Thought for the Day

. . . Imagine / the world whole and uninterrupted /

by a desire for witness, . . .

~ Joseph Campana

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Quoted from Joseph Campana's Poem "A Shirt Loves a Body" in The Book of LIFE (Tupelo Press, March 2019), Published at Poem Daily, August 27, 2019

Joseph Campana, Poet, Arts Critic, Scholar of Renaissance Literature; Alan Dugald McKillop Professor of English, Rice University

New Artist Watch Feature at Escape Into Life

Gary Justis, Fire Cat, 2018

Digital Image with Photoshop Manipulation

Finished Archival Print, 48" x 32"

© 2018, 2019 Gary Justis

PLEASE DO NOT COPY IMAGE

Welcome to "Cat-ober", a special edition of Artist Watch that celebrates cats created with a bit of Halloween mischief! 

I'm delighted to introduce in my column at the online arts magazine Escape Into Life the digital photography of Gary Justis, who is also highly skilled in other aspects of photography and is a sculptor. Gary's cat portraits, which he describes as "an extension of my studio practice with experimental digital photography using projected light subjects", are unlike any cat portraits you may have seen elsewhere. Not only are they unique; they're also very creative. You have to look at them several times to take in their many details. (Let me know what you think of them.)

Included in today's Artist Watch are nine of Gary's cat portraits, Gary's Artist Statement, in which he provides information about his process, a brief biography, and Gary's social media sites.

Thought for the Day

At some point in life the world's beauty becomes

enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or

even remember it. It is enough. No record of it

needs to be kept and you don't need someone to

share it with or tell it to. When that happens —

that letting go — you let go because you can. . . .

~ Tar Baby (1981) by Toni Morrison

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Quoted from Toni Morrison, Tar Baby, Vintage Books (1981, 2004)

Toni Morrison (1931 - 2019), Author, Pulitzer Prize Winner (1988, for Beloved), Nobel Prize in Literature Winner (1993)

Thought for the Day

It's a gift to exist and with existence comes

suffering. There's no escaping that.

~ Comedian Stephen Colbert

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Quoted from Stephen Colbert Interview with Anderson Cooper: Watch the interview. (The portion of the interview quoted is below the text.)

Thought for the Day

We choose companions, loves,

knowing we will lose them. . . .

~ Kim Kishbaugh

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Quoted from Kim Kishbaugh's Poem "Old Dog" at Escape Into Life, July 17, 2019

Kim Kisbaugh

Thought for the Day

The world asks of us / 

only the strength we have and we give it. /

Then it asks more, and we give it.

~ Jane Hirshfield

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Quoted from Jane Hirshfield's Poem "The Weighing" in HERE: Poems for the Planet (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), page 104

Jane Hirshfield, American Poet, Translator, Essayist

New Artist Watch Feature at Escape Into Life

Nebiur Arellano, Glazing (Veladura) 2018-2019

Acrylic on Silk Organza (Double Painting*)

39.5" x 39.5"

© 2019 Nebiur Arellano

PLEASE DO NOT COPY IMAGE

It is with much joy that I introduce in today's new Artist Watch column at Escape Into Life the gorgeous and lyrical paintings of the Peruvian-born painter Nebiur Arellano.

Nebiur, who now makes her home in both Peru and the United States, has spent 25 years developing a personal "language" that reflects her vision of the world as inspired by pre-Columbian as well as modern art, and a technique that involves layering colors and intricate lines of metallic paints. If you are privileged, as I have been, to see her work up-close, you may well wonder whether her medium is glass, paper, enamel, or weaving; and you will be astonished by the rows upon rows of many hundreds of tiny squares and long lines in gold, silver, and copper. As has been remarked repeatedly by viewers, it is difficult to not want to reach out and touch the paintings' beautiful, textured surfaces that so clearly are influenced by Nebiur's knowledge of her native country's ancient textiles and her studies of modern masters such as Klee, Klimt, and Miro.

Today's Artist Watch includes seven images of Nebiur's paintings from the "ArtLima 2019" exhibition; Nebiur's Artist Statement, which is followed by her explanation of her use of silk and an ArtLima curator's impressions of Nebiur's art; and Nebiur's biography and social media. In addition, a video of her beautiful and beautifully executed work is provided.

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* The first layer of silk organza allows viewers to see the painting behind that layer.

Thought for the Day

For near is where you'll meet what you have wandered/

far to find.[. . .]

~ Scott Cairns

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Quoted from Scott Cairns's Poem "Draw Near" in Marilyn McEntyre, When Poets Pray (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2019), page115

Marilyn McEntyre, Writer, Essayist, and Reviewer

Scott Cairns, American Poet, Essayist, Memoirist, and Librettist

Thought for the Day

Sometimes being offered tenderness 

feels like the very proof that you've been ruined.

~ "Little Dog" 

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Quoted from Ocean Vuong's Novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press, 2019), page119

Ocean Vuong, Award-Winning Poet, Writer, and Novelist

Ocean Vuong on Instagram and Tumblr

Thought for the Day

Compassion is not a relationship between the healer

and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals.

Only when we know our own darkness well can we

be present with the darkness of others. Compassion

becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.

~ Pema Chodron

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Quoted in Brene Brown, "Wholehearted Parenting" in Daring Greatly (Avery/Penguin Random House, 2012), page 234

Pema Chodron, American Tibetan Nun, Author, Teacher

Pema Chodron Foundation