:002011-01-27T17:09:03.834-08:00State of the Squish<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvtC96RiwDmxrPBu8A0mvNzwJ02VzlrLHQXh7gcKmTKeq3h6bX3mWG_MbZaYViTh9qBz_iXlGMk7pZKWWIpnrMSqD6Au7m71-wxZ2tMLDXcx1whu5RHr0GZW2RU_xn0AYZpfIaC_XXBqZ/s1600/35797_412770628565_68715838565_4513620_3696159_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvtC96RiwDmxrPBu8A0mvNzwJ02VzlrLHQXh7gcKmTKeq3h6bX3mWG_MbZaYViTh9qBz_iXlGMk7pZKWWIpnrMSqD6Au7m71-wxZ2tMLDXcx1whu5RHr0GZW2RU_xn0AYZpfIaC_XXBqZ/s400/35797_412770628565_68715838565_4513620_3696159_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567033987769339906" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Room of Remembrance, Monotype, 15x22"</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I'm going to wrap up a few odds and ends as I gear up for Spring. I've spent most of January spamming people. Or hopefully, bac'ning them. Bacn being the kind of spam that you voluntarily sign up for because you have a genuine interest in the subject matter. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As </span><a href="http://squishtoid.blogspot.com/2011/01/update-i-love-this-time-of-year-as-days.html#comments"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">outlined in my last post</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, I've been trying to upgrade my presence on the web, and also took on social media duties for a couple of groups I'm a member of. I have a ton of workshops and shows coming up this year, and social media can really help one get the word out. Here are a couple of examples:</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">As you may know, I've joined <a href="http://zip37.com/zip37/Joe_Higgins.html">Zip 37 Gallery</a> in Denver, and will have work hanging there at all times, in their wonderful back room gallery. Each member has a little space for mostly small work, and many people already use it for one-stop art shopping. I'm handling their Twitter account, too, as well as my own. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I'll be starting my next workshop in early March, and <a href="http://registration.asld.org/CatalogSearch.aspx">it is registering now</a>. It's designed to be a good introduction to Monotypes, but I also have return students who like to continue their explorations, and I try to accommodate both. It is a great way to start off a Tuesday morning; bring your coffee!</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I've also posted a few images from 2010 ( including the one above) on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=284440&id=68715838565">my Facebook page </a>as a review of sorts, with my commentary. Check it out, and if you'd like regular updates on shows and workshops, as well as new work, click "Like".</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I also need to briefly update the post on the </span><a href="http://squishtoid.blogspot.com/2010/12/time-for-schoolin.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Tea Baggers' ironic ignorance</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> of history in the light of recent events. I don't intend this to be a solely political blog, but the querulous effort to repeal Health Care reform, definitely affects those of us in the creative and small business economy, and so is relevant to what I am trying to do. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The GOP right's insincere promise to abandon their characteristic vitriol after the Tucson shootings went quickly up in smoke as they moved to reward their health industry sponsors with a "repeal" of the Health Care Reform Law. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This legislative charade has no chance of success, but offered a nice opportunity to go back to the name calling ("Obamacare") and outright lies they'd used to scare up the Faux News crowd originally. Even the name of their repeal bill ("Jobs-Killing-Health-Care") is a proven lie. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The numbers cited (650,000) link it to a non-partisan CBO report which actually notes the potentially POSITIVE effect of people leaving their jobs when they are no longer tied to corporate-offered Health Care. For example, to start businesses; or enter the creative economy. To innovate; to follow the American Dream. There is, to be fair, also a slight effect on the McJobs portion of the economy, which look good in Government reports, but do nothing to narrow the quickly widening wealth gap. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Having paraded that dog through the House of Representatives, the right then ponied up for their ultra conservative base by announcing that next on the agenda would be yet another attempt to erode Americans' right to reproductive choice. Not only is this narrow-minded and vindictive, it's plain stupid. At a time when the American public has sent a clear message in recent polls that the bi-partisan progress late in the 111th Congress met their approval, the GOP insists on revisiting past defeats in the Culture Wars. It's as if the Buffalo Bills demanded a replay of all their Superbowls. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">This is a party that has completely "lost the plot". As we are reminded on Martin Luther King Day (the conservative's least favorite holiday), you cannot redeem the promise of American freedom without progress, and change. The Tea Baggers actually do have ways they can contribute to progress, such as in deficit reduction, which they have completely ignored when there are no elections in sight. The last President to balance the budget? a Democrat. His successor, the Deciderator, went "nuculer", and set a record for deficits. And their only substantive response to the Tucson tragedy has been shrill screeching about proposed common sense limits on high capacity clips for automatic weaponry. </span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The State of the Union rebuttals? Just a photo op for every Palin wanna-be that wants to tap into the anger of Tea Bagger booboisie. The deficit will never be eliminated without tax reform that includes increased revenues from the very rich, period. Targeting discretionary spending on already stripped-to-the-bone programs for arts, NPR and education are a straw man for GOP 2012 ambitions, and Obama has beaten them to the punch, anyway, as past grudges are vented in the House. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">The right wing GOP/Tea Baggers continue to be the party of fear, demagoguery and narrow self interest. Their biggest lie of all? Calling themselves "patriots". Real patriots would get down to work on real problems, not be staring into space on Faux News, trying to cover talking points for the next election. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><br /></p>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-31174660051372217032011-01-20T09:52:00.000-08:002011-01-20T12:54:13.454-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVK6lwHZnQzRBXqjTPBSO3DbBCUr5hPfobd07YeYRJqTFXmxseVUQZkIT-lkSn1FBHpvrnkMKcftPaCzxxaHoFMeCIsTb37OcrK39jacdQuclozxXd-pVQ90kHew0r1PTZI9tFvfqGIpCW/s1600/IMG_1614.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVK6lwHZnQzRBXqjTPBSO3DbBCUr5hPfobd07YeYRJqTFXmxseVUQZkIT-lkSn1FBHpvrnkMKcftPaCzxxaHoFMeCIsTb37OcrK39jacdQuclozxXd-pVQ90kHew0r1PTZI9tFvfqGIpCW/s400/IMG_1614.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564372279775996370" /></a><br /><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Update:</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> I love this time of year, as the days brighten a bit. It's also a good time for a fresh start in the studio, and I plan on some sketchbook time with new ideas later. I'll post some of these, as well as work from the end of 2010. But first, I'll wrap up some recent posts.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">My <a href="http://squishtoid.blogspot.com/2011/01/cold-fusion.html">"techie week"</a> went pretty well, all things considered. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Class-VI-Rapids-Supporters/132528190145413">Launched a FB page</a> for the soccer supporters group, and took over the <a href="http://twitter.com/#zip37gallery">Twitter account for the gallery</a>. I realize this is simple stuff for the generation that doesn't remember lp vinyl, but it's a somewhat slow process for one who remembers watching the Kennedy Inaugural on b&w TV. Social media come with a new learning curve, but I also need to clear the decks for the ancient technology of making monotypes.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">New media are important business tools, but spending a lot of time on them to the detriment of studio time is frustrating. However, the only real way to smooth the learning process of marketing in social media that really works is to just jump in and do it. it isn't so surprising that those of a certain age didn't realize that making art was a business when they started. But many of us now realize that making art without a Facebook account these days makes about as much business sense as making pizza without a delivery truck. I secretly suspect some in my age group of pooh-poohing these new media simply because they know the learning curve will be steep. And it is. </span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial; min-height: 18.0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Then each new medium seems to open up a whole host of other tech mysteries. One finds many eager to compare notes on the head spinning profusion of new technology. My neighbor is an architecture professor at the University of Colorado at Denver. Because there is online teaching involved, he's had to become familiar with certain Open Source applications and Wiki technology (with the help of University IT, he was thankful to say). My brother also extolls Open Source, which he uses for animation and e-publishing. I've enjoyed several Wiki's related to one of my favorite authors, Pynchon. It's all intriguing stuff. But my initial reaction is much like Popeye's after one of those spinning Bluto roundhouse rights: aigetty, aigetty!</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> I'll continue to tinker with the </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joe-Higgins/68715838565"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Facebook page</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">, and you can also </span><a href="http://twitter.com/#hggns"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">find me on Twitter</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">. One of the biggest challenges for me is learning how to keep the posts regular and substantive. But now, the library wants their "Facebook Marketing for Dummies" book back, and it's time to carve out a little time for a technology I'm familiar with, pencil and sketchbook.