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2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper

3. The dot over the letter 'I' is called a 'tittle'.

4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

5. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.

6. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.7. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

8. The 'spot' on 7-UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.

9. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.

10. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.

11. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.

12. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.

13. Most lipstick contains fish scales.

14. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

15. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine.

16. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.

17. Leonardo DaVinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time hence, multitasking was invented.

18. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

19. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

20. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!

21. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!

22. Leonardo DaVinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.

23. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

24. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween' was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white.

25. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19 You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar (good to know.)

26. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand (and you thought this list was completely useless.)

27. The phrase 'rule of thumb' is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

28. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

29. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples!

30. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

31. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

32. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.

33. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it.

34. George Carlin said it best about Martha Stewart. 'Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's behind bars.
Kobe Bryant is still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the ONE woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and they haul her fanny off to jail.]]> General http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=236 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:35:48 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=235 Carl B Johnson http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=235 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:34:18 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=234
I could care less what two people do in the privacy of their bedroom. Just as my sexual peccadilloes are nobody’s business other than that of my partner, I am a live and let live sort of guy when it comes to another’s lifestyle.

However, it bothers me no end when I am waiting in line at the local Wawa to pay for my cup of black, hot coffee and the person in front of me is paying for their groceries with food stamps. And then they are buying several packs of Marlboros with cash.If you cannot afford to feed yourself and your family on your wages (or lack thereof) then you sure as hell cannot afford to be paying $5.00 a pack for cancer sticks! That $15 you just spent on cigarettes coupled with the food stamps would have fed your family for almost a week if you went shopping at a real supermarket, and purchased generic brands rather than the Green Giant you saw advertised on your 56 inch flat screen TV.

And that is another thing. My TV only has a 25-inch screen, and is ten fucking years old! Maybe if I applied for public assistance and sold crack on the side I could afford one of those nice Toshiba flat screen plasmas.

And while we are on the subject of crack (and I am referring to the crack you see on the ass of these punks that haven’t figured out what a belt is used for); why do I have to undergo a drug test if I want to be gainfully employed while those that refuse to work don’t have to abide by the same rules?

If you can’t afford to pay rent, you can’t afford cocaine, or a bottle of Hennessey! If McDonalds can mandate that their employees undergo a piss test to be employed, why can’t social services mandate that recipients be drug, alcohol and nicotine free?

Every landlord that accepts section-8 vouchers needs to maintain a “smoke-free” rental unit! Any drug conviction by an immediate family member residing in the household of a welfare recipient, even if they “only were staying overnight” should be grounds to revoke the public assistance.

Radical? Only if you believe that you and I should have to work hard to scrape by a living while others are exempt and should be given a free ride at our expense. But I guess I should end this rant before the Politically Correct Police come and crucify me.]]> Sebastian http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=234 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:33:20 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=233
Art Brut roughly translates as "raw art", describing art created outside the boundaries of official culture. Early Art Brut focused on art by insane asylum inmates, when the term ‘insane’ was still politically correct.

Outsider art is the closest you can come to truly original art, art not influenced by or tainted by pretentious pseudo education, commercial profit, or cultural mores. In the South Jersey region we have a wealth of outsider art, and it is some of the purest art you will see displayed anywhere.
I was fortunate to make it to the Noyes Museum in Oceanville last month in to the opening reception for “Awakenings: Art & Healing, an exhibition of contemporary Outsider Art” which ran from September 2 through November 2, 2008.

Showcased were the artwork of mentally challenged adults involved with Hospital Audiences, Inc. (HAI) in New York City. This organization brings in professional artists to reach individuals in group residences and treatment programs.

Several of the artists attended the opening, and were more than happy to discuss the process, their art, and how they personally have benefited from this program to combat chronic alcoholism and combat depressive disorders.

Some of the works showcased historical events, such as an intricate pencil, pen and ink line drawing of the Battle of Hastings. Other work was deeply personal, revealing a depth of feelings that these men and women might otherwise not be able to find a way to express.

As of press time of this article, it is unlikely that you will have a chance to view this exhibit. This is truly a loss, and you would be well served if you watched for future exhibits of the patients of HAI.

However, there is still another venue of a permanent display of outsider art in a very unlikely location. The House of Blues (located in the Showboat Casino) in Atlantic City has the largest collection of outsider art I have seen.

Good friend and international artist and curator Rachel Citrino alerted me to this display. They had recently been to a concert at the House of Blues, and while eating dinner were amazed at the quantity of artwork on every available space.

Liz Nicklus and I made a point of having dinner before viewing a recent concert featuring the Robert Cray Band, opening for Keb Mo. It was an excellent concert, and the acoustics in the balcony seating are just phenomenal. But this article is not about the bands.

The majority of art hails from New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta. I lost count at close to fifty pieces of art, ranging from paintings to 3-dimensional found object assemblages in the HOB restaurant. Food and service were excellent, so don’t think that you have to attend a concert to see this art. Use dinner as an excuse.

Liz and I did, however, attend the concert. And the main floor and balcony walls too were chock full of art. In short order we began to recognize the styles and subject matter of particular artists. We hung around long after the concert was over, absorbing the wild color, the unconventional uses of form, and the sometimes-disturbing imagery.

The difference between the HAI and the HOB exhibits I would suppose is in the backgrounds of the artists. HAI artists are based in the urban areas of New York City, whereas the HOB artists hail from the rural South.

But the enthusiastic and uninhibited approach of self-expression unites both camps. The healing power of art shine brightly. camps. The healing power of art shine brightly. You owe it to yourself to explore this largely ignored community of artists.]]> Carl B Johnson http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=233 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:31:37 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=232
The organization’s website claims that Emil Van Hook is the President, but knowledgeable bystanders all acknowledge Porreca as the official voice and brains behind the organization. Emil is there merely to provide a place to meet.

From the slanderous attacks on outspoken private citizens in the online news forums to the underhanded sabotage against political candidates that he is supposedly supporting, there is no tactic too disingenuous for Porreca. One of the recent exploits of this group was to approach the local city commission with an ordinance that Millville First “had written”. That’s funny, I don’t remember voting for any of these clowns to run our city. As a matter of fact, the last time one of them ran for the office of commissioner, a local crank got more votes that he did. The only reason Van Hook got as many votes as he did in that election is because Eric Soler wasn’t running.

Now let’s put aside the insolence behind such an act. We will ignore the pomposity and the utter gall. This goes beyond every citizen’s right and duty to address the city government.

I firmly believe in the open process. I frequently offer suggestions, both in the form of letters to the editor as well as support and admonishment from the podium. I have offered copies of ordinances from other cities as helpful guidelines to consider in drafting our own. But I have never once had the audacity to actually pretend to perform a job that I am neither being paid to do, nor have asked by the citizens of the city to do.

It is one thing to offer ideas and to enlist others of like mind to participate in the democratic process. It is quite another to attempt to hijack the process for your own gain.

The reason for this rant isn’t that the ordinance was so pig-headedly wrong, (which it was). As I said, the process demands that we have individuals with differing ideas, and that people not be afraid to speak out if they disagree. Of course the system in Cumberland County that allows outspoken persons to be attacked through political machinations, of which Paul Porreca is so entangled, is a story for another issue.

This proposed ordinance dictated that all tax abatements be prohibited in Millville. This proposal proves that they are living in a Disneyland, where anything is possible with a little faery dust. Unfortunately, and Millville First has yet to realize this fact, we live in the real world.

Their proposal would turn back all progress, landing Millville into the pre-Industrial Revolution Dark Ages. They want to pretend that our neighboring city, Vineland, is not a stone’s throw from the areas that we are targeting for improvement, and hence future tax revenue.

Even though their leader is unscrupulous and admittedly self-serving (he wants all abatements outlawed while he enjoys a massive tax subsidy at local property owners’ expense) he wants us to believe in fairy-tales. He maintains that corporations are not driven by greed, and would happily locate in Millville even though it would cost them tens of thousands of dollars more than if they located one-half a mile away in Vineland.

He refuses to admit that the bottom-line actually dictates the decisions of big business, just as it drives his decision to screw the taxpayers of Millville rather than pay his fair-share of property taxes.

This group falsely asserts a correlation between residential developers and business development. They claim (ignoring the nationwide housing slump) that since we don’t offer abatements to residential developers that big business would locate here regardless of the abatement or lack thereof.

