Category Archives: Fables

The Woman Who Runs With The Wolves

Posted on by
Michelle Lesniak-Franklin, The Woman Who Runs With Wolves.

(l. to r.) Michael James Schneider, Michelle Lesniak Franklin. Photo and mask construction by Summer Olsson, digital artistry by Tucker Cullinan.

Do what you love. Be brave. Take a chance.

These are all things I’ve talked about often on this blog, since my decision to take an artistic sabbatical and share the journey with others. Recently, I met someone else who took a similar leap: Michelle Lesniak-Franklin, winner of Season 11 of Project Runway (yup, it was her I was writing about at the end of this previous post). You’ll remember her personal style and razor-sharp wit, and probably her obsession with wolves, too.

I met the Portland native at her studio this week to chat, and she was just as funny, tough, and candid as she appeared to be on the show. She was also game for a photo shoot in Portland’s Japanese Gardens, inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s anime classic, “Princess Mononoke”.

BLCKSMTH: You were excited when I brought up the “Princess Mononoke” concept of the photo shoot, are you a fan of Miyazaki?

Michelle Lesniak-Franklin: I am, definitely!

Explain a little bit of the wolf obsession, please.

At the time of being on the show, you’re alone during filming, and you don’t have your friends and family there. You don’t have your support system for weeks and weeks, and you’re cut off from the world. I felt, too, that my garments weren’t being received very well. Not having the fashion background, it started making me think, “Oh, I’m not good at this, no one will like my aesthetic, it’s not supposed to be out there in the world.” It started getting me down, and I felt like “You can’t be in this dark space, think of a power animal, put yourself into an animal that can survive through all odds.” And it was the wolf. And I ended up being pretty dangerous for the other people. Continue reading →

“Single Gay Time-Traveler Seeks Same”: Worst. Date. Ever.

Posted on by
No, my worst date did not involve a Furry (from l to r: Michael James Schneider, Josh Oppenheim) .ig-b- { display: inline-block; } .ig-b- img { visibility: hidden; } .ig-b-:hover { background-position: 0 -60px; } .ig-b-:active { background-position: 0 -120px; } .ig-b-v-24 { width: 137px; height: 24px; background: url(//badges.instagram.com/static/images/ig-badge-view-sprite-24.png) no-repeat 0 0; } @media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and (min--moz-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and (-o-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2 / 1), only screen and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and (min-resolution: 192dpi), only screen and (min-resolution: 2dppx) { .ig-b-v-24 { background-image: url(//badges.instagram.com/static/images/ig-badge-view-sprite-24@2x.png); background-size: 160px 178px; } }

No, my worst date did not involve a Furry (from l to r: Michael James Schneider, Josh Oppenheim)
Instagram
 

Second in a series. Here’s Part 1, about being old-fashioned in a modern world. And then click here for Part 3, about how bad dating habits lead to same result date after date. Oh yeah, here’s Part 4, where I talk about age differences in dating.

Is anyone out there really “great” at dating? I’m asking for a friend, of course. Once I get in a relationship I’m golden, but it seems like such a long damn road to get there. First of all, for a while recently, I had this weird occasional anxiety that was a big turnoff to normal human beings. I tended to come off a little strong in the beginning, until I was sure there was a connection. This still flares up occasionally. My favorite icebreaker I use on dating sites isn’t “Hey, I’m Mike, how are you?”, it’s usually “MAKE ME A SANDWICH”. This works less well than you might think.

In the last post I talked about how I’m an old-fashioned weirdo and I feel out-of-place whenever I get out of a relationship, since I tend to date for long periods of time. The reaction to me admitting that I’m using the wrongly-maligned Scruff app to find husband material provoked stronger reactions than that time I stole someone’s MRIs of their brain to make art with. My favorite reaction from that Scruff admission was from my buddy Chase: “Enjoy the chlamydia!” But seriously, I don’t get the “woofs” (for the uninitiated, this is what you do on Scruff to indicate you like someone, like a Facebook “poke”)…just send me a message instead, guys. I know I should be flattered, but stop it. Somebody feed that goddamn dog some chocolate. Continue reading →

Single Gay Time-Traveler Seeks Same

Posted on by
"Morning Surprise" -photo by Julie Dunagan .ig-b- { display: inline-block; } .ig-b- img { visibility: hidden; } .ig-b-:hover { background-position: 0 -60px; } .ig-b-:active { background-position: 0 -120px; } .ig-b-v-24 { width: 137px; height: 24px; background: url(//badges.instagram.com/static/images/ig-badge-view-sprite-24.png) no-repeat 0 0; } @media only screen and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and (min--moz-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and (-o-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2 / 1), only screen and (min-device-pixel-ratio: 2), only screen and (min-resolution: 192dpi), only screen and (min-resolution: 2dppx) { .ig-b-v-24 { background-image: url(//badges.instagram.com/static/images/ig-badge-view-sprite-24@2x.png); background-size: 160px 178px; } }

“Morning Surprise” -photo by Julie Dunagan

Instagram

It’s no secret that being single in Los Angeles or Portland, well, being single anywhere, can be a drag. Cities can discourage “mental proximity”, which is what I call it when you connect with someone on a fun, emotional, reciprocal level. I’ve been single for a year and a half now, and I think it might be one of the longest times in my life I haven’t been in a relationship (my friend Julie has a theory: I’m basically unlovable. She might be on to something!). I think I’m supposed to say that I’m having a blast, insist that I’m just fine being single, and that I’m at my best without someone…there are people like that. But I’m not. It’s not fun. I’m awesome-er with someone. And I’ve come to the realization that it’s because I’m starting to feel like a time-traveler. I tend to date guys for long periods of time, so every time I emerge from a relationship, I need an anthropological Field Guide to the gay men of that era. Continue reading →

My Brother’s Keeper, My Brother’s Killer Part 4: The Plan

Posted on by

On New Year’s Eve, 22 years ago, my big brother passed away of a drug overdose. This past year, I experienced a romantic loss…which would normally be fine, but this one hit me like a ton of bricks, and made some pretty old, ugly personal demons surface. Why? I think my reaction to the latter has to do with unresolved abandonment issues from the former. This series is an attempt to move past both of these losses, and start healing. We’re all in this together, and the stakes are never higher than when you take a stand for your own happiness.

If you’re new and just joining this journey with me, you should probably start at Part 1. If you’ve read some of this already, you can join me at Part 2 or Part 3. If you only want to read this entry, I really don’t understand you. We probably can’t hang. Major spoilers ahead, boo.

John Hastings would have been 49 years old today. Happy Birthday, big brother.

The last few weeks have felt even better. I’m stronger and happier. My life doesn’t feel like I’m wandering through a Lars Von Trier film anymore. I’m nearing the end of this journey to find Mxxxxx Bxxxxxxxxx, the person my family has held responsible for my brother’s death. It feels like perfect timing. Not only personally, but professionally: I don’t want the search to take over my life, or be the focus of this blog (“BLCKSMTH? Oh, you mean the Dead Brother Blog?”), even though the point of BLCKSMTH is to tell the story of people’s paths, however difficult, to lives they love, and were probably meant for all along.

One thing that has helped me heal is vast amounts of boxed wine working on my set design for the stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. It’s a dream project of mine, combining Mr. Gaiman’s storytelling while aesthetically being inspired by a favorite artist of mine, Lee Bontecou. Most days, for almost two weeks, I have been at my theater from 10 am to 10 pm. I am exhausted, my hands look like hamburger meat, and I think I might permanently smell like metalworking/welding fumes. But I am so happy working on this project, making art again, and it’s so gratifying to see members of my “extended family” at Sacred Fools Theater in Los Angeles come by and help out. There are some pretty talented and generous people executing this project.

This week, I broke away from the set build for a couple of hours to talk to Mark De La Garza, Gilda De La Garza’s brother. Mark was probably the last person to see John alive, and the conversation solidified my decision on what to do with the new information I have now (that my resourceful sister Linda found), about where Mxxxxx Bxxxxxxxx lives. Continue reading →

My Brother’s Keeper, My Brother’s Killer, Part 3: Ouroboros, Or The Myth Of Closure

Posted on by

On New Year’s Eve, 22 years ago, my big brother passed away of a drug overdose. This past year, I experienced a romantic loss…which would normally be fine, but this one hit me like a ton of bricks. Why? I believe my grief from the latter has to do with unresolved issues from the former. This series is an attempt to move past both of these losses, and start healing. We’re all in this together, and the stakes are never higher than when you take a stand for your own happiness.

If you haven’t yet, please read Part 1 here. And if you read that already, here’s Part 2. I just sold the rights to turn this into animated webisodes (this is a lie, I just wanted to type “webisode”).

