PRINTING

On the left, a photograph taken on the back patio of Thai on Two, 180 2nd Avenue—a perfect twilight tree. On the right, an image of that photo created from a photopolymer printing plate.  If you'd like to see how this type of plate is made, you can watch this YouTube video.    

Two-color print created from a single linoleum block
 using a highly simplified reduction block method.

NEW YORK PHOTOS

I took this photo in 2009 on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  It is one of my favorite photos, and I've worked with it in a number of ways over the months: photo transfer using a variety of transfer media; conversion to a black-and-white image that I then hand-colored; burning the image onto photo-sensitive film and transferring the image onto a metal printing plate, which was then printed using a Vandercook proof press.  Photo transfer using acrylic gel media was not very successful.  The most effective medium, I found, is aerosol fixative.

Here is the image printed in two colors from a photopolymer printing plate using a Vandercook proof press.  I used the image in a chapbook of poetry created for the course Printing II in the University of Alabama Book Arts program.  Below is an experimental image consisting of photo transfers set at different angles, watercolor paint, and overlaid  transparancies. 

Second Avenue Doorway

Photo transfer triptych.

House of Study belonging to the Krasna Hasidim, Williamsburg.

Typical wall in Williamsburg.  It is covered with advertisements and community announcement, in particular, Jewish legal rulings (p'sak halacha, written in white letters on a black background at the top of three posters shown above).

In my imagination, one building is reaching out to touch the other.

Brooklyn Heights. Fire escapes are as alive as vines.

The open arms of a train entrance, Williamsburg

SKINK

This beautiful skink (scientific name scincidae) appeared on my window ledge yesterday, and remained still on two occasions long enough to let me admire him and take photographs. 

                           

MY LITTLE WORLD OF ENTYMOLOGY

This fascinating creature first built the beginnings of a web that reached across my outdoor staircase, forcing me to duck in order to preserve the single strand on which it travelled high-wire style. It then moved up to my second floor terrace, building a fully-formed web, complete with expired prey. It is popularly known as the "smiley face crab spider" on account of its black markings and crab-like legs. Its scientific name is Gasteracantha cancriformis.  The spider then took up residence on a web strung between a tree and the building beside it. In this photo, you can see the remains of its prey.  This photo was taken the day after a heavy rain.  The spider rebuilt its web, and its webs are always a wonder to see.

A couple of days ago I discovered this creature resting among some stones I had placed on an unused camp chair outside my apartment.  Note the impressive antennae.  Its color was also striking; it is obviously very well camouflaged in its proper environment (which a green camp chair is not).  Some friends and I attempted to identify it, and we think it's a type of borer beetle.

Today, I found this Junebug on the mat outside my apartment.  Its wings were a gorgeous shade of green.

FILMS "DHARM" AND "DELHI 6"

I watched two wonderful Indian films recently. The first is titled "Dharm."  It tells the story of a Hindu priest whose orthodox beliefs and adherence to the dictates of the caste system are tested when he develops a paternal bond with an abandoned baby boy whose mother, unbeknownst to him, is Muslim.

The second is titled "Delhi 6," which (title) references a neighborhood in Old Delhi. A young man, raised in the United States, accompanies his ailing grandmother to Delhi 6, the area in which she grew up and in which she wishes to spend her last days. There, he becomes immersed in the pleasures of extended family and the richness of Indian culture, and is forced to confront the bitterness of deeply-rooted superstitions and religious violence.

RECENT READING

I've been reading and re-reading the following:

There are Things I Want You to Know about Stieg Larsson and Me  by Eva Gabrielsson

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.

Let the Great World Spin by Collum McCann

FILM "THREE IDIOTS"

Don't let the title fool you.  This is not an Indian version of "Dumb and Dumber."  It's a moving, humane, and frequently humorous depiction of the intense academic and familial pressures endured by three students attending a prestigious but draconian engineering college in Delhi.


The film is based on the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat.

BOOK "LONDONERS"

I discovered this wonderful book at the Tuscaloosa Public Library:


Londoners.  The Days and Nights of London Now—As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It.

