Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Day 4616: Storytime - A Tree & "Let Them Eat Cake!"

"Pieces":collage and stamps.

Want music?

Click: Judith Hill. You Were Always on My Mind

2GN2S

Storytime

I hired a plumber to help me restore an old farmhouse, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job: a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric drill quit and his ancient one-ton truck refused to start.

While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation... His face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterward, he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

'Oh, that's my trouble tree,' he replied 'I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing's for sure, those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children... So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning, I pick them up again.' 'Funny thing is,' he smiled,' when I come out in the morning to pick 'em up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. We all need a Tree!

Let Them Eat Cake ?!!!

San Francisco art museum, the Legion of Honor, recently held a massive outdoor CAKE event to celebrate the opening of a phenomenal new retrospective of the work of Bay Area painter, Wayne Theibaud, titled “Art Comes from Art.” The event also celebrated, well, Cake - for cakes sake.

People personally baked over a thousand cakes and brought them to the Legion of Honor for all to enjoy. Everyone displayed their cakes, and if you brought a cake to share, you got to refill your cake box with pieces from other people’s cakes. The event wasn’t just a spectacular exhibition of the art of cake baking, but also the art of the gift. A true display of communal and reciprocal creativity.

(did anyone else think of bugs?)

A 4+ minute video, a toda marcha, here

Just because ...

Wednesday's Smiles ...

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Day 4615: Flow Magazine 38 - excerpts & Acura NXS.

"Exhaustion": junk collage, digital

Want music?

Click: Tracy Chapman, Give Me One Good Reason

2GN2S

Some of the things the magazine Flow featured

in issue 38.

Creating the cover ...

The artwork on the cover of this issue is by illustrator and designer Sarah Carolan, who lives in Chicago, US: “Sometimes I have a plan or idea of what I’d like to illustrate, but for the most part it’s a meandering process. I will use photos of friends or myself as portrait references, in addition to open source resources that I find online. I’m most attracted to portraiture that is heavily contrasting, because I feel like there’s more opportunity to emphasize emotions.

"When I begin a portrait, I like to ‘map’ out these contrasting areas first, and then go back to experiment with color combinations or adjust the composition. I love exploring with colors, especially eliciting moods through color palettes. For me, using values instead of the expected color creates a more dynamic portrait. Lately, my work has been focused on these demanding times: it’s about living in quarantine, missing friends and physically touching others, and insidious systems of oppression. My hope is that these illustrations are relatable, if not comforting, to others."

Do you ever read license plates? I do.

When I was little I used to add up the numbered plates. Then it got more complicated with letters and numbers. So I converted the letters to numbers, E = 5, J = 10 etc. But I digress, I like cars. My Dad loved cars and so of course I learned to identify all

kinds of cars. But I digress, again!

Yesterday, my eye caught a jazzy Accura NXS ...

Mine was black and I kept an eye on it.

Eventually I was behind it at a traffic light,

and had a chance to get a photo of the the license plate.

It said EUFORIK. I said, I bet it is!

A 5+ minute video, Mosquito Torpedo, here

Just because ...

Amhearst Pigeon

Tuesday's Smiles ...

Monday, April 14, 2025

Day 4614: The Getty Challenge 2020 & Orange Paint Marigolds.

"Differing Opinions": junk collage & ink marker.

Want music?

Click: Maroon 5, Girls Like You.

2GN2S

Back in 2020, during the Pandemic,

the Getty Museum Challenged People To Recreate Artworks At Home...

They challenged you to recreate a work of art with objects (and people) in your home. Choose your favorite artwork Find three things lying around your house⠀ Recreate the artwork with those items And share with us.

People posted their re-creations on Twitter, just amazing.