Twenty Twenty-One • I’m starting the new year by photographing the same object I’ve photographed on New Year’s Day for the last few years. Though we’re in a new time space, the same sentiments remain. Love, light, joy, peace, health, prosperity and abundance are already active and alive within all of us. Let’s harness and utilize all of this as we collectively move forward into this new phase of beautiful possibilities. Remember, you are worthy of creating amazing things and every thought, dream, idea and desire is yours, mine and ours if we believe it, allow it and use our powers properly as we actualize our manifold designs. Happy New Year, friends and as always... Stay illuminated.
Bright, Warm Small Town Sunny Day
Over Train Tracks
Just Me & The Moon
Fresh Flakes Brightening The New Year
Sunday Morning Snow
Setting Up My Energy For 2021 On The Turntable • Donna Summer • Odyssey • Grace Jones • The Gap Band • Ohio Players • First Choice • OKAY... STORY TIME: On my first and (so far) only trip to Las Vegas, I arrived with a group of people at 1:30 AM and we wasted no time in hitting the strip. I was hungry, so I bought a turkey sandwich and a soda and proceeded to eat and drink as we walked along Las Vegas Boulevard. Dazed and nearly directionless, we trod through the sweltering heat surrounded by drunk tourists in Ed Hardy gear, many of them drinking from long fluorescent flasks. The heat, jet lag and multi-sensory stimuli really did a number on me and I felt very disoriented as we found ourselves stalled on the packed sidewalk in front of Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall And Saloon. My sweat switched to cold chills as the air conditioning from inside the casino washed over me through a set of open doors and the sounds of “You Dropped The Bomb On Me” by The Gap Band filled my ears. Looking into the casino vestibule, I could see the bottom half of three pole dancers on a raised platform gyrating to this 1982 funk classic, their upper halves blocked by the incandescence of the brightly lit entry way. All in a moment, I became aware of the gestalt of my surroundings: 24 hour gambling, legal drinking on the street, available sandwiches and soda in the middle of the night, drunk tourists, 80s funk, an air conditioned sidewalk and (of course) pole dancers. Then it hit me... This is the most “American” thing I have ever witnessed and this entire strip is a simulation of some people’s ideas of the USA... A hyperbolic theme park that could be called Super America World. Years later, I can’t listen to The Gap Band without calling back the many layers of sense memory that colored that moment. I guess whatever happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay there. Winner winner! Chicken dinner!
6 January 2021 - THIS IS NOT AMERICA
Peace • Quiet • Normalcy • No Filter
Happy Birthday David Bowie
12 January 2021 - 40RTY 8IGHT #nofilter
8 / 48 • 1981 / 2021 • 40 Years Later
Thanks to my friend
Steve Sizer
for making my dearly departed twin brother / imaginary friend Timmy who got “killed by a pizza truck” in 1977 (according to me) a “Negative 44th Birthday cake”.
How do you teach art remotely? This is a question I am repeatedly asked, so here’s some insight on that. Currently, the high school is all virtual for students. Staff is still working from inside the building for most of the work day. Whether we are all virtual or hybrid (with students having the option to attend school on a staggered schedule or learn remotely) I use a 1080P webcam that I purchased on Amazon. This device can be clipped to my computer monitor or moved as far as the cord will stretch. Lately I’ve been doing colored pencil and watercolor demonstrations for some classes with my eyes moving from my drawing to my photo reference on the screen. All the while I have to keep an eye on the area of the monitor which shows my live feed to make sure that the camera in my left hand is picking up the technical activity of my right hand, doing my best to move the device in such a way as to give the class both wide and tight shots as I render and layer. As this occurs, the floor is open for dialogue and questions. For other classes, when it’s time for discussing works that students are completing or refining, images of work are uploaded into a group or “team” space for discussion. In addition, I receive many direct messages (at all hours) with any number of technical, conceptual or procedural questions, many accompanied by photos of work in progress. Sometimes these require a short response on my part. At other times, the message exchange can become very detailed and more voluminous. These are just some of the many ways that educators like myself across all disciplines are using technology to meet the challenges of our global pandemic. With that, I’d like to remind everybody within reach of this message to stay safe, remain calm and look for every possible opportunity to continue to do what you do with inventiveness and optimism. We are all still in this together. Oh... and one more thing... ART DOESN’T QUIT.
Early Morning • I Remain Optimistic
What a year these past two weeks have been.
Moving Onward • Toward A Better Tomorrow.