Handmade 3/4/2023 #99

Rose B. Simpson, Sharon Madanes, R. F. Kuang, Irina Dumitrescu, Artisans Co-op, Jackson Browne/Mick Hanly, Fog Chaser, and Zoe Keating.

HERE & NOW

My work season continues through April. Yesterday I submitted a grant for the nonprofit I work for. And I registered for the Arts Habitat’s Fall 2023 Artists Studio Tours (Sept. 30/Oct. 1). I’m looking forward to a quiet summer when I can work on my writing and finish preparing art for the Open Studios event.

Earlier today, I received my Shingrex (shingles) vaccine (#1). It kind of creeps up on you. I had drafted a lengthy text for this spot in the newsletter—but now realize I am not exactly in razor-sharp editing mode this evening. Hell, I’ll probably start hallucinating any minute now.

My appreciation for art that is handmade (not AI-generated, not NFT) is increasing. That will be reflected in future issues of this newsletter.

LINKS

• Rose B. Simpson is a mixed-media artist from Santa Clara Pueblo, NM. In this video from 2019, she talks about her art background and process:

• Rose B. Simpson considers a handmade Santa Clara water jar (2022):

• Sharon Madanes paints the everyday events of working in hospitals—the mundane, horrifying, and compassionate.

• I just finished reading R. F. Kuang’s “dark academia” fantasy, Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution. The novel reminds me of everything I have ever loved (not much) and hated (plenty) about academia—but I did not expect Kuang to so thoroughly explore issues of colonial empire building, racism, and their psychological impacts. It was difficult to separate the fantasy from the reality as I read the book. The author is relentless—which is partly what made it a worthwhile read. Nobody gets off the hook here.

• Irina Dumitrescu: “Who told you to be a machine?” from her newsletter, The Process:

Who told you to be a machine?

• Artists: Got a problem with Etsy? The Artisans Cooperative was created by artists and crafters specifically in protest of and as an alternative to Etsy’s policies toward its vendors.

SOUNDINGS

• My neighbor Joe Livernois, author of Where the Bodies Are Buried, recently posted Jackson Browne singing his moving song “Before the Deluge” on YouTube. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard that. But I also like listening to covers—when they’re good ones. And this version by Irish singer/composer Mick Hanly is so very clear and beautiful:

• Fog Chaser #018, meditative lo-fi:

Meditation 018 | daydream

• Zoe Keating plays “Possible” (cello):

Thanks for reading Eulipion Outpost. I’ll be back in April with another issue. Also, I’m very grateful to those of you who have helped monetarily to support my work.

• My website: jeanvengua.com

• My ko-fi page

• My other newsletter: CommonwealthCafe