How To Be A Better Person

Neither Baffled Nor Amazed

This little book is contrary to the FIMP tradition of presenting "How To" books that really teach you nothing useful about the subject at hand. In this case, you have a magic trick that you can actually perform for anyone under 10 or so and actually fool them! Patter included!

What I enjoy about "Neither Baffled Nor Amazed" is the attempt to actually perform a magic trick in a little book. A huge success, in that I successfully perform the trick and make the coin disappear. On the other hand, of course, it fails, in that the slow step-by-step illustration of the trick allows you to clearly see where I palmed the coin and placed it in my shirt collar (you did catch that, didn't you? Don't try this trick wearing a t-shirt).

But, of course, I didn't palm the coin. It's a bunch of drawings. I just didn't draw the coin, and so it "disappeared".

But, the drawings are of an event that could actually take place, in which if you did drop the coin on the table, you could easily palm it and tuck it into your shirt collar.

There's a part of our brain that wants to follow along with the sequential images and "believe" that what we see there is actually "happening". It's fun to play with that part of our brain.

So, it's a failure as a trick, but perhaps it succeeds in tricking you into thinking that some sort of event took place that resembled a magic trick.

It's February's Book of the Month!

Subscribers to the Book of the Month Club should start watching their mailboxes for "What Birds Want".

If, instead of reading, handling, enjoying, and passing around amongst your friends a satisfyingly handmade object signed by the artist, you would rather just see all of the images from the book online, you can find them right here on Flickr.

The Revolution, revisited

"The Revolution" was a book-of-the-month back in 2007, but I thought I would bring it back in light of the recent awe-inspiring events in Egypt. There has been a lot of attention paid to the important role social media has played in recent events (with some dissenting views as well), so I thought I would bring back my ill-considered exploration of the subject. This book, of course, has nothing to do with the incredibly brave people who actually take to the streets and overthrow dictators - it's more about some of us who watch.

I guess I was unaware of Facebook and Twitter at the time - and look, it's the original judges from American Idol! Proof once again that a FIMP book is a poor place to find meaningful or useful information about the world around you.

Paperwhite Narcissus

Along with the seedlings we've got some bulbs blooming. The Paperwhite Narcissus are very pretty and kinda smelly.

Ceaseless Seedling Drama

Remember that sunflower seedling from a couple of days ago? Its second pair of leaves have opened up. I bet you were on pins and needles, weren't you? A second seedling is having trouble shedding its shell. Will I help it? No. It builds character for seedlings to solve problems like this on their own.

Sharks

My daughter has a tiny rubber shark with delusions of grandeur.

Dreaming of Spring

Linocuts, drawings, and collages on Flickr

I'm putting together some image sets on Flickr, and found a small group of digital collages that I'd made in advance of one of my tiny books. Amazing what's hiding on the hard drive! You might want to check out the growing gallery. . .

This morning's dinosaur sketch was declared "OK" by my daughter

A crumb from my sketchbook - the T-Rex Hat

Click!

Do You Recall?

Here's the latest book from the FIMP Book of the Month Club." So you thought Rudolph was the only mutant reindeer that isolated herd at the North Pole produced? Think again!

The first sketchbook item from 2011

The last drawing from 2010

Deck the Halls - an exhibition at 28 West Second Gallery in Greensburg, PA

28 West Second Gallery & Studio Space presents Deck the Halls: A Second Annual Holiday Exhibition, with an opening reception on Saturday, December 11, 2010 from 7 - 10 PM. Exhibition continues through December 24, 2010.

Deck the Halls features art work from local artists throughout the western Pennsylvania region: Michael Bendik, Michelle Eng-Bendik, Robert Bishop, Tony Cacalano, Kyle Fischer, John Lario, Roberta Meyers, Amy Rustic, Scott Snaden, Marc Snyder, Meeghan Triggs and more. There will be a wide variety of art work ranging from collage, fiber arts, painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. Find a unique gift for those special people in your life!



I'm delighted to have 7 linocuts included in this exhibition, including this one, "Lunch Hour".

28 West Second is a really great gallery here in Greensburg, and I would encourage everyone who can to take this opportunity to visit it!


28 West Second
Gallery & Studio Space
28 West Second St
Greensburg, PA 15601
Website: www.28westsecond.com

Gallery Hours: Tues - Fri Noon - 6 PM/ Sat 11 AM - 4 PM / Appointments Welcome / Admission is Free

Missing The Point

I've got sketchbooks full of studies from great artwork - it was something my various professors strongly encouraged, and something I encouraged my students to do. Here's a page of studies I just made where I challenged myself to create recognizable reproductions that were completely pointless in terms of learning anything significant about the artwork in question. The Rothko kind of fails at completely failing, as the values tell you a little something about the work. I think the Monet most satisfactorily succeeds at failing to convey anything meaningful about the painting in question.

Red Sky At Night

Subscribers to the FIMP Book of the Month Club (which, by the way, makes a wonderfully eccentric holiday gift) will find "Red Sky At Night" in their mailboxes any day now. This book explores and expands upon the wisdom of sailors.

Rep. Joe Barton or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Carbon Dioxide

“I would also point out that CO2, carbon dioxide, is not a pollutant in any normal definition of the term. … I am creating it as I talk to you. It’s in your Coca-Cola, you’re Dr. Pepper, your Perrier water. It is necessary for human life. It is odorless, colorless, tasteless, does not cause cancer, does not cause asthma.” - Rep. Joe Barton

Rachel's Animated Crocodile

My four year old daughter Rachel makes "cards" where she folds a piece of paper in half, draws on the inside and the outside, and often signs her name on the back. Yesterday she had made a card and was flipping it open and closed, watching the crocodile open and close its mouth. Her first animation!



You can find more of her wonderful drawings at Rachel Draws A Lot.

Educational and Instructive! Scientifically Designed! Beautiful Old Box!

Christmas Island Pipistrelle

I've found that if I draw something I'm more likely to remember it, so I thought I'd draw something that should be remembered.

A Little Drawing Of My Little Daughter Drawing.

Where Are They Now?

Tinseltown is a tough place to be a robot. So many of our mechanical stars have their one huge role, and then never catch the eye of another casting director. October's Book of the Month asks the question "Where Are They Now?"

Where Are They Now? R2D2 and C3PO

One of the few robots to continue to find work in the theater, R2D2 is currently performing as Vladimir in an Off-Off-Broadway production of Waiting for Godot.



C3PO performs as Paul in "Meet The Re-Peatles", a Beatles tribute band.

Here's a clip from "Star Wars", the film that introduced us to these consummate performers: