Visual Metaphor: the Appearance of Seeing Beyond

This mirror hangs over a booth at a Brookfield diner called Rickyl's, and reflects the ceiling far behind the viewer.

At first glance the strange shape of its gilded paper mache frame makes it difficut to read its spacial position, and it's easy to see it as some sureal portal into another room rather than what it is - a simple, flat mirror.

Rickyl's is tucked away at the four corners area, behind Roccos. They offer great granola pancakes

--- Mar Walker

Art: intention and meaning involve more than viewer projection

This is a drawing from a live model, made during a college drawing class.

I like this drawing very much, but some who have seen it concluded it was something other than what it is... Two people have said to me that the figure seemed to be engaged in some sort of sexual something. In reality, the live model in class was reading a book which is out of sight from this angle.

Oddly, both persons who objected were conservative christian men, one was a born-againer and the other a catholic knights- of-columbus type. And they were so obviously projecting something out of their own minds onto this scene which was utterly innocent! See what repression breeds!!!!

Point of view, context, getting the whole picture seems relatively important to interpretation. Filling in the blanks with your own stuff, doesn't tell you what the artist was actually thinking.

- Mar  Walker

PS This drawing is on plain white paper - the redish tinge is some odd camera effect from lights at night. I kinda like it like this.

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Medical bruohaha needs context

A letter I am sending today to the local paper

To the editor:

The News Times and Connecticut's various versions of television news have repeatedly run stories that illegal immigrants are costing Danbury Hospital $4 million in unpaid bills. The figure has been cited over and over again. Any reporter and any thinker worth his salt knows a figure without context can be a little like holding a dime up next to the moon on a dark night or looking at one line from a drawing. Could be the side of a skyscraper. Then again it could be the side of a jelly jar.

There are two numbers without which the $4 million dollar figure is completely meaningless. It is necessary to know the total amount billed out for medical care (both paid and unpaid) by the same hospital during the same time period - and also how much was spent by that hospital covering for medical care for uninsured and UNDERINSURED American Citizens.

Then there must be a comparison - what percentage of the total billed out for medical care does that $4 million represent? And what is the percentage of the total for the unpaid bills of citizens? Give us context and then we'll know how to consider that $4 million. I suspect we are whining about the jelly jar when we should be furious about the skyscraper...

ADENDUM - As of Dec, The Danbury News Times never chose to print this. They never even called to confirm the letter sender as is usual at most newspapers.

Scultpture reclines with glass of milk

This sculpture was photographed, not next to a granite pillar, but on my desk next to a glass of milk. It's all low res, shot with an early computer cam, but pretty accurately shows the work which is in unfired clay. Drop it in a bucket of water and its gone. The problem is, I kept several different types of clay. Since I am off-again, on-again at my various hobbies, by the time I made this piece, I had already lost track. I am fairly sure it can be fired, but the proper cone is unknown. Organized people would label all this stuff as they work. I suppose I will have to talk to someone knowledgeable and get some advice on this. It's been curing for over ten years.