Freely Improvising

Mar 30, 2026

ART

Something old, something new:

More recently, here’s a drawing of a cat from my Daily Drawing Cycle:

RABBIT HOLE

Freely Improvising: In 1990-1992, I was managing a poetry reading series at London Nelson Community Center in Santa Cruz. In the course of that series, I met two people who completely changed my perspective on writing and performing poetry: my friend Sybl Glebow (who had been a performance artist in San Francisco under the name Sybl ChickenMint), and poet/multimedia artist Chris Funkhouser. Chris had been exploring alternative methods of producing poetry publications. I soon found myself performing and recording poetry (as Jean Gier) with Sybl in Chris’s backyard under a single incandescent light bulb— sometimes to the sound of Sybl’s harmonica and various kitchen implements. See 54:06 “Skyland” in the video below. We Magazine #18: © 1993 the authors and We Press1:
For We Magazine #14, Sybl and I described our process: “Talking together, we are placing and moving language the way freely improvising jazz players place and move musical lines.”
See also We Magazine Digital Archive at the PennSound Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing.
I had a chance to see Monterey artist Zoya Scholis presenting and discussing one of her beautiful mixed media paintings today. Her work contemplates nature and people—often women—in domestic scenes. She also teaches art courses and uses games, movement, and music to enhance learning and creativity:

Anthony Scaramucci interviews James Daunt, CEO of Barnes & Noble, its revitalization and “Strategy to Defeat Amazon.com”:

Walton Ford’s large-scale watercolors satirize the history of colonialism and its effects upon wildlife. His work is beautiful, surreal, and disturbing:

SOUNDINGS

I recently received a copy of composer/songwriter Earl Vickers’ new EP, The Earl Vickers Experience. I enjoy his often tongue-in-cheek, funny, yet surprisingly sweet, compositions and vocals. Check out “Nocturne,” a lullaby (based on Chopin’s Nocturne in E-flat major) arranged by Earl Vickers, vocals by Lynsey:
“Vickers’ “Everyone’s Prayer” (also on YouTube) is a very timely Metta prayer for a world in crisis.
The Divine Ms. Bette Midler sings an old timey American folksong by Woody Guthrie:
Drummer and musicologist Salin explores Isaan roots and Morlam music and its indigenous instruments (I liked the rubberband jug bass):

Eulipion Outpost