Hey, I posted some recent paintings.

I came across this reposted text while doing my morning email check and internet surf today: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say About Homosexuality by a Rev. Mel White. The point of this text, written to be a pamphlet, is that most people who say that “the Bible condemns homosexuality” haven’t actually read the verses in question… anyway, it’s pretty informative, and I’d suggest that anyone who’s unsure about their stance on these issues (or who’s simply interested) click along and read it.

So it’s definitely summer now and I’m definitely not going to be online so much. My bag was stolen about a week and a half ago, so I’ve lost my dayplanner and cell phone (I got the important stuff back, like my ID and keys) - which means I’ve got lots of time to do summery things like ride my bike and go to the beach - but I’m not so easy to contact. I’m going to be spending a lot of time over the next two months in the studio I’m now sharing with Amanda and Britt in East Van. Hopefully I’ll produce a huge wealth of work over this period.

Things I want (need?): A new back rim (Velocity Deep V Pink 32h 700c, I think), a set of Major Taylor drop track handlebars, a 24-70mm lens for my Canon 350D, a new sketchbook/recipe book/journal so I can record all of my amazing summer recipes.

I quit my job. This summer I’m going to be pretty broke but also very, very happy.
Here’s a rad smoothie I made the other day to bring to a dog’s birthday party in the park.

Early Summer BC Fruit Smoothie

1 - 2 bananas, peeled and frozen
1/2 - 1 cup local BC fruit, like nectarines, peaches and apricots, cut into chunks and frozen
1/2 cup coconut milk (add water if your coconut milk is more like coconut cream)
    You can use rice/soy/almond milk if you’re worried about fat content.
2 tbsp maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
1 tsp powdered ginger

Blend until creamy. Change the consistency with more milk, more fruit, or seeds/nuts if you like.
This smoothie is refreshing and sweet (but not oversweet). The ginger gives it a nice kick.

How The Grinch Stole Marriage by Mary Ann Horton - a parody of Dr Seuss’ famous How The Grinch Stole Christmas. A really delightful read.

In 5 or 10 or 20 years, with plenty of visible same-sex married couples, the world won’t see us as strange or scary, we’re just the married couple down the street that happens to be gay. Eventually, the legal recognization of our marriages will follow.

If we allow ourselves to voluntarily sit in the back of the bus, we’ll never make any progress. Rosa Parks had to sit in the front of the bus to make a difference. We must as well.

It’s been big news that the ban on same-sex marriage was overturned in California recently. I know that I wasn’t the only one moved nearly to tears by the marriage of Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, who have been together for fifty-five years. I have to admit, though, that this little Grinch poem was just as touching. Aww. I’m a big sap.

On Friday I tried Bikram Yoga for the first time. Intense, difficult, but I feel like a hundred dollars after my post-class shower… definitely amazing. Unfortunately I think I’ve been pushing it a bit too hard because my muscles were so sore yesterday after my second class (they’d been sore before that, too) that I had trouble walking around the Vancouver Art Gallery yesterday. I managed it, though, because it was an exhibition that was right up my alley…

Krazy! The Delirious World Of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art is the first exhibition of its kind, a groundbreaking project that offers unique and dynamic insight into the world of comics,animated cartoons, anime, manga, graphic novels, computer/video games and visual art. Spanning a century of artmaking, the works in this exhibition reveal an extraordinary history of production, one that is poised to redefine the scope of visual culture in the 21st century.

Seriously amazing. If you have a chance to see this at any point I highly recommend it. It took a friend and I two trips to the Art Gallery to see the entire thing; it’s, apparently, the largest exhibit ever shown at the VAG. Every part of it was mindblowing.

Speaking of art, I really need to get some pictures of my recent paintings up. I’ve shot the photos… I just have to upload and post them. I’m really excited about them. I keep talking about them but haven’t yet posted anything. I guess that makes me a big tease.

My friend Joseph is a great source of interesting links. Last week he sent me a link to an article about a Yale art major’s final project in which she artificially inseminated herself and induced miscarriage herbally numerous times over a nine-month period. The student, Aliza Shvarts, filmed herself experiencing the miscarriages in a bathtub and is projecting the videos on to the sides of a large cube suspended from the ceiling. The cube itself will be lined with plastic sheeting filled with a mixture of Vaseline and the miscarriage blood.

