Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

This is an introspective time of year, and I've been spending the dark, pre-Winter evenings perusing old texts. I've come across this wonderful poem, written in the 8th century of our common era by the Great Chinese Zen (Chan) Master Shitou Xiqian (700-790):

Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

I've built a grass hut where there's nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.
When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it's been lived in - covered by weeds.

The person in the hut lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.
Places worldly people live, he doesn't live.
Realms worldly people love, he doesn't love.

Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten feet square, an old man illumines forms and their nature.
A Mahayana bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can't help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?

Perishable or not, the original master is present,
not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can't be surpassed.
A shining window below the green pines --
Jade palaces or vermilion towers can't compare with it.

Just sitting with head covered, all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn't understand at all.
Living here he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?

Turn around the light to shine within, then just return.
The vast inconceivable source can't be faced or turned away from.
Meet the ancestral teachers, be familiar with their instruction,
Bind grasses to build a hut, and don't give up.

Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.
Thousands of words, myriad interpretations
Are only to free you from obstructions.
If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
Don't separate from this skin bag here and now.

I can't presume to interpret this wonderful piece, except to say that a careful look suggests that the grass-roofed hut he speaks of is not necessarily literally some hut in the forest on a mountain. If the frame of mind is right, it could be my apartment in New York City. Let's pause and think how we'll build our own hut of grasses.

This translation is taken from Taigen Dan Leighton's book Cultivating the Empty Field (2000), a delightful book about another famous Chinese master, Hongzhi.

Brooklyn Artists Gym Holiday Art Sale, December 13-23

This just in from my studio, Brooklyn Artists Gym:

BAG will be having a holiday sale on art, December 13-23. Everything for under $350, most of it under $100. Imagine being able to get an affordable gift of art for those you love, and being able to support an artist at the same time!

Yours truly (i.e., ME) will be offering several works for sale (including the lovely painting shown below). I hope everyone can stop by. Visit the Brooklyn Artists Gym website, for directions and more details.

Latest Etsy listing

Just listed on my Etsy:



Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

New Etsy listings

I've added two new items to my Etsy shop. The first is an all-purpose greeting card design featuring an original watercolor painting of mine, titled simply "Treeform." This card is 5x7" folded, and blank inside. See the Etsy listing for more details on this wonder card.


The second item is an "ACEO" - "Artists Card Editions and Originals," also known as an "Artists Trading Card." I've got a ton of these I plan to list on Etsy over time. It's a fun, easy and affordable way to collect art. The artwork measures 3.5 inches tall by 2.5 inches across, and is one of a kind -- not a reproduction. This one is yet another treeform -- a part of my ongoing obsession--er, exploration of trees. Enjoy!

Infinitely looping self-referential blog post

It occurred to me that some readers of this blog are finding these words on Facebook, and that it is not at all self-evident on Facebook (cluttered, obfuscating mess that it is) that these words reside, ultimately, on a blog called Hominy Grits. So, I am announcing that fact, and further engaging in egomaniacal self-reference by encouraging you, dear readers, to check out the rest of this charming, erratic, quixotic corner of blogspace (or whatever they're calling it these days).

By now, you've followed the link through to the actual blog, so you'll be noticing the clever items on the side bar, such as the labels where you can find, at the click of a button, everything I've ever written here on the subject of 'new york city,' for example. Or the list of golden oldies ('best of ...') below that. Amazingly, I've maintained this blog since 2003! Now, how did that happen? On the masthead, you'll see that the subtitle reads 'art, spirit, science.' This is, very roughly, and very broadly construed, what this blog is about. Certainly not a very focused editorial position -- so I'm unlikely to ever win any journalism awards.

As far as the blog's title goes, well, that's a story for another day. Short explanation is: whimsy.

Nonetheless, there are some clever things here! So check them out, and stay tuned for MORE ART. That's what life's all about.

Blogs of Note: Strange Maps

I occasionally happen upon some really interesting and clever blogs. Even more occasionally (alas such a sorry excuse for a blogger I am!), I might think to make note of them here. Today I've thought of it. So, please take a look at this clever site: Strange Maps.

Geography is such a fascinating field of study that unites so many of my interests: science, environment, culture, history and the arts. Maps themselves have always had a special fascination for me. They've got some pretty amazing things on this site - both from an artistic and an academic point of view, so check it out!

A New Etsy Listing

I've added another item to my Etsy shop: http://tinyurl.com/yfaxwfr. This is a set of 10 of my Holiday 2009 Greeting cards. Enjoy!

Two more items have been added to my etsy

I've added two more greeting card offerings to my Etsy Shop. Below are photos of the new additions plus the fabulous Holiday Card 2009 and Solstice-Tree Cards I previously listed. Stop by the shop to see more pictures!

Introducing ZephyrusArts on Etsy

A short while ago I intimated that more news about my Etsy shop was coming down the pike, and here it is!

Yes, it's true, yours truly has opened an Etsy shop: ZephyrusArts.etsy.com. Check it out! I will be adding more items in the coming days and weeks. At ZephyrusArts, you'll find both original art and greeting cards featuring quality reproductions. And of course, the sky's the limit as to other handmade items I might come up with in the future.

Take a look at this year's Holiday card. It's currently available singly, but I'll also be listing 10 and 25-pack sets.

If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see in the shop let me know!

Mail-Art musings

Today's post features (a few) less words and more pictures.

During the month of September, I participated in a mailart project organized mainly through twitter by Montreal-based artist Mark-Philip Venema. I and 28 other artists volunteered to make 28 postcard-sized pieces of art and to then send them to each other in the mail, as postcards -- that is, without envelopes or other protection from the trials of postal system passage.

