Headwrapping School

selected work -- summer-2 -- 2011

2011-09-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

selected work - summer 2011

2011-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

selected work -- june 2011

2011-06-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

selected work -- May 2011

2011-05-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

selected work April 2011

2011-05-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

Selected work, Feb Mar 2011

2011-03-30T15:29:00.000-07:00

SOLD

new work -- Jan 2011

2011-02-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

These are done with acrylics and acrylic paint pens on unstretched canvas:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEmbanked -- 21x31in -- $250.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxTie Balloon -- 18x22in -- $200.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEmbassy -- 29x31in -- $500.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCornered -- 23x36in -- $500.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEntrance -- 18x22in -- $300.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxInitiation -- 24x36in -- $500.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCenter Field -- 31x37in. -- $600.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxFruit of the Vine -- 24x36in. -- SOLD

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSize Mick -- 22x34in. -- $400.

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selected drawings: summer 2010

2010-09-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

Exhibition at Morris Graves Museum

2010-04-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

These and about fifty other paintings of mine will be featured in the Permanent Collection Exhibition at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka. Opening reception Saturday, May 1st.

down the road one more time

2010-04-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

a ufo ate my homework

2010-04-15T21:42:00.001-07:00

Ink

2010-04-02T19:15:00.000-07:00

'Four Amazing Worlds Collide'
The Times-Standard 04/02/2010

EUREKA -- Reuben Sorensen, a visionary artist from Southern Humboldt, and artists from The Studio, a fine arts program of HCAR for people with developmental disabilities, will be displaying their fantastical installation piece, “Four Amazing Worlds Collide with Fun Exciting Aliens,” this month at the Cheri Blackerby Gallery, 272 C St. (Second and C streets). There will be an opening reception Saturday during Arts Alive! from 6 to 9 p.m.

The collaborative project started with a few papier mâché cars and some plywood.

”I came to The Studio with only the idea that I wanted to do a project in which a road with cars passed through some sort of landscape,” Sorensen said.
read the rest here

More Signs

2010-04-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

. . .

2010-03-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

More Written Word

2010-03-26T17:14:00.001-07:00

The Writing's on the Wall

2010-03-24T13:47:00.001-07:00

A Pale Horse

2010-03-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

I had a dream last night that i was riding a horse and little cars were being crushed and knocked hither and thither by its hooves. It's a prophecy. Spring is coming.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 58 - 11x14in - a/c

Alien Point of View

2010-03-08T11:19:00.000-08:00

Oh hi, I'm Amy, I'm a true life person that's feeling like an alien.

We the alien people need to sue the government because they've taken over everything else, including the government! I suggest you visit the Mayor's office, Hubert Wilson. He will take care of you, meet your needs, and give you a nice backrub --and give you a nice KICK!

And if you need more I suggest you be your own alien... at a rock concert, or just walking down the street. Aliens are everywhere among us, they're called the autistics --deal with it!! Where I'm from people like me work, have regular lives, get married, push a couple of babies out --so there!

Alien girl, kick! hud! ah HA HA HA, alien from a point of view!

I bet ya Bon Jovi doesn't feel like an alien! but Pink knows where I am coming from because she was misunderstood, but not Jon Bon Jovi, he's too puuuuurfect to understand people like me that tend to slobber, tend to not fall in love ... and I'm runnin' around and I'm a heart breaker cuz I'm always being followed by men, they love my rear end! They love my little body!

And here's the kicker --I do karaoke. And karaoke's a product of the aliens, I'm convinced.
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This is a preview of the video soundtrack that accompanies my current show done in collaboration with the artists from The Studio. Hope to have the whole video online soon. Stay tuned.

Head Kicks Ass

2010-02-22T21:16:00.001-08:00

Cicely wins Headwrapping School's wrapped head of the week award.

Upcoming Show

2010-02-17T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here's the post card:

Hammer Head Receives a Dminus

2010-02-05T12:08:00.002-08:00

The latest news from Headwrapping School is that student J. Hammer has officially received a D-minus for his wrap a head homework assignment, but don't rush to any conclusions... the grading system just like everything else here at Headwrapping School is not standard. For instance, we don't stop at 'F'... our system spans from 'B' to 'Y' eliminating the extremes of 'A' and 'Z'. And the order of the standard evaluation of everything is somewhat switched around to suit our needs too... for instance, an 'M'minus is better than a 'C'plus... but that's not to say that everything here is skewed, for instance, an 'M&M' is still better than a 'Q-tip' unless... but that's another matter for another thread on rap music I suppose. But I only give that as an example because here at H.S. we also give a flavor value to each letter value, for instance, 'L' is for lime, and 'B' is for beatnik's armpit... etc. But some of those are switched around too so that 'V' is for tequila and 'N'plus means bitter chocolate...

Student Hammer would've received an 'OMG' except that his wrappings slipped upward to reveal his true face --everyone, except those of you who missed our orientation video, knows what D stands for, the minus was added because we favor that one eyed stare ... and that plastic-wrap glare.

ATTENTION: students and followers of Headwrapping, if you submit your wrapped head photo NOW you will get the special H.S. rebate offer, good as long as it lasts... but be warned, HS reserves the right to judge your entry and to demolish it with the photo edit and the written review and don't you forget it .
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Fork in the road

2010-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

I am at a fork in the road with my art, I may stay on this road of cars, or I may stray off onto a completely different area of expression... hmmm... what to do?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 58 -- acrylic and marker on canvas --11x14in
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Making Video

