The Hand-Made Internet

I'm tired of my work making money for the big tech companies.

I remember back in the 1990s the promise of the "internet age" and how it was going to open the entire world to all of us. A new golden age that would benefit writers and artist and filmmakers by ending  gatekeepers and democratizing distribution. Fast forward to the present and all that is mostly over. If you want your "content" to have a shot at being seen, then you must engage with Meta or Google or Spotify or whatever other massive tech company. The price you pay for using their portals is you have to play by their rules, so if the deal starts out well and fair for the platform and the creator, as it did with YouTube and many others, you can bet that fairly soon those rules will change and you will get a smaller and smaller piece of that pie until they figure out they don't need you at all because soon they'll just use A.I. to generate endless crap for people to be half distracted by. Or, they get you hooked using their "free" tools, but after a time, if you want to still use them you;ll have to subscribe (oh how I hate that business plan). And then there's always companies politics going in a direction you don't want to associate with. 

So, I've decided to focus more on a "hand-made internet" and just post my blog writings on my website Weaverwerx.com going forward. I know that I'll be removing myself from a larger eco-system and will not get as many eyeballs on my work, but I'll take quality or quantity.

I'll leave this blog active to serve as an archive, but all future postings will only be at Weaverwerx.com.

See you there!

OK HW

Why Can’t You Draw Something Beautiful?

 Someone asked me that not long ago. We were connecting through Instagram and they were looking back through my feed looking at the drawings and art I have posted and asked that question. It took me aback for a moment as I have never thought of the art that I make and share as not being beautiful. It is beautiful to me; eye of the beholder and all of that. I get what she was asking as there are certainly topics and styles of art that are universally accepted as being “beautiful”. My mind goes to the work of Maxfield Parrish or Georgia O’Keefe or pretty much anything from the Japanese Ukiyo-e Style, there is plenty to choose and agree on, but once you venture away from the easy subjects of lovers, flowers and puppies; the idea of what is beautiful gets messy. Case in point: three dead moles.

I took these photos in early July this year while on a long hike through the west Latvian countryside with my wife. So, full confession, I do have a bit of a Goth streak, love horror movies and all of that, so I was fascinated when we found the first one stretched out on the trail. It looked so peaceful, at first we though it might be sleeping or unconscious, but no, sadly the little bugger had expired. It was a treat to be able to look closely at an animal that normally is well out-of-sight, or that you might only get a fleeting glimpse of scambering for cover. The fur in particular looked more luxurious then I would expect. I took my photo and moved on, already planning on doing a drawing of it. When we came across the next one about an hour later, we both felt that something odd was going on and switched into “crime scene detective” mode (well, mostly me) combing the environment for any clues. “The body shows no evidence of foul play; no teeth marks or obvious wounds or injuries, maybe it was poisoned?” By the time we came across the third body, stretched out like he had taken a nap that he never woke up from, we got a solid case of of the “willies” (an old school term meaning a strange or unsettled feeling). My overheated imagination immediately ran off on a tale of a Satanic cult that sacrifices tiny, innocent woodland creatures, then leaves them in places where jittery hikers might find them; a calling card of evil to come! Better finish that hike before sundown! A few weeks later, we asked a nature biologist friend of ours to solve the mystery and he patiently explained that it was the time of year that the teenage moles go out into the world, kicked out of their burrow by their hard-hearted parents and must find their way. These three sadly, didn’t make the cut and died of exposure. Such is nature.

          

Here are my drawings. You can judge whether they are “beautiful” or not. They are beautiful to me because they tie together the moment on that wonderful hiking day when I took the photos with the time I spent time making the drawings. When I am drawing, I fall into every tiny detail of those tiny carcesses, or whatever my subject is, trying my best to amplify the beauty I see in a way that allows the viewer to see it through my eyes for a moment.

So, my reply to that original question, “Why can’t you draw something beautiful?” is, “But why can’t you see the beauty in my drawing?”


Until the next time, keep smiling and don’t let the idiots bring you down.

