Showing posts with label Latvia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latvia. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

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

Saturday, August 26, 2023

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:


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


Friday, December 03, 2021

52 Fridays - Patchwork Tin Man

 

Have you ever felt like you were ripped up and reassembled? That's what I thought when I saw this strange figure fabricated from pieces of tin (or is it bronze, brass?) Chunks of life tied together in a patchwork that make a world-weary soul. I can relate.

I know nothing about this piece unfortunately, other than it is likely from Africa. I found it on the Instagram account of "fernandin_jones" . Update! Fernando Pujol provided information about the piece. It's an"old reliquary Kota from Gabon".

On first look, the shape caught my attention, then the expression, the eyes and mouth (great lips always get me) and the droopy horns that just lay down along the oval dome head. Once more I worked tiny, this piece is only nine centimeters high, same pens as last week (Sakura Pigma Micron 005 and Mitsubishi Uni Pin Fine Line 0.3) and added him to the same page of last week's drawing. The style is inspired by R. Crumb with some Frank Miller thrown in. I will drawing this one again sometime using a ballpoint pen that allows for more subtle shading and textures. 

It is a snowy day here in Riga, Latvia. It's been snowing nearly everyday for the last week and stayed cold enough that the snow hasn't melted, just piling up. Good day to hunker down and make drawings.

Happy Friday,

OK HW









Wednesday, December 02, 2020

52 Fridays - A Case Study in Good Collaboration

I've been creatively collaborating with my friend Neil Bruce for over fifteen years. Our first project together was on my short animated film, "ZANK", back in 2005 for which he wrote a fittingly zany music score. (Catch up on "ZANK"'s history here). Our next project was a few years later when I created a music video for one of his songs "A dream of life". Neil is an idea  and creative machine, and always has several projects going on, including a podcast called "There is Another Way" aimed at anyone pursuing a creative life, multiple YouTube channels and album projects. Check out his website for more information. 

Hal and NeilI'm grateful for Neil's friendship and particularly enjoy the creative sparks that fly whenever we get a good chat on. Through the years, we have generated more movie, art and music ideas than we could ever possibly finish in our lifetimes. Finding a good creative collaboration partner is as rare as finding a good romantic partner, both contain an element of mystery and chemistry that can't be explained or quantified. Collaborating is a tricky dance as there are egos involved, so care must be taken to honor each other's point-of-view, while talking honestly about the value of the ideas and whether they support the overall vision. Beyond the alchemy of idea creation, then there's the practicalities of crafting the ideas into a coherent plan and finally accomplishing something. For all of this to happen, all parties involved have to maintain communication and enthusiasm for the project until the end. I've seen too many projects die-on-the-vine because one person or another starts "ghosting" the thread and the project sinks beneath the waves of day-to-day life. If you want to get something done, you either make it happen or make excuses. The best of creative partners can help keep your creative life going, particularly when the well runs dry. Just as it is with a running or exercise buddy, it's easier to stay on track when you have someone to answer to and share each other's struggles.

Which brings us to my latest collaboration with Neil, his weekly music video project called "52 Fridays", found on his "Light Before Sound" channel. 



I have contributed four videos for his music on this project so far and will likely have a couple more before it is finished. 



If you find your creative life is stuck in a rut, then think through your circle of friends or people in your network who might be good to collaborate with and reach out to them and give it a try. You might be surprised where it might lead. Remember, you can go faster alone, but further together.

Thank's Neil!

OK HW