2010-01-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

After an extended holiday Headwrapping School is back online and working on a video which will accompany the papier mache project which will be on display for the months of March and April at the Cheri Blackerby Gallery, 3rd and C streets, Eureka CA, --opening reception, Saturday March 6th at 6pm. Let me introduce the artist collaborators:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDawn and Betty working with the blue screen.
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Dawn is the brains of the operation, her mind is constantly working out solutions to problems and figuring how thinks can fit. She came up with several very creative and innovative ideas which we employed. Betty is a hard working artist. She makes stuff, and she makes more stuff, her fingers always busy and her nose to the grindstone. This thing would probably be a month or two behind without Betty's energetic input.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAlan trying on different roles
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Alan's contribution is loose and relaxed. Very intuitive, he just knows what to do. His hand adds a very distinctive and stylish elegance to the work.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSarah, are we having fun yet?
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Sarah's insightful and humorous way of seeing things and her firm grasp of irony has helped us to keep our feet on the ground and our egos in their proper place.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxJaimal checking out the footage
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Jaimal is a freaking genius. Without Jaimal we'd be like a rock band without a lead guitarist.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxElizabeth working on stop animation.
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Elizabeth's calm almost zen like assurance has helped us to focus our energies. She has been invaluable in that she is somehow able to balance all the crazy creative ideas the group has with her extremely strong and developed sense of design. Her touch is everywhere present, tweaking this, and adjusting that, she makes it all fall into place so perfectly.

Just a Wishin I'd Stayed a Little Longer

2009-12-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

and now the sun's comin up, i'm ridin with lady luck, freeway cars and trucks, stars beginning to fade...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 57 -- 11x14in -- acrylic and marker on canvas

Wrapped Stick

2009-12-09T11:34:00.000-08:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe art
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxthe artist: Shevaun

Charlie Rocks

2009-12-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx approximately ten feet tall

Our friend Charlie recently erected this awesome stone structure the middle of Blue Slide Creek, just downstream from Headwrapping School.

Clarity Amidst the Ambiguity of Contemporary Art: Mat Gleason

2009-11-13T11:28:00.000-08:00

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Mat Gleason, author of the book Most Art Sucks and founder and editor of the L.A. based art rag Coagula Art Journal.

* To begin I'd like you to tell us what Coagula is all about and fill us in a little bit on the 100th issue.

I have been publishing this little rag for 17 years and it has been about art and the art world, the artists and other messes too. This issue is a quick tour of each issue, one might be about what i thought of the person who was on the cover, another is about how my roof was leaking while I was editing that specific issue. Kinda like art history is random that way as well...

* What role does instinctual energy play in art?

There is no blueprint for a masterpiece, there are only mistakes when you stop or go too far, so instinct - which I would define as "what you know that you know without knowing that you know it until you do it" - fills in the blanks. They just proved that babies cry on the day they are born in the language of their mother, so there is a lot more cerebral hardwiring than people who take ridiculous amounts of notes and execute five rough drafts before composing an email will ever want to believe.

* What do you think is the importance of archetypal imagery?

Art objects have proven to last a long time and, therefore, it is amazing to be able to understand a representation created hundreds of years ago on a different continent under a different form of government by a person who did not speak my language - it is like time travel in vented in the 1400s - it is the closest thing to magic that one can experience.

* How does one distinguish archetypal imagery from stereotypical imagery?

Stereotypes are so culturally specific that they lose their meaning completely or become grotesqueries in their own right. Archetypes are shared across cultures.

* What do you think it means to be an artist in the 21st century?
What is the artist's role today?

To soothe that compulsion to create by creating - the rest (audience, gallery, sales, acclaim, criticism) is all superfluous even though it is almost all people talk about.

* Who are your favorite artists? Why?

I went to a show of Carlos Almaraz work the other day and almost started crying it was so perfect - but I'm from SoCal, the work is as L.A. as it gets, a hundred times more L.A. than all the "finish fetish" school and stuff like that, so I am a sucker for the best expression of my region, but Almaraz is beyond "regionalism" and is as good it gets. But ask me six months form now and I might be raving about something else... but my soul is in East L.A.

* What do you think of the abstract expressionists? Pollock, de Kooning, etc. Was their art archetypal? How?

I have a tattoo of Pollock in mid-drip profile on my right shoulder - the AbExers were the archetype - right up there with cowboys - the art is the gorgeous residue of their freedom, but don't believe the art and the artist are inseparable, that is an old Soviet circular logic game. Their art was not an archetype, their making it was. Go read what they said about their work - they were drop-down drunks talking about an eternity that none of their atheist souls even believed in.

* What about Warhol? Was he important? His Elvis, Marylyn, soup can etc. --are they archetypal? What do you think of his statement, "Business art is the step that comes after Art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist."

Warhol had a lot of one-liners, and in that regard he was a conceptual artist, but he knew how to balance the concept with great design, so that is art. His paintings are all icons of his culture like you would find icons of saints in a catholic church -which was where he was raised and the art he saw on the wall every day was icons of his religion's celebrities. HE just switched religions from catholicism to americanism.

* What do you think of Johnny Rotten similarly saying that he wanted to think of The Sex Pistols as a business rather than a band?

Johnny is close to my heart. When I was 17, in my mind's eye I wanted girls to see me as Joe Strummer and guys to see me as Johnny Rotten. I think John saw the impossibility of any success occurring without the music business fucking it up, but in order to at least do some of what he wanted there would be an inevitable capitulation to these interests - so he compromised by parading around his selling out rather then pretending he was virginal and above it.

* What about politics and art? Do they ever make for a good mix?

Politics demands that art serve. What happens is that it becomes watered-down or turns into propaganda. Usually. For every Guernica there are a hundred thousand artists serving the interests of policy makers who only want to use them and have no appreciation for their true value anyway.

* What do you make of Ron English? Does his art subvert mainstream ideas or expand consciousness in any significant way?

His Obama-as-Lincoln was sublime. It made you go ... oh shit I could be living in history ... as far as subversion, look, subverting anything has lost its electricity - in the 50s you could not show boobs in advertising - by the 70s you could. In the 70s you could not subvert mainstream ideas when you were part of the mainstream - now every level and form of media subverts the mainstream. I like Ron English and I like his painting, but subversion is not what it used to be ... but better to be guilty of becoming ubiquitous than to have never had your finger near the pulse at all...