Zahdah,

OK HW

Everybody is a Star

Over the summer, July to be more precise, I participated as an exhibitor in my zine/comix show ever. It was SĀBRS Festival here in sunny Riga, Latvia, which will be another blog post (the news and topics for posts has piled up!). As part of the festival, a local vinyl fanatic and online radio personality, Micheal Holland organized a series of radio shows, hosted by tirkultūra, featuring some of the artists, and I was one of the lucky ones to get my hands on the mic. This was my third radio show collaboration with Micheal, so I’m getting more comfortable with the format, assembling a playlist and running my mouth (something I rarely have a problem with). Coming up with an idea for the show usually hinges on one song title or lyric and this time it was Sly and the Family Stone providing the spark with their beautiful tune, “Everybody is a Star”.

Tīrkultūra · Sabrs Radio 2024 With Hal Weaver - Everybody is A Star

I connected the theme of the show with zine and comix artist’s desire to be a star in their own way; to share their creative life with the world and tell their story. Many of the tunes I included carry the spirit of story-telling or aspirations of “making it big” or living a big life.

Here is the playlist; a mix of eclectic tunes, a few movie samples, run through with musings and guffaws.

 
1 – “Hello Hooray!” – Alice Cooper
>> Introduction and general jaw-jacking – Hal and Micheal
2 – Sample from the movie “Zandalee” > “Electric Chair” – Prince
3 – “Don’t No Body Move, This is Heist” – Tony Powers
>> Hal and Micheal chat
4 – Sample from the movie Mad Max – “God in an Alcove” – Bauhaus
5 – “On Broadway” – George Benson
6 – Sample from the movie “Barfly” – “Nobody” – David Baerwald
>> Random chit chat with Richard Thompson (Liminal Noise/Lost Harbors)
7 – “A World of Our Own” – Pater Noster soundtrack – Chris Bickell
8 – “Everybody is a Star” – Sly and the Family Stone
>> Richard Thompson holds forth with more thought-like things.
9 – “Isumas, mi daj” – Pēteris Leimanis (1949)
10 – “L’Estasi Dell’oro (The Ecstasy Of Gold)” – Ennio Morricone, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
11 – “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” – Royal Fingerbowl
>> Outro and credits with Richard and Micheal.
12 – “Shining Star” – Earth, Wind and Fire

Let me know what you think. Hopefully I introduced you to some hidden treasures or dusted off some old friends.

Keep smiling,

OK HW

Tata Mask Drawing

 A did a new drawing today. It was a cool, rainy day in Riga. Motivation and ambition have been low for me lately. I have lists and lists of things to do; ideas to explore, comix stories to layout; planning for a small press festival, etc, but I haven’t done any drawing in too long. I get cranky and worried if I don’t do some drawing on a regular basis. Maybe the machine will rust, seize up and that will be it! I will only get to do so many drawings. This weird and wild creature came from the Instagram feed of @Artkhade. Of course I was attracted to this mask for it’s intensity and rawness and because it reminded me of horror movies. I love the square eye holes and broad, fierce mouth and all those lovely teeth.

The Dogon people, well one of them, hacked out this Tata mask. I always encourage anyone who enjoys this art to learn more about the original culture and history. A good place to start is the listing on the Artkhade website. Artkhade is an amazing resource for browsing “ancient arts from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas” and learning about the market for these incredible objects. This particular Tata mask recently sold at auction for €110,500! It’s difficult for me to correlate the idea of that much money being traded for this piece of art. It really doesn’t make any sense to me. This mask has a reality and power that transcends money. The craft person who created it was motivated by spiritual purpose, but who knows. Maybe it gave some currency and power (one and the same) to the maker within their culture? Isn’t that what many artists have chased through the centuries and still pursue today?

On this rainy day, I was just trying to get my ass moving, so thank you Tata mask and the Dogon people for the inspiration.

OK HW

2023 – Once More Into the Fray…

I have not been a big fan of the 2020’s on a global and historical level. It’s been a bit of a scary shitshow of a decade so far. On a personal level however, it’s been an invigorating period. In 2023 I managed to get closer to the kind of creative life that I prefer to live, but was elusive to me for some years. There had been flashes of projects here and there through the years; the random art exhibition or acting gig, but I was too occupied with the “rat race” to be fully engaged in my creative life until now. Settling into a new life in Riga, Latvia, I have found the time and space I need to circle back around to unfinished creative pursuits. Maybe this is just a bit of a middle-life crisis playing out to re-embrace the comix, movies and art I was obsessed with as a teenager or maybe it’s a proper second (third?, fourth?) chance to once more live that creative life I had in my twenties, whatever it is I am grateful for the opportunity.