LOUSE BOURGEOIS, "THE SPIDER, THE MISTRESS, AND THE TANGERINE"

I am rewatching the film "The Spider, the Mistress, and the Tangerine," about sculptor Louise Bourgeois.  A quote from the movie bears continual revisiting and consideration: "It is very difficult to be a woman and to be likeable.  This desire to be likeable—it is really a pain in the neck.  How are you going to be likeable and be yourself?

DEREK JARMAN'S "WITTENSTEIN"

I am enjoying Derek Jarman's 1993 stylized, theatrical film depicting the life and thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

A colleague posted a link to Facebook about a documentary on the life and work of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the greatest rocker/gospel singer you've probably never heard of.  The documentary has been posted on YouTube.  This is very, very special. You've heard of Chuck Berry. You've heard of Jimmy Hendrix. Do yourself a favor and listen to Sister Rosetta.

"AMARGOSA"

I watched the astonishing documentary Amargosa some time ago when it was streaming on Netflix, It's the story of  dancer and artist Marta Becket who, at the age of 42, abandoned her conventional career to restore a dilapidated theatre in the Death Valley town of Amargosa.  What was (and is) most striking to me is Becket's ability to thrive creatively in an environment of relentless solitude.  She was known to mount performances for which there was no audience, later describing these as rehearsals for audiences to come.  And in the absence of a physical audience, she spent six years painting one: a fantastical depiction of Renaissance-era audience that covers the walls and ceiling of the Amargosa Opera House.  Her contentment with a deeply interior, solitary and self-possessed life is fascinating in the extreme.

KARL LAGERFELD AND ANDRE LEON TALLEY—THE CHARLIE ROSE INTERVIEW

Thanks to my good colleague Dr. Bob, who told me about this interview Charlie Rose conducted with Karl Lagerfeld and Andre Leon Talley. Andre Leon Talley has written an autobiography, by the way—ALT: A Memoir.

KEITH HARING

Today is the birthday of pop/street/graffiti artist Keith Haring, who died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 31.  He is being celebrated with his own Google Doodle, which can be viewed in this article from the Christian Science Monitor.   The Huffington Post has also posted an article about Haring and included photos of his work.  I very much hope to get to the Brooklyn Museum to see the current Haring exhibit.

PBS SERIES: "ART IN THE 21ST CENTURY"

I love this series, which is described as the "...preeminent chronicler of contemporary art and artists."  I'm currently watching the episode titled "History" from season 6.  PBS streams the entire series.

"WHAT SWEETER MUSIC?"

This beautiful hymn is a musical setting of a poem by Robert Herrick (1591-1674). It was originally titled "A Christmas Carol, Sung to the King in the Presence at White-Hall." (The king referenced was Charles I.) Here is another interesting article about Robert Herrick.

The music is by John Rutter composer, conductor, editor and arranger. It is my favorite piece of Christmas music.

Here is a video of the King's College choir performing the piece in 2008:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ucVQSJunR4

Here is another version, also sung by the King's College choir, and showing the music and text:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0un4VPPZDug

The words, an abridged form of Herrick's original poem, are especially beautiful. Here, rain is described as "turning the patient ground to flowers."

What sweeter music can we bring
Than a carol, for to sing
The birth of this our heavenly King?...

Dark and dull night fly hence away,
And give the honor to this day
That sees December turned to May...

We see him come, and know him ours,
Who, with his sunshine and his showers,
Turns all the patient ground to flowers...

"A TUDOR FEAST AT CHRISTMAS," HISTORIC RECREATION

In this historical reconstruction from 2006, historians and archeologists prepare a Tudor feast using the same methods, materials sourcing and recipes as were used 400 years ago.  This same team, consisting of Ruth Goodman, Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn, also produced the following series:


Tales from The Green Valley (2005)
Victorian Farm (2009)
Edwardian Farm (2010)
Victorian Pharmacy (2010)


You may find some or all of these on the excellent website "Top Documentary Films."