Postage art has a long and varied history. The founder, more or less, of modern mail art may be considered to be Ray Johnson. Follow the link to an interesting account of his mail art adventures.

For September's mail art project, we were given a theme: 'Time and being human in time.'

When I think of time and being human, I think inevitably of the passage of time, something inexorable, often swift and irreversible.

What came clearly to mind again and again was the evening gatha chanted in Zen buddhist zendos since time immemorial:

Let me respectfully remind you
Life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.
Each of us must strive to awaken;
Awaken!
Take heed; do not squander your life.

In the paintings I came up with, I tried to express these feelings: a sense of aging as well as agelessness, of winter, of sleep and of waiting. I hope you'll agree that there's something going on within these barren, possibly withered trees -- something beneath the surface, or behind the scenes. They're not necessarily bleak or dark -- they may be considered serene, gentle, even generous. But hopefully they are serious.

Here are several of my efforts:

This is one the earliest ones.


A middle piece.


Playing around with the 'suns.'

One of my personal favorites.

All 28 mailart pieces I made (I even sent one to myself) can be seen on my flickr page here.

I've received a lot of interesting mailart in exchange. Here's a sampling:

This is the first one I received:

Really incredible. It's by @iworebluviolets aka Jeanine Strasia. This set a high standard.

This piece by Simrat Khalsa was equally impressive. She's got a detailed explanation of her process on her flickr page.


The following intriguing piece is by Christi Nielsen; I think it's a silver gelatin print.


Steve Lauman's (@Buffalokid) piece is an eye catcher: cut paper mounted on plexiglas.


You can see all of the wonderful mailart I've received here and all the mailart that everyone received and posted on flickr here.

The Travels of William Bartram, continued

A few weeks ago, I quietly began a project to gradually serialize a classic of natural history/travel literature, Travels of William Bartram. This delightful travelogue was first published in Pennsylvania in "the sixteenth year of the Independence of the United States of America" -- in other words, in 1792. More about William Bartram can be found on the Wikipedia, among other places. Hopefully, it will soon become evident what I find so fascinating about Bartram's journey and his writings. In the meantime, on with the story!

When we last left our hero, he was sailing from Philadelphia to Charleston, South Carolina, when a fierce storm arose:

This furious gale continued near two days and nights, and not a little damaged our sails, cabin furniture, and state-rooms, besides retarding our passage. The storm having abated, a lively gale from N.W. continued four or five days, when shifting to N. and lastly to N.E. on the tenth of our departure from cape Henlopen, early in the morning, we descried a sail astern, and in a short time discovered it to be capt. Mason, who soon came up with us. We hailed each other, being joyful to meet again, after so many dangers. He suffered greatly by the gale, but providentially made a good harbour with cape Hatteras. As he ran by us, he threw on board ten or a dozen bass, a large and delicious fish, having caught a great number of them whilst he was detained in harbour. He got into Charleston that evening, and we the next morning, about eleven o'clock.

There are few objects out at sea to attract the notice of the traveller, but what are sublime, awful, and majestic: the seas themselves, in a tempest, exhibit a tremendous scene, where the winds assert their power, and, in furious conflict, seem to set the ocean on fire. On the other hand, nothing can be more sublime than the view of the encircling horizon, after the turbulent winds have taken their flight, and the lately agitated bosom of the deep has again become calm and pacific; the gentle moon rising in dignity from the east, attended by thousands of glittering orbs; the luminous appearance of the seas at night, when all the waters seem transmuted into liquid silver; the prodigious bands of porpoises foreboding tempest, that appear to cover the ocean; the mighty whale, sovereign of the watery realms, who cleaves the seas in his course; the sudden appearance of land from the sea, the strand stretching each way, beyond the utmost reach of sight; the alternate appearance and recess of the coast, whilst the far distant blue hills slowly retreat and disappear; or, as we approach the coast, the capes and promontories first strike our sight, emerging from the watery expanse, and, like mighty giants, elevating their crests towards the skies; the water suddenly alive with its scaly inhabitants; squadrons of sea-fowl sweeping through the air, impregnated with the breath of fragrant aromatic trees and flowers; the amplitude and magnificence of these scenes are great indeed, and may present to the imagination, an idea of the first appearance of the earth to man at the creation.

David Hockney's East Yorkshire landscapes

Some visitors to my studio yesterday brought to my attention an article in Sunday's New York Times about David Hockney's latest work. He's doing some really colorful, interesting, huge, multipanel landscape paintings of his native East Yorkshire. This is some very interesting stuff. Check out the article and especially the accompanying slide show.

Some of Hockney's new work will be appearing at PaceWildenstein's galleries in New York over the next couple of months. Something to check out, I think.

Thank you for visiting me at AGAST!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the open studio yesterday and today. It was a pleasure showing my work. Now that the tour is finished, it's on to new projects, one of which is my new Etsy store, where I'll be selling some of my smaller work. More to come soon on that. In the meantime, have a great week!

AGAST is today!

Our annual Gowanus Studio Tour begins shortly, at 1pm. I'm blogging live from my studio at Brooklyn Artists Gym at 168 7th Street in Brooklyn. Here is a view of my set up as of right now.




The tour runs 1 to 6 both today, Oct. 17 and tomorrow. See the AGAST website for details and directions. Come on by!

Quote of the Day

A merely well-informed man is the the most useless bore on God's Earth.

-Alfred North Whitehead, in The Aims of Education