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.