And So On...

One of my 2007 paintings, "a cruel and beautiful faraway place," was selected by artist Molly Schafer for inclusion in Dan Halm's blog-based curatorial experiment, "And So On..." As Halm describes it,

"I got to thinking about if there is any correlation between inspiration and the network of artists who we choose to associate ourselves with. Which got me thinking about networking, which then reminded me of that old Breck shampoo TV commercial where 'she tells two friends, and so on and so on...'"

Indeed, I am familiar with many of the names so far selected, and know several of the artists personally. (I chatted with Felix Esquivel over a couple of beers just last night.) The art world is a network - which, depending on my mood, may be very good or very bad - but all those rubbing shoulders are bound to produce sparks.

Speaking of shared impulses, Molly Schafer has begun her own (HH) artist blog, Harpia harpyja. Molly names her blog after the impressive Harpy Eagle, a bird I've only had the privilege of seeing once, in the coastal rain forest of Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, where I worked as a trail maintainer one summer after high school. They are large, powerful raptors, though not as handsome, I think, as the Ornate Hawk-eagle (Spizaetus ornatus), a bird that swept low through the dense rain forest and landed on a branch not twenty yards from where I sat at the base of a massive fig. It cocked its head, crest bobbing gently, and stared at me. I sat, gaping. After a long moment, the bird dropped forward and silently glided through the humid understory.

That Osa rainforest, part of Corcovado National Park, has figured prominently in my (still limited) understanding of rainforest ecology; it also appears in some paintings, including another 2007 work, "between meaning and material (h.H.R.)."

Anyway, thanks to Molly for selecting me. More about Halm's project when my two picks are posted.