Painting by Erik Kaye

“Red on Green People,” abstract watercolor by Erik Kaye, copyright 2009

Fragment by Evelyn So

“The kitchen fills with a sweet
aroma while he beats potatoes and onions,
seasons the pan where skins brown

and loosen.  I almost
taste the crisp jackets, onions
smooth as butter.  We munch

on carrots and celery from the bowl
full of lettuce, olives,
sliced cucumbers, peppers more

waxed and yellow than my smooth,
golden face.  So many
vegetables, so fresh, and it’s

winter!  This is California…”

Opening lines from Evelyn A. So’s poem “Gold Mountain Revisited,” published in Caesura’s  Spring 2009 issue on the cultural aspects of food…

The Pilot Light

The Pilot Light by Tim Larsen, copyright 2009, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches:
A basement room in the dark, with a cascading light issuing from the stairs, contains a flying flaming torch. A genre of painting that presents rooms and interiors showing extraordinary happenings. Within the bleakness here there exists hope and illumination, a flame to light the way through our subconscious maze….

Thursday Gig: Sept. 17, 2009

THURSDAY GIG’S
Art & The Spoken Word
presents

Artist: Tim Larsen
Poet: Evelyn A. So
Open Mic follows

Thursday, September 17, 2009
6:30 – 9:30 pm
STONE GRIFFIN GALLERY
411 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell

This is a Pot Luck BYOB, Soft Drinks, Water event
Donations of $1 would be appreciated
If you can’t bring food or donate, come anyway : )
Please look at directions below

FEATURED ARTIST: Tim Larsen
Tim gets up at 3:00 A.M. every weekday morning, working as a package handler for UPS part time. If you ever wondered how the packages get in the trucks, that’s how it happens. At other times he has done work as a picture framer, web designer, and freelance comic book artist.

Tim paints in a slightly surreal style that is rooted on old world myth and magic. His imagery contains a certain degree of light, space, playfulness and soft statement. His compositions are a bit theatrical, like the setting of a stage at the moment where something is about to happen.

FEATURED POET: Evelyn A. So
Evelyn is a native of New  Jersey.  Her poetry and nonfiction appear in Reed Magazine and Caesura, the anthology Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, and other publications.  She has been invited to read at Poetry First!, the First Annual Legacy of Poetry Day at SJSU, Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” and Four Minutes of Mayhem.  She has been a featured reader at Thursday Gig and The Overpass Gallery, and on the cable T.V. show “Live Poets Society” with Robin Somers.  Evelyn is a M.F.A. student in creative writing at SJSU and was a finalist for the Edwin Markham Poetry Prize.  She previously earned a M.S. in library and information science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  She teaches poetry at Saratoga High School.

Directions: New Location
Stone Griffin Gallery, 411 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell

Going South on Hwy 1, take Camden Ave. exit.Turn left at Bascom Ave.
Go north until you see Campbell Ave. where the Pruneyard Shopping Center is.
Campbell Ave. is between Camden Ave. and Hamilton Ave. Turn towards sunset.

You will go under Hwy 17 overpass -  go until you see railroad tracks where there will be a traffic light. You will see a road forking off to the right called Civic Center Dr. – don’t take it – keep going straight. Drive over the railroad tracks and look to your right. The gallery is 2 doors up from the tracks. Parking lot is between the tracks and the buildings or on the street.

Contact Info: Elizabeth Parashis
408/410-2313
artpages@earthlink.net
artpagesonline.com

The Environmental Clock & Destiny

An Editorial on the Current State of Affairs, by Bea Garth, copyright 2009

Here it is right after September 11–eight years since the attack on the  twin towers in NYC. It is good to see that some people are using this as a time to heal, plant gardens and respect  the dead. I agree, all this needs to be done, should be done.

However I believe what really needs healing is  our hearts and our focus as a country. We need to put aside vengeance.  It serves no one except for those who would pervert and use the driving spirit of our country for their own gain. Instead real issues like global warming and encouraging a real economy should be addressed–instead of being sidelined as they are now once again (wow kids, we will eliminate 19% of new vehicle gas emissions by 2020!!).

The World Environmental Clock is ticking. Will humanity step up and deal with our mistakes before calamity strikes–or will it take a good whipping by Mother Nature to put us  back in line? (Methinks the latter is in the offing somehow…). Even a current Newsweek editorial suggests that capitalism is caught in the narrow pursuit of money and thus cannot resolve the global warming issue.  Instead of using governmental resources to deal with climate change or focusing on creating a more responsibly run economy (rather than just propping up the banks that got us into this mess to begin with) — our government has chosen to use its  increasingly limited resources to get re-involved in  Afghanistan — that small rugged country the U.S. bombed back into even further primitivity eight years ago.