So the year that was 2023 and what did I accomplish? First big achievement was designing a new Weaverwerx logo and website, something that had been on my mind for an embarrassingly long time. I have more plans for the logo; animation, stickers, and more. To go with this new virtual space, I also secured a dedicated physical office/studio, something I haven’t had (outside of regular jobs) in a very long time. The coffee shop or kitchen table was no longer cutting it for a workspace. I need to spread my stuff out. It’s working for me.

COMIX
I finally got back into making comix again after a thirteen year absence. I wrote and drew three new comix stories; “Burls & Gnarls”, “THAT HAT” and “RESPECTO!” and submitted them to various publishers. A British annual anthology called “UGLY MUG” included “RESPECTO!” in their seventh issue, which has also been reviewed and mentioned in a variety of podcasts and blogs. The other stories will be part of the next issue of my own zine “RELUCTANT SADIST”, which was last published in 1989 (no, really), so look for that soon!

ACTING

I registered with a few of the local casting agencies and picked up my first three paid European acting gigs this year including my first bit of ADR work on the feature film “Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie” and a great role as an 18th century professor for an upcoming episode of the German TV show “Terra X” about Laura Bassi, the the first woman to have a doctorate in science. I also had the lead role in a student film called “The Road” that I have yet to see.

ART

My artistic output last year was focused on drawing, lots of drawing, more than I’ve done in years. I also was hired to paint two murals. The first one was at an annual international art exhibition in Riga called "SurvivalKit" and the second was at the National Library of Latvia (Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka), both for the Latvian alternative comics publisher kuš! komikss.

FILM

I completed one music video project called “Space and Darkness” in collaboration with my friend Neil Bruce (Light B4 Sound). We have another project in the works, so stay tuned.

One final note, this post’s title is a quote from the film “The Grey” and was written by the director Joe Carnahan. Here’s the full quote that the protagonist played by Liam Neeson uses a mantra to keep going despite a bleak future, “Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day, live and die on this day”. That is on the wall next to my desk and will be my mantra for 2024. Never stop fighting for your creative soul.

OK HW

The Last Logo

2023 has been a big year for Weaverwerx; a resurrection of sorts after years of little to no activity. I have taken a workspace in the old Kino Studios in Riga, Latvia and have begun to pursue comix, drawings and film projects again. As part of this new era, I have revamped the Weaverwerx website, which was the perfect opportunity design a new logo. Now embarking on a new logo design may seem like a simple process, but even the "richest" and "smartest" person in the world can fuck it up, resulting in losing years of positive branding, good will and billions of dollars. Luckily I don't have those kinds of pressures on me. I'm just this guy trying to carve out my own tiny niche in the real and virtual world. The only person I need to please is myself, but that is easier said than done. I'm a fickle, difficult to please customer when it comes to my own work and have a special mutant power for overthinking that would give Professor X a headache. Somehow I managed to find my way, creating and discarding a dozen different concepts before landing on one that feels right, so right in fact that it will likely (always leave yourself an out) be the LAST WEAVERWERX LOGO. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the new look.

Yes, it is a critter, animal, creature of some type and needs a nickname, which I am puzzling out. Any suggestions? I think of artistic ideas as being like creatures roaming around looking for a worthy person to be their portal into our world. These ideas animals can be enormously powerful and lucrative and creative people bring them forth with nothing more than a pencil and blank sheet of paper. This critter here is hungry and lustful and curious. It wants your attention. I wanted this logo to be part watchdog, part chupacabra, part feral cat, and part alien from another world. I want it to guard my back, but also push me when I need it, like everyday. From a design point-of-view, I wanted an image that would stay in folks' minds and not be confused with another thing; not too complex, but not too simple. Maybe even something that will provoke some affection. I also think it'll look damn fine on a t-shirt!

Time to show how the sausage was made. Here are my raw, rough brainstorming sketches as I worked through various possibilities, including some boring, too generic non-character options.

Some of those "shrunken head" and Tiki God-ish designs could wind up making cameo appearances in some future comix stories, so keep your eyes peeled.