Let’s put aside the fact that we don’t want more residential development. It is the wrong approach to increasing ratables, placing stress on the infrastructure and ultimately costing the taxpayers more than it brings in.

The fact is that usable land is hard to find in New Jersey. Cumberland County in general and Millville in this particular case have land available for very profitable residential development. Make no mistake, when the economy begins the process of an upturn, we will have greater fights staving off residential developers.

It is not difficult to lure residential development. It is difficult to lure commercial development. Commercial developers know that they have something we want. Residential developers don’t. That is a distinction that eludes the brilliant minds of Millville Last, excuse me, First.

We don’t want massive residential development, and we definitely do not want sprawl. That is something that surprisingly, Millville First and I would agree on. Unless a certain retired judge had more land to sell to a developer…

We do want to attract commercial interests, and the new jobs that will be created. Yeah, we know the judge doesn’t need a job, as he confided to a friend of mine. But there are many people that do need jobs. Millville is in the rare situation of being able to create new jobs and to see expansion when the rest of the country is in recession and facing the most tragic financial crisis since 1929.

We need to debate the actual fallout of this suggested prohibition against abatements, rather than to blindly believe fables.

First, the way most of these abatements work is that the developer gets off tax-free one year. The following year they pay 20%, then 40%, 60%, 80% and finally 100%. Now, herein lies the crunch. You would think that this would cause the city to bring in less revenue, but the opposite is true.

When the city receives 100% of the tax rate, the money is split three ways; between the municipal, county and school system. When the city receives a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) it keeps 100%. It comes out ahead.

Okay, so we will argue the county and schools get cheated. New jobs are created, and no strain is put on the schools system. We lock in new ratables, and the schools will see the money in five years – new, free money without the added strain of new students. It is a long-term benefit, but we are talking long-term viability, not quick fixes.

If Millville doesn’t offer abatements, Vineland will. Vineland Mayor Bob Romano has stated this as a fact. He said he will fight for all new business, as much as he likes our Mayor and appreciates the great strides Millville has made in the past decade.

But let’s take a trip to Pretend-land, where Millville First resides. We will pretend that Vineland and Millville made a pact to prohibit abatements. A company, let’s pretend it’s a pharmaceutical company, comes to town to build a plant and provide 200 high paying jobs. We refuse to offer an abatement. They could go to Bridgeton, just ten miles away, and get an abatement.

Okay – back to Pretend-land. All of Cumberland County is in on our pact. Bridgeton won’t allow an abatement, they go 15 miles in one of several directions and be in Atlantic County or Gloucester County or Salem County.

Okay – so all of the surrounding counties join our deal with the devil to destroy job opportunities. Nobody in New Jersey offers abatements. Pennsylvania is only a 45-minute drive away.

You think this is a stupid scenario? This past year a pharmaceutical company actually did come to Vineland to locate, and was going to bring 200 jobs, most paying in the $50,000 a year range.
Vineland did offer a tax abatement, and the company was all set to locate here based on the incentives package. However, the idiots we elected in Trenton passed a law taxing all new business development at a rate of 2.5% of the project cost to go towards COAH. This minor tax, a mere 2.5% was enough to drive this company not only out of Vineland, but also out of the state entirely. Pennsylvania got the project. PA has new jobs, and we continue to lead the state in teenage pregnancy.

Members of Millville First claim to be conservatives, even libertarians. I fail to see how their rabid attacks on business and ferocious stance to increase taxes can be rectified with their so-called political stance.]]> Carl B Johnson http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=232 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:30:41 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=231
For those who prefer working with cold glass, a Mosaic Tile Stepping Stone is the perfect project for you. In one Saturday session, you will complete an 8” x 8” concrete and glass stepping stone that will WOW everybody you know. Even those with no experience cutting glass quickly learn how much fun mosaic creations can be. After curing, these stones may be used outside in a path or a garden. CSGA Director, Deb DiMarco, heads up this class on Saturday, November 8th.On Saturday, November 22nd, Michael Mills teaches Introduction to Borosilicate Marbles & Pendants. This four-hour session is loaded with information that will help you understand and handle that magical medium we call glass. By the end of the class, students should be well on their way to designing custom jewelry items or marbles for family and friends.

