Wandering Artist's Journal

When we, as individuals, as a culture, as a country, are making decisions like what to eat, whether to go to war, how to educate our children, where to put our resources, how to govern . . . we need to be able to imagine the possible outcomes from our decisions. Not exploring those possible outcomes, leaves us at the mercy of outside forces that lead us to and fro, like a bunch of school children on a field trip to the zoo. It ends with the gorilla in his cage, watching as half the children shout, "I like zebras!" and the other half shout, "Elephants rule!" Fully exploring those options requires intellect, knowledge, and imagination. Or, experience with logic, memory and creativity. Music, literature, and visual art were developed over thousands of years as ways of transmitting vital knowledge (stories of what-if) and exploring new ways of thinking. But now the arts have come to be seen as peripheral, inconsequential, entertainment. It's no wonder they are prim...

not my best art experience that day Just had a mind-blowing art walkabout yesterday that started with the TV themed art at Creativity Explored and and ended with William Kentridge's muti-layered retro-techno films at SFMOMA . In between, I saw Edward Hopper, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus and other classic American image makers at the Fraenkel . Plus, some terrific paintings at ArtZone 461 and White Walls . As well as SECA winner Trevor Paglen 's geographic art photography. Went to quite a few more places but those are the ones I'll write about, over on BAArtQuake , over the next few days.

I've been thinking about communication strategies. Email is serviceable but almost as musty as snail mail (with more junk.) Static HTML web pages get as much action as those colorprint flyers stacked in plastic holders in the windows of local cafes. These days your message has to be short and to the point and you better be ready for feedback. A shifting, amorphous, multi-layered conversation is taking place and you can join in or you can put up a few post(er)s and hope the participants glance your way. So. My old web site is coming down in a few weeks. My images will live on Flickr , Blogger , Facebook , and TwitPic . My thoughts will roam from Blogger and Flickr , to Facebook , to Twitter , depending on length and content. The computer is moved out of the studio, so I can focus on just painting when I'm there. Plus, I log most of my "computer" time on a mobile device now. I'm finally getting out to see more shows again and I'll be experimenting with w...

Trying out the blog from iPhone function.

Jane Grossenbacher's memorial was yesterday. Jane was the most life-affirming person I've known. She hated "killing time" - playing cards fell into that category, as far as Jane was concerned. One of the last things she told us was "The only good thing about dying now, is I don't have to learn digital photography." Her ashes will be buried in a secret place near Taos. I didn't stay for the meal after the service, because I was too sad to talk (or eat.) But I'll never forget her. Jane's web site Jane's last show More photos on Flickr Jane's big printmaking party Jane's Obit Jane's Guest Book

The painting, "Hope" by victorian artist George Frederic Watts , is apparently the inspiration for Jeremiah Wright's sermon on "The Audacity of Hope", which inspired Barack Obama. From the Christian Science Monitor : Entitled "Hope," the canvas hanging inside London's Guildhall Art Gallery as part of an exhibition by Victorian painter George Frederic Watts might appear unremarkable to some. In drab browns and grays on a blue background, it depicts a young blindfolded woman strumming on the last unbroken string of a harp, her ear to the instrument. Obama's controversial former pastor Jeremiah Wright invoked the image as a symbol of inspiration during a sermon in Chicago 20 years ago. The harpist, he preached, "is sitting there in rags ... her clothes are tattered as though she had been a victim of Hiroshima… [yet] the woman had the audacity to hope." ...