“I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts said. “Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone.”

Almost everyone I’ve talked to about this project has had an extremely strong reaction, usually quite emotional, and occasionally concerned with her motivations. Personally, though I think any discussion of her motivations is irrelevant to the validity of the project, I believe that the artist was truthful when she stated, “I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity.” The project has inspired, I’m sure, countless discussions as to the ethics and ideologies of her actions and how they relate to art - even going so far as to redefine the subjective idea of art itself.

An interesting point, to me, is that while the project is undoubtedly offensive to most or all of the anti-choice faction, I’m sure it’s given a couple of people on the other side of the fence cause to re-evaluate their stance. After all, Shvarts deliberately and repeatedly inseminated herself for the express purpose of forcing miscarriage.

She said she was not concerned about any medical effects the forced miscarriages may have had on her body. The abortifacient drugs she took were legal and herbal, she said, and she did not feel the need to consult a doctor about her repeated miscarriages.

I can’t possibly fit my entire argument into a single blog post, but I’ll close on the final notes of the conversation I had with Joseph about it. The connection a woman feels with an embryo growing inside of her has been documented time and time again; it would have been incredibly difficult for any woman to create life inside of her and then lose it. Although I haven’t seen Shvarts’ videos, I have no doubt that they are extremely emotional, heartwrenching, and difficult to watch. Perhaps Shvarts’ project should not be evaluated so quickly as “a disgusting abuse of a woman’s body” or the negligent destruction of life. Perhaps Shvarts is commenting on the preciousness of life, or on the beautiful complexity of our ability to create it. Maybe she’s saying everything. After all, as she stated, this project was about stimulating political and ideological discourse, and that’s certainly what she’s done.

Yesterday I stopped at my local overpriced art supplies store and picked up a Speedball lettering kit - two plastic pens and six pen nibs of varying sizes and uses. I’ve been painting with india ink for the last little while, using it to outline and emphasize some of my watercolour work, but using it with these nibs is a completely different experience.

Last night I was sort of planning on going out but I ended up sitting on the floor drawing in my sketchbook almost all night. I definitely have some issues with working too quickly (and spattering ink all over the place, dipping too heavily, or smudging the ink before it’s dry) which has been a problem for me all my life - I’m impatient, it’s a common trait of the ENFP personality type - but I feel like I’ve finally found the right way to draw.

Laying ink down on paper like this feels so right. There’s none of the clumsiness and frustration of ballpoint or felt-tip pens, none of the imprecision. Why didn’t I do this years ago?

I have so much to learn! And I’m so excited about it…

I’ve probably listened to “Oh Yeah” by The Cliks five times in the last two days.

Got a couple of rolls of film developed from the Dominican Republic. Photos are slowly making their way up onto Flickr, as well as a few portraits I’ve taken lately.

Did you participate in Earth Hour? It was a symbolic gesture, but it shows some solidarity in the face of a problem we have only the smallest ability to solve. Remember, kids, turning off your lights when you leave the house will help save the planet! Apparently Vancouver’s consumption only fell 3.5%, but in Calgary energy consumption spiked up 7% during Earth Hour… thanks for your dedication, Alberta. (There was a hockey game on.)

If you haven’t heard yet, emo kids are being targeted in violent attacks in Mexico.
NYPD officers beat and arrested some non-violent Buddhist Free Tibet demonstrators in front of the UN.
Good nuclear power? Brian Gordon’s article means we should all go mine Thorium OMG.

Painted yesterday afternoon and like every time I take the time to get my art stuff out and actually start working, I realize how much I love it, how much I need to do it. I just wish I had the dedication the rest of the time, or maybe so much inspiration that I couldn’t do anything but work. I like to think that if I had a studio devoted to artwork, with all my stuff out and at the ready, I’d get more work done, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. My laziness knows few bounds.

Go listen: If you ever have a chance to dance to Kasey Riot you will be more than pleased. But I recommend not listening to her mixes while at work, because they will make you wanna dance, which sucks when you are sitting in an office chair. It’s painful, really, how badly I want to “bust a groove”.