... and because I'll be seeing him live tomorrow night.
"Wolves" by Bon Iver
24 September 2009
10 September 2009
07 September 2009
New Work Explorations...
These new ideas are generously "borrowed" and derived from Jeff Rau and Jonathan Anderson... friends share things, right?
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I've been wanting to make "icons" of my Northwoods Journals imagery... so here we go, this is my first attempt at routing and inlaying using a Dremel... not sure where this will lead, but it's fun to play... This is definitely very rough, and if I don't get better at it, then I'll just have my photos laser-cut and inlay them that way...
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The wood panels would be stained, and I'm toying with the idea of incorporating gold leaf into them somehow... into the wood grain... ? who knows, but below are some images of my first attempts to gold leaf something in 10 years. I'm not that fond about it yet, but I'm excited to have at least gotten some of these ideas out of my head and into the studio.
.jpg)
.jpg)
I've been wanting to make "icons" of my Northwoods Journals imagery... so here we go, this is my first attempt at routing and inlaying using a Dremel... not sure where this will lead, but it's fun to play... This is definitely very rough, and if I don't get better at it, then I'll just have my photos laser-cut and inlay them that way...
.jpg)
The wood panels would be stained, and I'm toying with the idea of incorporating gold leaf into them somehow... into the wood grain... ? who knows, but below are some images of my first attempts to gold leaf something in 10 years. I'm not that fond about it yet, but I'm excited to have at least gotten some of these ideas out of my head and into the studio.
.jpg)
13 July 2009
Website updated / blog update to follow...
www.kurtsimonson.com
has been updated with new info/news pages and the latest configuration of the Northwoods Journals project.
maybe someday I'll get around to updating or using this blog again too...
15 February 2009
Uganda pictures are posted
My Uganda photos are finally posted and ready to share- I had a hard time narrowing about 4000 photos down to about 1200... which is still far too many for most people to care about, but it was a big trip! The photos are organized in sets on my Flickr.com account, which allows you to view them at your own pace and with some sense of organization... so go here to see them:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsimonson/sets/
If you have never used Flickr before, it can be a little disorienting because of multiple viewing options. If you click on a set, you are taken to a thumbnail page. From there you have two options:
1. Click on any of those thumbnails, and you are able to see them larger. You can also read captions easily that way. Moving to the next picture is done through a grey-shaded box on the right. When viewing this way, you can also make comments, and you can view and download the full-size version of the picture by clicking "all sizes" above the photo.
2. However, if you want to view them as a slideshow, which is my favorite way of viewing things, there should be a small little icon (of a projector screen) for viewing things as a slideshow at the top of the main set page. The background goes black and the photos go full-screen, and if you want to know caption information, click "show info" at the top of the black screen.
I should be picking out some of my favorite photos to put onto my main website soon (www.kurtsimonson.com) and when I do, I'll let you know.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kurtsimonson/sets/
If you have never used Flickr before, it can be a little disorienting because of multiple viewing options. If you click on a set, you are taken to a thumbnail page. From there you have two options:
1. Click on any of those thumbnails, and you are able to see them larger. You can also read captions easily that way. Moving to the next picture is done through a grey-shaded box on the right. When viewing this way, you can also make comments, and you can view and download the full-size version of the picture by clicking "all sizes" above the photo.
2. However, if you want to view them as a slideshow, which is my favorite way of viewing things, there should be a small little icon (of a projector screen) for viewing things as a slideshow at the top of the main set page. The background goes black and the photos go full-screen, and if you want to know caption information, click "show info" at the top of the black screen.
I should be picking out some of my favorite photos to put onto my main website soon (www.kurtsimonson.com) and when I do, I'll let you know.
07 February 2009
Uganda pictures coming soon...
To those of you who have been checking to see how my trip was... my apologies. It's been very difficult to find time to process my pictures (or my thoughts) since I got back and since work for the spring semester has started.
I will be posting most of the pictures (thousands of them) on my Flickr webpage, which I'll share the link for once they are ready. Then you can take your time, view as many as you want, or just ignore them.
Once I have a strong set of (narrowed down) personal favorites, I'll post those at kurtsimonson.com
For now, here's a couple.
Ruth's house, "The Blue House" at Namugongo
Idah, at the Blue House
Ruth's oldest sister
St. Paul's Cathedral, Namirembe
10 January 2009
Me & Ezekiel
On Wednesday, I finally got meet Ezekiel... who I found out actually goes by Namukangula within his family (most of the kids have an English name and a family name, which is different than what would be their western surname... hard to explain).
I've sponsored Ezekiel for the last two and a half years- he's from the remote bush village of Bulemeze, which is where Sam's side of the family is from originally. Ezekiel, and a lot of the kids from Sam's side, now live in Kayunga (outside Kampala), in the house that is cared for by Gladys, the woman in the post below.
Yesterday I got to see the village, visit his parents grave, and meet his uncle James, who took care of him and his 6 siblings after his parents died. James told me his dad died first (from AIDS), then his mom one year later. Ezekiel was very young, and probably would not remember them. Three of Ezekiel's siblings (John, Robinah, and Diana) live at Kayunga with him now, and are sponsored by Ugandan Lambs. I'm not sure about the status of his older siblings.
09 January 2009
Tom & Alex
When we first pulled up to Ruth's family home in Namagongo ("the blue house"), before Tom could even get out of the van, Alex was running up to him to give him a huge hug. Without a doubt one of the most touching things I have seen in my life.
Last year it was discovered that Alex had a heart condition that needed surgery. The same condition had recently taken the life of one of our other kids. Tom and his wife Meredith, who sponsor Alex, organized the fundraising to pay for Alex's surgery... and now he has the massive scar to prove it... which he's showing us here under his new Wilson's Home Improvement shirt.
