Hello to my visitors from the US and Germany, nice to see you!
After the work of assembling and presenting an art show, there is always the few days afterwards of coasting, relaxing, not-lifting or moving anything! Hence, no blog for a few days...
Besides the preparation of framing and labelling artwork, there is a full day of setting up, all of which has to be removed the night after the show to vacate the space. Like moving house, it all happens and gets done, and then you sit on the couch ~ and don't want to get up again... There are also many enthusiastic people who want to visit and talk about the artwork, which is the real bonus of putting on a show. However, it's nice to have a day afterwards of quiet, reflect on the event, and watch a movie..
One I can highly recommend is "Irina Palm", a British movie starring Marianne Faithfull.
This is a great character study with terrific acting, well developed characters, and I must stress, an 'adult' nature. There isn't any violence, and just a few passing shots of topless ladies, but the subject is not for the whole family. Marianne plays a grandmother whose grandson needs an operation. The family has no funds, and cannot raise them, so she decides to get a job. With no skills, she has no luck, until she happens upon a Hostess Wanted sign in SoHo ~ a "hostess" in a strip club. That's all i'll say, as the plot twists and turns, and the mousy housewife finds her voice. One of those movies filled with subtle acting and intrigiung characters. I wanted more and was so sorry to see it end. It was great to think back on how she was when we first meet her, and how her character developed into the last shot of the film. Recommended.
The next day was veg on the couch day, so I thought I'd revisit a movie I saw when I was 11. You know those movies you thought were thrilling as a kid, and you hope they are as good now? I remember seeing "Rollercoaster" and being so glued to my seat I didn't want to leave to go to the loo. This was in 1977, back when George Segal was a star, and his teeneage daughter was played by Helen Hunt. Timothy Bottoms is the clean cut, blank-faced sociopath who takes to bombing rollercoasters and amusment parks. It was actually really well made, and held up today as suspenseful with just the right amount of cheese. It was originally shown in "Sensurround" which means they just cranked up the speakers like you were rockin' the rollercoaster. This was a then-doomed system, as the multi-plex theater next door heard the rollercoasters over their own movie. Nowadays, ALL the theaters crank it up ~ it's not 'Sensurround" anymore, it's just the Telus commercial. Of course, there are countless "front car of the rollercoaster roaring down the track" shots, which look great on a big screen.
Timothy Bottoms was seen as a romatic lead by some after The Last Picture Show, but I have only seen him in movies like Love, Pain, and The Whole Damn Thing, where he was a social misfit falling in love with an older misfit, Maggie Smith. I thought that was his thing, social misfits. I loves me a misfit.
The cover or poster might make it look like a disaster movie in the vein of Airport 77' or The Towering Inferno, but it's not ~ more a game of cat and mouse, like Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train", another great sociopath role. And like Strangers, there seems to be no motive for the bomber, other than he is your average all-American, who is misguided in his quest for the standard prize of the times, one million dollars. It was interesting to see Segal working with the FBI , he does all he can without breaking protocal. A few years later and we will have the "cop" hero breaking all the rules, being as wild and causing as much destruction as the villian in movies like "Die Hard". For film buffs, there is Helen Hunt as a teenage daughter in a few scenes, a one-line walk on by a young Steve Guttenberg with a minor 70's fro - don't blink, and Craig Wasson in a bit part as "Hippie Guy", who doesn't know he's riding a bomb.
Craig Wasson is a terrific actor, who was terrific in 1981's "Four Friends", a favourite movie of mine he starred in with Jodi Thelan. Four friends growing up in an industrial town through the 60's and 70's, changing through the years. Jodi plays a loveable misfit who the three other friends all love, sort of a Kook ~ like Pookie in The Sterile Cuckoo, another favourite movie. I recently saw it again, and although I have a sentimental place in my heart for it, and Jodi Thelan, it seemed like it suffered from last minute tampering in the edit. There were some choppy transitions I'm sure director Arthur Penn (Bonnie & Clyde) didn't plan, however, I might feel like that because I am left wanting more. It's full of honest sentiment, true characters and lyrical music. Four Friends was written by Steve Tesich, who wrote the screenplay for Breaking Away and The World According To Garp. It's a very heartfelt and tender movie that's well worth a watch...