It certainly didn’t win America any friends to then shoot the war over to Iraq, while the war in Afghanistan continued to smolder. Going back to hit Afghanistan hard again hardly addresses the issue of the need to stimulate real jobs and investments that are actually of constructive use. For instance we could be using that money to correct many of our environmental woes, not to speak of giving Middle America the loans it needs to get their businesses and jobs to stay afloat. But no, the old tried and true formula is brought out again like the old tired floozie it is.  Is anyone really interested in pursuing war in Afghanistan again except the military industrial complex?

From bad to worse to bad again — while meanwhile the American government (with Bush and now Obama) seems incapable of actually dealing with the real issues: rampant, unadulterated greed wreaking our economy — now bolstered up by a whole lot of manufactured paper money which then is likely to pull the plug hole on the dollar; and of course the state of the world climate and ecology  going down another hole. Which undertow will be worse? Is anyone taking any bets?

This reminds me of the  books by Huxley and Orwell: Brave New World and the infamous 1984.   Like Brave New World, everyone seems plugged in to their pleasure devices–now called  I-pods and infinite DVD selections while  so many Americans have fastidiously forgotten how to live their own lives — or, as in 1984, we let our collective anger at our increasingly limited economic and intellectual options as a people be diverted by yet another war.

While meanwhile on the Hill, America’s  “fearless” (new) “leader” is taking us on another diversionary nose dive. With what you might ask? Of course. How could anyone miss it? The whole Universal Health Care Coverage issue is being prepared to not only preserve but to bolster the interests of the Insurance Companies.  Wow, how impressive! The poor insurance companies really need help since so many people now “don’t bother” to get health insurance given how expensive it is–as if most have a choice! Now, if all goes according to plan, Americans will have to get Health Insurance whether they can afford it or not. Say, how does that work? (Not to mention that the whole issue of  Prevention being entirely avoided…) And what was that bit about  health care being too expensive due to the excesses of the insurance companies in cahoots with the big corporate hospitals and pharmaceuticals?

I hear even Mexico has a better universal health care system than what is being pushed onto us by Mr. Obama and co.  I sincerely doubt Mr. Obama is ever going to get real. Honestly to me it seems like  it is at least a semi-tragedy since so many people put their hopes and dreams on the line for him.  All I can say is that both the New Age and the Left better wake up and realize they have to take care of business for themselves since “Our Hero” isn’t likely to change his spots anytime soon…

Like Clinton, Obama  calls himself a New Democrat, folks!! Apart from his inspiring rhetoric and charmingly elegant demeanor, Obama’s actions  broadcast that while he may seem to talk Left he acts Right. Bottom line, he seems unwilling to go to battle against the Right in almost every issue that has come up thus far, including his beloved Universal Health Care Plan. He is all too quick to compromise the guts out of it. It is clear that with that attitude there will be no single payer system for health insurance in America under the Obama administration. Instead it will be Universal Insurance For The Insurance Companies!!–at a time when the U.S. economy can least afford it.

Give it another two or three years and the people of this country will come face to face with the reality that the American dollar won’t be worth using for toilet paper. There is only so much puffing up that can be done before a spark makes it explode! Ditto with the karmic “appreciation” of other countries for their demonization and maltreatment at the hands of  Uncle Sam.

Americans seem like a herd of buffalo headed for a cliff. Once over, let’s hope enough of the herd survives to make a few positive, grounded changes wherein the old ways of greed and ignorant egotism will no longer do.  It is my strong belief that Americans and all World Citizens need to embrace the earth and  their humanity while at the same time honoring their individuality and the fruits of their ingenuity and labor. How difficult is that? We either change or become extinct like the Wild Ox!

Meanwhile, all I can say is, keep up all the good work Obama and co.!! The Bushies are no doubt chortling on the sidelines while America thunders towards its Destiny!

