Café Art We Are All Homeless

 Café Art is a kind of what I'll call an art movement in the UK, galvanized by Paul Ryan and Michael Wongart in 2012. I found out this wonderful project today that was posted  on Facebook by artist Willie Baronet.

 Café Art was started by one art group a homelessness organization and one cafe. The artists all have had experience with homelessness and are given the opportunity to have their art work hung for sale in cafes.

I have become acutely aware of how this kind of art has become near and dear to my heart for many reasons, and is becoming more important to me as the years go by.

Everything I Own or Bags of Life David Tovey

The Zombie Zeitgeist - The End of The World As We Know It

When I can't blog every day my world just isn't complete. I don't throw out computers, because well, I know what happens to computers when they are sent to the recycle depots and it's horrendous. But when I am without my internet access, I realize how dependent I am on this daily activity in the same way most people are.

I don't have a cell phone which is a good thing because other wise I'd be glued to it no doubt. walking around like a mindless zombie and phubbing people and lacking the social skills to communicate face to face with my fellow human beings.

And so, today I had to go to town for a doctor's appointment, but what was foremost in my mind I admit it was making a b-line first thing, to purchase a replacement for my old Dell computer mouse that was no longer working. Once I had it in my hands, I felt better already! I was doing everything short of swinging it round my head like a lasso to get it to work. My mouse came with my old Dell desktop that I purchased...yes...20 years ago. It's had a few upgrades, but I'm afraid it'll soon be time to retire the old dino for a laptop. My Dell may be old dinosaur, but it's not a zombie, though it may have done things to my brain, that may or maybe not be positive.

In our North American culture, I've heard a lot lately about the zombie apocalypse. You hear about it on  television, radio, movies, and in books. You just have to think about the shows like The Walking Dead etc., to see this preoccupation come to life, that seems to be an increasing preoccupation.

 Yesterday I heard the Ideas program on CBC Radio, The Coming Zombie Apocalypse which gave some context to this preoccupation, and then began to make some sense to me, whereas before, I really didn't get it, other than suspecting that it has something to do with how in the western world, we hold death at arms length. It's easier to pretend our own fantastical demise, than face the realities that exist in our own lives.

Our world is indeed threatened, but not by zombies, but by us, human beings. We are alive, thankfully, and are not zombies. My hope is that we will keep it this way, until it's time for us to go, but not before our time.

Steve Bonello - Artist Extraordinaire

Honourable Gentlemen (1993). Drawing in ink and mixed media. I was probably influenced by the daring assassinations of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino which had happened in quick succession.

I subscribed to a site that gives your the opportunity to link, review and refer you to other sites. Much of the information provided can be lacking in taste and quality websites. Though every now and again, I come across some amazing sites in particular I am talking about artist sites. I get very enthusiastic and give them a glowing review, because it is most deserving.

 I came across the art work of  Steve Bonello who is from Malta. This finely rendered, and detailed artwork is mostly done with coloured ink, pen and mixed media, which art has a classical yet contemporary quality with some great socio-political content in his cartoons and illustrations with a very humorous bent.

Bastions of the Faith (1989) Ink and mixed media (Private Collection Malta)

Steve Bonello also has a wonderful in depth blog that covers a wide variety of topics much like the subject matter of his art work.I think you will agree both his site and blog are very well worth checking out.

The Market at San Lorenzo, Florence (1989) Ink and mixed media. (Private Collection Malta)
It is difficult to go to Florence and not fall in love with the place. Apart from the wealth of art everywhere I have a soft spot for markets and this is my homage to one of the city's liveliest.

Robert Burley - The Disappearance of Darkness

Robert Burley

I am grateful for having had the experience, the privilege of learning about the art, the process, the history, and the philosophical magic of photography with an old school photography teacher, Thaddeus Holownia.

 As most artists involved with photography, I have to say I am saddened, and troubled in seeing the changes that have taken place very quickly, especially the demise of Kodak, and film processing. It appears to be the end of the a Golden Era of film.

Those of us that spent hours in the dark room of chemicals, feverishly developing film, diligently bent over enlargers, and perusing through contact sheets was what the process of photography was all about and so much more.

Thankfully Canadian photographer Robert Burley spent six years documenting what has happened to photography, eloquently and succinctly expressing in his book, The Disappearance of Darkness what many analog photographers are also lamenting.