* What about Basquiat? Do you think his art did much as far as deconstructing the art world establishment?

He made the ugly urban landscape pretty by abstracting it and using bright colors in the right compositional places - and i am not minimizing him here, that is genius, but he gets a lot of other people's trips laid on him to serve their agenda. HE was too loaded to be actively instigating any sort of "revolutionary agenda" against the art world, he enjoyed getting fucked up with rich people and not giving a shit if he was getting fucked up with poor people the next day.

* What do you think of the phenomenon of art-stars in general?

If you play poker, someone wins every hand. After a while, someone played the game well and won a lot more than the others. Some of it was skill, some of it was the luck of the shuffle. Actually, it is nice that the art world is no different, because hey, you plug away on your work in your studio and there is verifiable evidence out there that you MIGHT become an art star. And that is better than many times in history where you croaked and they tossed all your artwork into the fireplace before they even buried you.

* What's your take on LowBrow? What's it's place in the evolution of contemporary art?

LowBrow pretty much IS contemporary art - the bullshit in ArtForum is an old academy that does not know it is dead yet - boring conceptualism by tenured professors and their rich kid students is invisible in its impact on every facet of human existence. LowBrow is where art history is at right now. There is interesting art being made outside of LowBrow, but in 20 years I sure as fuck will not be bragging about having met Wolfgang Laib at his show at MOCA.

* Do you think of Robert Williams' imagery and/or the pop culture influenced imagery of Lowbrow as being archetypal?

His influence is profound in that he demands an intellectual foundation and a commitment to an outlook about existence - be it moral, nihilistic, optimistic, whatever - on top of returning the basic principle of a meritocracy of talent as the pecking order of things. Robert Williams is the central figure in how the art history narrative will shift gears after 1990.

* Is pop culture in it's original context, before being appropriated by "art" archetypal? ie is a hotrod seen on the street a representation of an archetype?

Absolutely. The art, in fact, is only a small part of it. There is a reason these objects become fetishes. There is a power there beyond what they are. What they represent is far more powerful.

* Do you feel passion is important or even necessary when creating art? How does one find one's passion?

The only thing more important than passion is curiosity. The day you are incurious is the day you are a jaded asshole and deserve to die. And curiosity is almost always a manifestation about passion or at lest wanting passion, so yeah, it is important. You find it by wanting it. You want it? go look for it? Maybe you find it in that drawing you will start tonight or the one you worked on last month, you know which one I am talking about. Why are you reading me babble on and on here on Reuben's blog when you could be making fucking art history tonight? See that is how you find passion.

Pics from The Studio

2009-11-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

Some recent photos from the collaboration project I'm working on with fellow artists at The Studio --click to enlarge.

How to Disappear a Car

2009-10-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sara Watson, who is studying drawing at the University of Central Lancashire (Uclan), took three weeks to transform the car's appearance.
article and video

Tip of the wrapped hat to Suzy Blah Blah for the link --more pictures

Picasso Car

2009-10-28T09:09:00.001-07:00

Read about it here

The Future

2009-10-07T11:29:00.001-07:00

The future always arrives becoming the present which then in turn becomes the past. And all throughout, car follows car and car follows truck and truck follows car and so on...

Installation

2009-09-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

78 paintings installed at The Studio, 3rd and C St. Old Town Eureka. Check 'em out at Art's Alive Sat. Oct. 3rd, 6pm to 9pm.

Working Title: Alien Invasion

2009-09-21T21:35:00.000-07:00

Alan, Elizebeth, David, and Dawn working on our collaboration at The Studio.

Loop

2009-09-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

There are no verses, just a chorus, over and over again and again.

Amazing Grace Brings Clarity of Vision

2009-09-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

Once again, time has transited the circle of life to selfishly encroach upon our desuetude and deliver my insubstantial self to the gateway of Headwrapping School's fall semester commencement. I once was lost but... now the frugal interlude has been terminated and your faithful servant is back on the job. Leaving behind the delusional lens of a romantic diversion, and once again observing this road from an unassailable distance, I have reestablished my secured position on the hill where I again shall objectively pursue the monitoring of traffic and continue the inexorable attempt to balance an approximate validity of this parenthesized reality. Yes, Headwrapping School has again entered into the embranglement of ceremony's grass roots and thrown our fate into the gyratory internal affairs of this tableau's variance.

Arts Alive Eureka

2009-09-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

About eighty or so of my recent car paintings will be viewable at The Studio, 3rd and C St. on Saturday, September 5th, for Arts Alive in Old Town Eureka.

OMG!

2009-09-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

We are celebrating here at Headwrapping School. Yeehaw!!! I am sooooo totally stoked! It's all because this freewheeling rich Texan multi-billionaire rocknroll businessman recently purchased a whole series of paintings (53pics) from me. But that's just the beginning, I found out yesterday that the series has been accepted by the Morris Graves Museum of Art as a gift from the buyer and it will be a part of their permanent collection. There will be an exhibition in the near future at the museum. Did I mention that I'm totally stoked?

Thanks to The Morris Graves Museum of Art, Jemima Harr, Executive Director-Curator, and most of all to Jeff Hammer.

ps, I was just kidding about Jeff being a multi=billionaire. But it's true that he is in the music business. He's a hard working dedicated individual and lover of the arts. He's been a promoter and inspiration to artists and musicians for most or all of his adult life. Would that there'd be more people like him in this world.

Break Down

2009-08-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

Having the responsibility of being one among us who watches for one who is different from the other ones, I notice that a certain car doesn't seem to be moving. Must be broke down or something.

promised land

2009-08-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

Getting High

2009-08-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Turning away from the heavy traffic a friend and I took a lonely two lane from 101 to Loleta. We found that The Gilded Rose tavern has been closed for two weeks now, sigh, so we went to the only eatery in town for lunch, the Loleta Bakery. A very nice Norman Rockwell like setting. The food was excellent. Potato soup made with young whole potatoes, one inch in diameter, freshly harvested from the back yard etc. Leaving town we had lemonade from a stand run by some local kids. Sweet.