Awakening

Am awakening to myself
perhaps for the first  time;
like a small child
I get stronger
with  each passing day
while I morn
what I missed
my life blossoms:
what sort of deal
is this
to be old
with all those  scars
still there
like so many fish hooks
and bait wire
twisting together the gashes
but risen somehow
sewing the skin whole
breathing air
no longer submerged
knowing finally how to cross
the water/air barrier,
knowing there is much
more to do,
and actually
amazingly
having the energy
to do it.

by Bea Garth, copyright 2009

Swirly Notebook People

by Erik Kaye

copyright 2008/2009

watercolor on paper

Note: Erik is a fellow traveler living in Chigasaki, Japan with his wife Corinne Sutter-Kaye where they teach English. His expertise as a painter and wilingness to delve into humor and the black night of the soul as well as the heights of elegance and nuanced feeling continue to amaze me.

Green Horse

by Elizabeth Parashis

copyright 2009

acrylic on paper

Elizabeth Parashis will be the featured artist along with Loie Johnson, featured poet, Thursday August 20th at the Stone Griffin Gallery, 411 E. Campbell Ave., for Thursday Gig. For more info and pix (plus poem) see below.

Thursday Gig Aug. 20: Parashis & Johnson

THURSDAY GIG’S
Art & The Spoken Word
presents

Artist: Elizabeth Parashis
Poet: Loie Johnson
Open Mic follows

Thursday, August 20, 2009
6:30 – 9:30 pm

STONE GRIFFIN GALLERY
411 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell
Please look at directions below

This is a Pot Luck BYOB, Soft Drinks, Water event
Donations of $1 would be appreciated

If you can’t bring food or donate, come anyway : )

“Blue Horse” by Elizabeth Parashis, copyright 2009

FEATURED ARTIST: Elizabeth Parashis

Elizabeth Parashis, co-organizer for Thursday Gig,  is one of the SF South Bay Area’s finest painters known for her colorful and expressive figurative works of people and animals.

The horse
Our imaginings
Beautiful and powerful

FEATURED POET: Loie Johnson
I started drawing and writing when I was a very young child.  Poetry and Art were dual interests and I was very serious about them.  I received a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Art from San Jose State. I did Performance Art which included my poetry with a group of women called Lilith, and we did group gallery shows as The Six Senses.  My poetry has appeared in numerous group chapbooks and anthologies, and some poems were published internationally in “Voices Israel“. One of my fondest memories is being the Featured Poet at the “Old” Kepler’s in Menlo Park. Eventually I moved into a studio apartment in Palo Alto with my 50 pound basset hound.  This “space” made art creation difficult, so I gave all my creative energy to poetry, between working full time.

Yes, YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN !  When I return to visit galleries and museums, and participate in my beloved Poetry Groups, I am truly “at home”.  Special appreciation to Mary-Marcia Casoly for her encouragement regarding Waverly Writers, and special appreciation to Steve Arntson for his encouragement, mentoring, and practical help driving to The Gig.

The Woman Who Painted Bathtubs

The bathtub was her canvas, her marquee.
After her husband left for work,
and the children went to school,
after her chores and errands,
she went upstairs.
She got out her poster paints for
the wide rim of the tub,
her palette.
She mixed her colors on the porcelain;
laid out the brushes.
Her favorite was 3″ wide.
She worked on her painting for a long while.
Satisfied, she turned on the faucets.
She washed it down the drain.
Then came another painting;  rinsed away;
and another;  rinsed again.
Finally she did her last painting for the day.
It was the interior of some huge seashell,
all mauve, peach, ecru, rose,
laced with huge brushstrokes of turquoise,
paler aqua, darks and brights of blue,
the white of the tub left in certain places
to become erupting foam spotted with buttercup cream.

Then she undressed,
entered the tub
and sank into her shell.
Spaces later,  pauses in color,  seconds in texture,
she stood up
her thighs, buttocks, back, and shoulders
caressed in mauve, peach, ecru, rose, aquas, blues, creams.
The interior of the shell
turned inside out
on her canvas,
her welcome body.

Loie Johnson, copyright 2009

Directions to Thursday Gig: New Location
411 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell

Going South on Hwy 17 take Camden Ave. exit.Turn left at Bascom Ave.
Go north until you see Campbell Ave. where the Pruneyard Shopping Center is. Campbell Ave. is between Camden Ave. and Hamilton Ave. Turn towards sunset.

You will go under Hwy 17 overpass -  go until you see railroad tracks where there will be a traffic light. You will see a road forking off to the right called Civic Center Dr. – don’t take it – keep going straight. Drive over the railroad tracks and look to your right. The gallery is 2 doors up from the tracks.
Parking lot is between the tracks and the buildings or on the street.

Contact Info: Elizabeth Parashis
408/410-2313
artpages@earthlink.net
artpagesonline.com

Wild Ox

by Bea Garth, copyright 2009

gouache painting