snow shoeing

the old wooden snowshoes allow a natural gate.... 

because they were not designed with manufacturing 

and profit as priorities

the maples continue to relinquish maple keys at measured interval for mice, squirrels, chickadees and rabbits   

it's not just the wind that triggers release, as i had suspected. 

the lane was covered again after the -25ºc february full moon dead calm cold snap

if we humans got our heads out of our asses ("smart" phones) we might see just how intelligent and interconnected the rest of the biosphere is.

i've lived here in the woods for over 30 years and this seems like the most relentless winter and this is the first time the maples have metered the release of their keys

i listened with interest to Mavis Gallant for insight when asked about loneliness- the solution,

exile to a place of respect for writers.

while the intervening decades have improved the lot for writers and musicians in canada

the same can't be said for the  visual arts.Tom Wolf's "the painted word" describes the particular as

Orwell's 1984 describes the broad view.

even the threat that "beauty will save the world" has been thoroughly countered... 

the word "beauty'' has been banned from the state sanctioned art world

and the natural world has been re-prioritized from a source wonder beauty to  

resources for extraction

it's as if there is an internationally coordinated effort to make the earth uninhabitable but

that would require cooperation.... so the engine of destruction must be as simple and limitless

 as human greed and envy 

st patricks

sunny monday and -10ºc

and the cutting of a few trees 

before the sap runs up

to turn buds to leaves

falling through the crust 

passed my knees

sweat soaked 

the rim of my barrette

and it ran across across 

my sun glasses

as I encountered 

the resistance of Beach

to the ten pound maul

all and all 

a most satisfying start

to the most pleasant

of drudgeries

day two in shirt sleeves

i cut more and started to split

Maples and Beach

along the snow-shoed path

within easy reach

and the crows were there 

to see a flock of wild turkeys

emerge from their winter digs

and cross the lane from the 

white pine wind break

heading towards the 

hilltop look out

they seem to use

machine noise

to cover their tracks

and the next day 

it rained

new truth

new Truth 

truth to power

and free advice are 

a threat to 

they

who perch precariously at the top

so,

we are perpetually unwelcome

but still,

not only do we have to 

solve the problems that

     they deny exist

we have to come up with the solutions 

that enhance their bottom line 

and we have to trick them into doing it

and

we have find the money to fund the project and

we have to allow them to take credit for the innovation 

and we have to 

allow them to take,

not only the monetary reward

but the fame

no problem,

it's a cultural reality

same as it ever was

cultural anthropology 101

as soon as we poke our noses through the fence

into their particular "make believe"

all is reviled

all the cliches

and some new truths 

intending to obscure 

the sunlight 

with compromises

financial, political

religious and tribal

and at what cost

this 

"not wanting to rock the boat"

even if we know 

the ship is heading

full speed 

into icebergs at night

we look at the odds

we hope 

and go back to the 

smart phone 

pacifier

truth is

whatever you can get away with

or 

in this particular democracy 

truth is

whatever you can afford 

but if

everything in the world 

has a soul 

is it possible that

we help ourselves 

from destroying it all?

and

if time is money  

why do rich people die?

and if

there's no such thing 

as time,

what is money?

and after

having been 

"voted off their internet"

 and "disappeared" from facebook 

with friends too numerous 

to mention

i just came in from snowshoeing

amongst the trails

other woodland creatures

March 8-14

this,

"not wanting to be a burden on society" 

is usually seen as a noble gesture

whereas

wanting to die is a bit of a problem 

... having one less," vulnerable consumer " 

to rip off

may cut into some entrepreneur's bottom line.

a lifetime of such critical observations  

leads to a pessimistic outlook for humanity 

and our biosphere

and since

wanting to "opt out" seems to be a logical position

even in canada, 

one of the best places in the world

and yes , 

compassion for those 

"nature lovers" 

who work tirelessly toward sanity

but

the orchestration of one's suicide, 

particularly to a dreamer

opens paths 

such as

Stripping the gelcoat 

off a thirty foot hull

tracing the stream lines

an inch at a time

eyes, ears, hands and lungs

protected

from the shards of glass

and polyester dust from

a screaming carbide cutter

at router speeds

reminds me 

that the

safe comfortable ocean going vessels

were derived from careful observation of 

aquatic life and the power of

the ocean 

so 

in the post apocalyptic times  

survivors will recover 

the abandoned yachts  with 

workboat heritage.... 