Reading ~ I've started the second book from Yrsa Sigurdardottir, an Icelandic mystery writer called "My Soul To Take".
Only about 60 pages into it, but it's far better than her first "Last Rituals". I enjoyed the first, but the subject was off-putting, students into devil worship sort of thing ~ you know how kids are these days. This begins with a murder, and cuts to many years later where a spiritual spa is built over the grave. They say the resort is haunted, or is there a killer stalking the beach? This is more fast paced and fluid than the last book, and I'm enjoying being in Iceland again. It's a little chilly on the beach, and people are generally grumpy and unhappy, but that would be my next pin on the map.
There is a series of terrific books by Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indridason ~ Highly Recommended. If you were starting out, I'd say start at the beginning with Jar City and Silence of the Grave, as the characters revolve and reappear in the later novels. Again, a grumpy detective, drinks too much, estranged wife, daughter on and off drugs, cold, dark, gloomy, but he gets under your skin and you come to know him and his colleagues. Like Girl Who Played With Fire, you can tell what they will and won't do, you know them so well. There is a continuing mystery surrounding his brother who disappeared, which he is obsessed with and works on through the series, and I feel like I am working on it with him. They made an Icelandic film out of his best known earlier novel published in english as Jar City, however, I feel I know what he looks like more than the casting agent. I have avoided it for fear of being disappointed. His books contain many inside mysteries for faithful readers. He tends to answer questions raised for the characters in one novel in the next, so there is a continuity and personal payoff for observant readers. If you like Steig Larsson - Check out Indridason!
Have a great day
Last Friday and Saturday we held a six artist Spring show called "Veiled Natures", which many said was our best show yet. Lively atmosphere, great artwork and lots of enthusiastic visitors made for a wonderful weekend. Our shows are usually quite successful, and it was great to share it with stone carvers Knicki Markolf and Ken Parry of Rainbow Crow Studios, Colin Merrett's etchings, and Diana Zinter's sculpture. Here are a few pictures taken before we opened...
I premiered my new "shadowbox" series, and my animal-head mixed media pieces ~ All can be seen and purchased through my art website (<click!).
My shadowboxes were inspired by Japanese Tatabanko boxes - small dioramas made with layers of paper - combined with the modern version of a storybox, which often includes personal objects. The merging of the two produced works primarily constructed of watercolour paper, within a traditional glass enclosed frame. It's important to me to present a new series of work at each show, something new for the viewer each visit.
Thanks to everyone who came out to see us, you helped make our Spring show a great success. Our next show is in the fall, probably the second week in September.
I welcome your comments!
This week, my artistic work has been devoted to shadowboxes.
One of my recent ones is on the left <
While I have always been interested in creating little worlds in a diorama, I have been trying to bring together collage and mixed media boxes with Tatebanko - the Japanese art of making paper diorama.
Collage is an interesting way to incorporate many different ideas in a unifying way. To make sometimes unrelated pieces fit in a pleasing visual way, as well as present new ideas to the viewer, within the confines of a limited space such as a box, can be the challenge. Using found objects invites the viewer in, and then, hopefully, your eye bounces off the other contents like a proton in an accelerator, and an new idea is born.
American artist Joseph Cornell is one of the best known storybox artists, who "created poetry from the commonplace". Images of his works are widely available online for you to see, such as this website (<click!), and the image above...
Tatebanko is the Japanese art of making dioramas out of paper, which was popular in the 17th century. Typically housed inside a paper box, in recent years it has gained a revival as you can easily make your own with very little materials. One of the first traditional tatebanko I made was of the "Great Wave" image by Japanese artist Hokusai, which is now available online at places like Amazon.
M
y latest work is a combination of the shadow (or story) box, made primarily with paper. Some examples are below, and you can
visit my website here
to see the full series. These will premiere at our next show, Friday May 27 and Saturday May 28.
I welcome your comments!
Watching James Frey on Oprah the other day changed my mind about a few things. I didn't read "A Million Little Pieces", but was surprised by the backlash that hit him when it was exposed that it wasn't a true memoir. People felt duped, asked for their money back and piles of copies loaded the dump bins. If it was, as people said, a captivating - life changing - good read, then that's what it was. Why say it changed your life, then sue him for wasting your time?
