Greta Songe, New (drawing) Painting

Greta Songe sent me this drawing, and it is pretty endearing. Cute little mauve fish, and the background is well done too.

Greta wrote that she used walnut ink to make part of this, and I have always been curious about walnut ink. It must be the warm brown wash used for the background/wallpaper.

Thanks Greta!

Cece Cole, New Work

Here is a look at Cece Cole's new work. Some really interesting things are happening in these drawings. The play between hand drawn and reproduced image is interesting, and the images are not always pictures either.

These drawings can really get inside your head and wiggle around. I am not sure if that makes sense, but I think what I mean to say is that the drawings play with your perceptions and the way you organize them, and when you view the work it interacts with your normal systems of picture viewing.

Thanks Cece!

David Dunlap and Jesse Albrecht

I admire these guys: Jesse Albrecht and David Dunlap, here they are holding a drawing that they made together.

Jesse went to school with me, and David was one of our professors. Knowing them has changed my life in subtle ways.

For instance to hear David talk about how when he was young he tried so hard to carve out an identity among his peers with his art, to seperate himself, and now he will tell you it is better to be involved with other people making art together. He built a pool in his backyard beneath a walnut tree, when the walnuts fell they stained the water and made the pool water into ink, so David started an ink farm. It took me 5 years to appreciate that appropriately.

Jesse makes gigantic ceramic statues which resemble columns or warheads or urns, and creates representational reliefs that wrap around the form. One example is a snake unhinging its jaw to swallow a self-portrait of Jesse when he was a baby. Great big images that someone can sink their thoughts into.

Thanks David!

Thanks Jesse!

You're not Listening Loud Enough - The Portraits of Joseph Patrick

Joe Patrick was my professor at the University of Iowa. He taught a legendary life drawing class that I was lucky enough to be a student in. He emailed me these photos today, and they are from his show of portrait drawings at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids Iowa.

I remember when Joe was explaining to me how he came to enjoy the music of Tom Waits. Dan Attoe had given Joe a couple of Tom Waits albums to listen too. Joe went home and listened to the CDs and he told Dan that he did not care for the music, Dan told him that wasn't listening to the music loud enough. So Joe went back and listened to the music louder, came back and pronounced the music as very good!

It is this kind of hidden distinction and detail that Joe has boundless enthusiasm for, and is always ready to point out: the music is only good when played loudly.

Joe also creates landscapes and urban scenes, they are oil paintings, based on his sometime home in Mexico:

Thank you Joe!

I found something and I was not looking for anything

I started reading a pretty famous book about Zen, The Beginners Mind, that I made fun of when my father gave it to me as a birthday present. It is really interesting, and has a lot of genuinely profound insight.

I think this book could hurt no one, and help most people.

Click here to see the book, and 2 others

especially click it if your life is crazy, or if you feel like your brain is a chaotic swirl of mashed potatoes, pasta sauce, and a show from the adult swim programming on cartoon network.

Dan Attoe is a Genius

Link to Dan Attoe at Peres Projects

When I think of Dan I always remember this poem by Charles Bukowski called the Best, and I dont know if I legally can post it here, but CB wouldnt care cause hes dead anyways:


Worst And Best


in the hospitals and jails
it's the worst
in madhouses
it's the worst
in penthouses
it's the worst
in skid row flophouses
it's the worst
at poetry readings
at rock concerts
at benefits for the disabled
it's the worst
at funerals
at weddings
it's the worst
at parades
at skating rinks
at sexual orgies
it's the worst
at midnight
at 3 a.m.
at 5:45 p.m.
it's the worst
falling through the sky
firing squads
that's the best
thinking of India
looking at popcorn stands
watching the bull get the matador
that's the best
boxed lightbulbs
an old dog scratching
peanuts in a celluloid bag
that's the best
spraying roaches
a clean pair of stockings
natural guts defeating natural talent
that's the best
in front of firing squads
throwing crusts to seagulls
slicing tomatoes
that's the best
rugs with cigarette burns
cracks in sidewalks
waitresses still sane
that's the best

my hands dead
my heart dead
silence
adagio of rocks
the world ablaze
that's the best
for me.