Thoughts on a Kingston Saturday Night

I HATE THIS PLACE! It is noisy- once again the folks at Backstage Productions, just down the block, are totally disregarding the lives of those of us who live here, they are playing loud, loud music with the doors and windows wide open. To put the icing on the cake when the gig is over, the street will be filled with loud, obnoxious drunks- oh joy. Most afternoons they also have drum sessions, again with the windows open so that everyone has to listen to the drumming. Calls to their office yield no results.
When the sidewalks are dirty, instead of using push brooms, the city workers use leaf-blowers- I guess their fragile male-egos can't take using something that is not energy-wasting and horribly noisy. There is a building behind me that has the noisiest air-conditioning unit on the planet- oh, and they are going to do a "green" roof to help curb air-pollution- that's great but how about cutting down on the noise pollution too?
Motorcyclists use these streets for their nightly "big, loud motorcycle=teeny-tiny brain" noise-fest.
I HATE THIS PLACE! It stinks- trucks making deliveries (4:30-5am) idle their engines for 20 or so minutes and my apartment fills with exhaust. I apparently am the only person living/working here who does not smoke- the sidewalks are always littered with cigarette butts- and then people wonder why no one comes here to shop, etc- who wants to walk through an ashtray?
I HATE THIS PLACE! The frigging street lights are on full all night and aren't capped so the light pollution is just horrid. They are supposed to be charming but mostly what they are is a nuisance. The street is so overly lit that skateboarders use the block as their playground at 3 in the morning. There are lights under the porticoes that run the length of the block, they shed enough light and that light does not shine up into the 2nd & 3rd storey windows. The street lights are totally superfluous.

I HATE THIS PLACE! I HATE THIS PLACE! I HATE THIS PLACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4"x6"

On Thursday I went down to NYC to drop off 8 pieces for a show of postcard-sized art at the APW Gallery in Long Island City (actually a section of Queens.) I have been trying to get someone down in the city to look at my work for a while now but to no avail. This show is a chance- a long shot probably but what the hey. I will not be able to attend the opening, but if I ever get a 3 or 4 person show or- gasp- a solo show, I promise I will attend the reception.
I took the opportunity to have lunch at Shopsin's, my favorite NYC eatery. I had to wait for about 40 minutes to get a seat but as always it was worth the wait. I also did some shopping in Soho- oh I am such a hick from the sticks...

Anyway, here are 7 of the 8 pieces I did for the postcard show (the photo of the 8th came out quite blurry, sorry.) I'm pretty happy with them, I like making the little cracked open rib cages.

Shooting My Mouth Off Again

Here I go again...

I got an email from the Graphic Artists Guild about a debate being held at The Economist website about copyright. I went and voted but since I also had to register, I figured I should add my 2cents while I was there:

Dear Sir, As a creative- and copyright holder- I propose that the concept of copyright is invaluable to insure that artists like myself can benefit from their efforts. However, since the inception of the Works Made For Hire designation in the 1976 Copyright Act, creator's rights to profit from their works have been continually eroded by corporate interests. We now have 2 classes of copyright holders, creators-in-fact (artists) and creators-in-statute (corporate publishers and distributors who have used their power in the marketplace to grab the rights of creators-in-fact.) Creators-in-fact are being squeezed between two monolithic forces: the creators-in-statute and consumers who feel entitled to what they want when they want it. To remedy this, I suggest a simple solution: eliminate W4H from copyright law and recognize that all-rights contracts and the practices corporate creators-in-statute use to force them on creators-in-fact are monopolistic and patently unfair. Utterly pie in the sky, of course, but that is my role in society...

So, there it is. I fear the pro-artists' rights side will lose, the forces of consumerism and the utter greed of the publishers have joined to make art and creativity just another "thing" -a bit of cheaply produced and easily replaced consumer junk. In the "Alvin Maker" series of speculative fiction works, there is an image that best illustrates my feeling about my place in society: the character is building a neverending wall, patiently placing one stone upon another; while behind him, the wall is being collapsed and destroyed by the forces of entropy.

Ah, this stone will perfectly fit with the one I just set..

Boasting Rights

Not having any children of my own, I have to rely on my brothers' children to provide me with boasting material.
Here is one of my nieces singing on YouTube.


