Happy Samhain 2013

Syd and I wish you the full blessings of Samhain.  May the peace of the goddess go in your heart, merry meet and merry part...and merry meet again.

All Hallows Eve

I will be finishing up on this Halloween painting in the next couple days!  I can't think of a better thing to do this time of year.  I don't like Halloween masks because of my ritualistic abuse history.  Really, there is nothing about Halloween that appeals to me anymore.  It is just another bastardized holiday as far as I am concerned.
It is unlikely that the first day that I started this painting, that I knew the old schoolhouse would be included.  I was going through old photos, and old sketchbooks and I happened upon the old schoolhouse.  It was a pretty scarey place to live, when I think back on it now!  I was lucky to come out of that rental situation in one piece.
My intentions were good though.  I treated the building and the land with respect, and my fondness for the old schoolhouse has not changed.  Just my opinion of so called "Christians".  I won't ever trust them again!

$50 Reward

I am offering a $50 reward (or the equivalent in jewelry) for the recovery of this yellow wagon.  I use it for everything!  Hope the thief ends up needing it more than I did!  I used it for saw horses, a paint stand.  I hauled my trash out to the stoop.  I used it to bring in a heavy stump for my workshop.  Those bastards, may they burn in hell!
It was stolen sometime Sunday Evening-Monday Morning.  Bastards!

Just In Time!

I took another draw (payment) on my upcoming knife project yesterday, so I am going to replenish my titanium white, and possibly my mars black supply.  I plan on spending All Hallows Eve with my schoolhouse painting.  Sometimes I have to rob Peter to pay Paul.  I am still trying to procure a brass nut thingy for the pommel of Brian's knife.  There is no brass to be had anymore in the local hardware shops...brass nuts and bolts have been outsourced and replaced by brass coated nuts and bolts.  It is a sad thing.  My friend Hapi says that the population won't notice till the airplanes start coming apart!

 

 

I Meant To Say Inhabited!

I meant to say (yesterdays post) "now that heinous humans have inhabited every square foot of this earth...we will turn our attention to decorating the sky".   I was speaking about all the advertising in the sky, along with all the cell phone towers etc.
Ironically, or synchronously, I just finished reading the second book in the trilogy by Justin Cronin The Twelve where the problem of two many vampires and not enough human blood to feed them all comes into play.  I admit liking disphoric fiction...mostly because it addresses my own observations about the ravaging of our precious planet.

My View Of The World

Now that heinous humans have inhabited almost every square foot of earth, we will now turn our attention to decorating the sky!

I am not finished yet dear readership.  In fact, I am only gettin started!

Two Old Giants

The two twin sugar maple trees are coming down this week.  This will alter my view significantly.  I am saddened by their death.  As of this morning there is just one.  My studio is lighter, but my heart is heavy.  It is raining today, so it is unlikely that the other tree will go down today, but it is inevitible.  When the first giant hit the ground yesterday, I could feel the vibration 20 feet away.  Sadly these trees are being removed because of what MIGHT happen.  The wind, the ice might cause damage to someones car or property.  What might happen is a hike in electricity bills because these were shade trees.  I love my neighbors, and I love my neighborhood.  I do not love capitalism, and the decisions to protect wealth over protecting nature.  That being said, I will be looking to plant two trees somewhere to replace these giants.

Further On Up The Road

Darn!  I am nearly out of titanium white paint, so I am using it sparingly.  I am ten days out from my monthly check.  It is not likely that I am going to be able to finish this as quickly as I wish.  That is just the way it goes with my income perameters.  It would be a great thing to finish it on Sawain (Halloween) night, as that is the date on the sketch.