The previous Weaverwerx logo was a simple hand-drawn W with scribbly circle around it, which I call the "Hairball Logo". I'm ditching it because it is too generic. It could be used for a hair salon or a bar or sock company, whatever. I like the hand-drawn quality, but that's about it. I only used this one for a couple of years, so it was really just a placeholder.

Before that one, I had been using this dapper chap with the square head and formal suit. This design originated in the late 1990s and was fun, but it looked too much of it's time. I do like the "round peg in the square hole" head and the "W" suit collar. It was also a load of fun to animate, but times have changed, so time to say adieu.

Now that the Logo saga has been been settled, time to get on with creating some actual content or something...

Keep smiling,

OK HW

Taking Your Ears on a Little Trip Around the World

photo credit Ieva Weaver

Whoops, I did it again, well in this case, it was no accident but another happy opportunity to play a radio DJ once more. This was my second turn at the web-powered microphone for the Latvian online radio station tirkultura. My first time was back in February of this year, which I related on my other, comix-related blog, The Reluctant Sadist and Other Wanderings in the Comix Underground. Yes, I have two neglected blogs. Always the overachieving underachiever. 

Michael Holland (check out his show on OnoTesla - NTS) once more was my producer and studio engineer as he was for kuš! radio. This was a good thing as I needed his technical expertise and moral support to try and pull off my ambitious upgrade to my first outing. I wanted to go beyond just working through a playlist with a bit of yammer in between the tunes. I wanted to take my listeners for a trip around the world with me on a show that I called, "Wherever You Go, Well That's Where You Are". With that plan in mind, I set to harvesting golden moments I had captured on my various travels and intended to weave those found sounds together with appropriately themed songs. With Micheal in my corner, I knew all I had to do was show up with the bits and pieces and he would put the cables into the right sockets and we'd be off. Now, I did not map out each and every clip as I wanted to build the story on the fly and let our conversation lead us where it may. This loose approach did result in a few technical hiccups, which felt jarring to the point of disaster in the live moment, but on later listens actually adds to the charm and authenticity of the show I think. You be the judge, here's the show:

Tīrkultūra · 030 _ Hal Weaver _ at the Summer Gallery

It was an exhilarating process stitching this crazy, patchwork sonic quilt together in the moment. I was playing mp4 video of travel clips so Micheal and I could watch them together and comment. We agreed ahead of time to let the clips, music and talking overlap to build unexpected sounds and make room for happy accidents and I think that works as much as it doesn't. All that overlapping though meant that the source materials were consumed much more quickly than I expected, so we had to do a little scrambling at the end to fill time. Here's the playlist -

01 - India_Varansai_Religious_Procession (Travel clip)

02 - On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)

03 - Morroco_Desert_Dancing (Travel clip)

04 -  Spread Your Wings (QUEEN)

05 - Bali_Ubud_Furneal_Procession_01 (Travel clip)

06 - I'm a Ramblin' Man (Waylon Jennings)

07 - Japan_Tokyo_Folk_Dancing (Travel clip)

08 - Japan_Yokohoma_Dragon_Dance (Travel clip)

09 - Niamey Jam (Nomad- Bombino)

10 - Vietnam_Ho_Chi_Mihn_Broom_Machine (Travel clip)

11 - Vietnam_Hanoi_Street_Karaoke (Travel clip)

12 - High Plains Drifter (Beastie Boys)

13 - Thailand_Bangkok_Thai_Boxing (Travel clip)

14 - Thailand_Chiangmai_Pop_Singing (Travel clip)

15 - Singapore (Tom Waits)

16 - Hong_Kong_Slyvester - (Sonny Rollins - St. Thomas) (Travel clip)

17 - Bali_Ubud_Shadow_Puppets_02 (Travel clip)

18 - The Crystal Ship (The Doors)

19 - Nepal_Gandaki_Mule_Train_on_the mountain (Travel clip)

20 - Myanmar_Bagan_Ice_Cream_Man_Rap (Travel clip)

21 - Road Trippin' (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

22 - Morroco_Marrakech_Night_Music (Travel clip)

23 - Cambodia_Siem_Reap_BATS (Travel clip)

24 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)
25 - India_Varansai_Ganga_River_Night_Ceremony

26 - Lawrence of Arabia (Movie Soundtrack)

27 - Bali_Gainyar_Ceremony (Travel clip)

28 - King of the Road (Roger Miller)
29 - Here At The End of The World (Alex McMurray)

30 - City of New Orleans (Johnny "Doc" Criner)

What do you think? Should I do some more radio shows? 

