Whether one likes these paintings is a different story. However, I think the work is still relevant. It was an ironic series, and I just don’t feel like the irony is old because this country is a mess. Do You Yahoo? Guess What’s Inside. SOL. PING! My art is what I have to say.
#statueofliberty #independence #fourthofjuly #liberty #justice #art #freedom
Do You Yahoo, acrylic on canvas, 40”x30”, circa 2002
Come one, everybody, put on your favorite pants and dancing shoes. It’s time for Sunday Mornin’ Clubbin’!
This week’s featured track is Erasure’s “I Love to Hate You,” and you can dedicate it to whomever you want—while you’re dancing in your kitchen!
(Try playing that beat out on the rim of your coffee cup with a coffee stirrer!)
More awesome 80s playlists below!
#GenX #erasure #clubbing #housemusic #dance #80s #playlists
“I like to read a murder mystery
I like to know the killer isn’t me...”
Mishna Wolff’s childhood observations of how her white father could so seamlessly assimilate with his black friends and their black culture makes perfect sense to me. It’s what most people do. We strive to blend in with our surroundings. We try to fit in. We try to be like, and learn from, those who accept us. A young Mishna doesn’t understand this. Doesn’t understand the divide between blacks and whites that some of her black peers are familiar with; doesn’t understand the interconnectedness of race and class. The ways in which members of a community bound by class might only rub elbows up to a certain point due to the limitations of stereotypical notions of race.
Class brings groups of people together. Sometimes the walls of race come down as people recognize their neighbor’s similar struggles, needs for connection, basic humanity. There is no way you can talk about race without observing class and bringing socioeconomics into the discussion. There is no way you can talk about the things that marginalized folks lack, or have, without talking about the things whites have, or lack.
In I’m Down, Mishna Wolff lays it all out. Her desire to escape her origins for a better life are natural—not mean. Her conflicted perspectives of her father, who has totally immersed himself in black culture as if he were a black man, are genuine. I am addressing critiques of the book when I say that I do not believe she has played up her father for laughs at the expense of Black culture. She may not fully understand why her father is who is, and her father might not fully grasp why he is who he is, but the psychology of that is not necessarily what the memoir is about.
One could argue that Wolff’s observations of her wealthy white classmates’ family issues are superficial when compared to her presentation and analysis of her own mixed family’s lives. And one could wonder why unlike Mishna’s father and younger sister, she has had to work so hard to fit into her primarily African American community.
I enjoyed this book. Wolff’s acerbic wit helped me navigate her journey through a rough childhood. Broken family, struggling father, social anxieties, sibling rivalry, lower class income, racial tensions—all of it bigger than her and what she could understand but had to figure out and deal with daily at a very young age.
I’m Down reminded me of Dalton Conley’s memoir titled Honky. I think anyone who has grown up in an urban setting where race intertwines more than it does in the suburbs of America will enjoy I’m Down, and that anyone who hasn’t should read the book regardless.
The book is about identity, and we really cannot get at that without confronting race and class. I rated it five stars.
As I delve more into water color, I wanted to try different tools, such as a water brush. The use of a water brush was first brought to my attention by New York artist, Diazee. You can check out Diazee’s work here. Diazee has helpful tutorials. The Kuretake Etegami starter kit was just what I needed to acquire a water brush and brush pen. The kit also includes Gasen paper and a beautiful set of Gansai Tambi watercolors.
On my first attempt at etegami, my drawing was fine but my handling of the water brush and brush pen was poor. With a little more experimentation, I learned a couple of things that improved my applications.
I am posting my second attempt below. I did not work fast, did not include any words—in the true spirt of etegami—but I did use the water brush and brush pen. I confess that I also did not try out the Kumatori brush. That is next.
#worksonpaper #etegami #gasenpaper #watercolor #painting #artistsofinstagram #postcards #yoursilentface #lovelansing #art
untitled, watercolor, ink & colored pencil on paper, postcard-size, 2022
Olivia Laing’s book, The Lonely City, is a valuable look into the lives of a handful of artists—Hopper, Warhol, Darger, Wojnarowicz, Klaus Nomi, as well as her own—and the city in which they lived and worked: New York City. If you are interested in the topic of loneliness or aloneness, this book should probably be required reading. If you have been struggling to assemble your thoughts and ideas of loneliness—to put your finger on them—then a must read. Ms. Laing articulates loneliness incredibly well. Some of the clinical evidence presented confirms notions I have suspected for some time. I will say no more. I give this book five stars, and high praise. The intersection of bio, memoir and cultural criticism through the lens of Laing’s experience, and the experience of some amazing NY artists, is beyond compelling, and the author writes very well.
#loneliness #olivialaing #newyorkcity #artists #nyc #warhol #basquiat #keithharing #art #bookreview
The other day I stumbled upon Simple Mind’s song, “Theme for Great Cities,” and it ignited a desire to compile a playlist of 80s instrumental tracks. Off the top of my head, I could think of about a half dozen. After about four hours of research, which included reaching out to friends for input, I was able to gather over fifty tracks. Doing playlist research is always very interesting. But I have to confess that a lot of the material was similar, and the overall results was not very compelling. So I whittled my list down to twenty-five tracks. The first twenty are well-mixed; the final five tracks are bonuses. I hope you enjoy Oscillate Wildly.
*My favorite discovery might be the Tears for Fears track, “Pharaoh.”
**”D.N.A.” by A Flock of Seagulls won a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental in 1983.
***More 80s playlists, including the companion playlist to my 80s coming-of-age ode-to-new wave novel, Your Silent Face, can be found at yoursilentfacedotcom.
#80s #genx #flockofseagulls #tearsforfears #playlists #mixtapes #yoursilentface #yoursilentfacethenovel
It has been interesting to ground some of these ideas in expressionistic landscapes. Have I crossed over into a new series? Not sure.
Getting a better grasp of watercolor technique, I think. Thank you for visiting yoursilentface. Check out the galleries, the poetry, the shop, the 80s playlists and the links to my 80s coming-of-age novel, Your Silent Face.
#worksonpaper #artistsoninstagram #watercolors #contemporarypainting #scifi #sonicyouth #80s #genx #yoursilentfacethenovel #yoursilentfacetimlane #yoursilentface #lovelansing #contemporaryart
The Realities Project series continues.
#worksonpaper #watercolor #innerspace #outerspace #scifi #artistsoninstagram #contemporarypainting #coloredpencil #lovelansing #yoursilentface #echoandthebunnymen
Taken in soft indoor light.
Taken in soft outdoor light.
