Victorian revival

Victorian revival - Lifestyles - News & Observer

Architectural Stutter

by Léon Krier - found at gemeinschaft

see also:

Bill Amundson, "What Our New Home Thinks"

Prints by Christopher Pratt

Christopher Pratt, Winter Moon, 1987, colour serigraph on Rising Museum board, 52.9 x 101.5 cm; image: 38 x 87.5 cm
Christopher Pratt, Light Northeast, 1979, colour serigraph on illustration board, 50.6 x 50.4 cm; image: 38 x 43.7 cm

Christopher Pratt, Good Friday,1973, colour serigraph on illustration board, 66 x 72.2 cm; screen: 50.8 x 58.2 cm

New Work

here's the painting I just finished titled, "Left". Acrylic on Panel, 24x36", 2008.

for a little background on the progress of this piece, check out this post. You can also get a bit of an idea of the editing process I go through from photo to painting. This piece will be a part of the RMCAD "Paralleled III" exhibition opening September 5th.

Far Off

photo by Nathan Abels

For my few loyal readers, you may have noticed my recent interest in the "Peak Oil" problem and environmental/human habitat problems that come with it. Last Thursday I took a hike up to Loch Lomond which is outside of the town of Elizabeth, not far from Idaho Springs. We got lost trying to find the trail-head, and probably went down every dirt road in Elizabeth (which thankfully is not many). As we toured this small mountain town, we noticed that most of the town is for sale. After a while it was strange to see so many places for sale. If I had to guess I would say that approximately 75% of the properties in Elizabeth were for sale - this may be a high estimate, but it was definitely the majority of the town. I checked out the town website, which states "Many residents commute to Denver and its southern suburbs to work and shop. The Town’s future is, therefore, closely tied to the growth potentials of Colorado’s Front Range communities." With what I have read about Peak Oil, the suburban or far-off commuting town model is not sustainable without cheap fossil fuels (which are in shorter supply by the day). Then, while reading c-monster this morning, I came across this headline from the NY Times - "Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs" - and the article starts out in ...Elizabeth, Colorado of all places. Worth a read.

Bill Admundson

Bill Admundson, "What Our New Home Thinks"

Bill Admundson, "Eight Custom Family Homes"
Bill Admundson, "3 Neighborhoods"

I had a great conversation with the very funny and energetic Bill Admunson yesterday at Sliding Door Gallery. Bill is also an artist who works in what he calls the "Suburban Regionalist mode". His works have a great sense of humor, just like the artist.

Three works by Todd Keyser

Todd Keyser
Up Rooted
2006
Acrylic on Canvas
20"x20"
Todd Keyser
Glam
2006
Acrylic on Canvas
20"x20"
Todd Keyser
Corp.
2006
Acrylic on Canvas
50"x50"

James Howard Kunstler

I've noticed that lately I've been posting more about audio than painting or visual art. I suppose that is because I'm trying to finish up preparing for my show and I'm doing a lot more listening than looking right now. On last week's road trip I listened to a podcast from Humanist Network News that spoke with James Howard Kunstler about the "human habitat". He's very entertaining and informative in the interview, and I'd highly recommend listening to it:


I was especially interested in the emphasis that Kunstler made in the interview to criticize a lot of the hypocrisies or fallacies in modern environmentalist thought. In particular he notes that the current push to find new liquid fuel sources like ethanol shows the reluctance if not refusal to let go of the automobile and embrace other modes of transportation and urban planning. The description to one of his own podcasts sums this up well saying, "The problem in America is not that we're driving the wrong kind of cars, per se.The trouble in the United States is we're driving incessantly. We're driving every kind of car there is, incessantly. And we've got to find a way out of the incessant motoring and a way to live without it, and a happy way to live without it—not a punishment way to live without it, but a way to be happy and do it. And it means, really, a completely different paradigm for everyday life."

His book, The Geography of Nowhere is also highly recommended:


He's recently started his own weekly podcast called the Kunstlerkast - which you can find here.

Aerial Geometry

Great post on Circular Communities - lots of interesting aerial views at Deputy Dog. Check it out.

Here's my contribution:

New Job, New Photos

I started a new job today that is right up my alley doing aerial photography at Rocky Mountain Aerial Surveys. Here's a few suburban snapshots I took this afternoon.