Keep smiling,

OK HW

A Face Found in Darkness and Space

I found a face on a winter day. It was there, somewhere in the frozen mist. Someone I had known, or maybe would know one day? 

This is the latest collaboration with my friend Neil Bruce; his music and my visuals. Neil and I have been making movies together for twenty years now.  Neil sent me a music track (an earlier version of what is presented here) and suggested I create "...something strange and experimental, around darkness and space." No problem! I can do that! Through the years I have been gathering random footage of scenes and textures that I save just for Neil projects, so I was ready. His track inspired me to create two different versions; one based on organic, natured-based images and the other industrial and human-made. Neil liked both versions so much, that we decided to create two music videos. This is the organic visuals version and the industrial one with new music will be following soon.

The visuals were influenced by dreams, both my own, but also the dream sequences from David Lynch movies. A face half forgotten drifting in the fog or smoke. A friend? A foe? Maybe both.

OK HW

Walking the Wall - Part One

 

Do you still have dreams? Are you actually trying to make those dreams come true? I have a bucket list, which could also be called a "dream list" and I've been neglecting it for too long. Most of the items are travel or hiking related, so the last couple of COVID-19 years have made those dreams more difficult to achieve. I've also added other kinds of  personal goals like artistic/creative endeavors and simple experiences (particualarly shared with friends and loved ones) to capture all of the ways I would like to fill my life with whatever time I have left on this old swinging sphere. One of my top hiking dreams is Hadrian's Wall in northern England. It's not a particularly difficult or long trail running 84 miles from Bowness-on-the-Solway to Wallsend, but the history of the Wall and the fact that the route runs coast-to-coast captured my imagination. I love paper maps and find they make it easy to daydream about walking a path like this or following a coastline or climbing a mountain. The Hadrian's Wall Path looks quite inviting to me when laid out on the kitchen table, with a city on either end (Carlisle and NewCastle) and that big, beautiful, bulge of green landscape swelling in between, belted by the ruins of the Wall. While I do appreciate learning about history, I am not a history buff, so I'll spare you my fumbling to provide what so many others have done better. The barest of facts are; the Wall was built by the Romans some 1,900 years ago, which they maintained for about 300 years before leaving one day without a word of goodbye and left the Brits with a huge resource of cut stone block ready for repurposing as churches, homes and pubs, which is why the wall is mostly missing now save for some short sections in the middle. I'll stop there and point you here for the official facts. 

A photo taken of me by a fellow hiker somewhere in the middle fun bit of the trail.

It had been more than three years since I last embarked on a long distance, multi-day hiking adventure, that being the week I spend hiking in Nepal to the Annapurna Base Camp in March of 2019. I'm not getting any younger, so I wondered, do I still have what it takes to put the pack on and go the distance? I make an effort to stay fit by walking or running everyday, watch my diet, etc, but you never know until you get out there and give it a go. Besides physical fitness, long distance hikes are also a mental game. I've seen more then one hiker mentally surrender on a difficult stretch and the result is the same as a twisted ankle. Game over. One aspect that I crave from the challenge of a hike like this is to push myself and see what I'm made of. There's only so much planning that can be done and it's impossible to plan for everything, so when it comes down to it, you have to show up and put one foot in front of another (in this case about 257,000 steps!). When it comes to planning and deciding on what kind of experience you want to have, I'm of the mind that you should understand yourself and punch your weight. In other words, if you don't enjoy tent camping (particularly in a country known for it's rain) and physically aren't prepared to carry a heavy backpack loaded up with camping gear, then don't do it. It's not a competition, there's no medals handed out at the end. It's your time and money, so plan for the experience that you want to have. You win if you show up and do the thing, however you wish to do it. Some folks will camp out, others will drive and stop at certain historical sites, some will hike but use a baggage transfer service; whatever ticks your box. 

Of course I'm smiling, it's the start of the trail!