Your life has changed!
And you think differently now, isn't that valuable? Memoirs are recollections of the past, and everyone will embellish or recall certain events differently, so what memoir is 100% true? Plus the fact they shopped it around as a novel for a year, then tried it as a memoir.
Hmmm, Random House had nothing to do with that, eh? He was diplomatic, but if you want a book published there is a whole team behind it.
His new book "The Final Testament of The Holy Bible" is out now ~ printed in the form of a bible complete with silver edged pages. He seems the type to push buttons, and why not. The people who don't want their buttons pushed are probably the ones who need it most!
Speaking of whole teams of marketers and editors, I see at the bookstore Snooki from Jersey Shore has a novel out. Yes, she wrote a novel. A natural progression as she is so well spoken on the series. I know people like Nicole Ritchie have written several books as well, but somehow I give Nicole credit for at least dictating the direction of the book, and perhaps even reading the finished draft.
Snooki? Really?
The back cover was full of nebulous praise such as "Our favourite diminutive reality star" ...hmm I shouldn't scoff, maybe it is a great read. I mean Paris Hilton made a pop CD and I thought it was catchy and fun - 6 out of 10 for the technical aspects alone, they made her sound like she was really singing ~ It had a good beat and you could dance to it...
Cut to a find at the bookstore ~ "Nobody Move" by Denis Johnson. A fantastic writer who won the National Book Award for Tree Of Smoke. While all his books are amazing. The one you should check out is "Jesus' Son", a collection of short stories. I first read his "Resuscitation Of A Hanged Man" years ago, and was hooked to read all of his other work. He makes me want to write, engrossing characters with just enough flavour to keep the pot boiling, never laboured. This is a few years old so it was at the "get acquainted" price of $2. Sorry Denis, but a deal for me.
His novels always kick me in the pants to write my own novel, and maybe come up to his level. If Snooki is on the bookshelf, why not my novel?!
The follow up to my yesterday of books was staying up late and finishing "True You" by Janet Jackson. Part memoir and part life-changer book, lightly detailing her career, mainly talking about her body image issues throughout her life, and ending with 100 pages of healthy lifestyle recipes. While I was interested in her career development over the years, I was surprised by her candor and depth of her struggle with not feeling right in her body. People saying she looked great in the videos, but "fat" in real life, the record company slimming down her images with an x-acto knife to make her more presentable ~ it also includes many fan letters from people also struggling with body image. And yes, I think with help, she wrote the whole thing!
Naturally, after that, I felt like reading the new Betty White book "If You Ask Me". Yes, Betty White is coasting on the crest these days, and this book seems written to cash in. Not that it was bad, just very slight ~ a page or two of writing, a picture, a title page, another page of writing. I did read it cover to cover and it took about an hour - one of those books.
Not that I am knocking Betty White. She has written several books, including "Here We Go Again" which was recently reprinted. I read that last year and it was a very interesting history of TV. She was there at the start, when LA had only local stations, national hadn't come onto the scene. She was hired for a daytime talk show, which expanded from a few hours to a full 5 hours - of live TV. They did the interviews, commercials, everything. She rolled from that into sitcoms, and hasn't stopped rolling yet. If you are interested in the development of television, you'll find a lot to like in this book.
So, yes, I read alot. From the bottom to the top. Some are keepers, others are just library finds or borrowed. If you ask me about a book or writer, chances are I have something to say!
Next on the list Paul Auster's Invisible, Siri Hustvedt's A Summer Without Men, and Copenhagen Noir - short mysteries set in Copenhagen...
Have a great day!
Enough about books, how about movies?
I usually see a movie a day. I don't have cable and would rather watch a dvd. This morning I watched a documentary about Film Noir, was more a compilation disc of extras from Noir sets, but featured James Ellroy and Eddie Muller who runs the Noir Festival in SF, so it wasn't all bad. I like to check those out to see what Noir nuggets I may have missed. Not much new, but they did highlight Crime Wave and Decoy (one of the best - If you are into noir check out Decoy, as lurid as Detour or Too Late For Tears). They also had some MGM "Crime Does Not Pay" shorts that were shown in the 40's. One of the best was Forbidden Passage, directed by Fred Zinneman which packs a full, tense story of illegal immigration into 20 minutes, starring William Tannen who while a definite hunk, didn't go on to much else after that...