CSGA will close for the Thanksgiving holiday from Thursday, November 27 through Sunday, November 30 and will reopen with a Masters Class taught by Loren Stump. Stump, a world famous glass artist, will be coming to Carlisle School of Glass Art Tuesday, December 2nd through Saturday, December 6th, 2008 to teach Loren I. This rare east cost trip is a wonderful opportunity for those Moretti (soft glass) sculptors to work and learn from the best soft glass artist anywhere. It will be an unforgettable and probably the most valuable five days of any student’s glass working experience.

He is a patient and easy going teacher and his love for molten glass is apparent in everything that he does. His love of a good challenge led him to create his amazing sculptures out of soft glass, which many of his fellow artists told him could not be done! He is especially well known for his encased paperweights, sculptural techniques and “murrine.” For those who are not familiar with this process, glass is drawn into long “canes” of color, and then assembled into faces, repetitive designs and signature cane.

The workshop will be divided into three parts. “Advanced Murrine” will include color blending, design analysis, shaded components, assembling and pulling cane to produce Franchini-style shaded faces. “Sculptural Techniques” will examine several methods for achieving human and animal sculptural form using cold assembly, hot sculpture, detail overlay, temperature control, tool use, tungsten holes and the application of murrine. “Encasement” will involve creating floral paperweights. Floral setup techniques include using blended colors, ribbed cane and overlays as components for creating leaf stock, stems, buds, ball flowers, petals and stamen and then vacuum encasing the setup using his self-named “stumpsucker” and Schott crystal.

Stump’s teachings have taken him from Japan to Canada and numerous states in America, including Alaska! In every class you get so much more than what you pay for. Intense and full of information, sessions starts at 10 every morning, but often continue on into the late hours of night. Taking this class will open your eyes into a whole new world of glass, one that was thought to have not existed until now. Stump’s creations are unique and one-of-a-kind. In 1993, he discovered his hidden natural talent in molten glass and is mostly self-taught. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced lamp worker, Loren will be able to teach you something you would have never imagined. And if there is something that you’ve been dying to know how to do, Stump can show you! Even if he has never done it before, his clever mind will think of a way.

Following Loren’s class, Introduction to Fused Glass Tiles is scheduled for Friday, December 12. In this class, the students will learn to cut glass and apply stringers, powders and frit, creating basic to intricate designs with fusible glass. The tiles can be as colorful or as detailed as you wish. After fusing, the tiles may be used for practical purposes, such as coasters or candleholders, or they can be displayed in a small easel type stand.

To finish the year, one more Introduction to Soft Glass Beads with Stacy Camac will be held on Saturday, December 13. If you missed her class in November, now you have another chance before the New Year begins. Soon you will be on your way to making BEADS! This could be a great new (and warm) hobby for these approaching cold, long winter months ahead.

Remember, CSGA holds Open Torch Night every Thursday night from 4-9 pm. We will now be extending the services at to include use of the fusing kiln. Call ahead if you are interested in working on a slumping, fusing or casting project and CSGA will do its best to accommodate you.

If you have any questions or are just plain curious about glass, our doors are open! CSGA is always willing to help. Whether it is group lessons or private instruction, setting up a torch or setting up a workshop, kids parties or a community event, give us a call. CSGA is here for you.

Wishing everyone a totally warm and festive holiday season. Until next year…..

Keep the fires burning.

Deb DiMarco & Melissa Webster
Carlisle School of Glass Art
]]> Deb DiMarco http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=231 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:28:29 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=230 By Carl B. Johnson

In my previous column I discussed resolution and image size. This time we will explore color.

We understand that there is more involved in resizing an image than just worrying about height and width. But what are these Grayscale, RGB and CMYK terms? In digital imaging, an image may be comprised of only black and white pixels. This does not translate into the sort of gradation in tones that you expect when looking at a photograph. Grayscale uses shades of neutral gray to create the smooth transition from light to dark.

Unless an image is black and white there has to be a method to get the varying colors and shades. While it might be possible to use the actual colors to create an image. Anyone that studied with Pat Witt at the Barn Studio of Art in Millville, NJ knows that with just six tubes of oil paint you can create almost any color on your palette.

Almost all printing relies on mixing certain colors to create the full spectrum of colors and shades. Your inkjet printer uses a system of four colors. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. It applies dots of these colors to the paper to come up with a close match to any color of the spectrum.

