I think I have an early form of Spring Fever...

All this "warm" weather (40 degrees) has given me a supposed jump start on Spring cleaning. Yes, looking at my house, you wouldn't think so...but it's there in small bits and pieces. And I've got plans to paint the walls/floor in the dining room, fix up the kitchen (actually, that's Jon's plan) and work on the bathroom bit by bit. Once the new windows are in, I can focus getting my studio in shape as well...maybe even get the basement cleared up/organized. It's nice having a house you can do stuff to but it's a huge responsibility too. It’s kind of like tending a big baby…or an aged baby (depending on the house age). Reminds me of Jonathan Winters…do you remember him from the “Mork and Mindy” show? The aged baby, Jonathan Winters? Okay, the Spring Fever feeling is starting to wane...or I'm just tired. lol.

Started new projects with my art students… robots; GIANT Robots (6' tall). I'm even doing one. We're using cardboard (recycled) as the structure and will be painting the surface and exploring texture. It is actually really fun and good use of materials that are lying around. Love that. This is a great way to recycle boxes, paper, etc.

~Thinking of Romare Bearden, the American artist, and his collage work. What would a collage of today be about? What reflections and insights would we gather from magazines, or "trash", or things we normally recycle? How could we incorporate those things into a piece of work and express ourselves in a collage? Is the very use of these items an expression on today's current evnironmental crisis?

In thinking about all the information and misinformation that is around us in this day and age, how would we interpret this in our art? A quote from George Orwell's "1984" comes to mind, "Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?…"

For my self, I believe there is not enough thought in this world of ours. However, thoughtfulness is there, if people give it time. And I think this is the most important part...to make time and not scurry around madly for whatever reason, to make time and think. And in that thinking, the act of thoughtfulness is born. This is one of the keys, I believe, to self realization and action.

And this leads me back to my student’s art. The very act of reusing that which would have normally been thrown out (cardboard boxes), that is a avant garde action. It's better than recycling because you are putting it to a different use and not expending outside energy (like electricity, gas) to manipulate it into more paper, etc. You are creating value in something that would normally have been thrown out and you have created thought (art piece) by your actions. I love it!



Romare Bearden