I’ll cut to the chase: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville is one of the worst books I’ve ever actually finished. Perdido Street Station is a fantasy novel that also straddles the sci-fi and steampunk genres. The story is set in an indeterminate time and place that teems with Bosch-like biological species and other sentients.…
I was too optimistic when I recently applauded President Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal announcement. I failed to mention that President Trump had scheduled the withdrawal from Afganistan for May. Biden actually is delaying the final withdrawal to September. Naturally, many Afghanis consider this another American broken promise. But what’s more troubling to me is that it’s…
Sable brushes are the best. There’s no debate about this. Sure, there are some use cases where the benefits of sable are irrelevant. The fine control provided by sables is lost on large-format oil paintings, for example. So on large paintings, why go to the expense? And–oh boy!–sable brushes are expensive. I paid $60+ over…
As a sign of escalating tensions, US President Biden announced sanctions against Russia and expelled several Russian diplomats today. Both sides are talking tough and hurling threats at each other. Putin, of course, promises retaliation. At the same time, the Biden Administration also announced that the two US warships en route to the Black Sea…
Since I wrote about my fears of a US-encouraged war between Russia and Ukraine, the news has gotten darker, Russia sent troops to the Russian-Ukraine border. Many are now echoing my warning about war. Both sides–Russia and Ukraine–have only hardened their stance amid calls of de-escalation. Ukraine, prodded by the war-hawks in the Biden administration,…
I’m screwed. My backlog is out of hand; I can’t possibly keep up. The ideas keep coming. It’s not by my will. It seems like ‘something’ outside of me is making paintings and I’m merely the assistant. It surprises and worries me that the ‘something’ doesn’t care that many paintings do not get finished. I…
I spend a lot of time preparing canvases–stretching, priming, and grounding. The process works well for me but it’s time-consuming. I would gladly buy commercially-prepared canvas but my experience with it has been bad. In the past, I’ve paid premium prices for inferior products. The art supply market is filled with hucksters and amateurs. Knowing…
I became familiar with the Japanese author Haruki Murakami during my current fiction-gorging phase. How could I have been unfamiliar with such a gifted author? It’s not an excuse but I go through long periods during which I don’t read fiction. Murakami’s style is first-person intimate heightened with surrealism; all of it served very imaginatively.…