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Hello friends,
Life on the west coast is pretty dismal right now. We’re so fortunate to live away from any direct fire danger, however the smoke from fires up and down the coast are affecting us and everyone else. We will get through this smoke episode in a few days. I’m worried for all of the people who live in areas that are burning, or have the potential to burn. Fire season is really just getting started.
I’m not going to write at length about this, but did want to share one thing that will help put it into perspective for us in the Puget Sound area. In 2017 we got a blast of smoke from the fires in Canada, and at that time thought it was pretty bad. Little did we know how much worse it could get.
Anyhow, here we are. literally waiting for the winds to change. We’re even experiencing our own nuclear winter of sorts. The sun is blotted out and the temps dropped considerably. I can see how this would be a big problem if the world was blanketed in crud for any length of time.
I was going to write about an obscure historical event that I had seen reference somewhere, but it turned out to be so obscure there was very little clear information about it (and I wasn’t in the mood for deep research to find the greater context). You’re on your own with the 1812 Luddite potato riots.
The last few days while I’ve been stuck inside I’ve been doing a lot of artsy things. It seems to be the best thing for my mind at the moment. I’ve mentioned the lessons from Amy Maricle at Mindful Art Studio quite a few times in recent newsletters. I’m finding the small scale, slow abstract drawing really appeals to me. So much so that I decided to sign up for her class called Big Art, which is all about taking the small pieces to create larger works. She teaches several different techniques that I will be able to apply to work of any size. I’m waiting for some specific supplies to arrive this week before diving into the tutorials. I’ll be working with something new that looks like a lot of fun - high flow acrylics. While I’m waiting I’ve been cutting watercolor paper into lots of small squares, and drawing on the chopped up larger watercolors I did last weekend. These squares are all 2-inch squares.
I didn’t intentionally try to match those up - I just picked mostly randomly from the stack of squares from one of the larger sheets and started drawing. I do try to get a mix of high and low start starts and ends to help create the potential for matches, but that’s it.
There are a lot of little squares in my future! I’d better go cut some more up - I’m trying to get ahead so I have plenty to play around with. I’m really excited to get started.
Yesterday I took a few minutes to draw a penguin. I follow a librarian on Twitter who hosted his second annual “draw a penguin day.” Once I found a suitable photo to use as a guide, I was able to sketch and color the penguin very quickly. I’m much more confident about what I’m doing and overtly noticed how quickly it went for me. If any of you would like to draw but think you can’t - take it from me YOU CAN. Practice and persistence really pays off. Some people thought my penguin looked sad, but if you look at the link with the photo you’ll see I had to make him look down because I ran out of paper on the right. It’s also an article that will make you chuckle.
The dog has gotten very abbreviated one block walks the last several days, but I’ve still managed to see signs of fall in our own yard. The vine maple branches I’m trying to root out are changing color!
You can see why I’d like to grow some in the yard - they’re so bright! I also spotted a couple of little mushrooms coming up right next to the front stoop. They’ll be fun to watch for the next few days.
This is all for me today folks. Time to cut some little squares and do a bit of drawing before heading back into another busy work week!
Wherever you are, stay safe and healthy as much as you can.
Cheers!
Tidbits
Pretty, but it seems like an awful lot of work for something that ends up as mush in your stomach
Customize your own yearly planner or notebook (via Kim Werker)
Three from Culture Study (Anne Helen Peterson and I must think alike, I always like her weekly shares)
Making: an attempt to keep my head out of the dark corners with art - see above.
Recently eaten: smoke filled air
Reading: I haven’t had much interest in reading the last few days, so have been sticking with art
Eye Candy Corner
I poked around to try and find some Congolese artists to go along with today’s videos . I found Christian Kakesse on Instagram. He’s not got a lot of work posted, but the few pieces he has are great. I love the detailed patterns around the subject of the pieces. I hope to see more from him soon.
The Most Notable Congolese Painters You Need to Know
This article showcases several artists working over the last several decades. The paintings of Chéri Chérin caught my eye. They are colorful, politically pointed, and not always pleasant.
Joseph Kinkonda, called Cheri Cherin, was born on Febr. 16th, 1955 in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic Congo, formerly called Zaire). He studied 1977 at the Academie des Beaux Arts in Kinshasa under the Austrian ceramics-artist Peter Weihs. During this time he started to paint posters in his residential-quarter Ndjili. He created pictures on the walls of bars, barbershops and small boutiques. Besides he created impressive pictures of daily life and also paintings with very serious contents. Today he is one of the best known painters in Kinshasa and a teacher to many young talented artists. (Source)
Chéri Chérin
Con patriotes au depouille et ment, 2012 Acrylic on canvas
Signé et daté
© Chéri Chérin
Courtesy Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris.
Collection de la Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain INV Nbr. CC1312005
See more of his work: Magnin-A, or do a Google image search (he’s prolific!)
Videos of the Week
Today’s musical rabbit hole sends us to Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Enjoy your armchair travels!
Fulu Miziki is a collective of artists who comes straight from a future where humans have reconciled with mother earth and with themselves. This multidisciplinary collective of artists is based in the heart of the Congolese capital city Kinshasa and was founded by Pisko Crane. For several years now, it’s founder Pisko has spent an amount of time conceptualising an orchestra made from objects found in the trash, constantly changing instruments, always in search of new sounds.
If you liked that music, you’ll also enjoy Konono N°1.
Konono Nº1 is a musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé (a traditional instrument similar to the mbira) with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard. The group's amplification equipment is equally rudimentary, including a microphone carved out of wood fitted with a magnet from an automobile alternator and a gigantic horn-shaped amplifier. (Wikipedia)
Current Temperature: 61.3F (16.3 C)
Current Humidity: 88%
Wind (max gust): 5.8 mph
Precipitation: 0.00 in
Air Quality Index: 196 = very poor (this is 12 points worse than when I got up this morning)