Category Archives: Uncategorized

I Finished Painting the Little Survivor Tree

I just wanted you all to be witnesses to the fact that I completed this painting, so here it is. Yes, it’s a bunch of spots and swipes and dabs, but I assure there is a good bit of drawing in there, somewhere. Meanwhile, the actual cherry sapling is now in winter mode. It hasContinue reading “I Finished Painting the Little Survivor Tree”

Why I’m Painting a Tree After Hurricane Helene

To paint or draw a tree presents so many challenges. For one thing, it’s difficult to see a tree separate from its neighboring trees, and yet you need to depict the tree as distinct in some way. For another, I must ask why I am painting the tree. Why is it important? I live inContinue reading “Why I’m Painting a Tree After Hurricane Helene”

Museum Turns Down the Heat on Current Racial Segregation: Review of Gillian Laub’s “Southern Rites” at the Asheville Art Museum

Have you noticed how cool the temperature is in an art museum? That’s because the art is dead there, and if you don’t keep it cool, everything will begin to stink. The Asheville Art Museum currently exhibits “Southern Rites,” by Gillian Laub, a show of photographs about the ongoing racial segregation of a certain placeContinue reading “Museum Turns Down the Heat on Current Racial Segregation: Review of Gillian Laub’s “Southern Rites” at the Asheville Art Museum”

Michelangelo and the Wait

First, I would like to offer thanks to the military veterans today, November 11. I am remembering my dad, Milton Alexander, who was a veteran who was stationed in Germany in the 1950’s. He didn’t talk much about his service, but he did frequently remark on the painful amount of waiting around that his serviceContinue reading “Michelangelo and the Wait”

It Has Taken So Freaking Long to Get Here

OMG, this big election is approaching, and it’s so important to speak, and yet time and time again I find myself tired physically, bored with the monotonous blaring of the authoritarians, and confused about what my priorities are in speaking at this important moment. Trust is on my mind. And hope. These are big topics,Continue reading “It Has Taken So Freaking Long to Get Here”

Watch the Eyes Above the Rim of that Mask

I have been studying how to draw and paint human faces over the last several years. I notice I have a need for faces. I need to see a lot of faces every day—see them live and in person, not on a screen. People are wearing masks in public now, and I am staying homeContinue reading “Watch the Eyes Above the Rim of that Mask”

In Search of Laughs in Flat Rock

In the musical Hamilton it is sung that Mr. Hamilton wrote his way out of every difficulty.  Another way through life is to laugh one’s way across every barrier. Sometimes, at bedtime with my wife, with the difficulty of sleep at hand, I will make funny faces. Jean will laugh, and she will also laughinglyContinue reading “In Search of Laughs in Flat Rock”