Two opening receptions in one day!

Today I was in attendance (briefly) for two art shows that officially opened today -- The 21st Annual Exhibit of The National Arts Program® for Greater Hartford and Middlesex County, at Capital Community College in Hartford, CT; and the 33rd Annual Salon des Independents at Hygienic Art, New London, CT.



Two of my works, You Taste Like Memories (bottom left) and Chasm (upper right), in the Hartford show.


The opening reception for the Hartford show was in the early afternoon, but I didn't stay for long, since I had to run down to New London to get my painting set up for that show; space there is limited and is first-come, first-served.




I brought my painting, I Am the Blood, to Hygienic this year.  Wasn't able to stay for the opening reception, which didn't start til 8 PM, but I had a chance to see a lot of the art.



I took quite a few photos today, which can be viewed via the slideshows listed below.
(Or, click here and here if the embedded slideshows don't work for you)

From my cold, dead hands

A great metaphor illustrating why SOPA/PIPA are bad - written by my esteemed friend, Dr. Cary Gabriel Costello:

The problem with explaining the negative impact of SOPA and PIPA is that the people who need it explained to them generally don't rely on the internet in the same way we do. If they're legislators, they have staffers to run a Facebook page for them. If they're people next door, they put up photocopied flyers to advertise a yard sale to get rid of their old stuff. 

We need an offline metaphor for them. Like: imagine your grandma loves Mickey Mouse, and loves doing needlepoint. She makes cute embroidery depicting Mickey Mouse in front of city landmarks, and decides to sell them at a yard sale. So she takes photos of the needlepoints and creates a flyer for the yard sale, and puts them up around town. But Big Brother sees one. And since Mickey Mouse is a copyrighted figure, grandma gets arrested and put in jail for 5 years. Not only that, the photocopy place where everyone in the neighborhood goes is shut down and nobody can use it. And the trees with the flyers on them are cut down. And when you cry, "But it was just grandma, it's not like she was cutting into Disney's profits! Five years in jail is insane! And I need to use that photocopy place! And my world is emptier without those nice trees!" you are labelled an anticapitalist pirate. It's like that.

More info:

Join the strike -- write to your congresspeople

Why SOPA is Dangerous

Un-comfort-able

My mind has been driving me crazy lately - hah. Thinking, stretching, yearning... What the hell does this all mean? For as long as I can remember, from the moment in my young childhood that I became self-aware, there have not been many days that I haven't thought about this -- how the universe works, What It All Means, why am I here? What the hell is the purpose of all this? These questions are as much of my daily routine as is breathing. My head hurts. This is the definition of "uncomfortable" -- right now I am literally un-comfort-able. I can't find comfort in anything. I'm not exactly unhappy right now, but I have a headache from thinking too hard, and I can't stop. Music, reading, art, cooking, human interaction, I can't focus on anything, my mind branching out in a million tendrils, stretching out to the farthest reaches of the universe, looking for answers.

THINK ALL THE THOUGHTS

TODAY:
I enjoyed the hedonistic pleasure of sampling many scented varieties of candles (Kringle Candle in Bernardston, MA)...




...had a tasty late lunch nearby at the Four Leaf Clover Restaurant (lobster bisque, fish & chips)...


....researched bird photos for an upcoming art project; made butternut squash sage pasta for dinner; and now am pondering higher dimensions, life, the universe, and everything. My brain! It never ever ever stops. THINK ALL THE THOUGHTS!

National Arts Program dropoff

Brought my paintings in for the show which opens to the public on January 23rd.

Two group shows in January - Two opening receptions in one day!

- 23rd January - 5th February 2012

21st Annual Exhibit of The National Arts Program® for Greater Hartford and Middlesex County, CT

Capitol Community College 950 Main Street, Hartford, CT

Opening reception: 28th January, 2012, 1 pm

Info: http://www.nationalartsprogram.org/venues/hartford-ct

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/145733638874283/

These are the paintings I will have in this show:

- 28th January - 12th February 2012

Salon des Independents

Hygienic Art 79 Bank Street, New London, CT

Opening reception: 28th January, 2012 , 8 pm

Info: http://hygienic.ning.com/events/hygienic-art-33

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/109852342468306/

This is the painting that I will have in this show:

Raven Study (Black & White)

Raven Study (Black & White)
Ballpoint pen and felt-tip marker on paper
Approx. 17 in. x 14 in.
(2012)

This one is bigger than the drawings I usually do. I've added this pic to give it a sense of scale. It was difficult to scan due to its size -- I had to scan it in about 8 different portions, then carefully stitch it together in Photoshop.

Incidentally, this is the first artwork that I have completed for 2012.

Work in progress

Adding some more detail today.

Happy New Fear

President Obama Signs Indefinite Detention Bill Into Law
December 31, 2011 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

WASHINGTON – President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law today. The statute contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision. While President Obama issued a signing statement saying he had “serious reservations” about the provisions, the statement only applies to how his administration would use the authorities granted by the NDAA, and would not affect how the law is interpreted by subsequent administrations. The White House had threatened to veto an earlier version of the NDAA, but reversed course shortly before Congress voted on the final bill. 

“President Obama's action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director.

THE NEW PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:

"I give my submission to the war banner of the United Battlefield of America; unto the Controlling Congress and Officials bought out by representatives of global corporations, for which it's own personal intentions stand, one Police State, under God, divided by class, race, religion, sexual orientation, social status and wealth; with liberty and justice for those that can steal or afford it."

-- Brett Kelley