After that we went to Ferndale where we walked and walked and walked all around the County fair. I viewed "Wedding Cake", a tall ceramic sculpture that won a red ribbon for 2nd place in the juried art show. It was by one of my favorite local artists, Mary (Trixie) Galletti. Trixie has a penchant for making tall vertical phallic like expressions in clay, the higher the better. Her cake is stunning. I stood there entranced by it for a long long time. It was the highlight of my day. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera along but here is a sample her work.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxUFO Tower by Mary Galletti

Sometime later, I found a comfortable place to sit and draw some sketches for the papier mache amusement park that we are constructing at The Studio. A guy sat down at a picnic bench next to me and proceed to smear his hands full of ketchup and then lick his fingers, sticking each one fully into his mouth and shlurping. I'd heard that the sugar in ketchup makes it addicting, but ...

Again we walked, screams issued from the roller coaster and other rides as Carny characters full of meth enticed us to throw dull darts at half filled balloons to win teddy bears worth less than half the price asked for the darts. We looked at the quilts and prize winning jams and jellies, passed by the cows and headed for the beer tent. Then, standing amidst the dog on a stick and ice cream stands, I stretched my neck to watch Galaxy Girl perform several hundred feet above me. Trixie would have said, "go higher!":

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxGalaxy Girl

All and all a very enjoyable afternoon. Too bad about the Gilded Rose though.
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Now and Again

2009-08-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

a horn sounds --beep beep-- as the cars switch lanes and swagglewaggle into position.

One Two Three Four

2009-08-07T06:52:00.000-07:00

As everybody knows, by and large, certain grotesquerys appear and blunder on to the end of their inventory. If I've said it once I've said it 50 times.

Round and Round I Go

2009-08-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

round and down I go,
it's that old black magic ...

Hitting The Curve

2009-08-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

We tried an alternate position today. This allows for a geometry that wasn't applicable previously.

A Hermit's View of the River

2009-07-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

I was at the fence, as has become my habit, making observations of the patterns in the river of cars and trucks flowing before me. Bobby was with me and said that I didn't have any objective viewpoint from which to judge the world and humanity.

"Yes," I said, "but there IS no known objective viewpoint to view humanity with, not until we find life on other planets."

"... your viewpoint is subjective," he continued, "very subjective."

I decided to try another approach, "An objective viewpoint implies analysis, but what I do is to synthesize an avenue of personal expression."

He went on, not listening, "You're kinda like a hermit who can't see beyond his own nose."

"But Bobby, the cars are beyond my nose."

"You don't understand," he said. "It's an apology."

"Not seeing beyond my nose is an apology? An apology for what? Do you mean an analogy?"

"Analogy, apology, whatever, it's all the same if you look at things objectively..."

"But..."

I stopped myself. I thought --that's OK, I'll revise what he says later. Or abandon it all together.

Meanwhile

2009-07-24T16:18:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging out at The Studio in Eureka and working on a new project.

From their website:
Through the month of July, outsider artist Reuben Sorensen has been collaborating with Studio artists on a giant paper mache' landscape complete with mountains, roads and trees.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxMany hands help out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxsxxxxCollaborating with Betty Kuhnel left, and assistant Melissa.

xxxxxxxxxxxxBetty forground, Elizebeth Kordes center, me with teacher Angie Valetutto background.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCollaborating with Dawn Wentworth

Outsider or Unplugged

2009-07-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

Bobby came by today. I invited him in for a cup of tea, "...but leave the guitar outside on the deck. It'll be just fine."
He came in and looked at the latest car paintings.
I said, "What do you think Bob? Are they outsider art?"
"No," he said, "I think they're like more like, you know, acoustic or something."
"Acoustic? But that's an auditory term, this is visual art. Do you mean aesthetic?"
"No, acoustic. You know, like in 'unplugged'..."

Forever

2009-07-20T11:32:00.001-07:00

Today I continue noting that these observations that have been going on cheerfully now for what seems like forever are continuing on as observed and noted.

The Path is the Goal

2009-07-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Continuing, always continuing onward, and on and on and on. Moving forward, pushing, progressing towards the goal. But what is the goal? I forgot. But never mind because, "the path is the goal". A famous artist recently told me that. It doesn't make any sense to me but she's famous and successful so it made me think. But I don't know. Will I be able to keep going on like this much longer? on like this, keep going on like this...

Watching the Flow

2009-07-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Bobby played me a Dylan song from the hill.

...this river keeps a rollin' and as long as it does I'll just sit here on this bank of sand and watch the river flow.

There must be another place where he could practice. Like maybe sitting on a bank of sand down at the river, or maybe back where he came from, sitting in his mother's basement in Oxnard.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 43 -- 10x11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Ratios

2009-07-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

I measure all the ratios. This many blue trucks per hour weighed against this many red cars against this many gray SUVs etc. They go by, vroom vroom vroooom, and none of them stop. Not one of them knows who I am or what I'm like.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 42 -- 8x10in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Art Car Funk

2009-07-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

I said to CW, "Folk pop? I thought Paul Simon was more into funk."

"No," said Bobby, appearing out of nowhere, "you must be thinking of Art Carfunkle."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 41 -- 10x12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Side Show Show

2009-07-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

For those of you in the Sacramento area who would like to view some of these car paintings in the flesh, a few of them will be part of a group show in July and August, "American Pop", at the Side Show Gallery.

Opening reception: July 11th.

Side Show Studios
Custom Tattoo Studio and Fine Art Gallery
5635 Freeport Blvd. Suite 6
Sacramento, CA 95822
(916) 391-6400

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 40 -- 10x11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Sort of a Folk Pop Kinda Thing

2009-07-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

I told CW that I'd heard the same song that Bobby has been practicing coming from a car radio as it passed.

