Category: Personal Reflections

Don’t misunderstand me: there are still plenty of cucumbers. This year they’re even bigger than average. Our neighbor gave us one that was about 50 cm (about 1.5 ft). What I’m referring to is the socio-economical cucumber season. It used to be a good old tradition that during the summer our leaders took a couple … Continue reading The Cucumber Season has been abolished.

Why do you have so many contemporary painters who pose with brush and pallet in their hands while most of their work consists of digitally created canvas prints? Previous generations were proud to pose with the latest tools of their craft that offered them more possibilities to increase the quality and quantity of their output. … Continue reading Artists and the Middle Way.

An incredibly comfortable chair. One that looks nice. I just want to be able to sit and work without having to use any muscle in my body except my fingers and maybe my brain muscle. Those who're following me for a while will probably notice that my studio became a little crammed. That's also a … Continue reading My Kingdom for a Comfortable Chair.

Money is a necessary component of any democracy: it enables political participation, campaigning and representation. However, if not effectively regulated, it can undermine the integrity of political processes and institutions and jeopardize the quality of democracy.

Why would a smart New York investment banker pay $12 million for the decaying, stuffed carcass of a shark? By what alchemy does Jackson Pollock’s drip painting No. 5, 1948 sell for $140 million? Economist Don Thompson explores it in his book, tracing the money, lust, and self-aggrandizement of the art world in an attempt … Continue reading The $12 Million Stuffed Shark

This article whines about the ripping and attention seeking blogo-clowns.

My artistic approach found inspiration in Frank Zappa’s Project/Object concept for his work in various mediums. Each project (in whatever realm) is part of a larger object, that I call mystic cyclical synthetism.

Again I had a week where I had to restrain myself not to snap at people on Facebook, posting stuff like: "What about could I write a book?" or the 20 years old college student that wants to write an autobiography that would mainly center around some grievances she perceived during her freshman's year. Or … Continue reading Can you really have a virtual presence without Facebook and Instagram?

It´s a fact of life that some people are more susceptible to depression than others. Sometimes there plays a genetically component, sometimes it´s the socio-economical situation, a disease that eats away their vitality, but most of the time it´s a deeply felt sentiment of being blocked in their development; a job they hate, a relation … Continue reading Depression

We are so much used to noise that many people perceive silence as discomforting. A pause into a conversation must be filled up with meaningless innuendo. Every room into the house must have a blaring TV or other noisemaker. Some people even claim they can´t work when there isn´t any sound producing device around (albeit … Continue reading Silence.

Express Yourself and Share Your Passions Who gives a damn. Everyone is about writing posts. Not reading them. Make A Difference Really? Share Your Knowledge For free? And what will I sell then? Refine Your Writing Skills MS word editor is doing fine, thank you. Learn How To Make Money Online For a price, of … Continue reading Why Do People Blog?

My previous holiday dates from August last year. Before that I didn´t have a holiday for more than twenty years. Last November I had some kind of burnout in combination with a writer’s block, and my better half suggested that maybe it was time for another break. It´s not evident for artists to break away … Continue reading Holidays,…. Again?

Most people have an innate desire to be liked by other people.  While the desire to be liked is normal, feeling that it’s necessary that everyone likes you and experiencing anxiety and stress when they don’t isn’t. The prevalence of social media in today’s society only exacerbates these struggles. People on social media literally compete … Continue reading Create the art you like, or create art that is likable?

For a very long time I’ve been considering myself an artist, solely based upon my ability to fabricate stories. Only lately it occurred to me to put my creativity at work outside the self-imposed confinement of literature. It started innocently: I wanted to design my own book covers by taking old movie posters as a … Continue reading Exploring Other Avenues.