Part two of the Covid-19 era visual diary.
Items of the moment and items of the past.
Good Afternoon, Friends. This is my living room.
It’s where I spend a lot of time making art, enjoying movies
and music and lately it’s become a broadcast station from
which I’ve been holding live Facebook and Instagram chats.
Since I can’t have guests due to social distancing I’m happy
to open my home to you the next best way I know how...
with images and live video. Drop in sometime, why don’t you?
I can't believe Schitt's Creek is over.
I’ve been keeping up with current events while social
distancing because it’s important to stay informed.
Say... Who’s this Debbie Harry person I keep reading
about? She seems like a talented young lady with a
bright future. That Bo Derek seems a bit salacious, though.
Magazine Archive: Laugh-In (1968-69)
These 4 issues of Laugh-In Magazine (complete with Goldie Hawn
centerfold) are recent additions to my collection of Rowan & Martin’s
Laugh-In memorabilia and my vintage magazine archive. I’ve also
been unplugging from current events with the Rowan & Martin’s
Laugh-In DVD box set, which includes all episodes of the show from
1968 - 1973. All 6 seasons of Laugh-In are also available to watch in
full on Amazon Prime for those who (like me) can appreciate an
escapist, psychedelic throwback. SOCK IT TO ME! Could it be called
an immersive, high energy look at 1960s & 1970s pop culture
through the lens of music and comedy? YOU BET YOUR SWEET
BIPPY! Be safe and keep smiling, friends.
I caved to peer pressure and did the #UntilTomorrow thing.
Sketchbook • Another Classroom Drawing
Student Sculpture Drawn On The Cover Of A 1960s
Layout Pad • Today marks the end of two weeks of
distance / digital schooling and two weeks since I’ve
been in my classroom with my students. Nine days before
school shut down for the corona virus, I posted a photo of
the interior of my quiet classroom with the lights off and
the reflected sunlight from the windshields of parked cars
projected in steep diagonals across the ceiling. A friend who
saw the photo noted the mood of the image and told me “It’s
like you’ve already said goodbye.” I will admit that I did hear
prescient messages and had some premonitions of a disruption
to work and life rhythms before Covid 19 closed in but I couldn’t
have predicted how far its reach would become. Regardless, I’m
staying upbeat, productive and positive. I believe there are
lessons to be learned here, projects to create and achievements to
accomplish while we are all social distancing. I’ve just
filled the last page of sketchbook number 152, photographed
it cover to cover and placed it in storage with the others.
Sketchbooks 153 and 154 are being filled concurrently and new
fine art pieces are in development. I’ll continue to share images
along with my thoughts and good wishes to all. Thanks to all
who have connected to the genuine good vibes and positivity
I’ve worked to share in the wake of all this madness. We may
all affected by this in different ways but each of us STILL
gets to choose what defines us... now and moving forward.
Don’t let anything stop you from creating yourself.
27 March 1990 • 30 Years Ago Today
Vogue by Madonna was released and nothing would ever be the same.
I first saw voguing in a New York City nightclub. In simpler, less
restrictive times a 16 year old could easily be given entry to Roxy,
Palladium, Roseland, Limelight or The Ritz. Whether or not someone
had “put you on the list”, if you looked somewhat right, whoever was
working the door would put their clipboard down and unhook the
gilded metal end of the barrier that separated the sidewalk standees
from the party people: The Velvet Rope. Okay. Picture it: The Roxy.
1989. I’m 16 and (sort of) cute... just figuring out my look and my
life. Beautiful boys and girls surround me in a sweep of confrontational,
angular dance moves that look like Egyptian art poses. As these living
hieroglyphics glide in and out of position, a silky voice from the
sound system sings “In my black tights just throwing shade / doing
this dance that some queen made” over a thumping series of beats.
The song was “Deep In Vogue” by Malcolm McLaren. I would
later hear the term vogue used to describe these moves and learn
that voguing had started at Harlem Drag Balls. Elements of that
scene had begun to make their way downtown to the West Village.
This crossover was about to give way to a global explosion with the
release of a song by Madonna which almost didn’t get released
and almost became the B-side of another single. Luckily, this infectious
dance track (recorded quickly the previous winter by Madonna
and Shep Pettibone) was given priority by the artist, Warner Bros.
Records, radio and MTV (which gave it heavy rotation). My father
and I watched the video premiere with great anticipation two days
after the single hit the stores and airwaves. MTV was running it
hourly for a whole night and with each viewing, I found myself
further hypnotized by the song and video’s luxurious modern elegance.