She said it was a synchronictic event and that it means that an archetype is rising into my consciousness.

"Rising into my consciousness? From where?"

"From the unconscious mind, of course."

"Oh, I see, so but then --what IS an archetype anyway?"

"It's a dynamic structure embedded deep in the collective unconscious."

"A structure of what?"

"That depends on the archetype that arises, in this case it's about 'your destination'. I suppose you could call it the Destiny archetype"

"Destiny archetype?"

"Yep, it's about your destiny, and the destiny of the cars. Where are they going? Where are you going?"

There was a long pregnant pause, and then I said, "Gee, I don't know."

CW said, "I always liked Paul Simon, he does a sort of a folk pop kinda thing."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 39 -- 10x11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Home Boy

2009-07-06T01:38:00.000-07:00

I checked my memory of the traffic sounds from yesterday and I received a message. It went something like this:

"...I know a man,
he came from my home town ...
vroom vrooom vrooooom

love is so overpowering ...
vroom vroom

afraid he'll disappear ..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 38 -- 12x13in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Your Destination

2009-07-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Things seem to happen in clusters. Is it synchronicity or destiny? While I was observing traffic today, Paul Simon's voice could be heard issuing from one of the passing vehicle's radios--

"--the nearer your destination the more you're slipsliding awaaay."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 37 -- 10x11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Contradiction and Exception

2009-07-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

This morning Bobby again serenaded me with Paul Simon from the hill as CW came by with some cherries from her yard. I asked her, "But if, as you say, this inventory is progressing up the spine of the webpage, then what keeps it from slipsliding back down again?"

"It doesn't slip because it's resting at the same time that it's progressing."

"But how can that be true? How can it be resting and progressing at once?"

"It rests on the truth of being a contradiction, as it progresses with the truth of being an exception."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 36 -- 8x9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Bobby

2009-07-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

CW's nephew Bobby is here for the summer. He's been trying to learn to play the Paul Simon song Slipsliding Away on his guitar, practicing daily on the hill behind my cabin. Over and over again I hear his off-key singing wavering on the wind. Now I can't get that damn song out of my head!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 35 -- 8x10in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

The Spine of the Webpage

2009-06-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

CW came by again to check on her email. Then she looked at my latest entry --The Beanstalk. She explained that the beanstalk is metaphorically a vertical channel for the soul's ascent from this world to the Other.

Then she scrolled down, looking at all of the entries, and went on to say that she thought my inventory was unconsciously a metaphor for the soul's journey up the beanstalk, ie "upward through the chakras". She attributed the redundancy of the imagery to "--the instinctive conservative measures of the spirit-of-the-work's progress up the spine of the webpage".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 34 -- 8x10in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

The Beanstalk

2009-06-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

I asked CW, "You mean the cars are a symbol?"

"No silly, the cars aren't a symbol, the cars are the language that carries the symbol. The symbol is the golden egg. It's an archetype, as is the goose, and the giant, and Jack, and--"

"And the beanstalk?"

"Yes, and the beanstalk."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 33 -- 8x9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Symbolic Speech

2009-06-27T08:09:00.001-07:00

"Listen, listen to what the cars say," said CW, "it's an alleggoratory."

"A what? An allegory?"

"No. An all egg oratory. The cars, in their symbolic role as golden eggs, are speaking to us.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 32 -- 6 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

The Crucial Question

2009-06-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

To break through one's shell and celebrate with song and dance, that's not so preposterous an answer to the crucial question that hangs over us.

womb womb, whooooooom --brm brm brm...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 31 -- 6 x 8in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Goose Egg or Nothing?

2009-06-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

CW is right, the cars are a unit, they're one thing... and now that one thing is talking to me! It's awesome. They, I mean --it, may be very very wise. Who knows? I'll ask a question and see what happens.

I decided to go for all or nothing. I nervously asked, "What is the Source of consciousness?"

The cars answered, "Room room, rooooom!"

I was excited. My investigations were beginning to pay off. "By room," I said, "do you mean --space?"

There was a long pause.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 30 -- 10 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Whom?

2009-06-21T17:42:00.001-07:00

Today I was musing again about how the mythopoetic merges with the onomatopoeic, when, as though reading my thoughts, the cars said,

"Vroom vroom vroom, according to whom?"

This is a breakthrough. The cars are speaking to me in English. I feel like the golden egg is cracking. Something is about to be revealed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 29 -- 9 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

What Came First, The Wiggle or The Funky Chicken ?

2009-06-19T01:21:00.000-07:00

I asked CW, "If, as you say, the cars are mythological, then what is their theme? --what's the story?"
She giggled, "Give the mythopoetic imagination some wiggle-room, Reuben --or you'll shoot the goose that shat the golden egg."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 28 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

The Community Study

2009-06-18T09:19:00.000-07:00

A log of statistics of cars, trucks, SUVs etc. This could lead somewhere. Like it could be the beginning of the data necessary for discovering a new cultural vaccine... or something.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 27 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Measured Speech

2009-06-16T09:29:00.001-07:00

Perhaps the largest obstacle towards clear communication is that the cars speak with a voice so measured by collective standards that no individual features can be discerned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 26 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Hard to Track

2009-06-13T06:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I can almost, it seems, hear the cars speak to me with words and ideas. And at other times they just say, vroom vroom vrooom. And occasionally the onomatopoeic merges and blends with the mythopoetic. It's hard to track.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 25 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Bad Mark

2009-06-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

CW came by again yesterday. She looked at some of my latest work online and concluded that the cars were a mythopoetic thought-form.

"But," I said, "they're not myth, they're real."

