The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: art

  • The Urge Toward Destruction

    There was this paint bubble on the wall at work. I sat there for 8 hours, resisting the urge to pop and peel. But I wondered how long that bubble would remain intact. Sure enough, when I came back after a few days off, I discovered that one of my coworkers had gotten to it.…

  • Digital Art

    A friend of mine sent me a link to an artist on fiverr who can take a photograph, such as this one, and transform it into a digital watercolor, like this. That’s pretty nifty, for five bucks. I love the result. I’ll probably have him do some more in the future. But this made me…

  • Bone Records

    I heard an amazing story on NPR’s All Things Considered the other day. Apparently in the 1950’s in Russia, censorship was so fully in effect that you couldn’t get Western rock n’ roll music. Even being in possession of such music could send you to prison. Censorship in all its forms tends to backfire. When…

  • The Word Art of Michael Volpicelli

    I always get very excited when I come across a prolific artist that I didn’t even know existed up to that point. Suddenly, I’m introduced to a veritable smorgasbord of creativity, whether it be music or textiles or art or books. My world instantly becomes richer and more varied. Such was the case the other…

  • Music Sampling

    I have a long-standing debate with a friend of mine about music sampling. He contends that it’s nothing but theft, and that it shows no artistic ability whatsoever. I, on the other hand, think that in this modern age, a snippet of digital code can be a musical instrument every bit as much as a…

  • Craftsmanship

    So it turns out that due to my “Great Fall” I now have de Quervain’s Tendonitis. In layman’s terms that basically means ouch! For the next six months, aside from wishing de Quervain had been named Smith, I’ll be wearing a brace, and doing things like ice and cortisone shots and physical therapy. At least…

  • Rapunzel, Rapunzel…

    Seattle really knows how to let its hair down. This neon image of Rapunzel on the Fremont Bridge is a neighborhood icon. Her hair used to be much longer but the bottom half of the neon isn’t there anymore for some reason. Now more than one person has said it kind of looks like an…

  • Exploring Seattle — Part Four

    One of the things that charms me most about this area is the abrupt transitions. Each neighborhood has its own style, and when you cross the boundary from one to the other, BAM! You are in it, man, and no apologies. That was especially true today. I only traveled 3 miles from my front door…

  • I Was Here

    Approximately 40,800 years ago, someone, possibly a Neandertal, painted the oldest known cave art in a place called the Cave of El Castillo in northern Spain. This is the first evidence we have of someone saying,  “Death shall not silence me.” And we’ve been saying it ever since. Wanting to survive beyond your expiration date…

  • Give Me a Break. Please.

    Recently I met a new artist in the virtual world of Second Life. He is amazingly talented but lacks confidence. He’s desperate to break into the art scene, but doesn’t know how to promote himself. I remember what that’s like. When I first started making fractals, I was so inexperienced I was afraid to show…