State & Lake

Tina Allen - Sojourner Truth[/caption]
I was saddened to hear a woman I greatly admired died last week.  Tina Allen, internationally renowned sculptor and painter, died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center of complications from a heart attack.  She was 58-years-old.  Many of her sculptures featured African Americans through history — including abolitionist Sojourner Truth and author [...]

Shepard Fairey stands in front of his poster. Courtesy of Studio Number One[/caption]
A few businesses need to take a tip from this young man.  The story behind the Obama posters (pictured here) begins with a Los Angeles-based street artist, Shepard Fairey.  Fairey designed the posters for Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign and as he says, his [...]

PITTS — Bob Cormack with his Pitts Special Aerobatic Biplane
This has been a week of nostalgia.  Earlier in the week I was reminded of my high school graduation when my mother handed me a box instead of flowers.  In the box were keys to my very first car, a 1972 Camaro.  That evening I believe [...]

I stumbled upon a story last week while catching up on my papers and magazines. The story was written by Mark Price of the Associated Press and was about Curtis McNair, former Art Director at Motown Records and a man of firsts.
According to the article, McNair, 75, would rather be known for marching for [...]

I loved DoubleTake Magazine which eventually morphed into the DoubleTake Community which eventually morphed itself into nonexistence.  Yes, that’s right, it is no longer.  Effective January 11, 2008, the site made its final bow stating “We are happy to have produced the four issues that we did, but also saddened that we are unable to [...]

In light of the current housing market, I asked a friend be on the lookout for homes in the mountains with a reasonable price tag.  I’m not sure I really want another house and I’m not sure I actually want one in the mountains but, being the Artemis woman I am, I still have this [...]

While looking for photos or sketches of the brain for another article, I stumbled upon a series of photographs of a beautiful space designed by an architectural firm.
Creative and functional working spaces mean a lot to me. Earth tones, natural woods, an invitation to nature’s beauty beyond the space is the [...]

This article reminded me of something I did while in my junior year of college.  At that time I got this wild hair to package up all of my transcripts to that point and head over to the University of Illinois Circle Campus Medical School to meet with counselors.  What I learned [...]

“Frameless heads on nameless walls, with eyes that watch the world and can’t forget - like the strangers that you’ve met.” [Don McLean].
Sometimes words only serve to destroy a presentation, particularly one as beautiful as the following. Perhaps it is best to use the words of the artist that created the [...]

A co-worker recently introduced me to a film that appeared on screens in 1907. It is a silent film that came out during the days of burlesque, it is a French film and today, the character of the dancing pig is almost frightening to look at.
In spite of the pig’s frightening appearance, I was intrigued. [...]