I’m working on a few copyediting projects right now, including a research series text on violence and communication for the Center for Basque Studies, but my favorite work—if I can even call it that—is editing the Tahoe Blues collection for Bona Fide Books. Due on shelves in June, the collection pairs fiction, nonfiction, and a few poems, all under 500 words in length, in one volume. The stories are fascinating so far. I’m about halfway through the 60 pieces.

I took the above photo on a lunch break today. Being able to experience this lake daily, and reading all the different points of view in Tahoe Blues, makes me remember just how lucky I am to live here.

Thanks for doing what you do, Gary!

I tackled a tough but necessary topic in my art column this month: death. It was a bit crazy how it all came together really: me finding artist Kath McGaughey, my recent experiences with death, the need for this discussion in my life. Read my column to see some of the coincidences, but another one that was too “out there” to explore in print was the fact that I was reading Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five at the time. Holy Tralfamadore! It was pretty cool to read this fictional planet’s take on death. Here are a few excerpts if you haven’t read it:

The most important thing I learned on Tralfamadore was that when a person dies he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past, so it is very silly for people to cry at his funeral. All moments, past, present, and future, always have existed, always will exist. The Tralfamadorians can look at all the different moments just the way we can look at a stretch of the Rocky Mountains, for instance. They can see how permanent all the moments are, and they can look at any moment that interests them. It is just an illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever.

This part in particular struck me after reading it and then seeing Kath’s show because one of her larger pieces, the crows lined on wires, references Rosary beads.

When a Tralfamadorian sees a corpse, all he thinks is that the dead person is in a bad condition in that particular moment, but the same person is just fine in plenty of other moments. Now, when I myself hear that somebody is dead, I simply shrug and say what the Tralfamadorians say about dead people, which is “So it goes.”

“I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. All time is time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.”

*top 2 photos by Lexy Eich

PR and advertising folks have their work cut out for them due to this season of no snow. Right before Christmas I had to rework some ad copy for a client to promote cruises vs snowmobiling, and here’s how it turned out. The client wanted to run with a “sNOw problem” concept, but we’ve all heard that before so I tried to do something a bit different. Every time I turn in a copywriting job, I always wonder: Would Don Draper love or hate this?

Check me out in the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association’s 2011 Vacation Planner! Ya know, just living the good life in Tahoe… posing for some pics while skate skiing—well, not this year yet. This shot was grabbed by the uber-talented Jeff Dow two winters ago at Tahoe Cross Country. We’re all still waiting patiently for 2012′s snow.

Some great content in the Winter issue, so be sure to check it out… my favorites included Sue Rock’s profile of Stella restaurant in Truckee and Seth Lightcap’s harrowing account of his avalanche accident.

I also discovered the story I wrote on the Sherpettes on Tahoe Quarterly’s website. So if you never got a chance to read it, you can now!

The holidays are here! It’s always such a fun and stressful time for me since I’ve always got a few handmade projects up my sleeve. I’m excited about this year’s endeavors but can’t speak a word of them yet.

I love taking a peek at what’s on people’s holiday wish lists so when Moonshine Ink asked all its columnists to contribute a gift idea for the holiday edition (on stands this Friday) I was sure to chime in with an art-themed idea. See mine above, but be sure to pick up the issue for more gift ideas that you can buy local in North Tahoe/Truckee.

I was in the Moonshine office Monday and Tuesday this week proofreading the paper and can tell you that this issue is brimming with good stuff. A few must-reads in my opinion are: ‘Priced Out’ by David Bunker, a feature on the cost of living in Truckee, which was just ranked 9th in a national cost of living report; the Wandering Native column guest-wrote by Terray Sylvester who muses on the Tibetan language, which he is currently studying in Nepal; Julie Brown and Dr. Stephenie Riley’s report on eating healthy; ‘Crash,’ a poem submitted to Creative Brew by the talented Lucy Florence, who I had the pleasure of taking a creative writing workshop with; and the profile on new Tahoe band Sneaky Creatures, who I have yet to hear but, from the sounds of their style, know I’m going to love.

And here are a few other gift finds I saved throughout the year on Evernote, my favorite organizational tool—a great app (desktop and smart phone) to gift, btw!

mini chevron arrow earrings by Melanie Favreau | circle scarves by Blue Birds Fly | postcards to add to my postcard collection, and of course I’m always drawn to anything with animals on it so these are perfection  |  basic cashmere hat | colorful potholders by Rustic Patriot Girl

Since the story was confined to a page in the paper, I’m including the transcription from my interviews with Karl Schwiesow and Alice Baldwin since I couldn’t fit all their comments in. I strongly urge you to read the poem in full—it takes such imaginative leaps—and of course to read my full analysis in Moonshine Ink, on stands now and online here.

Responses from Alice Baldwin, marriage and family therapist intern at Bristlecone Psychotherapy

Regarding “art is for pleasure not possession, do you agree or disagree?

