"Muse" oil on wood panel, 18"x24" Tim Timmerman

Saturday I went to a talk by the science fiction writer Ursala Le Guin, and the poet Eleanor Berry.  Both had some curious things to say about the artists “muse.”  Interesting enough, the painting above, simply titled “Muse” is part of the a new body of work I’m approaching involving creating a character in assemblage, and then doing a painting in oil of the sculpture.  This work is currently featured in our faculty show at George Fox.

This configuration should have some familiarity with those that follow my work, as this pairing has occurred before.  The message from Le Guin and Berry seemed to be to simply be faithful and responsible to your muse, your construction, and who you are called to be in the work you are creating.  I’m intrigued that as an artist I feel the muse is not something I had any say in what it would be, or how it would function.  Ones responsibility as a maker is simply to follow, to listen, and to be faithful.  A relationship worth investing in, with no predetermined results (like all good relationships I would asertain).

Hope all is well with you and your muse….

A still of Pere Jules one of John Frames character for his tale.

While in Los Angeles last summer I discovered John Frame, a sculptor I admired from Southern California, had a new exhibit entitled Three Fragments of a Lost Tale at the Huntington.  I had been introduced to his work through a fellow artist some time ago.  It was a delight of a show.  It was a dive into another world created by the Frame’s hand, and a grin erupted on my face when reading the recent newsletter for the Portland Art Museum. The exhibition is coming to Oregon February 18-May 27.  Don’t miss it.

The exhibition consists of a running film of “fragments” of a story called The Tale of the Crippled Boy.  Around the gallery space, sculptures of the figures from the film are arranged in tenebristic settings.  Large  photo stills of the story grace the walls as well.

Yes there are obvious reasons while I like this man’s work:  he creates characters that he casts into narratives with one another, there is a profound sense of mystery to the pieces,  craftsmanship is important in the creation of the work, and his work actually seems to have something to offer to the viewer beyond just tantalizing then with irony, or a trendy “gotcha” aesthetic. There is a profound sense that resonates with me in Frame’s work that the ordinary can become extraordinary, as well as the artists desire to create characters that carry truth or insight to the viewer.

Take some time on his website.   He has much of the video work that he’s done there, as well as images of the work:  http://johnframesculpture.com/the-tale  Enjoy!

(here is a link to Portland Art Museums site as well:  http://www.portlandartmuseum.org/)

Frames, O-Man

The Author Shusaku Endo

Title:  Deep River  Author:  Shusaku Endo

His book Silence  knocked my socks off many years ago with the harrowing dilemma of faith it proposed.  Deep River continues examining faith this time looking at it through our longing for resolution both relationally and spiritually.  Following a group of older Japanese tourists traveling to India, their back-stories unfurl before us revealing secret motives and hopes of resolution that are drawing all of them on the trip.  Profoundly aware of a God that pursues us like a lover, Endo paints a broad picture of humanity longing for hope, connection, and redemption or simply journeying to say thank you.

Title:  Doc  Author:  Mary Doria Russell

I fell in love with Mary Doria Russell with the amazing spiritual science fiction novels, The Sparrow, and Children of God.   Creating the western themed historical novel Doc was a wonderful surprise to read from her.  Still showing her skill in creating three-dimensional profoundly human characters, Doc follows the life of Doc Holiday, of the famous Tombstone Arizona gunfight.  The books surprised me as being a story of friendship and survival.  It’s worth your time indeed.

Here's the cover to their August edition, which is good indeed I'm sure, but you want to pick up the Nov/Dec 2011 edition- "Summoning Adam"

I recommend that you pick up a copy of PRISM magazine’s Nov/Dec issue entitled: “Summoning Adam.”  Lots of good articles in there…

The issue specifically speaks of men of faith who are on the front line of putting their hands and feet to the hard work of embodying what they believe.  From helping men get out of prostitution, to working with men in prison, to working to shut down porn shops the men in the articles in this issue are not men of words, but men of action and true conviction.  Here’s a link to PRISM’s website:  http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/page.aspx?pid=310

In the spirit of full self disclosure, I’m in one of the articles called “The Measure of a Man” where they interviewed 5 of us asking specifically what is God’s call on men’s hearts and how can the church help do that.  Here is a link to the article:  http://issuu.com/prismmagazine/docs/pages_from_nov-dec_2011_prism_measure_of_a_man

In one of the articles the director of Emmaus Ministries in Chicago told an analogy I really liked:  A man dies and goes and to heaven and saint Peter greets him.  Saint Peter asks the man to roll up his sleeves so he can see his arms.  The man asks “Why?”  To which St. Peter responds “I want to see your scars.”  When the man rolls up his sleeves and sheepishly says “I don’t have any.”  Peter simply replies, “Was there nothing on earth worth fighting for?”

Blessings-  Tim

(No, as far as I know, no one slept when I spoke.)

