an afternoon in the cave

Jenn's room is painted an acid yellow in an attempt to compensate for the lack of light. It has only one window which empties out into a tiny octagonal well with a shoddy wooden ladder leading up to the roof as well as three other windows from the neighboring apartments. Sometimes, in the evenings Pigeon man leaves his blinds up and you can see the shit covered golf clubs, powder skis and stacks upon stacks of Rubbermaid storage containers thrown against the shit-flecked walls of his apartment cum pigeon coop. At night, the rats and pigeons alternate between making the background noises to which I make my drawings. I can hear the mice running through the walls and the pigeons cooing or stretching their wings. And then the BART passes by. Makes for interesting dreams and my drawings are full of honey combs (there are bees in the garden) with eyes peering out of the darkness of each compartment.



I seem to be finally hitting some sort of a stride. My drawings are strange; the palette harsh, the lines really graphic and unpretty. I don't know how I feel about them yet, but I am re-establishing a routine and a discipline, and Jenn's cave of a room is really good for that. There is so much clutter in here, it's hard to get up without ricocheting into a stack of records, an opened book, computer, camera, journal or piece of paper. And when more tea is needed, downstairs for a snack and drum "practice."

Yesterday I watched this. Chris Johanson talking with Jo Jackson about their collaborative pieces at the Walker Art Center. It was hard to sit through; two incredibly intelligent people who are obviously uncomfortable with discussing their work and as a result, come off as painfully inarticulate. It did get better though, once they finished with the slide show, they briefly talked about living in San Francisco, the extremes of human lows and highs it represents, how there is no other place as intense and with such nice light. I agree. And then they talked about not having or wanting a real job, only as a way to pay minimal bills. Talked about spending all their free time in the studio, 40 hours or more a week, the real full time job. Something I admire.

Combing through Jenn's record collection: