15-Day Creation Challenge

Listening in on the Other Side
A few weeks ago, I was looking up a farm in upstate NY where a friend works. As I searched the internet, the first relevant reference to that farm finally popped up. It was an article about a raid on the farm to arrest undocumented immigrants. I scrolled down to view the comments, and was sh0cked by the hatred poured out on the page. Hatred for immigrants  — both with papers and without — was expressed nakedly and often with vulgarity. But why was I shocked? My friend at the farm is an immigrant. A documented immigrant who is too focused on creating new lives for his family to complain about the prejudice he encounters. I want these very human stories to play a large

Community Contemplation: Private Life vs. Public Life
photo by mbgrigby This blog has sat here in relative silence for the month of September, a silence that was largely prompted by a difficult time my family went through while I was visiting. I was lucky to be with my entire family during that period, and I found myself in a surreal headspace where thoughts became

Illustrating the Creative Process with Koldo Barroso
Koldo Barroso is a Spanish illustrator and storyteller who moved to the US in 2008 with a suitcase full of grotesque characters, dark stories and impossible visions. He describes his world of Art and Illusion as a mere act of “making visible and invisible world of magic, mystery and imagination.” His latest published work is a series of illustrations for Judy Dyble’s “Talking With Strangers”, the latest CD album from the legendary singer of Fairport Convention. Koldo Barroso spoke to me about his experience during the making of “Talking With Strangers” and answered a few key que

A Reminder: “This is Water…”
An uncharacteristically teeny post for me, as my family is going through difficult times and I haven’t found the focus to muse here. Walt Pascoe posted the following message on Twitter, linking to a commencement speech by David Foster Wallace. It is an excellent read that fleshes out the ideas I had hoped to touch upon in my last post, unfolded in DFW’s eloquent, evocative language. Thank you for sharing this, Walt, and I hope you all have a chance to read it.