Among many younger art students there is a re-surging interest in the traditional photographic processes, such as using large format, black and white film, gelatin-silver process, and working in a dark room.

 My hope is that it will be enough to reignite more interest in photography to include, and supplement digital photography along side of analog photography, without replacing it exclusively with digital and without a disappearance of darkness.

Key Learnings

This morning I found these nine, what they've called " learnings" from Brain Pickings in my email box. Lots of food for thought in these reflections. I have commented at the end of each one listed.

"1. Allow yourself the uncomfortable luxury of changing your mind. Cultivate that capacity for "negative capability." We live in a culture where one of the greatest social disgraces is not having an opinion, so we often form our "opinions" based on superficial impressions or the borrowed ideas of others, without investing the time and thought that cultivating true conviction necessitates. We then go around asserting these donned opinions and clinging to them as anchors to our own reality. It's enormously disorienting to simply say, "I don't know." But it's infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right – even if that means changing your mind about a topic, an ideology, or, above all, yourself."

• That last bit about it being "infinitely more rewarding to understand than to be right" certainly is a resounding truth with me. Annoyance, contempt  and a false sense of superiority are manifested when the ego gets in the way of our opinions and clouds any real understanding.

"2. Do nothing for prestige or status or money or approval alone. As Paul Graham observed, "prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like." Those extrinsic motivators are fine and can feel life-affirming in the moment, but they ultimately don't make it thrilling to get up in the morning and gratifying to go to sleep at night – and, in fact, they can often distract and detract from the things that do offer those deeper rewards."

• One of the basic human needs is recognition, however being in pursuit and expectation of it never ends well. Having an imbalanced need for prestige or for anything out side ourselves is like trying to fill a bottomless pit, and can become addictive.  Spiritus contra spiritum is what Carl Jung called it. "The attempt to fill a spiritual void with a material reality." 

"3. Be generous. Be generous with your time and your resources and with giving credit and, especially, with your words. It's so much easier to be a critic than a celebrator. Always remember there is a human being on the other end of every exchange and behind every cultural artifact being critiqued. To understand and be understood, those are among life's greatest gifts, and every interaction is an opportunity to exchange them."

•  Generousity is putting our gratitude into action otherwise it is just a pleasant emotion.

• According to the Lakota tradition, the natural law of generousity states, that energy we use to communicate, returns to us fourfold.

"4. Build pockets of stillness into your life. Meditate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going nowhere in particular. There is a creative purpose to daydreaming, even to boredom. The best ideas come to us when we stop actively trying to coax the muse into manifesting and let the fragments of experience float around our unconscious mind in order to click into new combinations. Without this essential stage of unconscious processing, the entire flow of the creative process is broken.

Most importantly, sleep. Besides being the greatest creative aphrodisiac, sleep also affects our every waking moment, dictates our social rhythm, and even mediates our negative moods. Be as religious and disciplined about your sleep as you are about your work. We tend to wear our ability to get by on little sleep as some sort of badge of honor that validates our work ethic. But what it really is is a profound failure of self-respect and of priorities. What could possibly be more important than your health and your sanity, from which all else springs?"

• We live in a culture where most people are sleep deprived and are barely functioning on a chronic sleep deficit. 

• Driving while deprived of sleep it like driving drunk, it's a very dangerous situation.

• Digital devices used before bed are said to be contributing to our lack of deep sleep.

"5. When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as importantly, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don't believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and absolutely nothing about you."

•  Human beings are complex, and have many layers to their personalities. I think if we die without knowing or experiencing who we are as individuals, this is a tragedy. Each person brings to this life a sacred capital. This is our value and worth.

"6. Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity. Ours is a culture that measures our worth as human beings by our efficiency, our earnings, our ability to perform this or that. The cult of productivity has its place, but worshiping at its altar daily robs us of the very capacity for joy and wonder that makes life worth living – for, as Annie Dillard memorably put it, "how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." "

•  I am fond of remembering that I am a human being, not a human doing. Living fully in the present moment is what brings me peace of mind. Worrying about the past and projecting into the future robs me of my happiness.

        "7. "Expect anything worthwhile to take a long time." This is borrowed from the wise  and           
wonderful Debbie Millman, for it's hard to better capture something so fundamental yet so impatiently overlooked in our culture of immediacy. The myth of the overnight success is just that – a myth – as well as a reminder that our present definition of success needs serious retuning. As I've reflected elsewhere, the flower doesn’t go from bud to blossom in one spritely burst and yet, as a culture, we're disinterested in the tedium of the blossoming. But that’s where all the real magic unfolds in the making of one’s character and destiny.
And here are the two new additions:"

•  I remember what a wise old recovering New York nun said about recovery and I believe it can be related to living a worth while life. Growth happens little by slowly.