Wow. Travel, time, and friends. In the last couple of weeks, I have finally felt like less and less like a grieving widower, and more like my old self again, the person I was before October 8th. Actually, I haven’t felt like my old self. I have spent the last couple of months challenging everything I think I know about me: I conquered a previously debilitating fear. I smoked weed for the first (and second) time in my entire life. I’m going to a gym for the first time in my life (this is a bigger deal than you think), getting on my bike most days. I am suddenly fearless about meeting people and making new friends, inserting myself into social situations. I made the decision to try out another city, one that fosters creativity and is a softer, kinder place for me to be right now than Los Angeles. Yeah, yeah, make all the jokes you want about “midlife crises”. This journey to find Mxxxxx Bxxxxxxxxx, the woman who my family (but not me) calls my brother’s “killer”, is changing me, making me stronger. I like what I am turning into.

Don’t get me wrong. There are good days and bad, but the bad are fewer and fewer. No, friend, I still won’t go to see Silver Linings Playbook with you, not quite yet. No, I’m still avoiding watching that episode of Girls (just kidding, I’m not watching it anymore at all…Joe introduced me to it, and all it does is remind me of him now). And I can’t change the station fast enough when fun’s Some Nights, or Mumford’s I Will Wait comes on (haha, I just admitted I LISTEN TO RADIO. This is more embarrassing than anything I’ll ever cop to on this blog). But I am surfacing. I still miss “Joe”, but his ghost is fading. I’m going to be okay.

And then a funny thing happened: I found Mxxxxx Bxxxxxxxx.  Continue reading →

My Brother’s Keeper, My Brother’s Killer, Part 2: Learning To Laugh Again

Posted on by

A rare specimen: a picture of me laughing (photo by Kate Schroeder)

On New Year’s Eve, 22 years ago, my big brother passed away of a drug overdose. This past year, I experienced a staggering personal, romantic loss. I believe the grief with the latter has to do with unresolved issues from the former. This series is an attempt to move past both of these losses, and start healing. The stakes are never higher than when you take a stand for your own happiness (autocorrect almost changed that to “steaks”, and I almost kept it).

If you haven’t yet, please click here and read the first post in this series. Seriously. It’s like a reality show. Sorry, I mean “unscripted drama”. Maybe a telenovela.

So this is what has happened: My sister Linda, who has been an invaluable partner in this search, helped put me in touch with Melecio and Grace De La Garza, parents of Gilda De La Garza, who knew John for about ten years. She was one of his closest friends at the time of his death. I reached Gilda by phone (she lives in Arizona with her family now), and the conversation was a revelation. She described John as being like another brother to her, in addition to her two biological brothers. She mentioned that they think of John often, and have many pictures of him…she described him as a sort of “missing link” of her family, and that his charisma and charm had not only won her and her siblings over, but that her parents were taken with him too. She told me many stories, many associated with good emotions, some with bad. Continue reading →

4 Things That Set My Brain On Fire: NYC

Posted on by
Pumped-up Kicks photo by Helen Darby

Pumped-up Kicks
photo by Helen Darby

Breathless with the cold, eager eyes open to everything around me: this was a trip I was looking forward to…it’s my third visit in a little over a year. In between seeing friends I hadn’t seen in a long time (and in the case of my very first boyfriend, I hadn’t see him in 20 years!), and making new ones (Nina Robinson’s photography is awesome), I got time to check out some inspiring art that fueled my own brain’s creative juices…and yes, handed out more than few of those crazy business cards. Saw stuff that you should check out too. Except in one case, I tried to pick longer-running stuff to include here so by the time you read this, it isn’t over already. So away we go: Continue reading →

The Warp And Weft, Part 2: Stitching Together The Art Of Neil Gaiman and Lee Bontecou

Posted on by

As anyone who has been reading this blog for the past few months already knows, I’m designing the set for the Robert Kauzlaric adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s “Neverwhere”, at the Sacred Fools theater. I’ve gone into great detail about the musical, artistic, and cinematic inspiration for the scenic design in this previous post. As I type this, auditions are underway at the theater, and I’m going to deliver the set model this afternoon to director Scott Leggett, the intrepid leader of this creative expedition. This set will be heavily influenced by the sculpture of Lee Bontecou, and I’m finally ready to reveal the set model to the public! Some snaps of it follow later in this post.