Old Schoolhouse Painting

I spent all day Saturday, and most of the day Sunday working on my old schoolhouse painting.  I had a good drawing I made on Halloween 1992.  As I recall, that drawing was to be the template for my Christmas cards that year.  That never happened.  What did happen was that I spent my whole Social Security settlement on that building....running electric, plumbing, buying sinks, shower stalls, toilet, water heater....everything to make it a dwelling....only to get screwed over by the caretakers.  They took me to court that year, the very week that my settlement money was gone and invested in their building.
  I won that case, and the court awarded me 2 years of rent free existance there.  But, the caretakers didn't like the courts decision and took matters further than I could ever have imagined.  The caretakers burnt down their own church which is where the source of my water came from.  6 days after I made the sketch!  No church, no water pump, no water for Concha!  It was a horrific experience, and one I have never been able to financially recover from.  But I have the sketch.  I have the experience and memory of trying to do the right thing only to be stopped by evil.  The old schoolhouse is still standing.  I believe the caretakers are long gone.  I moved there in hopes to have peace and quiet in order to write.  The writing that has emerged is what I call The Church Of The Double Cross.  There have been two....both seemingly Baptist, and both encounters were with greedy evil people pretending to be good.  Stay tuned dear readers....even though some of you do not believe in evil...I promise to give you my best accounting of my encounters with what I can only believe was indeed evil...and while I don't have the T-Shirt to prove it....there have been sketches:)

How 'Bout This?

This is how I feel about any computer anything right now!  Apparantly there is a logo contest through VSA (who awarded my metal quilt 3rd place).  But after several hours of trying to install a facebook like button, my sarcasm for any operating system anywhere would be this image.  Unfortunatly, this is not my art.  I applaud the artist though.  I know just how she feels!
Here is the description of the logo contest.

Logo is for GUIDING PEOPLE THROUGH SYSTEMS
As part of this initiative, we are offering artists with disabilities in the state of Ohio the opportunity to design a logo for the GPS website. The logo will be displayed on the GPS website and on any print copies that are generated from the GPS system.

Artist Bio

I will be changing my profile picture on my facebook page.  I still have not figured out how to install a like button.  Please help dearest readers by linking my blogs manually to facebook, until I can find a teck person to help me out of my quicksand electronic hell!

Facebook Like Button

This was an attempt at installing a Facebook like button.  I had to get a whole new facebook page specifically for artists, profile picture, description....an hour of my life I will never get back....redundancy...here is the code that I was trying to get into the template.

https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/

" data-width="The pixel width of the plugin" data-height="The pixel height of the plugin" data-colorscheme="light" data-layout="standard" data-action="like" data-show-faces="true" data-send="false">This should be easy as I already have the picture.  I already have written the bio.  I already have a facebook page.  I already installed like buttons of all sorts at the end of each blog entry.  Eventually, I will find someone, probably a librarain who will know exactly how to do this.  In the meantime, please dear readership click on my already installed like button at the end of this blogspot.
One day, I will find someone who knows about these templates and I will erase the Amazon ad at the bottom of the blog page as I have never generated one penny of income from having it installed.  I have been here an hour and a half, and I seriously need to get back to painting at my house.  Making the art is more important than promoting the art I suspect!

She Called Me Squash Blossum!

To: Grant maker (Smithsonian?)

Re: Concha Castaneda

June 25, 2013 submitted to me October 15, 2013

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing in support of grant candidate, Concha Castaneda, Powhatan Native American artist.  She is among the most creative and talented persons I have ever met.  Concha uses both traditional materials and designs expressed in non-traditional products, and she uses non-traditional materials in traditional patterns.  In a nutshell, Concha approaches art in a holistic manner, thinking both inside and outside the “box”,  her work is both provocative and simultaneously grounding.

Concha honors the symbols, patterns, and designs of our Ancestors and has assisted me in carefully and respectfully caring for ancient artifacts in the American Indian Museum of the Newark Earthworks (when it was a museum) and I was the Education specialist at the Newark site of the Ohio Historical Society.  When it was time to clean the display cases, I insisted that only Native Americans descendants handle the artifacts.  I wanted them thoughtfully and reverently removed and placed on a proper “Homa” (red) cloth and guarded while the cases were cleaned.  I chose Concha to help me with this endeavor due to her deep regard for the artwork and handicraft of her predecessors.

I also understand Concha has a visual challenge in that she has only one eye.  It is remarkable that she has such artistic skills considering her disadvantage.  She compensates by tactile recognition (most of her art is 3 dimensional).  In the few hours that we were engaged in caring for those precious relics, Concha absorbed a catalogue of shape and design.  That was over 15 years ago, and she has been producing significant work ever since, reflecting these symbolic archetypes in diverse media.

