Chris

  • Activist + Artist = Artivist

    Artists make things and make things happen. Activists stir the public pot and ignite social change. They agitate, demonstrate, boycott and protest. Artivists react and respond to current and historical events through acts of creation and have been doing so for a long, long time. See for yourself! A People’s Art History of the United… Continue reading

  • The Artist in Fiction or Creating Your Own Story

    Sometimes it is hard to separate the two, don’t you think? I mean the hard-baked idea of what an artist is or is not. The journey of an artist becoming an artist may be singular, but it is accompanied by a lot of noise! Do you chart your own path or are you casting about… Continue reading

  • You Can Judge a Book by Its Cover!

    By blind jury, fifty iconic books were selected for inclusion into the OPEN●SET exhibition now on view at the Central Library until October 28. This exhibit showcases finely crafted bookbinding. Unlike mass produced books, these handbound books will last for centuries! The title of the show is a clue to the kinds of covers that… Continue reading

  • What’s Your Type? The Art and Design of Text

    How can something so ordinary, so pedestrian and mundane be, at the same time, singular and iconic? Do you look at letters or are they just a means to an end? By ear and eye, we take them in–bite-sized, building block bold, every shape, look and length to behold. Text talks, draws us in, is… Continue reading

  • Eyes on Art: Art Exhibitions

    Take your own sweet time. Peruse. Investigate. Gaze, fully and deeply. There is no substitute for an unfiltered viewing of a work of art. The encounter between the viewer and the object is personal and unmatched. Does it grab your attention? Are you compelled to look and not, merely, glance? Excited, indifferent, pleased or repulsed… Continue reading

  •  Languages of Land: Poems of Immigration and Exile

    Unaccompanied, you ventured into The Flayed City to find what? More Nomadologies, more Notes on the Assemblage and 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border. Before the Afterland, there was that City of Rivers flowing beneath a Night Sky with Exit Wounds.  It was The Other Side of Paradise and, yes, the air tasted of… Continue reading

  • Here’s Looking at You!: Documentary Films about Artists

    An artist’s life can be as compelling as the work they produce. A documentary, at best, strives to render a portrait of the artist as honestly as possible. This, of course, is as close as any of us will get to being in the same room with a person whose life and work draws us… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Poetry

    Bingo is a game of chance. Take a chance on poetry. Reading a poem, for some, is akin to entering a country where everybody speaks a language, except the one you know. Poetry can be daunting.  It can, also, be a journey unlike any other.  Take, Josephine Yu’s Prayer Book of the Anxious, for instance.… Continue reading

  • Interview with an Artist: Ways of Working

    Have you ever wondered why the end product of an artistic endeavor is called a work of art or an artwork and not art play? Has anyone asked, “When are you going to get a real job?” Are you working in a real job, yet wonder when you’ll get enough money, time and the space… Continue reading

  •  Getting Down to Business: The Working Artist

    It counts! Effort given to artistic endeavors count. Long term benefits are derived from sustained focus, investment of time and the development of one’s craft. Allowing yourself time to grow and broaden your reach into work that no one else, but you, can do pays off in the long run. Compensation for your efforts can… Continue reading

  • Handling the Material: Art Techniques, Guides and Processes

    In the blink of an eye rubber hits a road, a hand hits the mat, grabs hold of brush or pen as the wrist turns into a twist. Arms do the heavy lifting, the torso pivots. If this were the theater (and it is) the director would shout, “Action!” The whole body is engaged. This… Continue reading

  • Working the Room: Making Space to Create

    A place to think, to spread out, to collect one’s thoughts and work through ideas.  An environment where inspirations are realized, this is necessary to the creative process.  It can be a dining table doing double duty, the corner of a room, space in an attic or basement, but make space.  However you have to… Continue reading

  • Points of Departure: Understanding Human Migration

    Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series portrays conditions that precipitated the exodus of African Americans out of the south as well as the complexities encountered by the migrants upon their arrival and settlement in the northern states. Alejandro Santiago, also, sought to portray a historic event; one which we can witness today. 2,501 Migrants: A Journey consists… Continue reading

  • Begin Bold, End Inspired: Ideas and Inspiration for the Artistically Inclined

    Break open this beginning like the seed that it is! A New Year’s cold, hard exterior is full of all the necessary nutrients to carry you through to a nourishing end. Why not begin by cracking open a book, eyeing a DVD, lending your ear to a CD or eBook, anything to propel you towards… Continue reading

  • Have you heard of the #LemonadeSyllabus?

    When Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade was released this past April, it became an internet sensation. But did you hear about the resource, titled the Lemonade Syllabus, which was inspired by it? After many people across the world watched Beyoncé’s visual album, writer and educator Candice Benbow wanted to find a way to continue the conversation… Continue reading

  • Seattle Rep’s KING CHARLES III: Beyond the Theatre

    Seattle Repertory Theatre presents KING CHARLES III by Mike Bartlett from November 11 to December 11, 2016. Librarians at Seattle Public Library created this list of books and DVDs to enhance your experience of the show: Seattle Rep’s KING CHARLES III: Beyond the Theatre Singular in his distinction of being a king-in-waiting, the Prince of… Continue reading

  • Thrift Shopping: Save Money by Finding Recycled Treasures

    Shopping can be tough when you’re living on a budget – but thrift shopping is a great way to get what you need at a discount. Not only is it affordable, but you can also find some unique, quality items that you wouldn’t find in a regular store. Here are some great items to look… Continue reading

  • Driving with my Favorite Celebrities: Audiobook Memoirs Read by the Author

    I’m obsessed. Listening to audiobook memoirs during my daily commute, my favorites are read by the authors themselves. It makes the ride more enjoyable, and there is something special about listening to a person read aloud their own memoir. It feels like they’re sitting right there, sharing their story with me and me alone. Here… Continue reading