One:  Several weeks back I spoke at the NARTH (National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality) conference in Phoenix with David Pickup a therapist in California that has been enthusiastically recommending the book. Here’s NARTH’s website:  http://narth.com/   It’s a good bunch of folks who are largely about the freedom of choice in therapy.  Some bullet points I got from being a part of their event were:

•  Be kind with those who disagree with you.

•  When working with others that have done emotional work and experiential weekends, don’t be surprised if your asked:  “What’s your animal name?”

•  When you speak feel free to “wing it” and tell good stories that fit the topic.

Two:  The other event I just have come back from this weekend in Philly is a discussion with 12 of us that approach the topic of homosexuality and our Christian faith from different perspectives.  This was put together by Evangelicals for Social Action (they produce the wonderful magazine PRISM). http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/

The gathering I participated in was called “Oriented to Love” and was run by their phenomenal editor Kristyn, our discussion was deep and thoughtful. Here are some thoughts I left our gathering with:

Community and conversation can take interesting forms.

•  To love someone is to be willing to walk with them in their pain.

•  Sexuality and specifically Homosexuality is COMPLICATED.  It is not something that can be addressed or engaged with shallow comments and actions.

•  No one get’s to choose who they will fall in love with.  Whether by family of origin issues, proclivities or the like, wanting to be connected relationally to another person  is not something you largely get to choose.  It is what it is.  In my opinion we can only choose how we will do that, and what we will determine is the most loving and Christ-like response in walking with one another in love.

•  Wise and sensitive folks will choose to self identify as “gay” or other such titles simply so they have a place; largely so they can finally belong to a community and not feel alone.

•  Sex is sacred and has been degraded in our culture to a profound degree.

•  We need community PROFOUNDLY in order to survive and succeed as human beings.

Blessings to you all – hope you are well.

Hello All-  come out and check out my work in the Alberta District here in Portland for the month of October.  The opening reception as you see above is last Thursday in September – see you all there!

Check out the gallery here:  http://www.guardinogallery.com/

"What Was" watercolor with oil varnish and assemblage. (approximately 10"x10") 2011 The snake I actually bought from the 6 year old son of a friend of mine when he was selling some of his toys on his porch to make some money. He's responsible for the snakes tail and head color, as well as the black section in between- not me. I thought he made good color choices!

I Thought I’d post for you more of the “small songs” that were featured for the first time at the Bellevue Festival for the Arts.  See the earlier post on July 28th for more info about these.  I had a great time creating these works playing with the exterior/interior aspects of the work.  Enjoy!

"Middle England" watercolor on wood with oil varnish/assemblage. Aprox 8"x8" 2011 I painted this in a train traveling from London to Bath. The women next to us in the train got progressively drunker throughout the trip (downing between four our them I believe about three bottles of wine). When we got off the train in Bath one said to me "Oh look there, you painted that nice painting on the train, and all we go was pissed!"

"Lion and Lamb; Bath, England" watercolor on board with oil varnish/assemblage Approximately 12"x 9," 2011. I was struck at my luck when I found the tabacco tin in a junk shop in Amity Oregon, and felt like it was a dead on match. The hand is actually from a saint and was bought in Belgium. For this one I sat out across the street in a garden next to a church to lay out the initial image for a half an hour or so.

Set up for the booth for Friday- I ended up changing the configuration around for the last two days.

The Bellevue Festival of the Arts was a blast to participate in.

Some of the work as displayed (click for a bigger image)

Highlights were:

•  Getting the art seen by a wider audience.

•  Great conversations with folks about the work.

•  Meeting a swath of wonderful artists who do the hard work of trying to make a living doing art (and having great conversations with them about making art).

•  Seeing alumni, and teachers from Fox coming and cheering me on, as well as running into a fellow artist in Seattle who bought a piece of mine over 12 years ago at Seattle Pacific University (among other wonderful visitors).

the back "nook" area of the booth (click for bigger view).

•  Actually selling artwork! (What a concept!)

•  Figuring out how to “take Visa.”

•  Having a family of three help me till 2 in the morning install my tent and art.

•  Having a 5 year old after seeing my work and talking with me yell, “I like you very much!” as he walked away with his family.

The view of the booth on Saturday and Sunday as you walked by. Another view.

The "street" view.

'in the Quiet" one of the new watercolor with an oil varnish/ assemblage works in the show

I leap into a new endeavor late tomorrow night as I set up an entire booth of my art of the Bellevue Festival of the Arts this weekend.  I am booth number 173, and will be there all day Friday through Sunday.   Please stop by if you are in the Seattle Area and say hello!

Here is the link to their site:  http://www.bellevuefest.org/  it is in conjunction with another wonderful art festival happening simultaneously Bellevue Arts Museum Arts Fair:  http://www.bellevuearts.org/fair/index.html  I believe there is going to be A LOT of art to check out.

I’ve finished ten of the “small songs” and have twenty other works I’m taking with me to boot.  Should be a good time.

"France and a Rabbit" (inspired in part from a canal trip and a very large rabbit I saw in Burgundy)

"The Roman Arch; Reims, France" was drawn on the spot this May- no, I didn't see a three legged horse too... it just worked