To be honest, it’s kind of a dream of mine to mash-up the art of two of my “artistic heroes”, Neil Gaiman and Lee Bontecou. The former, because I enjoy the hell out of his storytelling, and the latter because find her art moving. Below is an example of her canvas-and-metal sculpture that I’ll attempt to replicate for the set:

Untitled, Lee Bontecou, 1962...the jumping-off point for my set design for "Neverwhere"

Untitled, Lee Bontecou, 1962…the jumping-off point for my set design for “Neverwhere”

The process started with a simple sketch (more after the break), Continue reading →

Oh Fudge, I’m Winning

Posted on by

Another ridiculously enjoyable piece from BLCKSMTH contributing editor Jennie Kay. If you like this piece of hers, check out this one too.

Everybody Wins

Everybody Wins

Poetry is important to kids. It really is, even though we are all sucky poets as kids. Except that eight-year-old-Appalachian-savant that makes words out of twigs and becomes a poet-laureate, when they are the only ones in their extended family that know how to read. Except for them, we are all sucky poets as kids, but I believe it is really important to be a poet as a kid. Everything is so much more real then. I always said I wouldn’t get jaded, but as I look back, I was pretty well done by the age of ten. As a kid, you spend so much time looking around you can’t help but notice what’s really going on.  You learn things like: staring someone directly in the face after you have lied, will make you win. You shouldn’t know about winning before you are at least seventeen. I didn’t have a lot of wins growing up, but there were a few. Continue reading →

My Brother’s Keeper, My Brother’s Killer Part 1

Posted on by

First in a series of five. If you’ve already read this, here is Part 2.

On December 31st, 1991, John Edward Hastings was a handsome, bright young 28 year old. He was known for being gregarious, spontaneous, and generous, and had a large circle of friends who loved him. He also happened to be a cocaine and heroin addict, an addiction that started in earnest when he was 26. After losing a great job and burning through his savings, his drug supply was funded by a friend of his in exchange for companionship. And on a sunny day 22 years ago, John Hastings was watching the New Year’s Eve parade in Phoenix, Arizona, when he suddenly became fatigued, stumbled against a wall, slid down it, and died. It was later presumed that he died of heart failure, brought about by the effects of drugs on his system. How do I know these details? Because John Hastings was my big brother. I have decided to find my brother’s “killer”, the woman who supplied my brother the funding that fueled his addiction. Continue reading →

Low Is A Height

Posted on by

Last night, I was watching a movie. (Okay, it was “Beaches”, a favorite from my high school days. Don’t judge). But all of a sudden, I heard a sweeping, loud, wet noise, and as I paused the movie and jumped up I realized it was a sudden rainstorm. I haven’t experienced a rainstorm that came on that quickly and forcefully since I lived in New Mexico. I went to the porch, reached my hand out, closed my eyes, and grabbed the rain. It was a sacred moment for me. Then I went inside and finished the movie (natch). And then I went to my desk and started on my novel again.

Oh, yeah, I started a novel. I’ve told maybe enough people to count on one hand. And I’ve given some chapters to read, to even fewer. But now you know, too. I stopped writing a couple of weeks ago; I had lost it. But I found it again, and it’s pretty great.

I thought of this song during the rainstorm, and then played it a few times while writing. It’s from 2007, by Great Northern, an LA-based band. You probably know their song “Home”. That’s great, but this one’s better.

Sometimes you can’t force inspiration, you have to be a leaf on the wind of it. Or pull it right out of a rainstorm.

(Lyrics are after the break)

Continue reading →

Believing the Grass Is Greener On Every Side

Posted on by

photo by Kate Schroeder. And I really don’t like these glasses, but this is a rare pic of me actually smiling. Hmm…

It’s a tough thing, getting inspiration for your art. For so much of my life, I have claimed that pain has wrought the best creativity from me. I happily fulfilled the role of the tortured artist…there was something romantic about it, something noble in suffering for one’s art. But 2012 has been a strange year, and though I would love to say “it’s been a great year!” or “God, what a crappy year”, I can’t really sum it up so neatly. And yet, it’s been one of the most prolific years for my art. I feel like I’m turning a corner, both professionally and personally, with choices that will have seismic consequences for the rest of my life. The biggest changes internally have come in the last three months. Continue reading →

Art profile: “The Enemy Within”

Posted on by

“The Enemy Within”, acrylic on canvas. Photo by Shaela Cook.

