What the Hell Is That? Thinking in Abstract.

There was a time when I thought that abstracts were bunk. I needed to see defined images with obvious content. Then I began to appreciate color for color's sake. What is on the canvas, is open for interpretation.

Last year, I was at a gallery and was awed by an abstract. There was something about it that "spoke to me," if you will. The artist was there and began explaining it to me. The painting was called Pain, and it was a piece he had done when his lover passed from AIDS. Having done AIDS work for 20 years, I understood what the artist was doing. He captured an emotional state that I was familiar with. What do you see?

Exploring the Female Nude

What is it about the female nude that is so tempting to capture? The male nude is also beautiful, but the painting, photographing, sculpting of a woman's nude body is just different somehow. The curves, the peaks of the breasts, the grooves of a ribcage is truly awesome.

Here are some images from the LA Art Show.

Seeing Monty and Other Dead Celebrities

I was walking around at the LA Art Show, admiring the work. I turned a corner, and I lost my breath. As many of you know, I am a HUGE Montgomery Clift fan. You can imagine how I felt when I saw his face in a painting!

There are certain icons who continue to inspire way after their death. Indeed, it's their demise--often at a much too young age--that contribute to their legend.

China, Loud and Clear

Unless you've been living in a cave, you may have noticed China's emergence in global discussions: politics, economics, sports (they whupped ass in the Olympics). But there's always been that not-so great record on human rights. For obvious reasons, divisive political art in China is frowned upon, however, there are creative Chinese voices coming through loud and clear. It was evident at the LA Art Show.

Freedom of expression seems to be tolerated, as long as its charming. There was no work recalling Tianemen or demanding freedom for Tibet. Gallerists probably chose the pieces at the artshow, thinking they'd best appeal to westerners. It certainly appealed to me. The work displayed was incredible. Large, colorful pieces overwhelmed walls, as if to say that the Chinese voice is truly THIS BIG. Playful and melancholy were sentiments that I took away from the work exhibited.

For some of the galleries, this was their first time showing in the US.

It was refreshing to see work by Chinese women at the art show. Artist Hao Li in front of her painting. She's exhibited all over the world.

My childhood came rushing back when I saw this piece!

An artist that I hyperventilated over meeting was Tao Dong Dong. His visions of seeing his subjects through water has awed me for quite some time. I was thrilled to do this impromptu vid of him.

Art in 3-D

For those of us who like to walk among or around our art (or simply want the work to jut out at us) there were some really interesting sculptures and installations at the show. I'm certainly guilty of paying too much attention to the oils and acrylics. However, there were other pieces there that were amazing.



These skateboards made to look like Polynesian artifacts just tickled me.

There's something about crushed art that I love, like this mounted piece of broken cups and saucers. It looks like one mean party or one mean divorce just happened.

This intallation rocked! It's interactive, so you could step on the broken plates and glass.

The Los Angeles Art Show

With what is going on in the world--floods in Australia, broken government in Tunisia, and the Tucson shootings--it was nice to attend the LA Art Show and be overwhelmed with creativity. It was an eclectic exhibit with galleries and artists from all over the world.


I'll be blogging about it all weekend, so stay tuned.

"Faces of Hope" Book Sales Soar

From Publishers Lunch:

Arizona Tragedy Highlights Book of 9/11 Babies

The death of nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green in the Arizona shootings has brought national attention to a previously-overlooked 2002 book from HCI, FACES OF HOPE. The title presents pictures of 50 babies born on 9/11/2001, one from each state, along with messages of hope for their future, with Green's baby picture representing Arizona.

For anyone who missed the first wave of attention for the book, President Obama cited it again in last night's nationally-televised speech: "As has already been mentioned, Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called Faces of Hope. On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart." "I hope you jump in rain puddles." If there are rain puddles in Heaven, Christina is jumping in them today."

HCI director of communications Kim Weiss tells us they were already receiving reorders for the book--including a sizable order from Ingram--prior to last night's speech, and demand has only increased. The company, which prints its own books, will be back on press later today for "a significant number" of new copies that is still being determined, and Weiss expects it will take them two days to turn around the new books. They have a modest number of books still in their warehouse heading out today, with demand hitting online first but now expected to spread to bookstores. In-store stock was light, since the book had sold modestly after its 10,000-copy printing in 2002. While they did discuss a modest revision to the book in light of recent events, Weiss says they "decided not to."

Notes from the Front Lines

I ran into Marisela Norte a few months ago. (Read previous post about Gronk at MOCA) She was upbeat, and we talked writing and creativity. I had no idea she was laid off. Then again, I'm not sure what "laid off" looks like. With all the news of the economic downturn, I'd always known that no one knows the pain of unemployment or job rejection like artists. It is something we've known from the gate. During this time, artists feel the sting even more. I know a painter who hasn't sold a painting since the market went bad in 2008. I know many writers who haven't sold a book in awhile--including me!

Here is an article of an artist making do. It was quite refreshing to read. As artists, we are resilient souls. Let's show the world how creative people live creatively!

Article here.

2011 is all about Creative Success

This is a picture of me dressed as an angel from the 1980's German movie Wings of Desire. It was taken at an art installation that the Hammer Museum had on Halloween. The installation was a house that was made in a way that caused one to question gravity. Indeed, it looks like I truly am testing my wings and preparing for flight.

I think this picture encapsulates my 2011 goals. I'm going to focus on Creative Success. This means many things to me. Yes, there's the money aspect of creativity--I do hope to make a few dollars as a writer. However, it also means growth.