She turned from the monitor and silently looked over her glasses at me. I had the feeling I was getting a bad mark.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 24 -- 9 x 16in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

It Don't Stop

2009-06-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

My conversation with the cars is one sided. But it keeps going on. Sometimes there are intervals of silence, just long enough to gather my thoughts. Just long enough to form an inquiry --"Where are you going? Where is this all leading to?"

The answer is invariably the same, "vroom vroom, vrooooom."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 23 -- 10 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

On Track

2009-06-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

Do these cars hear my voice? Today I gave them a modest lecture. I said, "You'd do best to narrow your focus, to concentrate on where you're going, to avoid difficult situations, and above all --to stay on track."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 22 -- 9 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Negative Space

2009-06-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

I told them, "It's important to keep a healthy distance from one another."

Vroom, vroooom.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 21 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Be Car-full

2009-06-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

I told them, "If you're car-full, heh heh, it will save energy."

vroom vroom...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 20 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

New Strategy

2009-06-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

I've begun a new strategy, a strategy towards an end. Today I started talking to the cars. Introducing myself, etc. "Hello there, I'm from Headwrapping School. I'm here to monitor your activities and research the variables."

Vroom, vroom, vrooooom.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 19 -- 8 x 10in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Stop!

2009-06-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

This might be a good time to pause and take a more objective look at what's going on here. Intrinsically, there is no "correct way" to interpret my art, however I always find that --some interpretations are better than others. Nor is there a correct viewpoint to be inspired from it, which leaves me free from responsibility for what any one might do. (Charles Manson was inspired to commit murder by the Beatles, but the Beatles had absolutely no responsibility in that).

But anyway, that being said, Headwrapping School has noticed and wants to point out that some stop signs have recently been installed on our blog and we are not at all inclined to remove them. To view the "stop signs" go here and scroll down to the comments June 2nd 02:35PM. Thanks JRose, we like where you're coming from.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 18 -- 10 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Similar Images but No Matter

2009-06-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

We were discussing the concept of intelligent design and Hans pointed out that, "In the world view of Saami shamanism: the universe consists of similar images of itself."

He said, "That means all what is, is, one by one, a similar image of the whole, and the whole consists of similar images of itself." Which also describes quite well Headwrapping School's current project.

Hans continued, "Of course then the universe is a personality and there is no unconscious matter --hence there is no matter. With this world view, questions like what was first (chicken or egg) and assumptions of intelligent design become obsolete as they are pointless."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 17 -- 10 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Over and Over

2009-05-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

Chanting vroom vroom vroooom... and moving to the rhythm. Over and over.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 16 -- 10 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

No Smoke is Good Smoke

2009-05-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Donna wrote, love your little cars. they are electric? no smoke is good
smoke.
It's a hard question. From this distance and with the background colors as they are, it's difficult to determine if it's smog, fog, or blog.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 15 -- 9 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Gambit

2009-05-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

If one was removed there would be more room for the others to maneuver.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 14 -- 10 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Repetition

2009-05-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

Jojo made the comment, "there IS beauty in repetition.."
I find that to be true and so I would just like to repeat,
there IS beauty in repetition..
there IS beauty in repetition..
there IS beauty in repetition..
Someone else, I forget who, said, "If you repeat something enough times --people will believe it."
But that's not necessarily true. That's not necessarily true. That's not necessarily true...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 13 -- 8 x 9in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Ants

2009-05-26T02:08:00.000-07:00

Lorena said, "Ants! They're like ants. Ants, ants, ants . . . . . . . . . "

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 12 -- 9 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Trick

2009-05-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

If this keeps going on a disaster seems immanent. Unless... maybe I can trick these cars into being a story with a happy ending.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 11 -- 8 x 10in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

The Accidental

2009-05-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

Vroom, vrooooom... as they go on and on, deeper and deeper becomes their fear of and contempt for the natural, the accidental. Their enemy is the accident.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 10 -- 9 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Looks Like Shat

2009-05-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

CW looked at my most recent car painting and said, "This looks like shat."
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"It's a portmanteau. They look a little like rats and a little like sheep."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 10 -- 9 x 12in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Unity

2009-05-20T02:37:00.000-07:00

CW sure likes to talk. Last night long past midnight she went on and on and on about how I was wrong and that the silence is never broken. She said that duality was an illusion and the way of the sorcerer. She said that the good road, the shaman's way, was oneness. She said that she saw the cars as one being. She said, "They're a unit."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 8 -- 10 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Duality

2009-05-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

Things are moving forward. That's a fact. And even though there may be nothing to be gotten from this language, now that the silence has been broken, and will never be whole again --what can one say?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 7 -- 8 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Driving Plastered

2009-05-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I associate mosaics with frescoes, maybe it's the Italian connection, or maybe it's the thought of using wet cement as plaster. Wet cement makes me think of quicksand. And then its a quick jump to the La Brea tar pits --dinosaurs stuck in the muck . . .

These ruminations seem to slow the parade momentarily --bringing it to a full stop in the mind's eye.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 6 -- 9 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Mosaic Music

2009-05-16T22:45:00.001-07:00

Monica's invocation, mosaic, mosaic, conjured a vision within me. The cars could be thought of as tiles in a mosaic which covers the surface of . . . or perhaps the paintings themselves are the tiles, fitting together to form a fragment of a larger unseen design.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 5 -- 8 x 10in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Click Click Click

2009-05-16T08:04:00.000-07:00

Kym said it's like an abacus. I like that idea.
Two white cars, one black truck, a blue truck, a gray SUV...
Pop culture, click click, divided by folk art, click clack, equals the music of moving wooden beads.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 4 -- 10 x 11in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Impausable

2009-05-14T09:26:00.000-07:00

They keep going on. They never seem to pause.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 3 -- 11 x 13in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

Gucks and Gars

2009-05-12T13:54:00.000-07:00

Things were a bit hazy this morning when I returned to the fence. For a long time I stood witnessing, car car car truck, car car truck car, etc. The traffic came in waves, the vehicle's various forms and colors punctuating one another. I noticed a rhythm, a beat, a sort of visual music. A sort of visual poetry. There was a young mother with her small child in the field picking wildflowers. The child pointed at the traffic and exclaimed, "guck guck, gar gar!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 2 -- 14 x 13in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas

The Fence

2009-05-10T15:03:00.001-07:00

I had to get away from Headwrapping School for a while so I packed some lunch into my backpack and strolled out across the meadow to the woods. I walked among the trees, climbing steadily upward through manzanitas, white thorn, madrones, fir, and redwoods. Finally after a couple of hours or more of huffing and puffing I reached the top of the ridge. I sat down and rested my back against an old fir snag. A gentle breeze caressed my skin. The view was magnificent.