Sometimes it can be an exercise in futility to explain one’s art to people: creativity is so personal and subjective. Lately I’ve fielded a few questions about my art; in particular, the Periodic Table of Elements painting that started it all.

It was back in 2005 that I started my search for a vintage periodic table to fill a space on my wall. I’ve always had a slight obsession with medical and scientific ephemera, as also detailed in this previous, controversial post. I was looking for a very specific size, and wanted it to have some color in it, if possible. After searching flea markets and ebay, I gave up quickly: I was impatient, I was particular, I was determined. I decided to paint one myself. Continue reading →

What the Kay?

Posted on by

BLCKSMTH introduces its first contributing editor, Jennie Kay. Jennie Kay poses as a communication design specialist while packing a six-shooter of creative wit and observation. Originally from Michigan, she has lived in California for the past thirteen years, and currently resides in Antigua, Guatemala.

Anaheim Gothic (hat-tip to Paul Plunkett)

Here’s a piece of hers. It’s typical of her fresh, vulnerable, authentic voice. I’m a fan. You will be too. Visit her website, or find her on Facebook.

 

“Welcome To My (Microwaved-Organic-Low Calorie-Horribly Unsatisfying) Life”

I have decided to split up with my boyfriend. I made the decision.

I realize that it is not for lack of care or anything he has or has not done, which unfortunately I blame way too much on him in the first place, poor guy. Simply put, there is nothing he does that makes me a better person.

He helps me throw better parties, but that is not really a relationship skill, or is it?

My friend Greg says it is.

He says it means you ultimately know how to work together. That is great, but throwing a good party isn’t helping me finally lose some weight and feel better about myself, throwing a better party is not getting told my tits look fantastic (frankly, it usually is, but not by him), throwing an amazing party is not going to help me figure out what the hell I am doing with my life, throwing a great party isn’t helping me pay off the credit cards I have been living off of the last three months and it sure as hell won’t tell me if I can seriously commit to helping a child grow up. Continue reading →

The Unlikely 4-Letter Word: My Parents’ Brushes With Cancer

Posted on by

For the last few years, I’ve been taking care of my self pretty well: I eat healthy, exercise regularly, and try to get enough sleep, despite both my night owl/early-morning-writer habits. I do these things in no small part because I feel they contribute to my health, but also decrease my chances of getting cancer. Both of my parents have had brushes with cancer. Something that a friend is going through this week has made me think a little bit more about my parent’s experience, and I realized I didn’t know, I didn’t really know what they went through. So I decided to ask them.

I reached out to them cautiously, almost timidly: I had no idea how either of them would react to their son probing a delicate subject like battling cancer, or even having a close call with it, for writing he intended to share publicly (full disclosure: both of my parents had complete access to all drafts of this piece, and also retained full “veto power” in case they changed their minds).  My friends and family know that I live my life transparently. It’s not a huge philosophical choice, it’s just how I feel. Yes, there are things that I tell only very few people, but in general, I haven’t really gained anything by keeping secrets. But I wasn’t prepared for how open and eager they were to share their challenges, their fears, and their courage. Continue reading →

This Is Who We Are. This Is What We Do.

Posted on by

No Stops ‘Til Albuquerque

I am in New Mexico for a few days for a wedding of two dear friends of mine, one of whom I’ve known about 15 years, and another who I have known for only a few years, but love just as dearly. The ceremony was yesterday, and it was lovely and moving: my pocket square got a workout, and I don’t usually cry at weddings. But it got me thinking. Well, I guess I’ve been very contemplative in general lately, thinking about the tapestry that forms my life, and the people who are the fabric in it. In particular, this year has been a catalyst for change for me, and I wonder what my life will look like in a year. I know it will look very, very different than it looked a year ago…I know what I want it to look like, both professionally and personally, but am finally coming to terms that that neither might be in my control. It’s hard yielding control, but with so much at stake (in both aspects), I feel like if I work hard at both, the results will pay off. It’s hard to have faith, with so little to give me hope. But I guess that’s why they call it faith, and in the end, optimism will always defeat cynicism. It has to. Love always wins. Continue reading →

In Between The Warp And Weft, or, A Sublime Monstrosity

Posted on by

Sculpture by Lee Bontecou. My set for Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere will be heavily inspired by her artwork.

UPDATE: I’m ready to reveal the set model for the upcoming Sacred Fools production of Neverwhere! Click here to see the post revealing the set model.

