suddenly 5-0
Time flies. Suddenly, you hit that half-century milestone and wonder, how did I get here so fast? This birthday card from Marty says it all. I’m no daredevil, but there are days when it feels like I am jumping a chasm of self-doubt. A good couple of laps around the island on the bike usually gets that stink blown off. It was a day of simple pleasures after an evening of potluck partying down the street, where Scott Nash presented those of us celebrating codgerhood with a satiric trophy. Finally! Something worthy of the mantel! This one says: Take big bites. Indeed, an affirmation to...
Read MoreSudden serendipity
Yay, Sudden Fiction class has begun again. Award-winning writer, Eleanor Morse, deftly leads a group of 12 writers with a seemingly simple premise: take a prompt, write for one hour, and read aloud. Sounds easy, but it’s in fact a complex and heart-thumping experience. The undeliberated act of writing in the midst of others has proven invigorating. I found out: I got me a well of material inside. Eleanor asks us to let it out, unedited, unfettered. Comments upon reading must be positive only. Eleanor says, “So, what’s the rigor in that? Well, it waters the strong parts...
Read Morered leaf leap
egads…..I kinda fell off the blog horse for awhile. I look forward to the fall, thinking it will be more sane, slow, and organized than summer. With less mosquitos. But it never fails: autumn is downright frenetic. I am: back at MECA. where I have my largest class ever, 23 students in Illustration 1. Their first project involved doing a personal logo, some icon that symbolizes them, their aesthetic. A good ice-breaker. I learn a lot about them in one small image. So, what does my logo say about me? All you need to know: I love red, strong shapes, autumn, falling leaves, and the sense...
Read Morepeachy teach
I had the good fortune to spend an otherwise thunderous and goomly Tuesday with my always sunny Kittery Kousins. Wanda is one of the first locavores, always harvesting something grown in her yard. She gave me a bag of these sweet peaches to take home. Her daughters, Jessie, Mati, and I enjoyed a tangy tomato soup while catching up on life, Facebook, coots, and back-to-school. I showed up to mingle and deliver a belated wedding present, a pastel called Navarro Love. Here Hugh and Mati wade into the waters of devotion. Their wedding was in Philo, CA last August at a rustic retreat center along...
Read MoreFind out moonshine
They are here! The 2009 Lunar Calendars are in. Got my batch of comps and they are divine. I posted the tiger drawing awhile back, when I was in the middle of figuring out the illustration. I am asked to do the cover only every few years, so I wanted this one to be as colorful and dramatic as possible. I decided to work with separate elements, and then play around with layering them in Photoshop. This makes the process akin to collaging, my other love. I can play around til it hits me just right. I also wanted to get more mileage out of the reams of reference I had collected when researching...
Read MoreMy turn
After a summer’s worth of changing shows at the Gem Gallery, now it’s my turn. And I’m worn out!…. as are many of the loyal gallery supporters, not to mention the artists. During the most gorgeous part of August, I was inside breathing pastel dust. And loving it, in fact. Here is one piece I titled Chon Ye’s Garden. It’s a view from the kitchen side of the Cockeyed Gull, owned by Chon Ye. It struck me on my way downfront one day that I’ve always loved that building, an old creaky thing used by Maine Island Kayak, and the sunflowers were so proud,...
Read MoreVisit JamieHogan.com
