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Category Archives: Writing

Why Art Doesn’t Pay

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Well of course, art pays if you’re Damien Hirst, and music plays if you’re Madonna, and acting pays if you’re Brad Pitt.  But all of the creative professions have the same system, in which a small number of stars become fabulously wealthy and famous, while the vast majority working in the field barely get by [...]

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A Bolt of Clarity

Friday, August 21, 2009

I’ve recently discovered John Michael Greer’s blog, The Archdruid Report, and while I don’t generally do this kind of post, I simply have to share with my readers my appreciation of his well-written and clearly reasoned economic thought.  He sees the economy as an ecosystem, and shows that ecology and economics cannot be separated.  I [...]

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Meanings of the Nude

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Why is the naked human body such an enduring focus of art?  Of course the image of the human form excites our mirror neurons, and can express all aspects of the human experience, but it could usually do that just as well in clothes.  Art students study nude models in order to see the structure [...]

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Copyright Violation

Friday, May 8, 2009

I just discovered my three most recent Drawing Life posts reproduced whole hog, without attribution or links, on a stupid blog site with a misspelled name.  I suppose this is the risk we all take making content available on the internet, but let me take this opportunity to reassert and reinforce the copyright notice that [...]

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A Useless Tree

Sunday, April 26, 2009

“Tzu-ch’i of Nan-po was wandering around the Hill of Shang when he saw a huge tree there, different from all the rest.  A thousand teams of horses could have taken shelter under it and its shade would have covered them all.  Tzu-ch’i said, “What tree is this?  It must certainly have some extraordinary usefulness!”  But, [...]

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