recognized for their beauty 

in the context of the natural world

when

after the starving hipster/geeks 

with their 

indifference to 

the balance of natural world

have 

slaughtered the organic farmers and

stolen their food reserves and 

eaten their children, 

they do come to recognize 

that they were ultimately blame.

in painting

we explore space/ time and gravity-

in pursuit of the unexplained

Time is replaced with 

a most compelling tendency 

toward illusionary space,

Through the critical observation of 

a wide range of natural diversity

we may come to 

an intuitive  glimpse of

the interconnection

but 

when human effort is "compartmentalized", 

a conditioning of industrialization

human potential becomes disintegrated

"simply" put

the family farm requires

a knowledge of the interconnected cycles of nature with

all living beings- from the microscopic to livestock

It's another case of "progress" marching on 

and the victors writing the history

the migration from the farm 

to the industries 

is not that easy to reverse

Whatever population is 

driven from the land

their worth is denied so

Abandon the search for general relativity-

the common thread that ties 

all the disparate truths together

what's that got to do with progress ?

or makin' a buck?

and

common sense

is relegated to the past 

with the stupid farmers  

commoners 

and "specialization "

gets all polished up 

so here we are

dazzled and infantalized

and squalling with 

self righteous indignation

like  two-year-olds

in cubicles with

dirty diapers

if humanity hopes to reach adulthood 

we are  going to have to start

cleaning up after ourselves

distance march 9 2014

gaining a different perspective on what you are making is

essential to an evaluation of one's work  i.e.

one can;

put it away for a while

look at it upside down, 

from a distance

in a mirror, 

in a black mirror

and, 

when people with the capacity 

of critical observation

will share with you 

what they see -

(which should be 

the grad school experience)

at some point you decide not to

look for second opinions before you 

hang it up as significant  

so your perspective 

stands alone

although we should always remain students, 

being enrolled in formal eduction 

should be acknowledged

when the work is a student assignment

and  teacher's perspective are represented

it may be considered a collaboration

but should be identified as student work

of course 

the art world is a hotbed of 

corruption and political manipulation so

where you place yourself on the continuum

of truth being "what ever one can get away with"

is an expression of where you will compromise

and casts a shadow. 

The shadow needs not fall across your painting

imagine

imagine #3

that you grew up with parents

"back to the landing" in the 50's 

before the term was coined

with old buildings to play in 

with a pond for skating and

to sail a small boat in, and

you sailed before 

you rode a bike

imagine you drew things as a kid

birds, boats, cars

imagine you were introduced to

abstract painting in toronto in the seventies 

when 

something was going on  

imagine in high school

making abstract paintings and 

racing motocross 

imagine subjecting yourself to the 

history of art 

in tandem with 

the traditional 

the method and materials 

of drawing, painting and

what has been renamed 

"formal sculpture"

so you are triangulating 

from a known position

theoretical trajectories 

from two different 

points of departure

imagine seeing 

Mont Saint Victoire 

on a windy summer afternoon 

from the seat of your bicycle 

en route north

from quatocento Sienna 

Florence and Pizza into

the simultaneity of centuries 

of Northern principalities

imagine the scent of roadside wild flowers 

in the warm breeze

and their intermingling 

through wine and cuisine

if " beauty will save the world"

we may have to revise 

the word "beauty" 

  to include 

the preservation of 

the natural world

with humanity in 

a side car because 

we have been busted for 

"distracted driving"

describing our emotions

will be required in order 

to save this world

now that truth has a price

but, might we not start with 

descriptions  ?

 I stepped out with the camera

 into an afternoon snow blown 

into

a rising hillside of waves

frozen spray falling into

 blue shadows

at -20ºc

feb27 4:44pm

the view from the crow's nest, and

two maples creak 

the exact sound 

of the rig of a 

wooden ship

in a breeze

it's the mast to 

the top

it's the gaff  

to the main

as harmony

and east from  

the headlands

a distant frozen bay