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I tried explaing what he looked like,

February 09, 2008

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F.A.D. Program > face #25 [2/8/08] > ink, watercolor with acrylic medium.

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An ABG Manifesto: Chapter 5, part one (medium)

Um forgettable… that’s what you are. I consider myself exceptionally medium (except for hat sizes). Which is to say not big or small (unless I’m in Oklahoma), not virtuoso nor dunce. A jack of all trades moving along before mastering. An unmemorable renaissance man. A serial hobbyist. We tend to glorify the specialist be they painter, baseball player or cellist. The only jack of all trades standing the test of history that I can think of is Leonardo da Vinci (warrants further research). By definition medium is “about halfway between two extremes of size or another quality; average.” At the same time it is also “an agency or means of doing something.” By that definition creativity cannot become tangible without a medium. So perhaps medium is not forgettable, but integral. This digressive opening is a means of discussing medium scale bass guitars. I’ve been playing medium scale (32”) basses for the last six years. I arrived there I suppose by definition as it was about halfway between th

The ABG Manifesto: Husky White Duke

I PLAYED WITH FRETS AND I LIKED IT Although the blog doesn’t reflect it, there’s been plenty going on these last 24 months. The blues band, Gatorwater has been gigging regularly and just recorded eight tunes in October. After a 20 year pause, the old college band—The Dynamo Theorem played its first show—I had to remember how to sing! I’ve been playing trumpet with regularity, building bikes, and of course my steadies—drawing and designing. Although it feels like I’ve slowed down with the bass building, that’s really not the case. I’ve worked on about a half-dozen bass guitars and even got my hands on an old Ampeg Baby Bass that needed a little love. It’s safe to say some of the blog silence has been due to a bit of a tangent. Having spent so much time working on fretless acoustic bass guitars, I found myself rediscovering frets and solid bodies… and I liked it. The best place to begin this new journey in the ABG Manifesto is with a short-lived bass I called the Husky White Duke and

AN ACOUSTIC BASS GUITAR MANIFESTO

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AN ABG MANIFESTO: CHAPTER TWO

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An AGB Manifesto: Chapter 4

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work/play resolution

It has been a different kind of year 2015 with it's good and bad. I've been called bass player, woodworker, car guy, outdoorsman, beard guy, rocker— not a single hepcat space viking or deep sea poem painter. As I take these partial truths and blatant inaccuracies under consideration I look forward to 2016. I figure I'll play the bass, paint on paper, build from wood, eat some pizza (with salad) and watch Saturday night Svengoolie. Aside from from Saturday night Svengoolie, Curio has been a catalyst for all of the above. Two years into my time at Steppenwolf, I feel like I have a place of work instead of a day job—allowing me to refine my communication skills and bring all this extra-curricular experience into the creative and collaborative Steppenwolf world. My resolution is to have a balanced and exciting year of work and play. I'm not a wordsmith, but there should be a word meaning work/play—did Shakespeare invent one? The closest sentiment is this anecdote

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back from the break.

This is it, the last week for the show up at Brothers K. I'll be taking everything down February 2nd. It's been great fun getting together my work for the show and I've met some interesting people along the way. I hope to be doing more shows this year. Now on to the 3 faces from the break: I'm no fighter of wars. Face A Day Program. face #11 [01.25.08] collage, pencil, watercolor, pen & ink, acrylic medium. People call it cabin fever. Face A Day Program. face #12 [01.26.08] ballpoint pen, acrylic medium mixed with watercolor. This image is copyright. Face A Day Program. face #13 [01.27.08] pencil, watercolor, pen & ink.

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