More about Noir films later as I am an aficionado...
Last night was Cemetery Junction, a 2010 film written and directed by Ricky Gervais. I wasn't expecting it to be so good, and it was much better than that, almost a keeper. Three friends in a small town in England in the 70's trying to make their way through jobs, friendship and family. It had Ricky's humour for sure, but also a sentimental and nostalgic vibe without being maudlin... Worth a watch, I'd say 7 out of 10, with a great performance by Christian Cooke. Ricky was great in Ghost Town and Invention of Lying as well, and the series Extras was hysterical...
Spent time Skyping Paris this morning, a place I loved visiting. I think it would be groovy to have a map with a pin in all the places I've visited. Japan - top of the list, Paris, all over Greece, Turkey, England, of course all over the US, Hawaii, Mexico, even overnight in Russia.
Thanks for listening!
Join my blog and let me know what you are thinking of, and what you want to know!
Well, enough of the intro ~
What am I reading today? I tend to read 3 or 4 books at a time, depending on my mood. I am savouring Sun In A Bottle by a fantastic science writer Charles Seife. The first book of his I read was Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, a history of the number 0 (nothingness and it's twin, infinity). Sun in a Bottle is the history of fusion, fission and the reactors science pioneers have created to harness energy.
Ok, so if you aren't into science, I might have lost your interest.
However, Seife is a great writer, making these concepts and the men behind them easy to understand and entertaining. I just bought another of his Alpha and Omega, about the expantion of the universe - just came in the mail the other day...
And if you aren't into that, I am reading a terrific book called Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies. If you are excited by watching Z to B grade movies, from 1930/40's monster movies to the big budget garbage of today, you will love this book. Michael Adams spent full year watching a movie (or two) a day in a quest for the worst movie of all time. Unfortunately, he includes some of my favourites in his junk pile (Deep Star Six is actually a terrific underwater monster movie with suspense, laughs, and Nia Peeples after she starred in Fame and was releasing her pop CD) and there are lots of great asides where he talks with the filmmakers. I borrowed it from the library and have dog eared so many pages, and resisted the urge to write on the book so hard, that I have to go buy a copy for myself...
I could go on forever if you get me started on books - biographies on anyone, Japanese authors such as Murakami, Kirino, Miyabe, Dazai, movie industry books, mysteries of all kinds, noir pulp books, Indian authors...
Favourites would include Orham Pamuk - My Name Is Red, My Face For The World To See by Liz Renay, End Of The River by BL Van Vors, all the books by E Lynn Harris, Tama Janowitz, Cornell Woolrich, Arnaldur Indridison, and of course Steig Larsson.
I like to read the top of the charts down to Nancy Drew...
I have also started Judi Dench's book "And Furthermore", interesting, but a lot of career to pack between the covers. I find the shows or events I want to hear about are just skimmed over on the way to the next show (not much on some of my favourites like Chocolat), but in all a fascinating book about a fascinating career ~ from Sally Bowles in Cabaret through TV and films of today. Full of great anecdotes, like the reporter who asked "besides "M" in the bond films, what else have you done?"...
Some interests I would like to highlight, I hope will be your interests too ~
Any book on almost any subject - fiction and nonfiction, Movies of all kinds and grades from Z to A (much more of this to come), Art, Crafts and Handwork, Kitsch and Class, Music of all kinds, Scandinavian and Japanese culture, and Cuisine of all kinds from diner fries to Yuba noodles.
I like to remember birthdays, give unexpected compliments, and highlight what is unique in a person.
Read on and you will soon find out ~ maybe you are also a person who likes to know a little about a lot and a lot about a little, then we could hook up and be best friends forever...
If I tend to find something to like in everything, even people or things that are often vilified ~ what don't I like? Racism, judgement and self-importance come to mind ~ If I have a ticket to Heaven, there are people who will tell you they have a season's pass... Not so into that.