This past week marked the start of my working in earnest on an upcoming project: the scenic design for the Sacred Fools Theater production of Robert Kauzlaric’s masterful adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, directed by Scott Leggett.

It could seem like a daunting project: there are a couple dozen locations in the play; the set has to represent both the overworld and the underworld. And I have taken inspiration from an artist, Lee Bontecou, whose steel-and-canvas sculptures defy logic and challenge complacency. I can only hope to come close to replicating her art on such a large scale, but I will do my best. My enthusiasm for both Lee and Neil’s creations far outweighs any concerns I have about the challenges ahead.

Lee Bontecou in her Pennsylvania studio, June 2003
Photo by Josh Titus, courtesy UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

After reading the script a few times, and also getting inspiration from Neil’s book and graphic novel, I set about sketching the set. I have included other inspiration, too: Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro’s work on The City of Lost Children inspires so much of my creative work, and I can’t help but include their influence. Here’s the trailer for that film:

I listened to a lot of Sigur Ros and Radiohead while sketching (when the set is complete, if you put your ear up to it and listen very, very closely, you may hear the strains of “Treefingers”). My first pass is a sublime monstrosity, both organic and mechanical, both refined and grotesque. In other words, better than I could have hoped! Continue reading →

Little Curtis, Part 3

Posted on by

Little Curtis, getting up to shenanigans

The loose, rattling knock sounded through the entire three-story farmhouse. For Pete’s sake, thought Betty drying her hands on the dishtowel as she came out of the kitchen to answer it, they’re going to knock that poor screen door right off its hinges! It wouldn’t take much though, she mused: repairing that old rickety screen door had been on Joe’s honey-do list for as long as she could remember. They would likely repair it in time for Little Curtis’ wedding at this rate.

She looked down the hallway at the front door, and tried to make out the figure through the yellowing lace of the window covering. The figure outside was tall and lanky, and bore the slightly stooped silhouette of a life hard-worked, of money hard-earned. She realized with a start that it was her neighbor, Jasper Proctor! She almost didn’t recognize him without the beard he used to sport. Why, he hadn’t come around in…Betty counted the years on her fingers, and when she realized she would need a third hand to properly count the years since old Jasper had trundled over from his cattle farm next door, she gave up. It must have been right after the mill fire that he had last come over. His driveway had been a makeshift fire line for the blaze that had swept the plain, and it still bore the soot deeply: she could always tell which of their long driveways a car was coming down, from the color of the dust it raised. Continue reading →

Holiday Party Invitation

Posted on by

The deeper I look, the stranger stuff I find. This one’s an old party invitation. No really, this was the only text I included to describe the holiday party I invited friends to. It resulted in some confused guests, tentative RSVPs, and an amazing party. It’s kind of clunky, with some awkward word choices, but I think it would make a fun children’s book…I also keep laughing at how the Mill Fire keeps popping up often in my writing. The stories must all take place in the same universe.

Carl


The squirrel padded along the verdant path of needles and leaves. His friend, Hoofy the Clumsy Deer, followed close behind, occasionally tripping on a log or rock protruding from the snow-patched ground.

The squirrel’s name was Carl. “Catch up, Hoofy!” he called over his shoulder. They were already late, and being late made him grouchy. A lot of things made him grouchy since he quit smoking.

“I’m going as fast as I…”, Hoofy’s sentence was cut short by a strangled gasp as he caught his antlers in a low-hanging branch and his gangly legs went flying out from under him. He thrashed for a few seconds, scattering snow everywhere, then went still in defeat, awkwardly suspended from the branch by his antlers. Swaying and bobbing slowly, he sighed. “Um…a little help here?”

Carl snorted through his nose. He considered leaving the young fawn there. Serve him right. Getting caught like that, being careless, when they were already late. Especially today, a few days before Christmas, and on the way to the party! He needed a drink. Continue reading →

Escape Velocity

Posted on by

This is an old piece I just found, dusted off. I don’t know why I’m posting something so melancholy on a morning when I woke up almost giddy. But I like it. Clearly I had read some Douglas Coupland before writing it.

I woke up this morning thinking about you. It was raining hard, the kind of rain that collides with the ground more than falls onto it, the kind that snaps twigs off of the new trees they just planted in Grant Park. I stumbled into the bathroom, stared in the mirror for a second (mornings are when I most look like my father), stumbled back into the bedroom, slept some more. I heard somewhere that sleeping too much means that something’s wrong, that we have all of these built-in triggers in our bodies to alert us to what’s going on inside, but we’ve learned as a species to ignore them. If I forced myself to sleep less, would I get healthier? Could I stop thinking about that call, then?