Concha shows her Native American values not only in honoring the past ancestors, but also by honoring future generations in her regard for our Mother Earth.  She is engaged in finding new uses for discarded items, recycling materials is a strong element of her artistic practice.  This resonates with me on many levels.  I have attached a short story that exemplifies how my elders felt about the subject.

In summation, I believe your investment of time, exposure, and financial support in Ms. Castaneda’s talents will be rewarded by the blooming effects of this very special “squash blossom”, my friend, Concha Castaneda

Most Sincerely,

 

Merry Carol Hapi (Daughter of Mary Lou Stahl author of The Ones That Got Away: The Choctaw trail of trials and Weaving Wildly: The Choctaw Method of Basketry

 

What Could Be More Indian?

By Merry Carol Hapi

 

My Chata (Choctaw) grandmother, Ollie and her sister, my great-aunt Jenny, had been dipping snuff since childhood.  They always had an empty can in their handbags to discreetly spit into when in church or other polite company.  They could go through a number of snuff tins in a week, and found all sorts of uses for the empty containers.  Some held beads, some held pins, fishhooks in others, dried herbs in many.

The lids were useful too.  My Taligi (Cherokee) grandfather Elton bent and folded them for sinkers (“drop that line to the muddy bottom- catch some catfish hiding there”).  That might have given Aunt Jenny the idea to sew them onto the hem of her dancing dress for the jingle effect.

When challenged by the Head Dancer at the Pow Wow, about having snuff lids instead of deer hooves, “that ain’t real Indian” he said.  Aunt Jenny replied “usin stuff tem others would throw away, if that ain’t Indian, what is?”

Post script:  I can't tell you how touched I was at this letter of recommendation.  Making my personal squash blossum necklace and concho belt of course has been something that I have been trying to finance for quite sometime.  Looking at the ones in the Smithsonian will help me design my own.  Of course, I need to get the grant for that to happen...lets not put the "cart before the horse".

The Book Of Hopi

Yesterday, I was graced with a visit from my Choctaw sister friend Hapi.  She brought many gifts and showed me a copy of The Book Of The Hopi by Frank Waters.  She also gave me a beautiful endorcement for my upcoming grant application to The Smithsonian for a communtiy scholors program 2014.  I look forward to sharing the knowledge that this woman, this book, and the experiences we have and will "forge" as they unfold, and as I recall and write them here.  In the meantime, I ordered the book from our local library, but I suspect that I will want a personal copy of this book for my own collection.  My copy of Koyaanisqatsi was stolen from my truck during that terrible move and rental situation with Nesley Thomas (2108 Paul Drive Columbus Ohio) in addition to my painting, and the destruction of my kiln.  I was compensated for that kiln in my trial June 17th this year, but it does not replace the actual kiln.  It is doubtful that the theives would appreciate nor even comprehend Koyaanisqatsi.  It is likely that the theives were connected to Nesley Thomas as the helper that day remembers they were hovering around as we packed my truck.  I am constantly saddened by such pointless thefts and losses.  Indeed, it would seem that theives are stupid as my mother always said, while thinking themselves cleaver!  I went to great lengths to get Koyaanisqatsi, and I have no doubt that the universe in all her wisdom will find a way to get it back to me in some form.  I look forward to seeing in writing th prophesy's depicted in the film.  Who knows what art may come of it?

In Poe Taste

I found this on a creative aging site on Facebook.  I sure hope there is creative aging in my future.  It sure looks grim right now!

Yesterdays Post

If you read yesterdays post, here is what is left of the house in that sketch.  It was a wonderful old house that burned due to electrical wiring...that as I am told had just been replaced.  I don't know if this is the tree from that sketch, it was over twenty years ago when I was drawn to it, and made the sketch.  I think this is the angle where I made the sketch.  My landlord tells me this was Jacky Walker's house, and she teaches at Northridge.  I graduated with a Jacky Walker.  If it is her, I think I may try to send her the sketch.   