I have to say that I have never thought of this question!  As you know from the materials I gave out at the collage group, I deeply believe that art is a natural human trait.  Although in the hustle and bustle of modern life we seem to have lost touch with it, it is within all of us.  So given this belief I think that art is for pleasure, pain, memories, joy…and all aspects of human emotion and experience.  I do not think art is only for pleasure, just because this view seems to somehow diminish the great power and importance of art.  I think art is for communication, expression and experience…and pleasure is often but not always  a welcome by-product of art.

Can you explain how there’s power in creating something ugly (like we did in collage class)—something not for possession just for the sheer act of making something…

The “ugly” collage we did in the workshop turned out to be so powerful because I think it allowed for people to move past personal expectations of what the products of creativity should be.  We often think it should be beautiful and so we become stuck trying to create some kind of universal beauty. By consciously making something ugly we release ourselves from the highly subjective ideas of beauty and we get to enjoy the process itself, feeling less attached to the final product.

You use the word “art” as a verb a lot—perhaps more than you use it as a noun. Any comments about that? I think that almost speaks to the pleasure aspect.

I’m glad you noticed that…you must be a writer ;-)  Yes, I try to use the word in many different ways, in an attempt to take Art off its pedestal.  The concept of High Art, as a thing that exists only in museums and private collections can be very intimidating and limiting.  Art-making is something humans do, something they have always done.  Art critique is something much more recent and it is something that changes with the times.  I talk about “arting” a problem as a way for people to see art as a tool for understanding themselves and the human condition.  Somehow using it as a verb seems to make art more dynamic and less fixed.  Well-know expressive art therapists talk about art as simply the act of making something special.  I like this idea….I don’t want art to be high in the unreachable stratosphere, I want it to be accessible to all since it is a part of everyone.

And do you own any art? What sort of satisfaction does that give you, and what do you look for when buying art?

This question makes me smile because my house is filled with my own paintings! I spend a lot of time thinking about what art ownership means.  My first exposure to the commercial art world was attending school at Sotheby’s in London and then working at their competition auction house Christie’s in New York.  I wrestled with the fact that works I wished were in museums were in private investment collections where few people could see them.  But I also learned that there is a very beautiful and special relationship to art when we start to think about owning it (possessing it!). Collecting art is a super fun activity because we have to understand ourselves and what we like in order to select the right pieces. I grew up watching my parents buy little art pieces on their travels and we cherish the memories the pieces evoke and enjoy being surrounded by what we consider to be beautiful. Personally when I am able to buy someone’s artwork I look for what I am instinctually drawn to. When I go into a museum or gallery I scan the walls and find the pieces I like and spend time enjoying those, this way I avoid feeling like I have to stand and appreciate everything…that can be too overwhelming!

I say, if people love a piece and can afford it they are doing something great for themselves by buying art.
When I price my own work I often struggle because I believe that anyone who would like to own one of my paintings should be able to do so.  This is because I think that we benefit from being surrounded by art.  But we must value our own time and relationship to our work…so the price needs to reflect that as well.  It is a dance, finding the “value” of a piece of art, and somehow that dance feels less important than creating and living with art.

Responses from Karl Schwiesow, sculpture and ceramic artist, Sierra Nevada College student

Regarding art is for pleasure not possession, do you agree?

In some simple way art can be for pleasure. This all depends on your definition of pleasure.  As far as possession goes…People can literally just own art.  They do not necessarily own or even understand the conversation which it represents.  So, in a sense they do not actually own it.   Art for me is not about pleasure or possession.  It is about self expression.  It is about communication, it is a language.   Occasionally, art is fun to make.  This usually happens to be a coincidence and can be quickly degraded into simple work.  If a person reads more into art they begin to understand that art is not about pleasure or possession.  Also, people frequently tend to clump art and craft into one category.  This is perhaps where someone could get the notion that art is for pleasure; notions of possession could come up in that conversation as well.  This is a fairly complicated topic and up for debate.  It also tends to be quite subjective.

Do you think art should be shared in museum and gallery settings, not hidden away in private collections?

Art can be where ever it wants to be.  I don’t give a shit if someone is hiding away some cool painting somewhere.  That just gives me an opportunity to make one without having to copy someone.  Think about all the crazy shit lost over the ages;  since the Renaissance till now?  So much has to be lost or hidden; it really makes no difference to the artist.

I prefer to create for everyone and anyone. (but not everyone cares or understands)  It is usually important to make relevant and coherent choices when making art for everyone. This is really just a method in which I attempt to work, it ties into my ideas about art as a language. The problem with this is that not everyone speaks the same language and I frequently slur my slang.  On occasion my work will be for me, though usually this work is simply study. 

I’m excited for this season’s launch of &Work apparel, a brand by the talented Eric Wallis of Action Labor Collaborative. When Eric first told me about his idea for the brand, I was right on board. They’re the kind of clothes I like to see guys wear: understated, manly, functional. It’s funny, my favorite clothes on Chris are usually the dirty ones he comes home from work in.

I just worked with Eric on some &Work copy. He was going for an element of mystery so it was a challenge to convey the brand’s platform while keeping it simple and alluring. We’ll see how it all comes together in the next few months as shipments head out to stores. In the meantime, you can read an interview with Eric at Trucker Deluxe, follow &Work on Twitter, and search for the soon-to-be-released &Work Apparel Facebook page.