"8. Seek out what magnifies your spirit. Patti Smith, in discussing William Blake and her creative influences, talks about writers and artists who magnified her spirit – it's a beautiful phrase and a beautiful notion. Who are the people, ideas, and books that magnify your spirit? Find them, hold on to them, and visit them often. Use them not only as a remedy once spiritual malaise has already infected your vitality but as a vaccine administered while you are healthy to protect your radiance."

• Wow I love Patti Smith even more now!

"9. Don't be afraid to be an idealist. There is much to be said for our responsibility as creators and consumers of that constant dynamic interaction we call culture – which side of the fault line between catering and creating are we to stand on? The commercial enterprise is conditioning us to believe that the road to success is paved with catering to existing demands – give the people cat GIFs, the narrative goes, because cat GIFs are what the people want. But E.B. White, one of our last great idealists, was eternally right when he asserted half a century ago that the role of the writer is "to lift people up, not lower them down" – a role each of us is called to with increasing urgency, whatever cog we may be in the machinery of society. Supply creates its own demand. Only by consistently supplying it can we hope to increase the demand for the substantive over the superficial – in our individual lives and in the collective dream called culture."

•  Idealism as opposed to cynicism is the only way to go. Idealism is where hope lies and there is always hope for even for the hopeless cynic.

Artistic Old World Bread Making

 I thought it was a good day to make bread. I have a family tradition of  making bread on Saturdays, or when ever it feels like a good bread making day. I then got thinking about the significance of this tradition and why women do it. This lead me to finding a wonderful film made by Mariette Sluyter who taught others to make bread, and Bread is the name of her NFB Film that she documented, telling the stories of six women, all who baked bread.

There is something so grounding, and very special about the process of making bread. Anyone who makes their own bread knows this to be true. For most women baking bread it is an ancient practice, and has a cultural significance that provided the sustenance of life, and it connects us to one another because it is prevalent in all cultures. The  word  "companion" comes from the Latin word "with bread'.

My fondest memories are of the sweet and comforting aroma of my grandmother's fresh bread, slathering it with butter, while it was still warm from the oven. I am so glad my mother passed this tradition down to me, and when I make bread I feel this connection to my mother, and with all the grandmothers, past, present, and future.


“Bread reflects who we are as a species; the basic ingredients are the same but the outcomes are different. It is the same with humans: we share the basic building blocks but it is cultural practice that changes the outcomes. It is through breaking bread together, figuratively or literally, in a spirit of open, curious learning that we can transcend what divides us.”
                                                        
                                                                          - Mariette Sluyter

The video below is of a group of joyful women laughing, talking, and participating in bread making, and you will see how creative this bread making can be.
I have no idea what nationality these women are or the language they're speaking, but it is a beautiful thing to see how they interact laughing, enjoying themselves, and are bonded with one another.
 I tried out a few of these artistic techniques with my bread making today, making three regular loaves, and a few other small braided buns.

Self-Taught Versus Formal Art Education

I believe everyone owes it to themselves to get some kind of art education. Regardless if it is self-taught or in a formal setting like in a University. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.

I have known many artists that have educated themselves. The admirable quality is the passion and the drive they have to learn. Creativity, and curiosity go hand in hand and for me, and these are spiritual like practices that directly relate to education.

I love what Laurie Anderson says about being an artist. That is a spiritual like practice, rather like being God because you are creating something.

I have to say I am so grateful and thankful that I had the opportunity to have a University education. That said, I also know I can have all the education in the world but if I don't have that thirst for knowledge and learning then I'm wasting my time.

Ken Robinson talks about the need for a paradigm shift when it comes to our academic education that needs to be overhauled, towards creativity. I completely agree with him.

Art education in a university is somewhat different than being self-taught, in that you are constantly exposed to creative thinking which is conducive to a learning environment. Having the constant exchange and interaction with other artists and educators in a formal setting is extremely beneficial and life changing, on numerous levels.

And so I have to say, though a University art education might not be perfect, I'll never regret having had one. In the mean time I continue to work on educating myself living life after art school.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/26908/1/how-to-get-an-art-education-without-going-to-art-school