Admittedly the butt is one of my favorite attributes of the male physique.A man’s well developed glutes and legs indicate power and strength to me even more than bulging biceps or big pecs.Starting with that premise the piece developed around ‘Strength’ as a physical attribute but also an emotional one as well. I like the exotic nature of placing the figure, who is of African ancestry against an Asian setting. It highlights the strength required from within when you are an outsider, one of the 'different ones' in a society.
The world would be a much better place if more of us embraced what is different and foreign as exotic instead of shun it as abnormal and alien.
The "Strength" original and prints are now available from my website.
How did the mainstream press get it so wrong? How did the evidence disputing the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the link between Saddam Hussein to 9-11 continue to go largely unreported?
These are questions Bill Moyers explores in "Buying The War" as he delves into the failure of US mainstream media to question the half-truths, fabrications, and deceptions spoon fed to the them by the Bush marketing campaign bent on selling the invasion of Iraq. It points out how the Bush administration would leak stories to the NY Times then quote them to support the case for war. It also shows how the frenzy of patriotism and fear of being branded 'anti-American' by right wing pundits and puppets like Bill O'Rielly (who has already started a smear campaign against Moyers, SURPIRSE!) and their legions of followers, stifled journalists and buried news reports that pointed out the holes and contradictions in the trumped up war cry from the White House.
The show, "Buying The War", is a fascinating and disturbing account on how the media failed and continues to fail the country by opting to be a megaphone for politicians rather than uncovering, exposing, and reporting truths and facts; how they pick from a list of 'experts' rather than do research themselves. It even tells how some TV execs required talk shows to have on 2 pro-war guests for every war opponent, though they could have as many conservatives on without inviting an opposing viewpoint.
It's an engaging report. I am sure it will be replayed on PBS, check your listings.
Daring to over-toot my own horn, I just wanted to share another nice write up about my book and my work in the latest issue of the Bay Area Reporter, the GLBT paper of San Francisco since 1971.
The article was written by John F. Karr. Though everyone says you're not supposed to put too much emphasis on a review (good or bad) it is nice to read positive comments from people whom I don't know and who are not the publisher.
This weekend I was hit with a bad cold. Of course this was also the first really nice weekend in New England. I wanted to get out and enjoy it, as well as finish my latest piece, neither happened. I saturated myself with the store brand of "Airborne" (the cold fighter/preventer) and it seemed to really help. Never have I felt so miserable on a Saturday and then sooooo much better come Tuesday.
Anyway as someone who suffered from asthma as a child and works around so much dust, I decided to finally invest in an air filter. I like to think that I am a fit healthy guy, perhaps that's why I waited so long. I know it's something I should have done quite a while ago. This weekends cold knocked the wind out of me so it got me to take action. The pastel dust did not cause my cold, but it is certainly not good for me. Though I could not bring myself to fork out over $1000 for an air filter designed especially for pastel artists I did find this one by Austin, from an art supply company along with a few good write ups about. So hopefully it arrives soon and makes a noticeable difference.
Green denotes new entry. Song links will take you to the listing in the iTunes store if you have iTunes installed. **No longer available on iTunes USA.
I've been very productive the last couple of days. The figure is nearly done, leaving the background, and then the finishing touches. I gave the figure green eyes which made him look exotic and very sexy so I've decided to take that further. I've added a kanji symbol tattoo (anyone know what it is?). I like the contrast of the green eyed black man in an Asian setting. It's that atypical pairing that makes something exotic. After all an exotic local isn't exotic to those that live there.
As I was working on my latest piece I was listening to my library of music and this song came on. It is one of my favorite early 80's songs. Ah, reminds me of my youth! I used to wish I lived in England because the music was so much better there.
I can really get behind a sexy derriere. Since it is one of my favorite aspects of the male physique, I am surprised that I don't have more rear-centric works. This new piece I've started is definitely driven by my lust for glorious glutes.
Alan is a freelance writer and a couple months ago interviewed me for the piece. He recently sent it out to several of the places he is often published in to coincide with the release of "Summer Moved On". He did a wonderful job. ::Hugs to Alan::
P.S. He also did a nice write up on his website about an amazing friend of his, Chris Vaeth, who will be riding in AIDS/LifeCycle in San Francisco. It's a 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles from June 3-9, 2007, that aims to help those living with HIV and AIDS. He's hoping to raise $2500.