RGB is the abbreviation for Red, Green, and Blue. These are the colors your computer monitor uses to display images. So how does this apply to you? It depends on the end use of your image.

Unless you have specific instructions to save your image in a specific format, your best bet is to save as JPG at highest quality, or in TIF format in RGB.

If you are printing at home, chances are you have an ink jet printer that uses four cartridges. Those cartridges contain cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. You would think that logically it would make sense to change your images from RGB to CMYK before printing to your inkjet printer. Not so.

The print engines have conversion programs designed to optimize the change from RGB input to the print to CMYK output on the finished print. You bypass these programs if you print a CMYK image, and a trained eye will be able to see the difference. In some cases the results will be horrific.

If your image is destined for press or print publication, quite often you will be required to convert the images to CMYK.

For the web, or inclusion in a PowerPoint presentation, RGB is the standard. CMYK images will not display on a web page.

This explanation of colors is not comprehensive. We have spot colors, duotones, indexed colors, lab colors, 16-bit and 8-bit channels… enough to cause your head to explode. But this series is intended for the novice, with the pertinent information to help you do the common tasks.

If you would like to explore these topics, and more, in depth, visit www.creativepro.com, a great website for those that want to work like a pro.

Next issue we will delve into the
]]> Carl B Johnson http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=230 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:27:24 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=229
Through the years I have read quotes from many artists that I have admired. Here are a few of the ones in which I could make a connection between words and work.

“May I repeat what I told you here: treat nature in terms of the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, everything in proper perspective so that each side of an object or a plane is directed towards a central point. Lines parallel to the horizon give breath, that is a section of nature, or if you prefer, of the spectacle that the Pater Omnipotens Aeterne Deus spreads out before our eyes. Lines perpendicular to this horizon give depth. But nature for us men is more depth than surface, whence the need of introducing into our light vibrations represented by reds and yellows, and a sufficient amount of blue to give the impression of air” - Paul Cezanne.“Art is metaphysical…it will free itself from man’s purpose and desires. We will no longer paint the forest or the horse as they please or appear to us, but as they really are, as the forest or the horse feel themselves - their absolute being - which lives behind the appearance which we see .We will be successful insofar as we can succeed in overcoming the traditional “logic” of millennia with artistic creativity. There are art forms which are abstract, which can never be proven by human knowledge. Forms have always existed, but were always obscured by human knowledge and desire. The faith in art itself was lacking, but we shall build it: it lives on the “other side”. - Franz Marc.

“A work of art consists of two elements, the inner and outer .The inner is in the soul of the artist; this emotion has the capacity to evoke a similar emotion in the observer. Being connected with the body, the soul is affected through the medium of the senses—the felt. Emotions are aroused and stirred by what is sensed. Thus the sensed is the bridge i-e., the physical relation—between the immaterial [which is the artist’s emotion] and the material, which results in the production of a work of art. And again, what is sensed is the bridge from the material [the artist and his work] to the immaterial [the emotion in the soul of the observer]” - Wassily Kandinsky

“Since life defies formula, so does painting if it’s meaning lies in its truest reflection of life. Therefore for some painters the fulfillment in their art will not come simply from the proper juxtaposition of color or form. In their painting as in life, there is a struggle and disappointment before realization and their first approach to realization is their doorway to a new labyrinth of obstacles and problems.” - Herbert Katzman.

“Every figurative attempt in the visual arts is positively to be condemned when made without consideration of the underlying esthetic principle of abstraction, because such mortal negligence will necessarily lead to uninspired, imitative, and academic formalism. Creation deals with nature’s physical laws, with the picture’s esthetic surface laws, and with the laws of the operating medium of expression—all of which are dissimilar; but in no way repulsive and unadjustable to each other when handled by the creative mind. By these means an anatomical detail in nature is transformed into a pictorial means - a point, a line, a plane, a color, etc.- and functions thereby in accordance with the pictorial surface laws in the meaning of a profound and deeply sensed composition. This is then creation, as opposed to amateurish imitation” - Hans Hoffmann.

My favorites are from Georges Braque’s Aphorisms. “One should not imitate what one wishes to create. I would rather put myself in unison with nature than copy it”.” Nature does not give taste to perfection. One conceives of it as neither better nor worse.” “The painter thinks in forms and color. The object is his poetic aim.” “The painter knows things from sight, the writer by name.”