After a slight repast I continued down the other side. I hadn't been over here in years. Everything looked different. Had I taken a wrong turn? The trail was hidden at times under tangled vines and gnarly fallen trees. Occasionally I had to get down on my hands and knees to get through the underbrush. The ground was dark, cool, and damp. The earth smelled good. Above me sunlight bathed the top branches of the oaks highlighting a squirrel scampering here and there. I crossed a few narrow streams. A small deer stood looking at me for a spell with large soulful eyes. Butterflies darted in and out of the shadows playing hide and seek. There was a magical feeling in the air.

Then suddenly the trail came to an abrupt end. My eyes blinked adjusting to the light. Before me was a sun drenched green field, on the other side of the field, a fence and then the road. I walked across the field to the fence. I put my fingers on the wire and stood motionless, checking out the traffic.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcars 1 -- 6 x 14in. -- acrylic/ink/canvas
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Wrap It Up?

2009-05-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for inspiration, for a new vision, a new beginning, but I don't know... The other night I dreamed that I slideslipped out of the back of a head, it may have been my head, I don't know. Out we came, the gray matter and I (my dream consciousness). I felt ageless, or all ages at once. I was an infant, a teenager, a middle-ager, and myself as I am now. Someone else was present, and after a long scene that I can't remember, an authoritative voice said, "OK, that's enough. I'm going to put this shit back in the head, wrap it up, and log off."

Omega and Zeke

2009-04-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

The spirit of this glyph writing is waning. From my boss (who is me) there is no longer any affectionate word. Nothing to revive it from what has been diagnosed, perhaps incorrectly, as Omega --the end. I don't know what I'll do next. I know that if I ask the others what they think they'll tell me to lighten up, that I'm too heavy, too serious. But I can't lighten up, not if I don't know where I'm going. Not if I'm totally lost.

I guess I'll do what a visionary artist does, I'll wait for a vision. And if a vision doesn't come I'll wait longer, and if it still doesn't come, then I'll go into the world unprepared. But somehow, Headwrapping School's doors will stay open. I need to take care of this little cat who appeared on our doorstep a few weeks ago. Nothing but skin and bones and his leg's damaged from some sort of trauma. He's limping but it's getting better. And he's gaining weight. I took him in to get a rabies shot and he peed all over the vet's assistant, but she was nice about it. The vet says that he was probably hit by a car and that he's about three years old.

Wish us luck.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxZeke
x

Nothing

2009-04-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

I don't know about this art of mine. Spring is here and the birds are returning, flowers are pushing upwards and all of life and Nature is celebrating. I listened to the woodpeckers before I got out of bed this morning, to their song and their nok nok nokking. I asked myself --how do they make such marvelous music?

Later in the garden I watched some happy bees buzzing busily around the purple flowers on the borage. I said to myself, They know what they are about and they are actively pursuing it. But this art of mine... I don't know what to do. I feel like maybe it's the end of my glyph period. The end of a cycle. Or maybe just the end, I don't know, I don't know if there's another cycle. I can only say what I know --which is nothing.
x

Jed 2

2009-04-14T08:58:00.000-07:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Jed 2 --24" x 20" -- mixed media/canvas
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Jed

2009-04-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Jed --36" x 24" -- mixed media/canvas
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Ancient Writing

2009-03-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEach of these paintings is -- 8x10in -- acrylic on canvas -- $120.
x

Taking Graffiti to Another Level

2009-03-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

If You're Goin' to Kansas City...

2009-02-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

I am honored and awed having recently been informed that a painting of mine will be hanging in a a show in KC beginning next month. They show includes 66 artists, many of them 'classic outsiders'.
trumpeter image by Howard Finster

from Kelly Ludwig:
"Rare Visions, Detour Art" Exhibit at the Belger Art Center in Kansas City

"Rare Visions, Detour Art"

March 6, 2009 - May 1, 2009

Belger Arts Center

2100 Walnut Street, (one block east of Main Street)

Kansas City, MO

KANSAS CITY, MO – On March 6, 2009, the Belger Arts Center will launch “Rare Visions – Detour Art,” a tribute to outsider art curated by two Kansas Citians with extensive knowledge in the field. Curators Mike Murphy and Kelly Ludwig will bring more than 150 pieces of art to the ground floor and third floor galleries of the Belger building. The exhibit will run through May 1, 2009.

Ms. Ludwig is the author of Detour Art: Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Environments Coast to Coast. This 160-page hardback book was recently published by Kansas City Star Books. Ms. Ludwig says her obsession with outsider art has roots in her family: “I grew up with an outsider artist of sorts, my mother. Like so many of these artists who are products of the Depression-era, mom was thrifty and resourceful, and resourcefulness inevitably spawns creativity – using common objects in uncommon ways.” Ms. Ludwig is a graphic designer and holds a BFA from the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Mr. Murphy is co-host of “Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations,” a PBS television show that can be seen on stations across the United States. The show is produced by KCPT of Kansas City. Mr. Murphy, with his co-host Randy Mason and “Don the Camera Guy,” has traveled to more than 40 states over the last twelve years and filmed hundreds of artists in their homes, studios, and workshops (sometimes all at once). Mr. Murphy once said he knew the show was taking a special place in the field of folk art when he found out her appearance on RVRR was mentioned in the obituary of one of his interviewees.