I planned to hike the full length of the trail carrying my full backpack (clothing, rain gear, food, water, etc) from end-to-end and stayed in accommodation along the way, so no camping. I set a six day itinerary, averaging fifteen miles a day. In hindsight, I would have divided the path into seven days, which would have allowed for more time to enjoy historical sites and have chats with the locals, but also would have left me less tired at the end of the day. 

Lesson Learned - Stop planning hikes like I'm still thirty years old and slow down and smell some roses, or sheep shit or whatever there is to smell along the way.

Another Lesson Learned - I over estimated my capacity to eat snacks, particularly trail mix and wound up carrying a 700 gram package of nuts  the entirety of the trail unopened, besides some other items. The Hadrian's Wall Path is never far from a village or town, so it's easy to buy snacks along the way, in fact many locals set out snacks and drinks along the way with an "honesty box" system, basically if you take anything, you pay for it. I always skipped these as I was always carrying more food then I needed. 

So which direction to go? Walk east or west? After doing some research (this blog was particularly helpful - https://whatsdavedoing.com/hadrians-wall-guide/ ), more than one experienced hiker recommended heading east towards Wallsend, primarily because the prevailing winds would be at your back. I heeded that advice and don't regret it, but take note of my experience, which was, I hiked into a westerly wind for most of the trip! Some westward hikers (both older Americans) happily pointed this out to me on the windiest days, trail trolls. In response, I would urgently point out to them a suspicious-looking bump on their face that looked like melanoma and they should get checked as soon as possible. Happy trails trail troll! 

I felt like a Roman Centurion

An eastward plan put the trail's start at Bowness-on-Solway, a small coastal village on the Southside of Bowness Firth about twelve miles west of Carlisle. Instead of staying in Solway, which has few accommodation options and what is there is a bit expensive, I decided to stay in Carlisle two nights. which allowed me to take a bus (the 93 on Stagecoach Bus) to the start with just a daypack. I felt just like a Roman Centurion waiting at the bus stop that morning, eager to begin my quest! I noticed another hiker with an impressive sized backpack also waiting for the bus. This was Steven, a friendly Scottish fellow from Glasgow area, who turned out to be my first trail friend of the hike. He was camping along the way and had an open itinerary, stopping where and when he felt like it. I admired that approach, but it is not my way and I was glad for the confirmed bookings I had made. Steven and I hiked together on and off that first day, sharing a lunch break and discovered we are both widowed, so we had more than the hike in common.  

 

You shall not pass! 

It's not the first time that a chance encounter with the right person at the right time on my travels and I saw it as a good omen for the journey. Although we never did see each other again, we kept in touch throughout the hike and I hope to catch up with him again one day. The weather that first day was cool and mostly kind, with only a little rain, which we avoided stopping for lunch at park shelter next to the Greyhound Inn. I munched a snickers bar contemplating the memorial statue of King Edward the First who died there from dysentery in 1307. My Scottish friend said, "Good riddance" showing the strength of that grudge. 

The day's hiking was mostly uneventful, other then one stubborn sheep that block the trail. Despite her efforts, I found away to continue on! The trail ran through farm fields and along quiet roads following where Hadrian's Wall once was. The walking was easy, even relaxing and I settled into the rhythm of my stride, meditating with each footfall grateful to finally be back on the trail.

End of part one. Much more to come!

OK HW

Me and I has become We and Us....

 

My life has changed a lot since I last posted on April 11th. The biggest, most beautiful change was, I got married on April 26th in a simple civil ceremony here in Riga, Latvia. How does one go from being an "I" or "Me" to an "Us" and "We"? It's a mysterious process and different for every couple. It's a construction of a million moments of laughter and trust and patience. A daily risk that is part faith and part work and also fun. There will likely be some difficult moments that will test the strength of that vessel and hopefully make it stronger. I am grateful to have found someone to try again with. 

So, that is my elaborate excuse for not posting any drawings for over a month. Not the kind of thing you can use very often, or maybe just once. There was also an epic struggle with bureaucracy as I applied for residency here in Latvia, so I can actually live with my wife. It is not a status instantly granted. I will bore you the gory details.

