Thoughtsgiving 2015!

This is the 6th year anniversary of a holiday that I created with a couple colleague of mine (Brad Emmons and Jason Denman)! We celebrate with a couple of pints at one of my favorite local watering holes (The Green Onion in Utica, NY). Each year I have made commemorative lapel pins for the occasion. This year's pins (there are a total of 14 of them) were made from a vintage class photograph (I would guess circa 1920). I also wanted to acknowledge support for the French after the recent tragedies in Paris. I have entitled the "Meme Pensee" ("Same Thoughts").

in shock

I feel compelled to post to honor and support a city I love. Wishing everyone in Paris the strength to face this day and peace as we continue our journey into the future...

Main Street Arts (Clifton Springs, NY)

I unapologetically am putting in a plug for this wonderful gallery in central New York State. The opening reception for the 2nd Annual Small Works Exhibit (juried) was this past Saturday. There were 148 works (culled from 600 entries) from folks from all over the United States. The works were WONDERFUL... not really a "dog" in the entire group! The juror was Rebecca Rafferty, artist and staff writer for Rochester CITY newspaper, and she chose a diverse body of work representing many media (including a number of collages!). Brad and Melissa did a great job hanging the works and hosting the reception (which was packed!). The show is up until the end of December and I would highly encourage anyone to stop by this quaint town in the Finger Lakes region of New York for a wonderful visual treat. There's a very nice restaurant called Warfield's, right across the street for your dining pleasure as well. The 2nd and 5th image are actually collages.

monkeybrain, oh monkeybrain

Ugh... most every night I wake up at around 3:30 or 4:00 in the morning with thoughts... thoughts racing in my brain. It's very difficult to "turn them off" (almost impossible, it seems) and it's mostly annoying. But SOMETIMES it results in something positive. I've been thinking A LOT lately (even during my waking hours) about the implications (legal and psychological) of using old yearbook photos in my collages. I will be presenting a paper at this year's Southern Humanities Conference (in Louisville, KY, USA) addressing these concerns. At this WONDERFUL conference, we also have an "open mike" night which usually involves poetry readings by members of the group. Last year, I was honored to be part of those readings. I have already posted one of the poems that I will read this year (entitled "Visage"), but am interested in developing two or three others. Last night when I was unable to get back to sleep, I worked on another poem in my head. I didn't want to "lose" some of the phrasing that was coming racing in my head, so I got up and actually started the writing process on this ekphrasic piece. I "reserve the right" to edit the poem, but am pretty pleased with what I have so far. I would prefer that you read the poem; and then re-read it once you have seen the collage below.

Thrall

Across the miles of time,

we meet, by chance.

… or perhaps better than chance;

albeit petite probabilities

The children rummage;

themselves adults;

and remind their children,

that your name was Mary

We’re looking

at the same moon this evening

We’re wondering

what happened across time

The narrative has

inevitably been changed.

Seemingly surreal,

but still grounded in the real

Am I taking advantage

of your beauty?

Like plucking and pruning a rose?

An alternative to obscurity?

Your granddaughter

walks into the room,

surprised to see you…

with Phillipe!?

A black-and-white world

has turned to the color of the fall,

of the buildings,

of the miles of time.