One by one my hair is turning gray
One by one my dreams are fading fast away
One by one I read your letters over
One by one I lay them all away
-Woody Guthrie (with Billy Bragg and Wilco), “One By One”
1. Watched a movie the other night by maybe my favorite indie-film director. Victor Nunez’s Coastlines (2002) is not as well-paced as either Ulee’s Gold (1997) or Ruby in Paradise (1993), his other two gems, but it’s still a great display of Nunez’s considerable directorial skills at getting rich and subtle performances out of his cast. All three films feature mostly lesser-known actors portraying characters who live out-of-the-way, rural lives that few people would ever even notice in real life, but his characters shine from the screen with simple honesty and quiet dignity. Nunez’s actors underplay every scene, while still filling each moment with emotion and subtlety. If you’re a fan of “little movies” and have never seen these films, I’d highly recommend any of them, especially the older two.
2. In my dream I can play the cello. Really well.
3. I’m not really all that interested in what happens at UVa football games, but I gotta say, a skydiving helmet-cam into the stadium is cool as shit. (from cvillenews.com and uvatoday.org)
4. Holly berries. My sister’s yard. Thanksgiving day. Richmond.
Lucinda always knows how to sing to my depression…
Faces look familiar, but they don’t have names
Towns I used to live in have been rearranged
Highways I once traveled down don’t look the same
-Lucinda Williams, “Everything Has Changed”
I’m working on some new pieces. At this point they’re just sort of an experiment - I’m playing with layers of image in photoshop and translating those into layers of image (and paint) in resin. I’m not sure they’re even going to work - I haven’t finished any of them - they might be cool, they might just be a mess. Here’s a photo I took last weekend that might make it into this body of work if it ends up going anywhere…
There’s a reason for the things that we never get over.
I know you are waiting and I know that it is not for me,
But I’m here and I’m ready and I saved you the passenger seat.
I won’t be your last dance, just your last good night.
Every heart is a package tangled up in knots someone else tied.
-Josh Ritter, “Kathleen”
I am needing some studio time. Hopefully this weekend. I’ve felt the current mixed media work reaching its conclusion. At least in it’s current form. And I need a new toy. I have some ideas, but need to get in the studio and fuck some things up. For my mental health if nothing else.
It’s been a crazy-busy week. I will recap.
1. Last Sunday I got to go to the awesome Amos Lee show. (Thanks, CO!)
2. Monday night I hung my show at the Mudhouse. (Thanks, AK!)
3. Tuesday I worked as an election official for the city in my most awesome Clark precinct. I got to see lots of friends and neighbors, and it was a pretty special experience - getting to play a very small part in such a historic day.
4. Friday night was the opening of the Mudhouse show. It meant a whole lot to me to have so many friends come out and say hello - a very fun evening. Thanks especially to ML for being my “date”.
5. Last night I went to up DC to see my very dear artshow friends Donna and Chandra and Chris, who were all up there for a show at the convention center. I love my artshow friends so much - I wish I got to hang out with them all the time instead of just once or twice a year. A very fun evening.
6. Then my birthday dinner tonight. (Thanks, KD!). Happy birthday, me.
7. From last month. Nantahala River, North Carolina.