Ms. Ludwig and Mr. Murphy plan to exhibit work from their personal collections, plus borrow works from artists and organizations such as The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. The Grassroots Arts Council of Lucas, KS, also will lend some of their collection for this exhibit.

The Belger Arts Center is located at 2100 Walnut Street, one block east of Main Street, in the Belger Cartage Service building. The gallery is open Wednesday through Friday from 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday from noon – 4 pm, non-holiday First Fridays from 10 am – 9 pm, and by appointment. The office for the Belger Arts Center is open Monday through Friday from 8 am – 4:30 pm. For more information please visit www.belgerartscenter.org or contact Gallery Assistant Mo Dickens at 816-474-3250, email: mdickens@belgerartscenter.org. Since March of 2000 the Belger Arts Center has hosted more than 35 exhibitions featuring a variety of media including fiber, ceramics, painting, sculpture, digital projections, and innovative design. More than 50,000 visitors have attended exhibits and other events at the Belger Arts Center.

Click on the links below to check out the artists in the show.

Midwest:
1.Robert E. Smith (b. 1927) Springfield, Missouri
2.(?)(b. 1930) Plevna, Missouri
3.Russell Easterwood(b. 1958) Kansas City, Missouri
4.Teresa Disney (b. 1965) St. Louis, Missouri
5.Kathy Ruth Neal (b. 1945) Kansas City, Missouri
6.Ralph Lanning (1916-) Republic, Missouri
7.Jesse Howard (1885-1983) Fulton, Missouri
8.Myron "M.T." Liggett (b. 1930) Mullinville, Kansas
9.Glenn Stark Kingman, Kansas
10.Ed Root (1867-1959) Wilson, Kansas
11.Inez Marshall (1907-1984) Portis, Kansas
12.Herman Divers (dates unknown) Topeka, Kansas
13.Dennis Clark Topeka, Kansas
14.John Woods (1929-) Kansas City, Kansas
15.Dan Slaughter (b. ?) MacGregor, Iowa
16.Virgil Myers (d. 2003) Wayne City, Illinois
17.John North (1925-1997) Alton, Illinois
18."Dr. Evermor" Tom Every (b. 1938) Baraboo, Wisconsin
19.Clarence and Grace Woolsey (1929-1987 & ?-1992) Lincoln, IA
South
20.“Ab the Flagman” Roger Lee Ivens (b. 1964) Morganton, Georgia
21.Butch Anthony (b. 1963) Seale, Alabama
22.Jerry W. Coker (b. 1938) Gainesville, Florida
23.Reverend Howard Finster (1916-2001) Summerville, Georgia
24.Viola “L. V.” Hull Kosciusko, Mississippi
25.Mary Proctor (b. 1960) Tallahassee, Florida
26.W. C. Rice (1930-2004) Miracle Cross Garden, Prattsville, Alabama
27.Alfred “Big Al” Taplet (b. 1932) New Orleans, Louisiana
28.Purvis Young (b. 1942) Fort Lauderdale, Florida
29.Mose Tolliver (1919-2006) Montgomery, Alabama
30.Annie Tolliver (1919-2006) Montgomery, Alabama
31.Minnie (b. 1934) and Greg Adkins (son, b. ) Isonville, Kentucky
32.Minnie Adkins (b. 1934) Isonville, Kentucky
33.Quinton “Q. J.” Stephenson (1920-1997) Garysburg, North Carolina
34.Reverend Herman Hayes (b. 1923) Hurricane, West Virginia
35.Hubert Walters (b. 1931) Troutman, North Carolina
36.J. L. Nipper (b. 1935) Beechgrove, Tennessee
37.Homer Green (1910-2002) Murfreesboro, Tennessee
38.Sam “The Dot Man” McMillan (1926-) Winston-Salem, North Carolina
39.James Harold Jennings (1930-1999) Pinnacle, North Carolina
40.Linvel (1929-2004) and Lillian Barker (1930-1997) Isonville, Kentucky
41.Jimmy Lee Sudduth (1910-2007) Fayette, Alabama
42.Sulton Rogers (1922-2003) Oxford, Mississippi
East
43.“The Baltimore Glassman” Paul Darmafall (1925-2003) Baltimore, Maryland
44.Stanley Greer (b. 1962) Columbus, Ohio
45.Levent Isik (b. 1961) Columbus, Ohio
46.Bill LaCivita (b. 1951) Cumberland, Rhode Island
47.Karl Mullen (b. 1954) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
48.Gregory Warmack (b. 1948) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
49.Melissa Polhamus (b. 1957) Virginia Beach, Virginia
Southwest
50.Mamie Deschillie (b. 1920-) Fruitland, New Mexico
51.Sam Mireles Birdhouse Yard Show, San Antonio, Texas
West
52.Ree Brown (b. 1926) Seattle, Washington
53.Gregory L. Blackstock (b. 1946) Seattle, Washington
54.Svein “Slim” Sirnes Goldfield, Nevada
55.Reuben Sorensen (1948-) Redway, California
56.Stephen Powers (1956-) Millbrae, California
57.Leroy "Lee" Almon, Sr. (1938-1997) Tallapoosa, Georgia
58.Ronald E. (b. 1932) and Jessie F. Cooper (b. 1931) Flemingsburg, Kentucky
59.W.D. Harden (b. 1964) Georgia
60.Joe Wackerman Seattle, Washington
61.Reuben "R. A." Miller (1912-2006) Gainesville, Georgia
62.S. Evets (b. 1965)
63.C.M. Laster Crofton, KY
64.Artist Unknown Unknown
65.Sulton Rogers (1922-2003) Oxford, Mississippi
66.Carl McKenzie (1905-1998) Nada, Kentucky