Memo

Maintenance

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Varg

The Chic’s going through a little maintenance right now so things may be a tad jacked up for a few days.

Had a bit of a server meltdown. Which explains the loss of posts. I think I lost a drink recipe…some other stuff…some comments. I am going through feed readers and gathering them back up. Comments might be lost. Maybe not. UPDATE: Got all the posts back up. Just need to fill in the links and…

Blogging 101!

Posted on November 5, 2009 by Varg

What: Blogging 101 Class: An Introduction to Blogging for the Utter Novice When: Thursday, Nov. 12; 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Where: The Bridge Lounge, 1201 Magazine St Why: To Learn About Blogging and for Free Beer. Who: Rising Tide This class will be taught by two local bloggers and will focus on blogging platforms,…

On The Radio Whoa Oh Oh

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Varg

Humble bloggers Liprap, Adrastos and I will be on Eric Asher’s WIST radio show today extolling the virtues of this weekend’s Rising Tide conference. Tune into 690 on your AM dial to hear us go on about blogging RT and whatever else comes up. Edit: We will be on the show when the the bottom…

Updates!

Posted on August 18, 2008 by Varg

Just a few updates to these two posts… Mainstream Media Vs. Scuttlebutt! I saw Ms. Donna on the levee this afternoon and asked her about the incident and she said it was at this house and the woman was not charged. According to DNN, “He beat her. He was always beating her.” Also, I have…

Messin’ ‘Round

Posted on October 1, 2007 by Varg

I’m still tinkering with this redesign so pleas bear with me as things look a little askew for the next few days. I’m working some bugs out. R.I.P. Harry Lee.

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Rejoice!

I say that a lot. I sign many pieces with it. I do this because I believe our lives are a true happenstance. A brilliant occurence from nothingness. We are so rare. We are so unlikely. And simply being born isn’t enough. From there we must survive, endure. So each morning, after our Sun departs and is reborn again. Please, for the sake of your ancestors and the Universe in general, hoist that cup of joe up and say, “Rejoice.”

Ours is a soulful existence. No matter how many McMansions, polyester fabrics, auto-tunes, modified foods and social networks we surround ourselves with, we are all still native, passionate beings made of ancient matter. We are organic and we have soul.

Wood also has a warm, soulful quality. Wood has a memory. It retains smells, traumas, events. It even has a calendar. This is why I have chosen it as my medium, for its old soul. I like to think the wood in my work is in its third incarnation. First a tree, then a home and now art. If you have a room that needs a little soul, get a piece. A room can never have enough soul.

My inspiration and subject matter comes from many sources, among them: Humanism, old ballads, trickster tales, flora and fauna, science, myths and folklore, stringed instruments, brass bands, amber spirits, lady vocalists, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of my pieces are there just to make a short, simple statement about what’s important in life. Some are more diffuse and abstract in meaning. A personal drama, an enduring line from a poem or novel, a poignant song lyric, the legacy of an important person, a fleeting thought … these are the subjects of my art.

I use hearts often because they are a very abstract way of depicting the human soul without also employing the very subjective human form. The symbolic heart is an apt representation for a person’s experience and essence. A body can immediatly conjure happiness, sorrow, youth, age, anger, bliss. These emotions can get in the way. Sometimes it’s simply about the experience.

I am the son of a sailor and a social worker, the grandson of a gypsy, a dancer and a nurse. I spent my youth moving from port city to port city, watching a lot of road go by and reading World Book Encyclopedia. After my parents settled down on the Gulf Coast, I was a miscreant youth, destroying cars and taking the wrongs things too seriously and the right things not serious enough. Eventually I began replacing my imagination with experience.

I will use any salvaged wood but prefer swamp cypress and longleaf heartwood pine.

I despise waste. Particularly the waste of organic matter. Trees are magnificent. They were here before we arrived and they’ll be around after we are gone. I’m making an effort to save as much wood as possible. Creating art is fun too. But beyond communicating with folks, but beyond making money ad providing for myself, beyond rescuing flooded parts, beyond reveling in the ethereal aroma of heartpine that hasn’t seen the light of day in 400 years, beyond all that, I am trying to make a simple comment on waste.

Category: Memo

Maintenance

Meltdown

Blogging 101!

On The Radio Whoa Oh Oh

Updates!

Messin’ ‘Round