"Eli" giclee print

This giclee print of "Eli" is the first now available at my new print store, at this link.
It's printed with archival inks on enhanced matte archival paper. The image size is 18 by 14 inches, on paper 18 by 23 inches, a signed and numbered edition of 50.

Happy Thanksgiving Week

Karen Blessen

My long time friend, Karen Blessen, recently added another honor to her list (that includes a Pulitzer Prize). The Dallas Observer named her as one of the "Masterminds" of the Dallas art scene. The guidelines for selection were simple and Karen's bona fides were ample: make the community, maybe even the world, better through the artists' work. Through Today Marks the Beginning she and her colleagues work with schools, organizations and individuals to raise awareness of social issues and promote peace, cooperation and positive change through art projects, writing and other creative action.

At this link is a video, directed and filmed by John Katz, showing children from around the world addressing their solutions to the situation in Darfur and answering the question of what they would do "If I were a great peacemaker". As well as founder of Today Marks the Beginning, Karen is program manager of MasterPEACE, which created the program depicted in the video.
Imagine using education and activities to guide children toward a culture of peace, tolerance and problem solving that can benefit everybody, instead of training more obedient drones for the corporatocracy...what a concept!

Karen is a writer, artist, speaker, world changer and inspiration to anyone paying attention. In a culture which honors self-aggrandizement over service and self-promotion over contributions to the common good Karen is an exception and I'm proud to call her friend.

More of her accomplishments and passions can be found at her web site: karenblessen.com.

Blind Lemon Jefferson

"Blind Lemon Jefferson", 10 by 8 in. acrylic on canvas.

The Freestone County Museum, Fairfield, Texas, will open "Art of the Blues, Texas Style", on November 20. It was curated by Andy Don Emmons.

Blind Lemon Jefferson was a blues player and a staple of the influential Dallas, Texas "Deep Ellum" blues scene in the 1920s. Pronounced as a dialectal variation of "Deep Elm", the eastern Dallas neighborhood was an incubator for blues and jazz musicians, some of whom, such as Blind Lemon, T-Bone Walker, and Bessie Smith, went on to national success.

The son of sharecroppers, Lemon Jefferson was born near Wortham, Texas in 1893. He began playing the guitar early in his teenage years and became a street musician, performing for the night crawlers of small East Texas towns. He moved to Dallas and settled in the Deep Ellum area in 1917. T-Bone Walker taught Lemon the basics of blues guitar. When he began recording in 1926 he was one of the first solo singer/guitar players in the blues. His work influenced musicians from B.B. King to Eric Clapton. "See That My Grave is Kept Clean", a song with a demanding message if ever there was one, has been covered by Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Grateful Dead and Counting Crows.
He is said to have died in Chicago in 1929. The reasons for his death vary, from a jealous lover to freezing in a snowstorm.
This piece is based, as are most images of Blind Lemon, on the most famous, possibly only, photograph of him available.

Harvest Moon

A true "harvest moon" appears when the full moon rises in Autumn at about the same time the sun sets, providing some light for farmers to continue their work. The perspective of the moon when it rises, surrounded by building and trees, rather than the open sky when it's higher, and atmospheric conditions give it a large, orange color, like a giant pumpkin.