The Golden Gate bridge is garbage, the thinker has Chihuly on the brain, and the ticky tacky boxes along the pacific road all look just the same…

As is probably already painfully obvious to you at this point, I spent my day in San Francisco. Its incredible how cold it was considering that we are in the middle of August. I caught a really pesky cold that just won’t leave me…

Anyway, I hope you like the pictures.
More coming up soon…

You can also catch these photos on Myspace and Facebook - album 1 & album 2.

If it isn’t already obvious I had a really great time in Hot Springs and the friends I met there are already sorely missed…

I’m wondering what music to play at the opening night of Digital Zion @404B.

These are the kinds of ideas i had:
something electronically peaceful and melancholy,
something gritty,
something dark and mystical,
even darker places,
visit electronica and
maybe pick it up some,
we could visit the middle east…
there are so many options,
classical music is great too…

Whaddya think? Your suggestions are welcome : )

These past few weeks I’ve been going on about the exhibition of my political pop art that is scheduled to open next Friday (1st of August 2008) at “The gallery@404B” in Hot Springs, Arknasas. Today I’ve pretty much completed all the required preparations - The prints have all been shipped, the catalogs have been printed and bound, even the labels are already lying peacefully in my briefcase, waiting to strut their stuff on the gallery walls.

I’ve uploaded the catalog for the exhibition to Fliiby - you are welcome to check it out. Simply click on the PDF icon in the widget below and then click on the download button that appears on the bottom of the widget’s frame (to the right of the star icons. Which reminds - your ranking vote would be much appreciated).

One last thing… If you find any typos please let me know so that I can agonize over my oversight : )

In one of my earlier posts I whined and bitched about the trials and tribulations involved in staging an exhibition abroad. Luckily I have a friend who is wise and honest enough to tell me that I sounded rather lame… I agree.

“Ooooh poor me I have an exhibition at a gallery in the US, I’m so stressed, I’m so pressured, It’s so much work, it’s so complicated….”
How embarrassing to think that I actually felt this way. In a former life, when I was still an infantry captain, I would have probably assigned myself a particularly humiliating task to remind me that whining is NOT COOL.

: )

Those days are long gone but I still feel that balancing things out a little is very much in order. I thought I’d set the record straight by saying that although being an artist isn’t always the bed of roses I imagined it to be, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

Following a dream is not an easy path, nor should it be - that’s what makes it worthwhile!

Frankly I can’t believe how lucky I am to have the opportunities I’ve been afforded, or how easy it was to arrange international exhibition opportunities.
I can’t even begin to imagine how complicated life must have been in this respect before the advent of the Internet and my respect for artists who precede this miraculous invention has grown hugely as a result.

One last thing before I wrap this up - I know I’m lucky to have the opportunities afforded me and I am grateful for them, but I am far more grateful to have met the good people who afforded me these opportunities.

In this respect at least I think that not that much has changed for art and artists throughout the ages…

: )

Mike