Author Archives: leslie

Bully This

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The recent suicide of gay teens has been getting some national press attention. This is sad but also good. It’s about damn time that influence of bullying is discussed, blogged about and gets national press attention.

Part of me wants to scream out what about all of the kids who came before who committed suicide? What about my generation? This kids who quietly passed away with no attention? The kids who suffered with no one speaking out?

Part of me knows it’s time that my generation of GLBTA folk speak out and talk about the crap that happened to us as kids, about the presence of bullies in our school. Speaking out is the only way I know to let today’s youth know they aren’t alone, that yeah it sucks but it gets better.

So here is my story:

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Stop thinking like the little guy

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“Stop thinking like the “little guys” for a start.” Hazel Dooney tweeted in response to my tweet.

Brilliant in its simplicity it goes back to something I’ve heard before, “Herger, think bigger.” Jim used to say this to me in rotation along with “Herger, get some bigger canvas for next class.” Perhaps for me working small goes along with thinking small. Sometimes it’s hard to think BIG when you have small amounts of time to work.

No offense to my DayJob but I’m really looking forward to my sabbatical during which I hope to focus primarily on art, the classes, an online sales solution and live sales solutions. I have no interest in being represented in a gallery. I don’t want to see 50% of the price of my paintings go to a gallery. I’m doing the work, why should they get 50% of that? Don’t give me the tired BS that they push sales and connect my work with buyers. Yawn. Perhaps I’m a control freak and want to know where my hard work ends up.

One of the few regrets that I have in life is that in 2001 when my art was starting to sell that I didn’t keep on making more of it. I should have stayed the course and continued to create and sell. Now I’m left picking up the pieces and recreating what was a hell of a lot easier when I was younger, jobless and without a mortgage.

The great thing about waiting to be where I am now is that technology has caught up with my ideas. I had the idea of doing online classes back in 2001 and 2002 but the technology wasn’t there. At the time you could create a private blog but UStream and the webcams available just weren’t good enough. Now they are and I’m able to do what I dreamed of back in the day.

During my sabbatical I’m looking at renting a space (perhaps with a few friends) and seeing if we can do a few shows in it. One to 3 months. It’s a simple idea. It’s a small step towards thinking bigger.

 

Wheels..

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Wheels..
Originally uploaded by wil_freeborn

 

Again another fantastic series of watercolors (i think anyhow) from wil freeborn on flickr. This is great stuff on many levels but the great use of line and the terrific coloring makes me think of book illustrations. Don't take that as an insult, there are a lot of great illustrators.