GARAGES GRAFFITI

Untitled graffiti artwork, unknown artist, The Garages, Tacoma, Washington.

The Garages in Tacoma are a set of parking garages that are set aside for not only paid parking, but also as a venue for graffiti artists to show off their skills without criminal prosecution. Many Sunday afternoons include contests between various artists.

ROSES and SHADOWS

Roses and shadows, early morning sun, Edgewood, Washington.

MORNING CLOUDS

Morning clouds over fir treetops, Edgewood, Washington.

FROST PARK: QUEEQUEG (KUNIYOSHI OUTLINE)

Frost Park Chalk Off 6:2 was free of rain, which was a much more pleasant experience than last week's inaugural outing for season six.Working on a wall was also better than last week's wet sidewalk. It's nice when the chalk does more of what you want it to do and the weather cooperates.


"Queequeg (Kuniyoshi Outline)" by Troy's Work Table.
Frost Park, Tacoma, Washington. Friday 12 April 2013.


Detail of "Queequeg (Kuniyoshi Outline)."

Inspiration number one: "Octopus, Red Fish" by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Hence, the "Kuniyoshi Outline" parenthetical of the title. I used the form of Kuniyoshi's octopus from this nineteenth century painting of his as the basis for Queequeg.

Inspiration number two: Ishmael's description of Queequeg in their initial meeting, as found in "The Spouter-Inn," chapter 3 of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.

DON'T

"Don't think you're the only bastard who ever suffered—just write as if you were." 

... 

"Don't blubber if you never receive prizes. Look at the poets who won the Pulitzer fifty years ago. See who's there. See who's not."

—from "The Nude That Stays Nude" by William Logan, as found in the April 2013 issue of Poetry.

BOOKS ARE ANATHEMA

"In a world where you get status from owning the latest technology, books are anathema: a sign that one isn't buying as much as one could."
—from "Noise-Canceling Headphones" by Paul La Farge, as found in the March/April 2013 issue of The Believer.