I spent part of yesterday afternoon painting colorful little circles on a small canvas. The endeavor was part of an art lesson in which the leader was explaining the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors. While it … Continue reading
Last night, we went to see a theater production of Arsenic and Old Lace, the second of three performances. Tomorrow’s matinée will bring the run to an end. We know several of the people who had roles in the play, … Continue reading
When a man’s mind compels his hands to create art but his hands fail to deliver what the mind demands, his passion may morph into rage. Not an unrestrained external rage that endangers bystanders, but a smoldering animosity that sears his brain as if … Continue reading
Last night, I adapted a tried-and-true (if overly simple and insufficiently spicy) recipe for Shrimp Fra Diavolo. I adapted the recipe in several ways, the two most obvious deviations being the substitution of cod for shrimp and cauliflower for rice. … Continue reading
I am posting here several photos, some of which already found their way online via Facebook, that illustrate how I satisfy my hungers by painting with food. Let me explain. Later. Look at the images and read the captions, as … Continue reading
Negative space. That’s an interesting concept. The term refers to the space around and between one or more subjects of a visual image; it’s the space that surrounds an image. To an artist—and others who understand the concept in an … Continue reading
Yesterday, I went to the sculpture studio early and spent a short while working on a bust that’s in the same visual style as many of my masks; odd and alien. For many reasons, not the least of which was … Continue reading
I’m playing with a smart phone app, Prisma. Here are various treatments of the same photo that I manipulated earlier (using MS Paint) to wash the background with a “psychedelic” memory; subsequent to the MS Paint manipulation, I used Prisma … Continue reading
I awoke at just after 3 this morning with the expectation that I would conquer the world before daylight. This did not occur. I attempted my conquest only to be repelled by rational thought and struck by the reality that … Continue reading
For purposes of keeping a photographic record of the masks I’ve made, here are all the ones I’ve completed and two in the works. I have two more awaiting raku firing (I have no pictures) and I believe I have … Continue reading
Today has not been much of a day for writing, but it has been a day for thinking and other creative endeavors. For instance, I raku fired the two masks below today. The one on top was glazed with copper … Continue reading
The last few days, my “art” of writing has taken back seat to other arts: acting, directing, set design, glass blowing, wood turning, pottery, et al. On Saturday, while my wife and her sister enjoyed a sculpture tour of Hot … Continue reading
Our neighbors drove the three of us (my wife, my sister-in-law, and me) to Hot Springs for the First Friday Gallery Walk last night. The guy is an accomplished artist in his own right; their house is flush with his … Continue reading
This gallery contains 5 photos.
Today began dull and blank, but it grew better over time, the way days sometimes do. I was able to do more in my pottery class than I expected. Inasmuch as today was the next-to-last class of the semester, and … Continue reading
Yesterday was to be a day of finish-up at the pottery studio. A short stint, it was to be, of raku firing my hideous tiki head and glazing my last slab pot. I got it done, but it was no short stint. … Continue reading
I think Robin must have been right; the world is not a just place. If it were, I would have kicked the sick a couple of days ago. Alas, injustice and illness go hand in hand, it seems. I’m better, … Continue reading
Our friends in Fort Smith lent us a DVD while we were there the beginning of this month. We watched it a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The film, After Life (which is … Continue reading
When I visit a hardware store or a paint store or a big box all-in-one home store, almost invariably I gravitate toward the dozens or hundreds or even thousands of paint samples. I like colors. Even colors I don’t like attract … Continue reading
Art brings people closer, compelling them to think and to consider ideas and perspectives unlike any they had considered before. “What was the artist thinking?” “What does it mean?” “How does this piece of art fit into my view of … Continue reading
We were sitting around the sturdy wooden pottery workbench, watching the instructor create a piece of sculpture from raku clay. Initially, there were only two of us—first year students—watching, but during the course of her demonstration, a few other more advanced … Continue reading
I am a sucker for starving artists, even those whose art is of a quality that can help explain their starvation. I feel for those artists who, quite obviously, have never received any training yet still try. Their muddled attempts … Continue reading
Yesterday morning, the pottery studio was dark when I arrived at around 8:30. Fortunately, the door was unlocked and the light switches were relatively easy to locate. The place had never before been dark and empty when I arrived, but then I had never … Continue reading
I love words—the way they work together to express thoughts. But they can work together with context to form thoughts, too. The title of this post, for example. If I had been clever, I could have called this post a how-to guide, but … Continue reading
The right tools can make all the difference. It’s just as true of a pottery shop as it is with a wood shop. And, as with a wood shop, good tools are expensive. One of the tools with which I … Continue reading
I watched several instructional YouTube videos yesterday, videos posted as marketing pieces for online art instruction. My purpose in watching them was to learn a bit about painting with acrylics, something I’ve done several times without the benefit of any instruction … Continue reading