You may have gathered from earlier posts, that I've been engaging in painting. At the time of this writing, I've taken two painting workshops with respected artist Margaret Garcia. I'll continue to take more.

I'm working on a new performance piece.

I'm going to complete my next novel.

I'm going to put more art into good homes via Art Rescue by Noel. Thus far, I'd put over 40 pieces of art into worthy hands.

I want to teach writing again--something I haven't done in a couple of years.

2011--watch out!

Black Swan--I Get Her

Okay, I went to see the Black Swan. I knew a little about the movie, but not a lot. Natalie Portman is a crazed ballerina struggling to play the Black Swan in Swan Lake. She can be the sweet White Swan, but the seductive Black Swan is a bit of a challenge.

I went with my family who had problems with the movie. Of course, going to see this kind of movie with your mother is NOT a good idea. I mean I really wanted to enjoy the sex scenes, but with mom next to me, I was rather self concious.

My family wasn't as enthused about the movie as I was. I loved it. Afterall, I connected with the protagonist. Not the crazy, schizo part, but the creative part. The ultimate challenge for any artist: you must win the war against...yourself!

This is something I live with every day. Write, write, create, paint maybe, perform another show--but how, when?

Black Swan was a sumptious tribute to the creative mind. One of the best movies I'd seen in a long time.

Literary Hotspots

There I was, winding down my evening. I do some internet surfing, reading peices in the Huffington Post. There is a link to Literary Hotspots in Los Angeles. I think, oh, this might be cool. The first paragraph makes mention of the regulars that you might read about when it comes to Literary Los Angeles--Raymond Carver, Joan Didion.

It mentions places in Los Angeles that have been named in books. What a pleasant surprise it was to see my first novel mentioned! Well, this sleepy head just perked right up.

Read here

Painting Stories

Last month, I went to see the artist Gronk (above) at the Museum of Contemperary Art. For the last twenty years, he'd been painting a character named Tormenta, a faceless woman depicted in various scenarios. I thought that was marvelous. She's on ongoing character carried through in images.

I ran into Poet Marisela Norte at MOCA. Here she is with a statue of Tormenta.

I started painting last Summer and I felt inspired to do my own Tormenta. She's simply called "Pinay," (pronounced pin-eye') slang for a Filipino woman. This first piece is called "Pinay Causes Energy in the City."

Difficult Writing: Eulogy

I had one of the hardest writing assignments ever! I was asked to write a eulogy. A friend and colleague passed away suddenly just before Thanksgiving. A handful of people were asked to eulogize him. I was one of them. I kept putting it off and putting off. Finally, I had to get down to it and write the best way I knew how. It's an emotional experience because it is ultimately a good-bye note.

The last time I wrote a eulogy was when my father died. To this day, my dad's eulogy was the most difficult thing I'd ever written.

Writing novels or plays is nothing compared to having to write one of these suckers.

Literary Recommendation: Mens Vogue

I never thought I'd be recommending the international edition of Mens Vogue for literary influence, but I am. I was perusing the magazine section of Skylight Books and began reading the English version of Vogue Hommes International. It was dedicated to older men. As a man who is getting older, I was interested. They featured male models of old, well the 1980's, and I remembered those faces who I saw on billboards and magazines in my youth. They were still handsome. Even with wrinkles and lines, these men held up.

I was more thrilled to see to see features on Don Delillo, Martin Amis and John Waters. There were also interesting pieces on desinger Giorgio Armani and artist Ed Ruscha. A photographic essay on Iggy Pop was also quite entertaining.

Run out and get this issue right now! It'll serve up hours of good reading.

Book Rec: Catching Fire

When I hear that an anthropologist writes a book, I groan. I think of some dry piece of writing with a ton of citations. I don't immediately think of it as thought-provoking, illuminating or quickly-paced. However, Catching Fire, How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham was exactly that.

It was our book group pick and I dreaded reading it, but a few pages in, I couldn't wait to see what would happen. Wrangham postulates that the act of using fire to cook our food led to our development as humans. Cooking makes food easier to digest--raw meat would take hours to eat and process in our systems--and helped develop our brains and bodies.

What I most enjoyed about this book was that I truly wondered what would happen next. Like a good novel, I wondered how the hell did we get from ape to man. Oh, I know the theories from school, how we slowly evolved over time, from four-legged creatures to two-legged ones, but this books provides a missing link: cooking!

I know eating "raw" is in these days, with some claiming it to be healthy. Afterall, monkeys and apes eat things raw. Well, it turns out that if monkeys and apes actually had a choice, as some examples illustrated in the book showed, they much prefer cooked food over raw.

I'm never taking my stove for granted again.

Get Centric

Please come and support this reading! I'll be sharing the mic with Monica Carter, Glenn Kessler, and more. It's curated by the amaaaaazing Hank Henderson.

November 18th. Read more here.

When the writing hurts, paint!

Sometimes writing hurts. It just hurts. The sentences are slow going and the words feel like boulders being upchucked from my throat. However, I commit to being creative every single day. If the writing doesn't do it, it's performance or redecorating or cooking or sewing.

Well, performance can be harder to come by than writing. There are only so many ways I can move the couch. The recipes and spices run out. That cumbersome sewing machine just gets too heavy to take out of storage. The great thing about being creative is finding other ways to be creative.

Over the Summer, I started painting. After admiring those who do it, I gave myself permission to try it. Got some canvas, paint and brushes, and away I went. It's been fun and relaxing. I even sold one to my brother in Texas!