The phone woke me up around noon, the ringtone pealing into the empty apartment, the screen animated with a cartoon of a dancing phone, furrowed, angry eyebrows on its indeterminately-ethnic face. I hate that face. That cartoon means it isn’t you calling. Continue reading →

I Know Why Sand Wants To Be Glass, or, Handling Criticism Of What You Create

Posted on by

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

A few days ago, I posted a couple of new paintings in a series that I announced in the post “Hello, I Have Seen Your Brain And Made Art From It“. The series is being created from some old MRI films that I acquired 10 years ago, which I originally thought were anonymous, old films that were being discarded, but then found private, current information with them. I thought the inspiration of the art was an interesting story worth telling, as I am just as invested in the process of making art as I am the final product. In the piece, I openly acknowledged the terrible breach of privacy that occurred, and my impulsive, selfish decision 10 years ago to keep the MRI films.

I posted the link to the story on Facebook, Twitter, and in the Art forum on Reddit, a web-aggregate site that I am using for the first time.

The reaction could not have been more intense. Continue reading →

“Hello, I Have Seen Your Brain And Made Art From It”

Posted on by

“What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Frame 9

Ten years ago, I had an itch: I wanted to create a piece of art that incorporated an X-ray or MRI film in it. At the time, it was simply an extension of my lifelong obsession with the aesthetic of scientific equipment and medical ephemera. I had a coworker who also worked at a hospital adjacent to our workplace, and I asked her to obtain some X-ray films for me. At the time, I assumed that she would procure an old film that was going to be discarded. Instead, she gave me a recently taken MRI film, and that started a now 10-year-long obsession with someone whose brain I have seen, whose voice I have heard, but whose face I still do not know. Continue reading →

The Business Card Banned From Planes

Posted on by

I can’t think of a more boring blog subject than business cards. But when I started thinking about designing my own, I wanted to put my own signature on them. I had a few non-negotiables: I wanted them to be made in the United States, I wanted them to make an unforgettable impression without being cheesy, and I wanted them to say a little bit about BLCKSMTH just from looking at them.

The finished product…well, minus the “@” symbol

Enter St.Paul Stampworks, an engraving and stamping company based in St. Paul, Minnesota. Since its inception in 1870 by its founder, Axel Mellgren, this company started out making “marking equipment” including seals, door numbers, and plates for church pews. Eventually Mr. Mellgren diversified into categories like medals, badges, and printed materials.

Over 130 years later, I found them online and contacted Joyce, a personable salesperson, who understood exactly what I was looking for when I described it. In fact, she didn’t bat an eye when I told her I was going to use their metal tags, traditionally used for identifying pipes and electrical fixtures, as business cards! Continue reading →

4 Things That Set My Brain On Fire, September

Posted on by

Entrance to the Garden of Flowing Fragrance

I’ve decided to make “4 Things…” a regular series! I’ll publish it monthly, and eventually bi-monthly. Why? Well, no man is an island, and no one can be expected to create art in a vacuum: I need inspiration from other sources to keep me fresh, to keep my voice relevant. Here are a four things that stayed with me, long after I experienced them.

1) The Huntington Gardens are over 120 acres of carefully maintained collections of botanical curiosity, in San Marino, California. I’ve gone there a few times, and this time was ostensibly to see the recently restored and reopened Japanese Gardens, but I found the Chinese Garden, Liu Fang Yuan (“The Garden Of Flowing Fragrance”), really breathtaking. Check it out for both the botany and the architecture.

And then I found a giant baby. Continue reading →

NTRGLCTC by BLCKSMTH

Posted on by

Ehridahn

I’ve been a little preoccupied with “world-building” lately, thinking of the toys and imaginary friends I played with during childhood, and thinking of the progression in sophistication they took from when I was very young, to right before when I stopped playing with toys. When I was young, it was just “good versus evil”, good guys versus bad. But as I got a little older, I started working other characters in, the story got a little more nuanced, and eventually a couple of franchises worked their way into the imaginary world I created. Lately I started thinking, what if I made a physical representation of the world that all of these characters inhabited? And what if I could help others do the same?

Continue reading →