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 16.0px Arial"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></p><div><br /></div><p></p>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-1250927531455500472011-01-10T15:36:00.000-08:002011-01-10T16:18:32.715-08:00Cold 'fusion<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEIjJSNlRbAOMIWeT9VUvXznEh3qPSzDZ8w0oerQJHxvEZrrCYEH3TBHSYVGu8NDdVGNhEwK8bbYOnGkuWtMi0HIvJTQQtJ2gsfFjVaoQReTl7Vj3Tg6JAlPPNa3K_Tg67CuFvALfNOJV/s1600/DSCN1269.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEIjJSNlRbAOMIWeT9VUvXznEh3qPSzDZ8w0oerQJHxvEZrrCYEH3TBHSYVGu8NDdVGNhEwK8bbYOnGkuWtMi0HIvJTQQtJ2gsfFjVaoQReTl7Vj3Tg6JAlPPNa3K_Tg67CuFvALfNOJV/s400/DSCN1269.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560715011396727954" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Winter finally </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">did</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"> arrive here, 6-7 inches worth, along with the frigid local tradition known as "Stock Show Weather", named after the National Western Stock Show. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I don't mind. We need the moisture; it'd been mostly 50's with sun all through December- and I have a long list of computer projects to catch up on. Checking my pantry- veggie burgers, beans, bacon- Hey! Somebody send beer, quick!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Well, never mind. Weather droid says it'll be back to 50 by the end of the week, anyway. So now's a good time to sit down and focus on some computer projects. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I've become a new member at ZIP37 Gallery, and my contribution there is to take over the Twitter account( stop laughing, please). I've actually been tweeting more on my own account, @hggns, as a result of walking into a soccer party, and one of the young tech-savvy friends there saying: "Boy, you don't tweet much, do you?" Well, no. But I knew I was a logical candidate for running the ZIP account, when one of the other, similarly middle-aged, artists confessed that she hadn't figured out how to make labels on the computer yet. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So I'm trying. Twitter lists me with 35 followers, and 189 tweets. I'm informed that I've been listed in "Good Tweets 2" by a fellow tweeter in the creative economy, and I hope to find what that is (Is there a cash award?) , but I'm honored. And in my own defense, for the first two years of my Twitter account, I didn't actually own a cell phone. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Now I'm trying to get in the habit of tweeting on a regular basis, and taking over the ZIP account fits right in with that. I'll also be posting video of each show to the Zip Facebook page, something I started doing when I took over The Class VI Colorado Rapids Supporters Group page, all of which actually fits in with stuff I want to do on my Joe Higgins Monotypes page. I may be confused and over-extended now, but soon I'll be very tech-savvy, and over-extended. Or maybe I'll just retire to the bar.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Any way, check back here and on my Facebook page ( link at right) soon, as I'm reading up on how to better use them, and there will be interesting changes ongoing. I promise I won't be videotaping the inside of my pocket, as I did the first time I set out to create content for Class VI. </span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-89783958896053060852010-12-28T13:05:00.000-08:002011-01-04T13:14:08.273-08:00Time for Schoolin'<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Tea Baggers are abandoning national priorities they are uniquely qualified to contribute to in favor of another battle in their ongoing war on the middle class and the American healthcare system. And why? Because they flunked American History, not to mention Civics.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The holidays, for me, are the time of year for friends and talk, and reading. I like to take a little staycation of the mind and consider the year gone by and the one to come. One can't help but think about life, art and politics, and the connections between. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A couple of things I've recently read come to mind. First up, in the New Yorker, is <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/12/20/101220crbo_books_crain">an account of the rather spotty tale of the first Tea Party</a>, in which merchants like Sam Adams and Hancock were far more interested in inciting mobs to protect their smuggling businesses and prop up their prices than actual patriotism. It's an article of faith with the conservatives that the Boston Tea Party was the epitome of patriotic fervor that united the colonies, but both Washington and Franklin, along with a huge segment of the colonial populace, deplored it and it was really the ham handed reaction by Parliament that brought calls for a Continental Congress, and consequent colonial unity of purpose. Ultimately, it was left to progressive thinkers among the Founding Fathers to focus the mobs on truly unified and progressive patriotism, and thanks to "England's dreaming" good things eventually happened.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Now, after a very productive lame duck session, in which several Republicans bolted the lockstep agenda of "No" their leaders had for political purposes employed, and actually contributed to important legislation, the Tea Baggers/GOP are now insisting on a return to "No".