The drawing this week is a "We Mask" (see what I did there...) taken from the instagram account of  "feereafricanart", which I have visited many times for inspiration. A quick bit of research on the We reveals that the name "We" means 'men who easily forgive', good advice, otherwise those toxic fumes will just damage your own soul. There's so much to love about this mask, the wide, powerful nose, the massive, gracefully shaped lips and the light geometric mask-shape around the eyes. It was a pleasure to have time on this peaceful Sunday to make this drawing.

And how was your week?

OK HW

The Devil Rides Out

 

I've been occupied in mind and spirit by this terrible war. I am astounded at the massive display of evil deeds that the ruzzian (the way I choose to write "Russian" now. Small "r", double zeds to show my disdain) army has perpetrated. The pain and suffering being inflected is too disgusting to imagine. I cannot understand this depravity. In response, I'm trying to find ways to support the Ukraine people and their awe-inspiring strength and courage. I am an ally of Ukraine and anyone else who desires a world free of aggression. 

If you would like to learn about supporting Ukraine, Support Ukraine NOW is a great place to start.

Today's drawing is a Kanyok hunting fetish I found on the Instagram account "african_artefact_art". I choose it because it looks like the devil. The puka shell eyes give me the creeps because they look like mouths with rows of tiny, sharp teeth. The odd shaped head with the black, horn-like protrusions and mouth open in a frozen scream also are unnerving. This is a face that projects evil and fear. Perhaps the Kanyok people needed such a fierce talisman to face the dangers of the jungle?

Wishing everyone peace.

OK HW

Draw Angry

 

The war rages on. I am in awe of the Ukrainian people, soldiers and President Zelensky. The grace under pressure they display every moment is inspiring. It is gut-wrenching watching the horror and seeing that the Western countries are unable to respond for fear of triggering WW III, but most especially a nuclear exchange. I don't know what the right answer is, but I am glad to see the lines between the free world and the so-called "strongmen" is clear now and the fight is on. My hope is that this dark time will lead to a new, bright era. One thought that won't leave my brain alone is wondering why this had to happen? Why couldn't putin turn all of that effort, resources and planning to something positive for the common good? This war is a horrible disaster in every way and will set back Russia decades. Russia is a huge, beautiful country and could be a true world leader, not the corrupt crime joke it is now. Why is it more difficult for some people to create instead of destroy?

All of those emotions were swirling around in me when I made this drawing of a an African "We" Mask from "feereafricanart" on IG. I decided to run at it fast and loose and let that rough, frustrated energy flow. I exaggerated the eyeholes for effect. The mouth was a definite attractor for me with those big, fat lips and sharp, tiny teeth.

While the war rages, I have volunteered to help preserve Ukrainian digital culture through Saving Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Online (SUCHO) and have been working to archive Ukrainian websites. 

Glory to the Ukrainian people!

OK HW

This Should be a Dove

 

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It's a disgusting, unnecessary, illegal and immoral act that seems like it should be impossible here in the 21st century; aren't we past world wars? But here we are and all because of one asshole who is not smart enough to think of creative ways to contribute to the common good, instead he has to fuck it up for all us. The people most negatively affected besides the Ukrainians are the Russian people who will have to suffer the consequences of this nightmare for generations to come.

So, what does that have to do with today's drawing? I almost didn't do anything today because, frankly, I feel really depressed about the state of the world. The center does not hold and all of that seems to be the way of the future. Why bother making a drawing or anything else? But I got something done, thanks to a bit of encouragement from Ieva. I feel guilty because I should have drawn something related to the war, drawn attention to some image or hopeful idea, but I wasn't feeling that. I needed a break from the doom scrolling of images of destroyed buildings, scared people huddling in subways, blasted tanks and satellite photos of damaged airfields. I went for the safety and comfort of African masks and pulled this one from the IG account of feereafricanart. Ironically enough, many of these masks were designed for rituals to confront danger, ward off evil spirits or send curses to bring misery to an enemy. I don't know what this Dan mask was original used for, but let's send it out to inflect sharp pains through Putin's colon and send him running for the nearest bathroom and a long, painful explosive shit that leaves him and limping. Fuck that asshole.

All we are saying is give peace a chance...

OK HW

ACHTUNG - DADA POSTCARD ALERT!!!!