Speaking Of Fires

Here is another old sketch from prior to the schoolhouse sketch.  I am guessing this was drawn in 1988 when I was living in the neighborhood and walking past this house every day.  It had the most wonderful yard and picket fence.  The fence is still there, the house burnt to the ground.
Ironically, this house was owned by a member of my graduating class (Licking Valley Class of 1976).  I noticed Saturday, that the property is for sale.  The big tree must have been destroyed by the fire, which my maintanance man says was an electrical fire, but the rest of the yard is still in tact.  I was very sad when I drove by and discovered this house was no longer there. 

My Old Schoolhouse Sketch

This is a sketch of an old schoolhouse that I used my Social Security settlement money to fix up to live in back in 1989.  The minute I had spent all my settlement money running inside plumbing, electricity, installing a kitchen, bathroom, washer and dryer, the folks who were benefiting from the remodeling attempted to evict me.
The court and the judge inspected my documentation and awarded me 2 years free rent.  The people who had attempted to trick me out of my labor and my money were angry at the courts outcome, so they burnt their church down that suppled the water to the schoolhouse.
I have photos in my collection from this time, and of course it is always the cats who suffer this sort of swindle.
These people had taken over a Baptist Church by pretty much running off the rest of the congregation.  They were not Baptists even though they kept the original Baptist sign.  The original Baptist "charter" was burn't with the old church, and the new corrupt occupants got the insurance money.  Eventually, I left and went on to other places, and made other art.  It stole two years of my life, and as I had mentioned disrupted my cat population.  I would guess the old schoolhouse is still standing, and the new church that replaced the old church was very cheaply made...it sickened me that they could get away with what they did.  BUT, because of that experience, Nesley Thomas wasn't going to just break my kiln, and then expect me to just walk away last year.  Her efforts to deceive, break her word, destroy my property were all transparent to me.  I had been through it already.  This type of preditor succeeds only when their victims back down.

Welcome 28th Follower

The is still a few days I have to wait until I find out if "Everything's Peachy" is going to be in a show.  I entered it into two shows that happen simultaneously, hoping that someone will want it.  There is a possibility that neither show will want anything to do with it...there is always that chance! This painting has a prospective buyer...so I have no doubt it will go to a good home.  I wecome my 28th follower today...I lost one a while back.  Stay with me, I am just gettin warmed up!
I am still trying to get a good photo of this painting, and have been since it's beginning.  I am shooting with a Canon Powershot A520 with a sticky shutter, that only has 4 megapixels, and no software or owners manual.  I am hoping someone drops by my house with a good camera, so I can replace the picture in The Ohio Artist Registry.
  My friend John says this painting is an example of eco-terrorism.  He may be right...although I would be hard pressed to say a visual image could in even a loose way be interpreted as any sort of terrorism...unless the ability to think becomes such a weapon.  If you are in my neighborhood with a good camera, please stop by and help.  I am anxious to get this painting out of my kitchen and into someone else's care.

Dusk Returns

Lot's has happened to each of these paintings since this picture was taken a month ago.  Dusk the kitten has returned, and I need to find him a good home. I am obviously haveing trouble accessing my pictures.

Wearable Camera

Supposedly I am going to be able to imbed this neat little video of this neat little gizmo.

Google Search For Old Stone Chimney

Here is another one...just in case I can't find my own photo.

Old Stone Chimney Is MIA

I am having technical difficulty today, and I can not find my original photo of the old stone chimney.  I need it, and so I am going to park it here in this blog, so I can recover it later when I can print it.  It goes in one of my paintings:)

First Nation Market Watch Report

I don't feel too bad when I read this study!  WASPS should feel bad, not me.  I can make the art as long as I can buy supplies...and I will till my dying day...with or without the money to do so.  Everything in this sculpture was a found object except the clay...and it was donated.  You have to wonder how many dollars it cost to do this study that pretty much everyone already knows anyway!

