1/22/2022 #49
January's pit, February's tiger, art events, hallucinogens, art, glass pens, Sarah Campbell, Irritable Métis, Mai Ryuno, Louise Stigell, SomaFM, myNoise.net, Kenton Chen.
UPDATES
Well, it’s January 22nd, and so far, here on the central coast, we’ve had a tsunami and now (as of last night) a 1500-acre wildfire. In Chinatown, the neighborhood I work in, six unhoused persons have died since late December. I was going to begin this issue on a more upbeat note, but there you go. Or rather, there goes the beginning of this year. However, another new year—the Lunar New Year—will start in a couple weeks. So, Tiger Spirit of 2022, I know you need to ROAR while coming through the gate; but I’m hoping by the end of the year you’ll be purring.
I’ll try stepping away from the pit. Artist and writer Austin Kleon tries to keep calm and make ugly art, and I think it’s a good idea.
And here’s some better news: Art exhibits! Poetry readings!
January 27–April 23rd, 2022: Courage Within, Women Without Shelter, an art exhibit featuring Dora Lisa Rosenbaum, Denese Sanders, Amanda Salm, and Melissa Smedley. The goal of this partnership and the impetus behind the exhibition is to help make visible the lives of women who courageously face unspeakable challenges every day. Monterey Museum of Art.
Friday, February 11th from 6:00-7:30: In conjunction with “Courage Within,” there will be a poetry reading and open mic at Captain + Stoker, 398 E. Franklin St., Monterey, featuring artist/writers Terese Garcia, Jean Vengua, Melissa Smedley (aka Art Ranger), and Linda Lay. You can register for the open mic through MMA.
Fri, Feb 18, 6:00 PM-8:00 PM: “Sustaining: our world, our community, ourselves”: I’ll have work in this art show featuring local artists, a collaboration with the Emerging Artists Alliance of Monterey. Join us as we celebrate the creativity of our local community, and they engage with the subject of sustainability. At The Pearl Works, 288 Pearl St., Monterey. Vaccination and registration required.
ART
I was going to write about Tachism, Henri Michaux, et al., psychedelics, and art this evening, but it required significant research, and work, lack of sleep, and a few other things got in the way. Instead, here’s a related overview of a period in my life I don’t’ usually talk about much:
In my late teens and early 20s I was ingesting hallucinogens about twice a month over a year and a half; this happened among friends that I trusted, with my then husband (R.I.P.), and on rare occasions by myself. This was in the late 1960s/early 1970s, and the stuff was easy to procure; it was everywhere. These were not “microdoses,” but they were not full doses, either (well, most of the time). Early on, I developed a good sense of what I could handle, and adjusted dosing accordingly. Over time, I think I became fairly adept at navigating those fluctuating mental environments, and I enjoyed exploring that “space.”
One day, however, I realized that these substances were taking a toll, leaving me mentally and physically exhausted (I had developed peripheral neuropathy in my feet from a vitamin B deficiency, and probably from the seemingly endless walks my friends and I would embark on during those psychedelic nights. I never realized how exhausting they were until the drug wore off, and it would take me at least a full day or two to recover).
One day I decided the experience was no longer worthwhile and quit. For a couple years after, I would have mild, even pleasant flashbacks, along with “psychedelic” dreams, all of which slowly dissipated and eventually ended altogether. I never took it up again, although I was hooked enough on the mental, psychological, and spiritual “exploration” aspect of the experience that I looked for something to replace it, which, after a few detours, ended up being zen meditation.
I realize I’m very lucky that nothing worse happened during my psychedelic years; such mental experimentation has led other people to psychosis and even death. All it takes is a bad batch, an encounter with the wrong people, an accident and/or overdose for things to go sideways. See, for example, “Five questions for Kristin Nash” (from the Microdose).
As the years have gone by, I’ve come to think of this period as youthful experimentation, a thing of my past, which I don’t often discuss. But lately, and especially after learning about the artists and writers involved in Tachism, I’m starting to wonder just how much of my approach to making art—my interest in chance procedures, in flux, dissolution, and reintegration, for example—has been influenced by psychedelics.
GLASS DIP PEN
I purchased a Molshine glass dip pen (made in China) off Amazon.com. I initially wanted another, slightly more expensive pen, but there seemed to have been a run on glass pens, or perhaps they were all hung up in shipping; the only one available to order was the Molshine.
I didn’t expect much from this—let’s face it—cheap pen, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I loved using it! The ink flowed well off the extra-fine tip and it retained the ink for far longer than I expected. Although the tip point was stiff, the line was still slightly more expressive than the uniform lines I get from my workhorse Precise V5s. I could imagine using this glass pen for a lot of linework, sketching, writing, whatever. Plus, it’s beautiful to look it and easy to grip.
And then, this evening, the tip broke off.
I really don’t think I was pressing very hard. But I learned that you have to be extra careful with those tips. I may be able to sand it down with some fine sandpaper. I’ll try that. But, nevertheless, the experience of using a glass pen was so positive, I know I’ll get another one (maybe not this brand, though).
LINKS
Sarah Campbell’s newsletter, Tiny Revolutions, introduced me to Draft Crony, a free application that asks you questions and helps you clarify and create an outline of your idea for a book or essay. This app feels like it’s still in beta mode, but it did help me visualize my book project more clearly. Campbell writes about “practices and attitudes that can make us not just happier, but stronger, more resilient, and more self-actualized.”
All Our Relatives, from An Irritable Métis: A reminder that we are all wild things if we remember to be, and if we remember our animal relatives and our shared habitat.
Local artist Mai Ryuno’s response to the tsunami warning (see 1/15/2022) after the volcano eruption near Tonga—a reminder that we are all connected:
How painting helped Louise recover from burnout. A self-described “introvert,” nature artist Louise Stigell has a YouTube channel, Art by Louise, on art-making processes. I like her quiet, but personable, approach.
SOUNDINGS
Two websites featuring an array of ambient and not-so-ambient music, great for accompanying you on your artist or psychedelic journeys:
SomaFM: (these folks are located in San Francisco’s SOMA district).
MyNoise.net (Note: use the basic collection for free, but for a small one-time fee, you can access a huge collection of sounds).
“Closer” Retro-50s Prom Style Chainsmokers, featuring Kenton Chen:
Until next week (don’t fall into the pit) . . .
BTS member dancing to Kenton Chen & Postmodern Jukebox's "Closer": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUukeB0fg1Q