This week's entry is a postcard I made for my friend, Micheal Wingfield (WingDing), mailed in December 2021. He and I have been collaborating and sharing DADA art for decades. These cards are collaged from whatever is on hand; catalogs, stickers, old postcards, cereal boxes, train tickets, a head gasket from a 68' Buick, a piece of tread from a Sherman tank, seabed sludge gathered from the bottom of the Mariana Trench, Abraham Lincoln's toenail cuttings, a Brontosaur sneeze, fifteen coins pickpocketed from blind nuns, a feather from the wing of a flying monkey, the color of the sunset viewed from a balcony overlooking the Chesapeake Bay as seen through a glass of white wine, trimmings from Groucho's mustache, all of the natives killed by King Kong when he went on his rampage, 2,312 grains of sand collected from the secret beach, Tom Waits' nose, Charles Bukowski's asshole, Jack Kerouac's lost sense of humor and destroyed liver, only perfect autumn leaves, disused Cracker Jack prizes patiently waiting on the shelf, the blood of a lamb, three guys named Mo-ham-med (a new set of stooges), the sound of an old man slipping and falling on the ice one full moon night, the smell of a baby's burp, all the missing jigsaw puzzle pieces, vodka, gin, rum, Mother's Milk, and tape, tape,  tape, tape, tape, tape, epat, apte, a, p, e, t, a, p, e...........a ....................p .....................t......... ................................t.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OK HW

Holo Man

Greetings and welcome to another Friday art post. This week is an India ink painting/drawing done with black and white ink applied with brush and pen, a technique I haven't done in a long time. I really love the subtle shades of grey this method allows. It's easy for me to fall into layering washes and diving into the intense blacks, then coming back with the heavy white ink (more like paint) to pick out details. I chose this mask specifically to play with this process.

This is a helmet mask made by the Holo tribe from Angola that I found on the Instagram account racine_premiere. Read more about the Holo people on this African Art website. 

The white areas around the eyes and mouth were the first element that attracted my eye and compelled me to draw this. The sharp teeth and shape of the mouth, which I detailed with a very fine-tipped pen, was another feature I admired. Finally, the crown with cross-hatched strong X's along the top was another detail that was a pleasure to draw.

And what art or creative action did you take this week? 

OK HW

Keep a Diamond in Your Mind

 

From the Tom Waits' song "Get Behind the Mule".

Never let the weeds get higher

Than the garden

Always keep a sapphire in your mind

Always keep a diamond in your mind

These are days that make me think of this song, because this song is a reminder that very often it is hard work to live a life. For some people they never get a break and never know comfort or love or security. These last couple of years it feels like we are all sliding in that direction, being pulled into the virus horror show and seas are rising and the wind is picking up. Or maybe it's just how I'm feeling because I finally caught COVID-19. I was fully vaccinated and boosted, but even so a breakthrough can and does happen, especially if you take your mask off in a bar and talk to many (6-8) maskless strangers over the course of a night. There was one tiny voice of warning providing a commentary track throughout the night, "This is not a good idea. You really need to put a mask on. You do know the pandemic is still raging?", etc., but it didn't matter. I'm as weary as most everyone else is of this new, shitty COVID-19 lifestyle and just decided to take one night off from thinking about it and that's how I got it. It has been an inconvenience, but only because I was vaccinated and boosted, otherwise I'd likely be in a hospital right now with a tube down my throat or worse. 

So here's my first, and hopefully last, COVID-19 drawing, actually done will the virus was in my system. It's an Ibibio Mask on found on "feereafricanart" once more on Instagram (I need to find some new sources as I hate to fuel Zuckerberg's fortune) I choose this mask because I love the top-heavy shape and Frankenstein-like head bolts. Also the overall look of the face, the wide, full lips and arched, dark eye sockets. It's maybe not my best drawing, but it made me happy to make it while I tend to my runny nose. 

"Keep a Diamond in Your Mind". What do you think that means? For me it means you focus on the positive, on that hard, brilliant piece of you that understands no matter how dark the world gets, you still have something to give. Something I have to give is my art. I make it for myself, but share it because I hope someone else will enjoy it, maybe be inspired to learn more about African Art or find a few minutes to cultivate their own creative life as others have inspired me to do. As I feel my body fighting back against the virus, it also makes me realize that I need to do more, make more art, focus on my creative life, finish the many half-completed projects because time is running out. 

What will you do with the time you have left?

OK HW