 

MARKET STUDY: NATIVE ART AS AN ECONOMIC FORCE

Establishing a Creative Economy: Art as an Economic Engine in Native Communities reveals facts, insights and possibilities that have been overlooked and untapped for far too long. Based on market research conducted in Washington, Oregon, Montana and South Dakota, this report makes the case of Native arts as a strong and available economic force in Indian Country. For example:

• Art is deeply rooted in Native communities.
• An estimated 30 percent of all Native peoples are practicing or potential artists and most live below the poverty line.
• 51 percent of Native households on Pine Ridge Reservation depend on home-based enterprises for cash income.
• 79 percent of those home-based enterprises on Pine Ridge Reservation consist of some form of traditional arts.
• Native artists learn more effectively through informal networks (peer- and family-based training) than through formal networks (institutional training). In an Arts Lab, artists can obtain access to training, mentoring, materials used in the creation of arts, and physical and electronic marketplaces.
• Access to resources is a significant hurdle for Native artists to overcome. Given the remote and vast landscapes in which most Native artists live and work, access to supplies, capital, markets, Internet, studio space and other resources is limited to nonexistent. Support targeted at this hurdle will have an enormous positive economic impact.

This report also shows how artists--and their communities--benefit when “the right kind of support” is made available.

• Direct support for Native artists effectively increases their economic success.
• 61 percent of emerging artists report household incomes of less than $10,000.
• 7.5 percent of First Peoples Fund artists report household incomes of less than $10,000.

“We, and our partners at Artspace, have seen, firsthand, the positive impact of Native arts in Indian Country,” said Lori Pourier, President of First Peoples Fund. “This report supports the argument that Native art can be used as a robust and sustainable economic driver if artists have access to culturally appropriate financial and business training and affordable capital and markets, and can become part of a professional network.”
In 2011, FPF and Artspace partnered with the Northwest Area Foundation, Colorado State University and Leveraging Investments in Creativity on the American Indian Creative Economy Market Study Project. This survey examined household economics, infrastructure needs and social networks of Native artists to help:

• Define the role of Native artists within reservation economies.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of support programs currently available for Native artists.
• Identify challenges faced by Native artists and opportunities to better support them.

Download the full reportTo read the full report, downlad a PDF here
Learn moreTo learn more and find out how you can help artist communities in rural and urban areas, download the pdf of Establishing a Creative Economy: Art as an Economic Engine in Native Communities. You can also contact FPF’s Lori Pourier for more information.

Weekend Staycation

Neither of these photos of Every'things Peachy is acceptable in terms of entering a show, or putting into an artist registry.  One of them was taken by me with my one eye...and the other taken by a librarian that is an expert. 

I have since then altered the painting even more, but neglected to get a photo.  I just spent two hours in picasa web editing, and searching for a photo that I know I have....somewhere.  That is 2 hours of time that I will never get back.  I am writing this blog on Friday afternoon, in anticiapation that I can actually work on my paintings all weekend uninerupted. 

Old Pictures Put To New Use

This photo from two years ago is going to become part of my next painting.  The painting is called EIEIO.

Dusk Has A New Home

I found my kitten Dusk a new home today.  I was starting to get attached.  There is a little hole in my heart where he took up residence.  Syd was starting to accept him...but it is for the best that little Dusk go to a home that has a sustainable income base.  Sometimes I have to borrow money for cat food...there isn't ever any money for a vet.  There never has been money for a vet.   Dusk's new owner will be more able to take care of him.  I confess though, I will miss the little devil.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

This is not the best shot of this painting in progress.  I have to hold my finger over the flash to stop the glare...and my finger just isn't long enough!  Still though....you get the jist of where I am going.  This painting is going to be called E I E I O.  Perhaps I will find the original music before it is finished.  It might be titled Eeyaieyaio in it's lyrical spelling.  Anyway....one painting leads to another...leads into another etc.  I am pre posting this late Tuesday before my grant workshop in anticipation of going to Columbus Wednesday.  Be back Thursday live....I hope.

Next Subject For Painting

Don't be surprised if this cell phone tower doesn't get in one of my paintings.  When they first started emerging in our daily landscape, I was more than a little alarmed.  Now days, it is common place to see them...damn near everywhere.  So how, as an artist can I call attention to this heinous ugly thing?  I will show you.  Stay tuned dear readership...I have promised you the moon.  It is comming soon!  I will be out most of the day Tuesday, and have a grant workshop in the evening.  Very possibly by Wednesday I will have something remarkable to blog.