Drawing references from classic cinema, fashion and photography
I truly felt I was watching a 1930s Hollywood movie with a fresh
1990s soundtrack whose sole message was “you are beautiful”.
Thank you, Madonna. Teenage Me needed to hear that.
WE ALL NEEDED TO HEAR THAT.
Chu-Bops Bubble Gum Records (1980)
SWEET MEMORIES: When I was a kid, my Dad would walk me to
the 7-Eleven store near our apartment in Staten Island, New York.
Though only a few blocks away, it was just far enough from home
that I needed adult supervision when going there. In those days,
7-Eleven was the hot spot for cool kid stuff: WPIX promotional
3-D glasses to coincide with their special TV broadcasts of
House Of Wax or Creature From The Black Lagoon, Kerbangers,
Deely-Boppers, Flippy Flyers and these... Chu-Bops. Each of
these tiny album covers carried a grooved, record shaped disc
of bubble gum and a lyric sheet. The first one I selected at age
7 was Voulez Vous by ABBA. Having been a pop music fan from
a very young age, I collected others by Blondie (the original
of which I have framed with an autographed, hand written Debbie Harry
lyric sheet) and David Bowie. The sealed Chu-Bops seen here
were found on eBay over the years. It was a lot of fun to rebuild
my childhood collection of these cool rock music collectibles
as an adult, each one carrying many happy memories of
walks and bike rides through the old neighborhood. I’ll be sharing
more cool memorabilia and also unboxing some newly acquired
vintage finds soon. Rock on, friends!
No seating
Long lines
Flowers are re-emerging, however.
School Tools Stencil Book (1976)
A MEMORY TOLD TO THE LETTER: As a young kid, I was obsessed
with the shapes of letters and numbers. My favorite letter was S and
my favorite number was 5 but I would get upset if I or someone else
made an S that looked too much like a 5 or a 5 that looked too much
like an S. Penmanship was a virtue and I obsessively wrote numbers
and letters in different styles (script, print, upright, slanted and even
backwards) as often as I drew and painted, which was often.
I observed letterforms on cans and bottles, labels on bars of soap,
typefaces on street signs, billboards, albums, bumper stickers, neon
signs and even in my school books. I wanted to be able to either draw,
paint, replicate or re-script everything I saw using my own hands and I
practiced diligently. One day, while visiting Sav-On Drugs with my parents,
I spotted this stencil book and near about lost my pre-school aged mind.
Being the forward thinking folks that they were, they thought nothing of
buying an advanced stencil book for their precocious (if not obsessive)
child. I wore out the punch-out letter and shape forms of nearly
every single page in that book, working to neatly line up letters into
words and sentences. Eventually, the all but shredded pages (held
together precariously by plastic spirals) had to be discarded.
40-plus years later... BOOM! I found another one on eBay (which
was no small task). Hmmm... I may have to give this book a long
overdue retry and see how my stenciling skills are these days.
This is how you social distance.
Sketchbook pages
Happy National Crayon Day!
I broke the seal on something special from my vintage
vault: A very rare 1960s box of Wisk Off Crayons that I
acquired recently. This hard to find brand has one of
my favorite packaging graphics of all time.
Sketchbook: Discarded
In February I mounted some ink drawings of my classroom desk on
a page from a discarded library book. The word “discarded” has taken
on a new meaning in reference to my plans for the current school year
or the plans that any of us had made. Other plans, projects and product
have taken their place as we all utilize what we have and put what
we’ve learned into practice. Transformation is real and it’s happening.
Wash your damn hands!
40 years ago my grandparents gave me this Crayola Art Kit.
Through the magic of eBay I was able to find one that was
sealed for 40 years. It’s always fun to open up a colorful memory.
Bridge View • Route 78
I know that some of us are fearful, upset, anxious, frightened
and even angry about current events. Feelings of displacement,
isolation, loss and disconnection seem to be common themes.
If you’re experiencing any of these, you are not alone. The good
news is that you and only you can control your reactions and
responses to every situation. During this “time out” where many
of us are somewhat separated and a bit restless it might help to
think about who and what is most important to you or the things
you’d like to change or create. If you can’t move in that direction
in this moment, set your intention and make a plan of action. When
you set your intention and make it your will to do or have something,
forces are activated to make it happen. As soon as you follow
through with action and clear intent, your reality shifts. The
desire becomes a fully realized reality. Once the dust settles after
what I’m calling “The Big Rethink” I think we will all find ourselves
changed in a number of ways. Hopefully we will be clearer, have
more gratitude, be more receptive and ready to achieve all of the
plans we’ve laid out during this global pause.
Be safe. Stay illuminated. Love, CDM
