Artist and Neighbor of the Day: Judith Roth

Here's Judith Roth explaining why she loves to live and work in Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago between the Union Pacific North Commuter line and the Brown Line EL.


Forward Chicago Profile: Judith Roth from 47th Ward on Vimeo.

Snow in the Grand Canyon

A couple of weeks ago, Basia, Cupcake, Samwise Gamgee the Art Dog and I motored to the Grand Canyon. A snowstorm blew in, temperatures dropped, but the canyon was still bigger than the world.

Nancy Charak, photographer c.2014

Nancy Charak, photographer c.2014

Artists of the Day. . .Boquard and Fingold

Today, Samwise Gamgee The Art Dog, Slim and I toured Tucson Artists' Open Studios. We met Patricia Boquard and Hollis Fingold. It was a delight to see their work in their shared studio space filled with bright colors and joy. I look forward to visiting them again and talking more art. Please note that Hollis is revamping her website, so these pictures of her assemblages are captures from the google.

Artist, Patricia Boquard

Artist, Patricia Boquard

Artist, Hollis Fingold

Artist, Hollis Fingold

Artist of the Day, Agnes Martin

Today's Google doodle features Agnes Martin. I have featured Agnes Martin as my artist of the day previously.

Agnes Martin Interview (20:00 version, 1997) from Chuck Smith on Vimeo.

Sonoran Desert Project

Sam The Art Dog and I motored up to Redington Pass this morning. We met Rosemary who told us all about the Sonoran Desert Project. I invite you to LIKE this project. Rosemary is studying the human impact on this fragile environment.

"Cattle Pen," c. Nancy Charak, photographer, 3/2014

"Cattle Guard," c. Nancy Charak, photographer 3/2014

Rainbow in the Catalinas

Nancy Charak, photographer, c. Nancy Charak, 2014

The Odessa Steps Sequence, Sergei Eisenstein

From the Guardian:

"Crimean parliament seizure inflames Russian-Ukrainian tensions – live

Gunmen hoist Russian flag and sign saying ‘Crimea is Russia’
White House warns Russia to respect Ukrainian sovereignty
Russia downplays planned military exercises as ‘routine’
Yanukovych, still claiming presidency, to appear in Russia"

Russia, historically, has had a deep yearning and need for a warm weather port since Peter the Great (200 years). A warm weather port is one that does not freeze over in the winter. Veterans of the Second World War have told of the horrors of making the convoy runs to Murmansk across the frozen North Atlantic. Note that the Russian Black Sea Fleet is headquartered at Odessa, and is based at the Sevastopol, Karantinnaya, and Streletskaya Bays in Sevastopol, in the Crimean Peninsula, even though that is sited in Ukraine. The ethnic tensions are rife. Stalin deported the Crimean Tatars who have been slowly returning to their homeland, they are anti-Russian. However, in the Crimea, the dominant ethnicity is Russian. And, clearly, the Russians got the best part of the deal made in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine gave up its nukes and gave the Russians that warm weather access they so desire.

Russian geo-politics and the need for warm weather port is why Putin has been meddling in Syria; that port is Tartarus.