To Be Rather Than to Seem

Check out my new project that is finally ready to go public. I have been traveling the state of North Carolina for the last year collaborating with Muslim Americans to help them create self portrait images. Go to www.muslimselfportrait.info

Chinese Artist Wei Wei takes Dragon by the Tale

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Artist Ai Wei Wei, who helped design the Chinese Olympic Stadium, has been collecting the names of the children who died in last years quake. His goal is to find a total number of children's deaths, that's all. His blog has become a popular site for parents and others. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Maybe he has enough visibility as an international artist not to be disappeared.

SORRY but this blog is the only one I could find on his activities. It has a Honda commercial at the start.

Women Are Heros

TRAILER " WOMEN ARE HEROES"
by JR

WARNING: Mature images and content. Grow up and watch it.

Beautiful Site on Ugly Reality: 287g

Check out this well designed project on the ugly truth of deportation practices in our state.

www.facingdeportation.org

Makes we want to run

Onwards from akqa on Vimeo.

This animation by James Jarvis is excellent. If you have ever run regularly you will recognize the joy and awe in this animation. For me, it brings back memories of a long run once when it began to snow, by the time I got home I had ice on my beard and a fire in my heart. From the very first stretches the yellow man makes you can recognize its honesty and accuracy. Man, I gotta get back out there. There is music - after a moment.

PROP master at Gibbes

Susan and Juan have a great installation up in Charleston, SC. Enjoy this well produced video.

Playground documentary is a must see for responsible adults- but be prepared

Libby Spears has created a documentary that sheds a light on the dark underbelly of American culture; the child sex trade. Even looking at this trailer makes me sick and sick hearted. But unlike stopping to look at a bloody car wreck, we can actually accomplish something by seeing this side of reality. Watch, then figure out what you can do to help stop this exploitation of our country's children.

One thing you can do is attend this public screening:

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

Reception at 6:00pm
Screening at 6:30 pm

Question and answer session with panel following screening.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fire and Police Training Academy
1770 Shopton Road
Charlotte, North Carolina 28217
704.432.1709 (for directions)


For questions and registration, contact estefanias@lssp.org.
Registration closes end of day on May 5, 2009

Join me on iPeace

I just joined this sit, www.ipeace.me, and the Artists United for Peace Group.

More than Ants

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Found this on Thriving Too, a blog that I have linked to on my blog (at the very bottom of the page). Visit the list if you haven't yet. There are some cool sites found there.

A Dollar Bill and so much more

I come from brothers, I am a brother, and I am father to brothers. When my father died in 1963, my Uncle took a dollar bill from his brother's wallet and kept it. When my Uncle died a few years back it came to me. I often wondered why my Uncle did that. I did not get a chance to ask him, but I would guess it was a simple attempt to hold onto something from his beloved brother. What would have happened had my Uncle invested that dollar, say in stocks? I guess that was not the point. There are more valuable things that pass between family members. That Uncle who took the dollar taught me a more valuable lesson about sticking by family. I watched and learned as the decades rolled by and he cared for my grandparents through thick and thin. My brother and I had a long talk this morning about the recession and the many ways it is eating at our lives. My sons text message each other and have their cell numbers memorized. There are so many ways to share a name.

Rainy Day with Charlie

I had come to the mountains to camp and ski with my son's youth group. The rain and cold had kept us from hiking in the woods so we decided to urban hike along King Street in downtown Boone, North Carolina. After picking up some dark chocolate at Mast General Store we headed for the Turchin Arts Center. In an upstairs gallery I discovered Charlie Brouwer's installation "Hope Remains Part II" The big tree in the middle filled the room with a strong presence (the artist's? ) but it was the 30 monochrom drawing /paintings that captured my attention. Each image was uniquely designed and carried a layer of meanings; a working man figure, trees, leaf outlines, and words. Each work was mounted to the wall with simple white tabs and thumbtacks. I liked this approach and will borrow it for my own paper works. Each picture seemed at first hastily drawn but on closer examination betrayed a master's eye. The paper seemed to stretch and bend internally, pushing itself off the wall at times- giving it another layer of life. Brouwer has lived long enough to find heros like Joseph Beuys who echo his own love of nature and mankind. I enjoyed my travels around the room looking at each drawing. I recognizing many leaf shapes and found from time to time the working man figure. Although the words at time seemed too close to greeting card quotes, I found the artist's honest sharing and depth of hinted at wisdom refreshing. Not a bad substitute for a real walk in the woods. Thanks Charles.

PG animation shows plight of Gaza

This animation speaks the truth for many Gaza citizens. Though it goes light on the effects of violence, it creates a memorable image of what it must be like to live in Gaza today. BTW, this was made by an Israeli illustrator. Read more here.

Sun Mu - Artist Speaks Truth to Power

"What are they feeding me?" by Sun Mu.


Sun Mu is a North Korean artist who has excaped to South Korea and is now turning his training in propaganda painting into a voice for free expression. Check out Sun's work here and read the New York Times article on his intriguing journey as an artist.

Avett Brothers' Salvation Song - Valentine to the us all.

If you take my heart
Don't leave the smallest part
I've no need to live if you're to come up gone
An as my life turns to a song
And if and when I treat you wrong
No I never want to hurt our family

And I would give up everything
No this is not just about me
And I don't know a plainer way to say it Babe
And they may pay us off in fame
Though that is not why we came
And I know well and good that won't heal our hearts

We came for salvation
We came for family
We came for all that's good that's how we'll walk away
We came to break the bad
We came to cheer the sad
We came to leave behind the world a better way

Now if I'm walkin' through the rain
And I hear you call my name
I will break into a run without a pause
And if your love laughs at your dreams
Well it's not as bad as it seems
Either way one of them has got to go
And if you take of my soul
You can still leave it whole
With the pieces of you own you leave behind

We came for salvation
We came for family
We came for all that's good that's how we'll walk away
We came to break the bad
We came to cheer the sad
We came to leave behind the world a better way

And I would give up everything
And if you were to come up clean
And see you shine so bright in a world of woe
And they may pay us off in fame
But that is not why we came
And if it compromises truth then we will go

We came for salvation
We came for family
We came for all that's good that's how we'll walk away
We came to break the bad
We came to cheer the sad
We came to leave behind the world a better way

Art makes good medicine

St. Francis Children's Hospital in Tulsa OK.

Casey and Emily Lewis, owners of Beechwood Metalworks in Burlington, NC, are creating art that reaches a very specific community; the sick patients and their families spending days and nights in hospitals. If you have ever had to spend time there yourself- and I have spent many many days there with sick family- you know that the view from a hospital room can be depressing. Often the view includes parking decks, more buildings, and heating/ AC units. Casey and Emily have found a way to bring a smile to those who look out their window and find metal sculptures of flowers and animals waiting patiently to be discovered. Such unexpected whimsy can bring a smile to even the sickest patient- and what good medicine that can be.

Beechwood has installed sculptures at UNC Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill and at St. Francis Children's Hospital in Tulsa OK. More locations are in the works.