Recent Mutterings

 "Diana" Charcoal, ink, graphite on paper

 "A Dream of Serpents" Charcoal, ink, graphite on paper

Our Fair City Comics Vol. 2 "Picture Window"

Inked pages one and two. These will be colored using watercolors in the coming days.

Very happy to have been asked to contribute artwork to the second issue of sci-fi radio program Our Fair City's comic offshoot.

The story I am currently working on illustrating is titled Picture Window and concerns the story of "Suit", a stuffy office worker whose mundane and colorless world is turned upside down when a mysterious object is spotted falling from the sky.

The story was written by Mark Soloff, and will be lettered by Dann Tincher, who also heads the comic division of Our Fair City.

The Emerald Tablet

Tabula Smaragdina Hermetis, perhaps better known as the the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, is the shortest and yet most referred-to text in the whole of the alchemical corpus. Supposed to have been found engraved upon an Emerald, this hermetic document has been beautifully typeset in Centaur [a font designed by Bruce Rogers] and printed letterpress on fine Arches paperstock in two colors.

An alchemical emblem crowns the top of the broadside and features the enigmatic acrostic V.I.T.R.I.O.L., which was a substance used to pull metals out of hard stone by early metallurgists. The Latin translates as Visit the interior of the earth and through rectification you will find the hidden stone meant to point the way to the Philosopher’s Stone.

Yet another beautiful piece from Ouroboros Press.

Best Albums of 2012

My favorite listening experiences of the past year in no particular order. A great year for new music, although I spent a lot of the year digging back in time as well. Please support these artists and seek out these amazing albums!

 Carter Tutti Void "Transverse" (Mute)

 Andy Stott "Luxury Problems" (Modern Love)

 Bill Fay "Life is People" (Dead Oceans)

Catherine Christer Hennix & Chora(s)san Time-Court Mirage "Live at The Grimm Museum" (Travelling Time) 

 Demdike Stare "Elemental" (Modern Love)

 Joshua Abrams "Represencing" (Eremite)

 John Zorn "Mount Analogue" (Tzadik)

 Myrninerest (David Tibet & James Blackshaw) "Jhonn, Uttered Babylon" (Coptic Cat)

 Trevor Jackson presents "Metal Dance" (Strut)

Sun Araw, M. Geddes Gengras & The Congos "Icon Give Thank" (RVNG Intl.)

Scott Walker "Bish Bosch" (4AD)

Incredible Spiritual Jazz Albums

I've been listening to a lot of jazz as of late,  and while I have immense appreciation for the range of jazz history from the hard bop and modal stylings of Art Blakey, Hank Mobley and Herbie Hancock to the outer fringes of free jazz ala Peter Brotzmann, Albert Ayler, William Parker, or, of course, Sun Ra, for me the most striking albums seem to be the ones touched with a sense of the eternal, ones that rejoice in the triumph of the spirit, and the wisdom of a higher power. Here's a small selection of some of my favorite albums on rotation at home:

Joe Henderson with Alice Coltrane "The Elements"

McCoy Tyner "Atlantis"

Horace Tapscott with the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra "Live at I.U.C.C.

John Zorn "A Vision in Blakelight"

The Awakening "Hear, Sense, and Feel"

Pharoah Sanders "Thembi"  

Doug Carn "Revelation"

Alice Coltrane "Ptah the El Daoud"

Happy Hallowe'en!

My wife and I as Adam & Barbara Maitland from Beetlejuice! Papier-mâché, wigs, felt, screen door material, tempera paint and lots of patience.

Animalier: The Animal in Contemporary Art

Just received the details on the the show "Animalier: The Animal in Contemporary Art". My piece Le Mystere Lycanthropique will be on display for the duration of the exhibition. If you're in the Alva, OK area, be sure to stop by the gallery for the opening reception and support what the gallery is doing, looks to be a pretty amazing show, as the artists chosen are all top notch! Details below:
 
Animalier: The Animal in Contemporary Art
An exhibition of art focusing on the animal form, sponsored by the Studio Art Program at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Curated by Brandice Guerra, Director of Studio Art at Northwestern. The show runs from November 2nd to December 2nd, 2012.

The exhibition will be held at the Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios, 523 Barnes Street, downtown Alva, Oklahoma. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM and Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

An opening reception is planned for November 2 from 6:00-8:00 PM. Light refreshments will be served. That evening, the Studio Art Program will also host a free screening of Jean-Jacques Annaud's 1988 French language film, The Bear, in the Graceful Arts rear studio (parental discretion is advised).

An informational lecture by the curator on the history and symbolism of animals in art is planned for November 14th at 5:30 PM in the Graceful Arts gallery.
Admission to the gallery, opening reception, film screening, and curator's lecture is free and open to the public.

69 artists from 12 countries and 19 US states submitted 127 works for consideration. The exhibition will contain 27 works from 21 artists in 6 countries and 7 US states.
Robin Arnold, New Paltz, New York
Larry Ege, Skokie, Illinois
Lemeh Fortytwo, Monterado, Italy
Kirsten Furlong, Boise, Idaho
Gabriel Garcia, Chicago, Illinois
Flore Gardner, Avignon, France
Donald Gialanella, Topanga, California
Ronald Gonzalez, Johnson City, New York
Suzanne Jensen, Montgomery, Alabama
Kristina Knowski, Joliet, Illinois
Kimberly Kwee, Little Rock, Arkansas
Nicolas Lamas, Lima, Peru
Maria Lux, Champaign, Illinois
Heather MacDonald, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Elizabeth McGhee, Laguna Beach, California
Johnny Miller, Chicago, Illinois
Meghan O'Connor, Nashville, Tennessee
I Made Arya Palguna, Jogjakarta, Indonesia
Elisabeth Pellathy, Montevallo, Alabama
Christopher Reiger, San Francisco, California
Andrew Yang, Chicago, Illinois

An art critic first used the term "Animalier" as a derisive title for the nineteenth century sculptor of animal bronzes, Antoine-Louis Barye. The epithet was in keeping with the use of animal names as terms of reproach. The term gradually lost its original contemptuous intention and is now used specifically to describe nineteenth century animal sculptors and broadly to describe any artist who chooses to focus on the animal form. The description of animals, whether symbolic or scientific, has been a concern of artists since the dawn of recorded history. This exhibition is intended to present a variety of approaches to the concepts concerning the representation of animals in contemporary artistic practice.

If you have questions about Animalier: The Animal in Contemporary Art or its supplemental programs, please contact Brandice Guerra at beguerra@nwosu.edu.
If you have questions about the Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios, please contact Kay Decker, Gallery Director, at KLDecker@nwosu.edu.