#5: There is a light
Oh hey! So, in the spirit of the conversation I had with my friend Han the other day about how much we enjoy the cadence in friendships of just launching right back into conversation like no time has passed at all, and forgoing the formality of apologies for not talking for ages..
I’m deep diving back into painter, printmaker, philosopher, and adventurer Rockwell Kent recently. What I knew of Kent was his printmaking work and lifelong radical political activism, which if you’re not already familiar, is well worth digging into. But now I’m getting into his 1920 book Wilderness: A Journal of Quiet Adventure in Alaska, and it’s profoundly beautiful and interesting. In 1918 Kent moved with his 9 year old son to a tiny cabin on the remote Fox Island in Alaska for 7 months in what he described as “an adventure of the spirit.”
(Btw among the essentials they packed):
8 lbs. chocolate
1 gal. peanut butter
4 pots
2 pillows
10 lbs. lima beans
10 lbs. white beans
100 lbs. potatoes
1 broom
6 lemons
6 agate cups
4 agate plates
4 agate bowls
5 lbs. salt
6 Ivory soap
2 cans dried eggs
1 tea kettle
12 candles
He said, “Often I think that however much I draw or paint, or however well, I am not an artist as art is generally understood. The abstract is meaningless to me save as a fragment of the whole, which is life itself… It is the ultimate which concerns me, and all physical, all material things are but an expression of it… We are part and parcel of the big plan of things. We are simply instruments recording in different measure our particular portion of the infinite. And what we absorb of it makes for character, and what we give forth, for expression.”
And I feel that right now.
Here are some other things I remembered this week, and some things I made.
Did you know you should put your ginger root in the FREEZER and then take it out and grate it when you need it? It’s so easy and makes these amazing piles of fluff with no fibrous mess or juice everywhere, it’s a dream! I use a lot of ginger. Maybe microwave a bowl of chopped greens and frozen dumplings with a little broth or water, a heap of grated ginger, and some good toppings like green onion and chili crisp and/ or sauce, miso, whatever. I’m throwing a lot of snap peas in lately too.
I’ve been sending so much work out I haven’t had any left over to post here in a while. I’ve also been lowkey doing some pet portraits again. I haven’t wanted to publicly open it up because it tends to get out of control and I can’t keep up, but for now I’ll tell you, my friends here, if you’d like one, email me. I’ll tell you more and show you pictures.
But I did just make.. THESE GUYS. These guys are LOST pets. Is this your pet? If you would like to claim or adopt either or both of them I will paint their name (of your choice) up top and send them to you. They’re made with gouache, silkscreen ink, and acrylic paint, on 9” x 12” 300gsm cold pressed watercolor paper. Only you know about them for now, and the secret link is HERE. If they’re still around I’ll make them public in a few days.
The other day I was at Riverbanks Zoo for an event where there was live music right near the animals. Specifically, the large habitat of flamingos. A zookeeper told me they don’t seem to mind music as long as it’s not too loud. But then they told me that a while back someone brought a steel drum, and it immediately threw the flamingos into a mating frenzy! Which I guess was bad, because it was NOT mating time? They had to jump in and pull them apart and try un-titillate a flock of big pink birds while a wedding took place behind them. This delighted me.
Then the next day I saw these desiccated yard flamingos on a trash pile of leaves. I took a piece of another broken one’s wing, and it was just like eggshell, maybe even more delicate.
I have this new self-titled album from Nydia Gonzalez on constant repeat, it’s so beautiful and soothing and timeless.
I hope you’re all doing well. Please feel free to write and tell me, I love to hear from you.
Talk to you again soon ♡