Artandicon's Blog

  • Destruction

     The old Majestic Hotel, a historic property in Hot Springs, Arkansas, burned and was deemed irreparable. The city became the official owner after several years of attempting to convince the true owner to clean up the wreckage. After demolition, the site will likely become a park or amphitheater. The good wrought from this debacle is…

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  • THE MOMENT BEFORE 

      The moment before my daughter came into this world, my husband reminded me of the doctor’s orders: “Whatever you do, don’t push!” “Don’t tell me (horrible expletive deleted) not to push! I’ll (more expletives deleted) push if I want to! His look of shock and horror lasted only seconds before he turned for the hallway…

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  • WATCHING FROM AFAR

    No one wants to be on the train that’s wrecking. Not many want to watch the disaster unfolding, but when you care intensely about a person, sometimes you cannot take your eyes off the pain and trauma. You watch from the cheap seats in the balcony, rather than paying the full price of orchestra pit,…

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  • A PAINTED DREAM: GOING LEFT TO TURN RIGHT

    A few months ago, I woke up with this Franz Marc blue horse in my mind. Clouds were overhanging the Rocky Mountains in the distance. On the high plains stood a solitary tree that had several Spirit feathers attached to the limbs. Red threads fluttered in the breeze. This horse, which I knew by now…

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  • Pantocrator icon: Progress Report

    Progress: the 13th hour on the Pantocrator Icon. Acrylic on gold primed canvas. 18″ x 24″. Good things come to those who persevere. Painting an icon is one of the ancient spiritual disciplines. The artist isn’t just copying by rote or filling in a design, as in a paint by numbers craft piece. Instead, the…

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  • THE HOLY NODE AND THE FOUND BUTTERFLY

    I’m not a fast walker, for my first goal in walking isn’t to break any record for my usual 1.5 mile jaunt around Mercy Hospital here in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Neither do I stroll, for Bon Jovi and the Boss sing a strong striding cadence in my ear. I can manage the hills better in…

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  • Art is Always a Suprise

    Dropped by for new art supplies. Big sale at Michael’s. This tiny haul? $175–I only buy the best pigments & best quality tools. This is the way I was trained: like the old masters, to make my work last not just a lifetime, but for centuries. We live in a throw away world now, however,…

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  • SNOW CHANGES EVERYTHING

    Classes get cancelled, teachers have to reschedule. Parents have to miss work and pay checks to stay home with the kids or go to work and pay extra for child care. Some people make it home by the grace of God and the angels that walk among us, while others abandon their wrecked vehicles on…

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  • THE NO ROOM INN

    Context is everything. In the real world of my daily hikes, the objects in this artwork are pieces of trash that I’ve found lying near the path that I walk. Put together with a fresh eye to shape and color, they become instead a nativity scene. I live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a place known…

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  • A DEEPER SOURCE OF WATER

    I’m sixty five years old. I have an iPhone. When I see an interesting image, I stop and park my car. I take a little walk, getting in a few more steps for my otherwise sedentary life. The viewpoint then becomes important, otherwise I’m just taking snapshots. The place has “called me,” as we say,…

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