I'm not too chuffed, no not a bit...

Misjudging The Book By Its Cover

I don't watch "American Idol" never have, never will. But I had read about a woman named Susan Boyle who appeared on the British version of "AI" and had utterly stunned the judges and the audience with her singing. I googled her this evening and watched the YouTube video of her performance. She is a very plain, frumpy middle-aged woman from a village in Scotland; when she walked out onto the stage, you can see and hear the snickers from the audience and the judges, too, are skeptical to say the least. But she is plucky and so utterly believes in her talent that I feared for her because obviously she was going to make a fool of herself- she was going to be the next "joke" contestant, the delusional person the audience supports out of sheer snarkiness. I felt sorry for her and dreaded her utter humiliation.
Then she opened her mouth and sang and it was an epiphany. Her voice was gorgeous, her rendition of the song was heartfelt and stirring. She shamed us all as she embraced us with the generosity of her talent and her complete confidence in her ability. I was in tears at the end of her performance. Even Simon Cowell was stunned- the look on his face was one of utter amazement and pure delight. (I understand he has her under contract for his recording company as a result of her performance.)
I wish her every great thing- what a lesson in persistance, vision, belief in oneself, and courage. Her victory over our cynicism, our culture's erroneous belief that great talent must be accompanied by physical attractiveness, our focus on the cover instead of the writing are complete. But she does not need my wishes, she took the chances and is now going to get the recognition her talent deserves.
So from this plain, frumpy middle-aged woman whose talent is often dismissed because it does not come in the culturally-approved package, I say- you go, Susan!

The Ache for the Past

I started my summer "B" job this past weekend, working weekends at the Catskill Native Nursery from now until the end of the season. I knew I was going to be stiff and sore, feeling every day of my age and every moment of a long winter spent not doing much physical work. I was not prepared, however, for the heart-rending beauty of the birds and their songs. At my former home, I had planted and planted and planted just for the comfort and support of the birds and was rewarded with an abundance of song and movement. Now, however, I am living in town and while I hear a few English Sparrows singing in the morning, it is otherwise a desert. When I got to the nursery I was overwhelmed by the song and by the many bluebirds, tree swallows and other species flitting around. Oh how I have missed them.
Nostalgia literally means "the ache for the past." And it was literally an ache in the middle of my chest. The only cure for it that I can see is to be grateful for this small blessing- to be able to hear and see the birds at the Nursery, allow the sights and sounds to soak into me to sustain me for the intervening 4 days, keep putting one foot in front of the other and take the next right step.

A Start

Ever since I moved into my current place, I have wanted to replace the color in the large back room- a room I am using as a dining/living room.As noted in an earlier post- "More Sheep & Goats"-the former tenants had painted it a lurid crimson and I had begun to paint over it in preparation for a mural. Here it is in its former state (actually this image looks better than the true wall color):


I took the plunge this weekend I got out my brush, my jars of homogenized acrylic paints and began. I have an idea in mind and I have roughly sketched it out on the walls but I am by-and-large winging it. This is just the first layer of colors, I will add to and embellish the shapes with stencilled, sponged, painted and printed motifs: leaves, grasses, bark, shadows etcetcetc. Also, many of the colors I will use for embellishing the surface will be more complex and interesting than these rather straight forward colors. Also, true to form, I am working somewhat piecemeal (I still haven't finished painting out the crimson on one of the walls but I just couldn't wait to have some fun.)
I did have to re-paint one area already. When I stepped back and looked at the wall, it was starting to look too much like a pediatrics ward- too cute and sweet. too easter basket-ish. There is still one patch of the offending viridian left, I ran out of the bronzy green that mercifully replaced the bulk of it. Phew, what a relief. Here it is so far:

I am also just glad to be exercising the art muscle. Friday evening a bunch of artist friends came over for an informal evening in my studio and that was very very pleasant. Saturday afternoon I attended the opening of the "River" show at the WAAM and that was good also. A few too many questions about my life right now, but there you are. By the end of that reception, however, I was all peopled out and opted for a quiet rest of my weekend. I painted, and graded papers for the class I teach up in Albany. Monday will be here all too soon. Ah well... sic transit gloria mundi.