MarcosShih.com

“My work entails visualizing urban scenes that impart a cinematic experience. An avid follower of current and past film directors, I often dream of compositions that evoke an alternate reality. I try to capture an emotional disparity and solitude that is often felt in an urban environment. Working in oils allows me to layer and build realism and richness to each painting. Using a traditional and contemporary approach, my technique involves wet on wet applications.”

– Marcos Shih

Shih lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

Contact: marcos@marcosshih.com

Michael Campbell’s work has been exhibited internationally.  See more work at www.mcampbellart.com.

Artist Statement:
Abandoned science stations in remote locations, new frontiers, hostile living conditions, isolation, architectural decay in miniature; these are all common threads in the work of Michael Campbell.  The 1970s mark a strange point in US history. The upheaval brought about by the student movements during the 60s challenged and upended the authoritarian paradigms and status quo set forth by the previous generation in the 1950s. The 70s was a decade where the dust settled after much of the radicalism and revolutionary ideas of the 1960s had come and gone. Campbell creates a dialog with these ideas and what could be considered iconic symbols from this time period.

Real feelings of distrust manifest in the 70s in science fiction themes in both print and in film. This distrust is reflected in a greater cultural and political arena with events like Watergate and Vietnam. In the fantasy of science fiction, dystopian civilizations and post-apocalyptic survivors live in worlds where technology has gone haywire.

Campbell’s work appropriates these ideas, suggesting broken utopian landscapes of the 21st century. Where once we looked ahead to the turn of the century with optimism, the future now seems bleak amid harsh environments, broken down machines, and transitory foundations.

Contact: michael@mcampbellart.com

Website: davidpacephotography.com

About these photographs:
“Karaba is a small village in the country of Burkina Faso in West Africa. The workers carve the bricks by hand from a solid stone called laterite.  Laterite is rich in iron which gives the stone its bright orange color when it oxidizes. These durable bricks are the basic construction material for houses in the region. The quarry has been in constant use for about 23 years. It is constantly changing shape like an ever evolving earthwork installation.” I have been photographing in Burkina Faso for more than 4 years. I spend every fall quarter there as Co-director of Santa Clara University’s study abroad program “Reading West Africa.”

– David Pace

www.montymontyart.com

Artist Statement:
“Assembled to create a theme, discreet items of interest and vintage collectibles are sculpted into a whole and unified form. I take cast-off objects of our throwaway society, antique collectibles, curios and sometimes family heirlooms and breathe new life into them, rendering new ways to look at old things. My approach is to create a natural look to the assembled work by using creative methods. I do not weld. I take great care in the restoration of each component during my process while creating a vintage quality within the work.”

– Monty Monty

Contact: montymonty@prodigy.net

I will be the first to admit that I was quite apprehensive when I began reading Ms. James’ When Beauty Tamed the Beast. Everything from the cover seemed to trigger a masculine defense mechanism: the rather effeminate cover, the title, and the synopsis all pointed towards a bland romance story complimented by vacuous sentences and overwhelming imagery.  However, I could not have been further from the truth. When Beauty Tamed the Beast has the rare trait of being not only a captivating read, but so casual in its style as to allow one to enjoy every second of it.  The storyline was not only invigorating  with many plot twists and several entertaining side plots, but also was methodical enough that I could drop it at any time and resume reading with the same fervor as I had before my reprieve.  The style of the book was not so much a rendition of Beauty and the Beast as it was Pride and Prejudice meets House, where the protagonist, Linnet, is often reminiscent of Elizabeth Bennett and the antagonist, Piers, holding to the same clever cynicism that we adore Hugh Laurie for.

The writing style of the book seemed to be tedious at times and the flow of the book was thrown off at times by impromptu clichés, yet the imagery was very conscientious and details occurred only when apt.  The setting was hard to ascertain at first, and her clues were less than helpful in gathering the context of this story in the beginning.  Unfortunately, it is aspects such as these which make the book so hard to get into.  The first fifty-some pages give me no incentive to follow the characters; in fact that first chunk of the book is a prolonged introduction, mindlessly introducing every character through their symptoms in a hauntingly consistent manner. Surprisingly, it is this consistent manner which redeems the book in the latter half.  The novel has some sort of “forbidden fruit” intrigue in it.  I know that there wasn’t anything too novel about a virgin who is starting to look and act pregnant (Freud talked about that quite frequently) but I did know that some kind of scandal was about to occur, and I was fine with patiently enduring this prolonged primer for the sweet spoils of my curiosity that will be given to me later.

Christopher Williams may be reached at cwilli10@ashland.edu.

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Artist Statement:

“I am often moved by the textures, patterns and shapes found in the structures that I encounter in my daily life. I believe they reveal much about us as we are now, or as we once were.  I also believe that architecture exerts an influence on us, even when we are barely aware of its presence. It can heighten or dull our senses, focusing us more into the present or causing us to rush through to the next place.”

“My artwork involves applying textile techniques to photographs that I’ve taken. For the woven pieces, a scene is chosen and photographed from several points of view.  I then make multiple prints of each picture and physically slice them to create warp and weft. This allows me to blend different perspectives together using a technique inspired by tapestry weaving.  Abstraction is gained by selectively offsetting the strips in relation to each other with the intention of causing a brief sense of disorientation meant to draw the viewer more closely in. Because my method is deliberate, detailed and time-intensive, I am able to experience each scene intensely and appreciate its subtle details. It is my hope that some of this experience is conveyed to the viewer, perhaps connecting them to their senses and their surroundings a little more.”

– Julie V. Garner

Search “Julie V. Garner” at www.artslant.com.
Contact: jgarner3083@gmail.com

Everything looked perfect on that crisp desert morning. The sun still sitting low in the sky, not ready to fill the day with it’s heat. The only thing out of place was the blue car. It sat on the side of the empty road, waiting patiently for the return of it’s owner. No one pays attention to abandoned cars. We pass without a second look. This day however, someone should have looked that second time.

Five days before

Brandie made ready for her day, coffee, make up, three outfit changes and she was out the door. Brandie worked at a small finance company in Nocken, Nevada. She was a hard worker, and was good at her job. Though accounting was not her main focus. Her main focus this morning, as well as every morning for several months now. Was her boss’s assistant. He was a distinctive blonde haired man who answered to the name Jack McDaniel. Brandie and Jack had been having a clandestine affaire since late winter when he confided in her how truly unhappy he was with the situation in his home life. Brandie wanted Jack with his striking blue eyes and his massive hands so badly she was willing to over look something as trivial as a wife. Especially one that had worn out her welcome. They would meet every day at the same time behind the closed theater. There they would take his car for a lunch time tryst back at her apartment. After breaking his marriage vow with his afternoon sweetie, Jack would excuse himself outside to call the bothersome wife from his cell phone. Brandie never questioned him wanting his privacy. She knew if the wife ever found out the fun would be over. Brandie knew it was no fun to date a man dealing with a divorce and a bitter soon to be ex-wife. So if privacy was what he wanted, that was what he got. Though a wife is not what Jack was hiding from Brandi. In fact he had never been married. He knew that she would be an easy target, someone who would give him what he wanted. Telling her he was married was an easy way to circumvent any of those inconveniences like paying for a date, or pretending to listen when she talked. She made it easy for him, lunchtime was perfect for sex. It was long enough to do it right but not long enough to have to cuddle. Then later he never had to worry about her calling him, because he told her his wife would find out. Coming back in from his phone call Jack told Brandie. “Brandie, I have to go help my wife this afternoon. Her car broke down. I won’t be going back into the office.”

J’Rie Blackwell-Elliott may be reached for comments at dixiepoet@gmail.com.

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