One of my main goals as an artist is to add beauty to the world. Sometimes it’s in the form of something that’s been thought-out for a long time and then created with great effort, while other times it’s done in a pretty random fashion.
Below is a Mexican Sprite bottle that I decorated with a mosaic of aluminum pieces cut from cans last summer. Just thought it would be fun to share.
…I’d duplicate this. But with small steamboats, and it would be in a quiet harbor, and perhaps it could be rented out as a bed & breakfast, and perhaps I could whittle pipes out of driftwood to put on the guest’s pillows instead of chocolates.
“Should you decide to fill one of your pools with champagne, be sure to instruct swimming guests to wear goggles or close their eyes when submerged.”
How meloncholy it is to realize most of the advice I’ve gathered will never be put to use…
It would be nice to start a charity that collects old Bluetooths to give to homeless schizophrenics to wear.
Hopefully the public wouldn’t think the homeless schizophrenics were so crazy when they talk and yell at themselves. Instead, folks would possibly think they were on their cell phones yelling at someone across the line. Everyone would be able to relax a little bit more.
Illustration by Wesley Willis
Here’s a picture by the late Wesley Willis. A singer/songwriter and illustrator who battled schizophrenia the majority of his life, but was still able to make awesome art and some hilarious hit songs like “Rock ‘N Roll McDonald’s“, “Kurt Cobain“, and “Alanis Morissette“. Not Top 40 hits, but hits in my book.
There’s a great blog called So Much Silence that’s based out of Phoenix, AZ by journalist Kevin Murphy. He asked a few local musicians, including myself, to guest blog our 2008 Top10 lists about whatever we wanted - top 10 albums, singles, live shows, etc… and I chose to do a Top 10 Album Covers of 2008 list. If you’d like to check it out, the direct link is HERE. Thanks!
Album cover to Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
While out and about on web-safari, I found two stories about animals that I thought were great! Sappy, but great stories non the less.
This first one is the widely circulated story of Christian the Lion, so you might have already seen it. It’s in film-version.
The Wikipedia article about Christian the Lion can be found HERE.
This second one is in regular text/photos story about a turtle caring for a baby hippo after the hippo’s parents died in a tsunami.
Old Turtle and Baby Hippo
The full story can be found HERE.
I’m not someone who views animals as prestine. I’m fully aware that lions and wolves bite the jugular of their prey and start eating whatever it may be before it has time to fully die. However, I still love and admire the animal kingdom greatly. The lack of things such as slavery, gratuitous torture, or verbal degradation in the animal kingdom make it seem much more dignified and respectful to me.
For those of you who might be reading this and are from outside the United Sates, there’s a celebration called Thanksgiving that happens every November here in which families get together and eat a big meal to celebrate what they have, and NOT to dwell on what they have-not.
Illustration by JTW&R
For some, it’s a magnificent and exciting day, and to others it’s a bummer-time. Not having any food, having a family or in-laws that have crude-oil hearts, or being stressed out by the shift from the pleasant autumn season into the dark and cold winters can all account for why some dread Thanksgiving. Personally, I love it, but I just wanted to wish all those folks out there who dread Thanksgiving the best of strength, health, and the bittersweet thankfulness that everyday isn’t Thanksgiving. Cheers!
-Zach at JTW@R
I think it’s safe to say that many of us view the fashion industry as a group of folks plagued with vanity, elitism, and a non-realistic view of our world.
I think we’ve all laughed at some of the absurd outfits we’ve seen models wearing in magazines, held disdain for fashionistas bashing movie star’s outfits at the Academy Awards ( …we all know the stars are there because they are superb ACTORS, NOT because they dress particularly well), and scoffed at a simple black designer jacket costing $800.00 when an identical-looking, non-designer jacket might only cost $30.00.
Despite all of that, I have come to develop a heart for fashion. Please hear me out.
British model: Agyness Deyn
What first softened my heart was watching an interview of model Agyness Deyn on YouTube after I had seen her in a Fashion Rocks shoot with The Paddingtons that prompted me to learn more about this blond rebel. In the interview, Agyness lacked any of the snoodyness or arrogance I thought a model of her caliber might have, and went on to express that she honestly enjoyed doing runway shows and appreciated seeing all the new designs - not in an, “Ohhhh yesssss, THIS is the NEW Chanel dress” way, but in a “Hey, I really like the colors and shape of this dress ” way, much like one might appreciate a painting. (more…)
Photo courtesy of Marc Jacobs.
Excerpt from a book that doesn’t exist:
Corrine said to herself, “I’m sick of this damn Arizona heat! When will I stop having to wear sandals and tank-tops all the time just to avoid sweating through my jeans?!”
Though a passerby would be apt to think that Corinne was one of the thousands of transplants from the north-east who move to Arizona each year to endure a special kind of suffering through their first summers, this was not the case. Corrine had lived in Arizona for five years now and had already overcome enough summers to start acting like a true Zoni.