Mo
All the artists’ statements were selected from: Painters on Painting by Eric Protter. Originally published: New York: Grosset and Dunlap; 1971]]> Mo Pagano http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=229 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:21:44 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=228
Liz Nicklus’s Phantom Gallery struck again on 3rd Friday in September, with an impressive exhibition in the RRCA’s atrium, of works by faculty, alumni, and students from Philadelphia’s Hussian School of Art, where I teach Art History. The highly esteemed four-year graphic design and illustration program just moved to a new location on the third floor of the historic Bourse Building at 5th and Market, and we celebrated the beginning of our new era with a themed show of self-expressive work called It’s All about Me. As co-curator of the show, I called upon my students and colleagues to submit self-portraits, their own favorite works, or compositions that they felt were most indicative of their unique artistic styles. Upon seeing the installation, RRCA Board President Marie Hahn graciously invited us to extend the show to an entire month, well beyond the usual one-night 3rd Friday shows for which Phantom Gallery is known. When Hahn asked for my opinion of Hussian, I tried not to brag, but stated that I’m very proud of the quality of the program and the students, and that I think it’s a truly outstanding art school. She responded, “That’s not what I heard; I heard it’s THE BEST!” She heard correctly.The art on display included a variety of media, styles, and subjects, from self-portraits, figure studies, and fantasy illustrations, to cityscapes and still lifes. Instructor Louise-Clement Hoff’s naturalistic pastel nude of Selene, Goddess of the Moon, alumnus Brendan Ford’s Pop-inspired silkscreen close-ups of girl’s faces, and student Richard Marr’s detailed Adobe Illustrator digital prints of New York and Tokyo, as well as his glowing self-portrait entitled Saint Richard, evinced the diversity of Hussian. As gallery visitor Larry Ericksen (of Inferno’s popular “Travels with Larry” column) noted:

The variety in the art is really a tribute to the school. Obviously, Hussian and its faculty encourage self-expression and individuality among their students. All these artists are extremely talented, and all are working in completely different personal styles, unlike some schools, where all the work looks alike and students are discouraged from exhibiting or creating their own unique vision.

Acrylic self-portraits by Tim McKenna (Tim Who?) and Brian O’Toole (Victim of Paranoia) not only skillfully captured their own physiognomic likenesses, but masterfully evoked their personalities and states of mind. Minutely finished acrylic illustrations by Kerri Costello (Letting Go of the Butterflies), Matt Moys (The 11th Part and Pumpkid), and Eryn Diskin (Seascape, depicting an underwater self-portrait as a mermaid) visually convinced us, with their precision and detail, of the reality of their fantasy worlds. Siobhan Cusumano’s original digital photograph, Lamp Post, reworked in PhotoShop, was a moody near-monochromatic view of the waterfront in Venice, which she visited on a study abroad trip last January, and Tracy Soto’s deeply moving figure study, Thirst, inspired by the Crucifixion of Christ, attested to the maturity and mastery of these outstanding students.

As Hussian’s Admissions Director Lynne Wartman observed:

I spoke with some of the students involved . . . they were so excited and pleased to be a part of this event. It is obvious what their participation is doing for them personally and professionally.

There is no doubt that each and every one of the artists in It’s All about Me will go on to long and successful careers as a result of their innate talent and their professional training at Hussian. We are grateful to Liz Nicklus and to the Board of the RRCA for inviting us and for making us feel so welcome in Millville. For more information about Hussian School of Art, see its website at www.hussianart.edu. ]]> Dr. Debra Miller http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=228 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:19:56 -0500 http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=227 D.J. Richardson

Another week of not
Knowing
What day it is,

Facing another dawn
On a couch,
Disheveled from occasional anguished visits.

As Aristotle's dictum
Runs through my mind
About all things in moderation,

Other thoughts
Crash
Against the inside of my skull

Like seething waves upon
The rocks
Of addiction.

And I drop to my knees
Screaming
To the Almighty

To save me

Archangels too,
Raphael, maybe,
Desperately.

And I cannot remember
When I was
Happy.

Just broken now
With a million names
In my head

Losing energy tic by tic.]]> Poetry http://wuli.com/inferno/index.php?itemid=227 Thu, 6 Nov 2008 11:18:44 -0500