Last Friday saw the very last combining of forces between the Phoenix art gallery Deus Ex Machina and the poetry event Caffeine Corridor, hosted by Shawnte Orion and Jack Evans. It was my favorite venue to perform and to spectate. The event will continue, at another gallery down the street, but it will not be quite the same.
Now we type our morning blog. We pray the Lord our mind unfog. And if our readers care to glom us, they’ll see our sketch of Dylan Thomas.
Yesterday I sliced the middle finger of my left hand deeply, just south of the fingertip, as I reached into the toiletries pocket of my travel bag for the Gillette Good News razor with which I intended to shave. (The bad-news headline from my razor was Hey, Buddy, You’re Bleeding,) It took a good many minutes for direct pressure to stop the bleeding; and, though I can’t say why, that finger-slicing incident led to my choosing this image of the author of “Under Milk Wood” and “Fern Hill.” I hope a reader can explain.
Unto each hand a little Trauma shall fall.
The art of Fencing has largely shifted to the metaphorical here in the 21st century. What would Zorro do, here and now?
The very last line, "Downloadables will quickly make it clear," is a prediction of the future--a bright future--that has already been made by many, from William Gibson to the Wachowski sibs. And the very last line of "By His Bootstraps" by Robert A. Heinlein, "A bright future!" was made by a man who had just completed providing for his past. Finally, Warp and Woof refer to Fabric and Reality, though you often see Weft; and Woofer refers to Sound. May YOU have a Sound, Bright Future!
The philosopher figures everything out by going into a darkened room and thinking it over. The scientist figures everything out by thinking it over, guessing what is happening, testing the guess through experiment and observation, and altering or discarding the guess based on what was observed. Think this works with human relationships? Guess again!
Here is a real "One with Clay, Image and Text" chimera, which I'm posting celebratorily. Just a few hours ago I was accepted into The Village Gallery, a cooperative art gallery in the Village of Oak Creek, and walking distance from where I am living now! I'm really happy and excited about that! One thing that acceptance means is that I'll be making a lot more vessels...like these...
Easy and fun: 1) Make a vase on the potter's wheel. 2) Let it dry to a leather hard state. 3) Take a sharp X-acto-esque blade to it, evenly but not overly so. 4) Bisque fire the pieces. 5) Glaze the pieces, and arrange them playfully. The glaze will fuse the pieces together, and you will have something like what you see here. (The glaze in this case is Majolica white.) Try it--it's a blast!
To wrap up the week with a real weirdy, here is one from 2009. Drawing, photo-editing, and an odd pun-laden triple acrostic that reads: DOGMA? ‘TIS M here from Delhi/Eff air-or rare Fahrenheit/LONG-GONE Arnold Fonzarelli/Ucked his last from Kryptonite/Set your sails w/Tucks & Taels
What does it all mean? I don’t rightly know, though I must have when I made it. Perhaps the ghost of Jean-Michel Basquiat could help us. I get some enjoyment from no longer knowing, though; and yet more enjoyment from seeing the unexpected visual zing of an early color inversion experiment.
Here is one of the hundreds and hundreds of vessels I have made using a potter's wheel. Wheel mastery did not come easily for me, since I am clumsier than the average bear. I'm proud that I persisted to the point that I can call myself a potter.
When I was growing up most people who had tattoos were former military or otherwise living on the edge. Maybe more people are living on the edge now?
The tattoos drawn here were drawn from my improvisational imagination. Do they ring true or false?
As of this writing I am myself untattooed, but you never know.