</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As in, no immigration reform, no deficit reduction, no tax reform. These are all crucial issues that the GOP is uniquely capable of contributing to, and politically benefitting from, if they work together with mainstream legislators in the Dems and in their own party. And judging by wide ranging approval of the stimulus and other accomplishments of the 111th Congress, it would be in their interest to do so. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The leadership has instead decided that a vindictive war on the American Health System, and tarring and feathering Obama must be top priority in their ongoing crusade to enlarge the wealth and income gap at the expense of the middle class. So let's have a return to gridlock!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> The agenda of No is an agenda of merchant profiteering and states rights. Let's see, manipulation of angry boobs by rich merchants to keep prices high, and social progress stalled. Sound familiar? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The only way for this to succeed, to paraphrase, is for true patriots to say nothing. The nation could be spared a lot of grief if the Tea Baggers and states righters would simply look past their anger and self interest to see that they are on the wrong side. Again.</span></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Something even a child could see.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In the Times' Opinionator blog, which is now running an excellent real time review of the Civil War's seminal events in anticipation of the 150th anniverseary of that essential struggle, one of the current posts concerns the cleverness of Major Robert Anderson to outwit the Confederate militias, and withdraw his men to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, where the first shots of the war were fired in the name of states' rights. That left other forts in the harbor undefended, and one was held with only a token force: an officer, an enlisted man and his daughter were left to await </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; ">occupation </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; ">by a large Confederate militia</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large; ">. T<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/a-coup-de-main-in-charleston-harbor/?scp=2&sq=Katie%20Skillen&st=cse">he Sergeant's daughter Katie Skillen, as the American flag was lowered to be replaced with a Confederate banner</a>, burst into tears. The militiamen assured her that she wouldn't be hurt, but that wasn't what she feared. It was the raising of "that dirty thing", the banner of states' rights, that saddened her. As it should any thinking person.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Similarly, the Tea Baggers waving "that dirty thing", are trusting that we don't know our history. States' rights, once used to justify slavery and segregation, is now being trotted out by the corporate interests to derail Healthcare Reform.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But that won't happen. It's going to be a long tough struggle, and free thinking Americans will need a bit of Katie Skillen's wit, pluck and sass. But the militias of greed and self interest will in the end be defeated. Again.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-91061269293345858992010-12-19T13:07:00.000-08:002010-12-19T13:39:07.194-08:00Doesn't Follow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5jDnce6Zwy-jo8EN5aFOcc9mFTGy7xgq9o6TbuwwTmWz6VZMzSR5kAusghnMebaCX1vNVb-xSuLLcfdqWSHy9Rd_7lYCDDXT631FPci20D7J6vx-RiX0BkWCZpx8Xh-OqC9BeMyFQgC3/s1600/DSC03425.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 292px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5jDnce6Zwy-jo8EN5aFOcc9mFTGy7xgq9o6TbuwwTmWz6VZMzSR5kAusghnMebaCX1vNVb-xSuLLcfdqWSHy9Rd_7lYCDDXT631FPci20D7J6vx-RiX0BkWCZpx8Xh-OqC9BeMyFQgC3/s400/DSC03425.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552511053676675938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72HYp_vffGfWsjAxxNsoTPLdIrmqjSKX5oens_h_ItHN8WAF6pRNFs5zLHDXvVbO1bzXS_mzTN2t16phkZiZjGUgGJq1by6WL33Jk8KXdEA_4XxcR5sOLfqJ62PGfbjtW0fyD4FjJu6SN/s1600/%25232higgins.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 295px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj72HYp_vffGfWsjAxxNsoTPLdIrmqjSKX5oens_h_ItHN8WAF6pRNFs5zLHDXvVbO1bzXS_mzTN2t16phkZiZjGUgGJq1by6WL33Jk8KXdEA_4XxcR5sOLfqJ62PGfbjtW0fyD4FjJu6SN/s400/%25232higgins.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552511047889624386" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I have to say, I crack myself up a little when I do this stuff, and am not totally convinced that anyone else really gets the joke. This is a ghost of a fairly experimental picture that I called "Incomplete Still Life", which contained the distressed table and distorted perspective of a floor, or maybe even a DiChirico-like plain. Weird enough. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Then, on a second drop I added a black squall in the upper left, possibly as a result of too much LSD in the younger day. I think it's pretty clear this pic has no real coherence, unless you count the synaptic mysteries of a visual non sequitur. Which I do, so of course this is one of my favorite pieces.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">It's pretty rare that one of my favorites actually sells; this one did last year about this time. So I guess someone got the joke. Actually it was a couple that very often get my jokes, they have a large collection of my work. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I have a show scheduled in August, so I'll need to get to work on some larger stuff after the holidays. I'll be looking for something visually arbitrary and disconnected, yet vivid and very present tense. That's the best I can explain a print like this. </span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-10908394828520118022010-12-16T11:59:00.000-08:002010-12-16T12:12:52.956-08:00Blu Xmas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oKNjZGY_KaHrJ3jvNnOdgschq2NjD_XkxOAasj75jUaEeMwYZWP-mOK2f6vPD1RCl1TXA6g4pjPXam3ihGZ_i1MB0hFDfnefHn9aN9Aj4qzY_2LMQaOj4JXzxOqtfKpPBXpOazHY4tKB/s1600/DSCN1201.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 387px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oKNjZGY_KaHrJ3jvNnOdgschq2NjD_XkxOAasj75jUaEeMwYZWP-mOK2f6vPD1RCl1TXA6g4pjPXam3ihGZ_i1MB0hFDfnefHn9aN9Aj4qzY_2LMQaOj4JXzxOqtfKpPBXpOazHY4tKB/s400/DSCN1201.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551374078779224802" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i>Blu Xmas, Acrylic, 12x12"</i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">My friend Dea down at Plastic Chapel on Colfax invited me to enter her Square Footage show. Plastic Chapel mostly sells cutting edge toys and collectibles, such as Smorkin' Labbits, and Neo-Realism in her small gallery. So I decided something fun was in order. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Here's what I came up with, a tribute to all the fun alterna-babes who've kept me company in the Colfax dive bars during holidays when I couldn't get home. </span></span></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">I've always wanted to do more cartoons, but haven't had a lot of time till now. I've been sketching more 'toons, and I'm resolving to finish more of them. I'm also going to dig out my early cartoons done for my high school paper and scan them. All this after I had a reunion with high school buddy Spencer this year, when he mentioned them. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Most of them are pretty weird and twisted, so they'll fit right in to this blog!</span></span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2967193202184339760.post-11234293833404808912010-12-13T11:46:00.000-08:002010-12-13T17:22:10.277-08:00Checkin' the List<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Sun breaking through the clouds after a gray morning; shimmering on the lake, shining on dry fallen leaves. I'm on my second pot of coffee, catching up on blog and Facebook posting, and sorting work for a group show at Zip37 gallery.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Last year at this time, I didn't have a lot to do, so I mostly read. It was very relaxing, but I was dead broke, to be honest, which isn't that much fun. I realized that I needed new revenue streams, however small, to tide me through the slow months, when there were no major shows. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">So I got to work, dropping off flyers at art supply stores to fill workshops, going on eBay to sell books for extra, well, book money, and doing odd jobs for friends and family. I even got a temporary job, filling in at a college bookstore. Now things are better, but I don't really have a lot of time to read. I decided to fix that, and walked up to the branch library to pick up some books. First one I saw was a Facebook Marketing for Dummies type of thing, and since my marketing has been sort of... dumb, I picked it up. A real busman's holiday, there! Now I've joined a co-op gallery in North Denver where I can have work available all the time, but of course, I need to frame work to fill the wall. And on and on. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">But as I learned from the temporary bookstore job, it's a lot more fun to plan your own tasks than have them assigned to you ( though the bookstore is a very pleasant place to work). I'm not really killing myself, but there is usually something on my to-do list. None of which provides a regular paycheck, but all of which seems related to the overall cause. Even the studio time is pretty un-romantic right now. I haven't really created any new images in a month. I've mostly been inking etching plates to complete my many unfinished editions, some of which will become holiday gifts, others which will be offered for sale in the gallery and next summer's shows. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">People don't have a lot of understanding of what artists do. Some romanticize it, making reference to some sort of vaguely divine gift while protesting that they can't even "draw a stick figure". I tell them that it's mostly about working at it, putting in time, practicing, but they don't really want to hear that, I guess. Some are a bit patronizing; "you are so lucky to be able to do what you want", and some frankly, are plain clueless- "I want you to paint my child's wall with a unicorn."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">If the long litany of little tasks that fill my days sounds like complaining, let me reassure you- I'm having a great time. But the arts are this state's 5th largest employer, and contribute greatly to the slowly improving economy. Let's stop pretending it's magic, or child's play, or some sort of overgrown hobby, though all those are certainly part of it. Mostly it's just hard work. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">One more factoid- your holiday dollars, when spent on the arts, tend to return very quickly into your local economy (try me!). Unlike Walmart, the arts work very hard for your money. </span></div>hggnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03127649132409913292noreply@blogger.com0