• Museums and the changing identity of Abu Dhabi and Qatar. (The New York Times) (via C-Monster)
• What Oscar Wilde could teach us about art criticism. (The New York Times)

The Green Book
gouache
45.7 x 30.5 cm (18" x 12")

For the five minutes it took to do, I was happy with this painting/drawing.

• An interview with John Updike. (Guernica)

Cold Day on the Assiniboine
oil on paper
15.2 x 20.3 cm (6" x 8")

Would a Winnipegger recognize this as a cold day?

Yann Tiersen: Le Matin

• Do you like banana pancakes, or lead a superficial, directionless, consumerist life? Then perhaps you can answer the question: " What is the purpose of backpacking?" (WORLDHUM)
• Homework isn't an option. (The New York Times)
• Gotta love art school. (Saatchi Online)
• Winnipeg bunhead makes good. (Winnipeg Free Press)

Red River at Twilight
oil on paper
15.2 x 20.3 cm (6" x 8")

This is the first in what will be a series of fifteen small paintings.

This is the Red River north of Lockport, Manitoba.

• Is ballet really dying? And is this the question to ask? (Slate)
• Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko and the CIA. (The Independent)

Reclining on a Cushion
ink and gouache
30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")

I struggled with the proportions in this drawing, and I'm still not sure that they're right even now.

• Get to know Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School (and your local branch).
• A very Japanese house - ultra small - and built on a single parking space. (arch daily) (via C-Monster)
• The Tate Gallery has introduced a new and free iPhone app called the Muybridgizer. It allows you to take iPhone photos in the style of 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge. The app was introduced to help publicize the Tate exhibition, Eadweard Muybridge. (via C-Monster)

• What makes a psychopath? (The Economist)
• The strange tale of Romain Gary. (The Telegraph)

Gaston Lachaise Sculpture
ink and graphite
17.8 x 11.4 cm (7" x 4.5")

Artist: anonymous

This is a drawing of Elevation by Gaston Lachaise done in the Art Institute of Chicago by an anonymous artist.

I almost hate to say it, but I prefer this drawing to the original sculpture. That being said, I doubt that the Art Institute will be purchasing this drawing any time soon to replace the sculpture.

Betty Boop in Bamboo Island: You may have to keep your eyes closed during Betty's hula dance.

• Classic style: The Chicago Manual of Style. (bookforum)
• The goggle eyed whore: Catherine of Aragon. (Literary Review)
• Window-shopping cop spots stolen sculpture in New York. (Winnipeg Free Press)

My Leg
charcoal and watercolour
27.9 x 45.7 cm (11" x 18")

Although it seems that one model might be resting on top of another, the model in view is actually looking at her own leg. The drawing, of course, has been done in bits and pieces, and even then, I didn't manage to fit everything onto the page.

• Michelangelo's David as it was originally meant to be seen. (DiscoveryNews) (via C-Monster)
• Le Corbusier with a straight edge. (arch daily) (via C-Monster)

Mississippi Boat Launchoil on paper
22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")

This is another painting done of the Mississippi as viewed from Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in Tennessee.

• What is philosophy? (tpm)
• The uncollected writings of James Baldwin. (The New York Review of Books)

Penseuse
ink
30.5 x 45.7 cm (12" x 18")

Because of the way this is drawn, it's looks like the model is wearing something. She wasn't.

• Chinese vase sets record price in Britain. (The Telegraph)

Betty Boop in Blunderland: Gotta love it.

• Products we hate. (The Morning News)

Mississippi Driftwood
acrylic on paper
22.9 x 30.5 cm (9" x 12")

This is the Mississippi not far from Memphis, Tennessee. The view is looking west from a boat launch area in Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park on the Tennessee side of the river.

• The non-science of economics. (The American)
• What is the recidivism rate for self-help book users? (The New Atlantis)
• Why do airline meals taste so bland? (The Independent)

Universal Jamming Gripper: a new approach to a robotic hand developed by Dr. Heinrich Jaeger, a physicist from the University of Chicago. Check this out.

• Dealing with procrastination, or hiding your clothes and writing naked. (The New Yorker)

Blue Housecoat
ink and gouache
45.7 x 30.5 cm (18" x 12")

This was done in fifteen minutes, which was probably good. Given more time, no doubt, I would have ruin the drawing.

• The political Picasso. (The New York Review of Books)
• Keep it real. (American Scientist)

Demon
graphite on paper
17.8 x 11.4 cm (7" x 4")

This may be a demon, or it may be a god. I don't really know which.

The drawing was done last year at this time in Japan at the Sanjūsangen-dō temple in Nara.

• Women Pop artists of the 1960's. (ArtNews)
• Stolen Degas discovered at Sotheby's auction in New York. (rfi english)

Unfinished Pot and Beer Bottle
acrylic on paper
29.2 x 38.1 cm (11.5" x 15")

This unfinished study was done in preparation for a workshop given last weekend at the Gimli Art Club.

Thanks to everyone at the Gimli Art Club for the warm welcome and the fun time.

• Does Annie Leibovitz count ($$$) as an artist? (Financial Times Magazine)
• Why conservatives, or even you and I, love war. (The Chronicle)

Renaissance
graphite
35.4 x 27.9 cm (14" x 11")

There's something about that hat that says 'renaissance' to me.

Back from the dead for better or worse.

• The letters of Bruce Chatwin. (The Sunday Times)

Untitled
oil on paper
30.5 x 40.6 cm (12" x 16")

Not much to say about this one. I'm not even sure that I like it.