01 January 2009
Uganda
In about 24 hours, I'll be on my way to Uganda. If possible, I'll try to post updates and photos on here... in the meantime, here's a few photos that Louie Huesmann took when they visited last year.
Gladys, the caretaker for the kids at Sam's family home in Kuyunga. I am really looking forward to meeting this amazing woman, whom I hear has an incredibly deep and rich voice.
Here are the kids that stay at Ruth's family house, "the blue house," outside Kampala
Inside the Blue House, which is falling apart faster and faster each year... we may end up doing a fair number of repairs on it next week.
Great job with the photos Louie... I have a lot to live up to with my own work. Check out www.louiehuesmann.com when he finishes it.
Cheers friends... I'll talk to you from afar when I can.
Gladys, the caretaker for the kids at Sam's family home in Kuyunga. I am really looking forward to meeting this amazing woman, whom I hear has an incredibly deep and rich voice.
Here are the kids that stay at Ruth's family house, "the blue house," outside Kampala
Inside the Blue House, which is falling apart faster and faster each year... we may end up doing a fair number of repairs on it next week.
Great job with the photos Louie... I have a lot to live up to with my own work. Check out www.louiehuesmann.com when he finishes it.
Cheers friends... I'll talk to you from afar when I can.
01 December 2008
New Website
It's still being updated slowly, as I add new galleries of older work... but change has finally come to my website.
www.kurtsimonson.com
I am looking forward to discovering, and recovering, some old lost gems, like this photo of a dear old Irish woman at a crappy arcade in Ballybunion, Ireland, in 2003. She's the oracle, and she promises change.
19 November 2008
"Fanatically Yours"- NYC exhibit photos
22 October 2008
"Fanatically Yours" exhibit in New York- opens Nov. 7 at NYCAMS Gallery
I'm excited to have two pieces showing in New York next month, and since I'm flying out there for it, I'd love to see you at the opening if you happen to be in the area that night... (well, you never know when people are wandering through New York).
"Fanatically Yours" is an exhibition of 7 artists, including yours truly, curated by Josie Browne, the director of the Max Protetch Gallery in Chelsea. The exhibit, however, will be at the NYCAMS gallery- 44 West 28th St, 7th floor.
The opening is at 6pm on Friday night, Nov. 7th, but the show will remain open through Nov. 28th. Let me know if you might be coming!
26 September 2008
05 September 2008
02 September 2008
Silence, Solitude, and Swearing.
I was invited to give the devotion at the faculty meeting for the School of Arts and Sciences today, because of my experiences last summer at the English L’Abri. The text of the devotion follows below:
_________________
I went to L’abri with a somewhat specific set of questions, and as I found out happens to many people during their time there, I soon discovered that those questions simply opened up into much larger questions… and it became clear that none of them would really be answered. but as one of my favorite songs by my favorite band, Over the Rhine, reminds us, “we need questions, forget about the answers…”
In my 2nd or 3rd day at l’abri, my mentor invited me to join a reading group that was going through Henri Nouwen’s “Reaching Out.” As a huge fan of Nouwen, I was familiar with this book, but had never read it. Turns out it was exactly what God wanted me to read while I was there, and it prompted exactly the right set of questions for me, even if they would be questions without answers.
If you have not read it, the book talks about three movements of the spiritual life: from loneliness to solitude, from hostility to hospitality, and from illusion to prayer. It was the first movement, from loneliness to solitude, which was a critical theme for this time in my life… after all, I was about to turn 30 as a single man. For the first week of my time at L’Abri, I spent a lot of my time reading about my questions, studying about my questions… before it became clear that in order to struggle with my loneliness I needed to be alone and stop filling the time with seemingly healthy distractions like reading and studying. And for the first time in my life, I actually did desire to be alone, because it was a beautiful place to be alone… The 17th century manor house sits on a large patch of land, with many quiet fields surrounding it. My favorite place to spend time was inside the small chapel beside the sunken garden, which had been converted from a stable house warming room.
Three hours of the day at L’Abri are set aside for study, so for three hours at a time, I would sit in places like that chapel, journaling, praying, listening, and generally struggling with the attempt to have solitude… something that is awful difficult to find if you are as good at distractions, busyness, laziness, and sleeping as I am. I didn’t know what I was expecting… some kind of voice-from-heaven experience… I don’t know. A little bird, a busy little wren, did keep me company every time I was in there, however. And I did hear from God, but I have no idea how to talk about it because a cynical kid of my generation is still too afraid to use trite words that sound like Christianese.
But one day, when journaling some hard questions and angry frustrations, God responded. I would read from my journal from those days, but I swear a lot when I’m talking to God. I think he’s okay with it, he’s never stopped me from it and I figure he knows it’s going through my mind anyway. He does want us to be vulnerable after all, and sitting there in that space for 3 hours a day, I felt the vulnerability of His Presence. And that’s when I heard the words that were clearly not from my internal monologue: “have courage, I can sustain you.”
I wish I could say that an amazing peace descended upon me… I wish I could say that I learned how to be still and make the time for solitude every day. But the reality is much more human than that. I have struggled with this experience ever since. But in those hours in the chapel in the garden, I was reminded of the need to listen… to be still… to listen for questions, or answers, or neither… I learned that what some call the silence of God is really a wonderfully frustrating mystery to experience.
I had brought a book of poetry with me to L’abri that summer entitled “God’s Silence” by Franz Wright. So I’ll close by reading my favorite poem as a prayer and a reminder to us. So listen and pray with me:
Introduction, by Franz Wright (2nd half):
I am here to learn
to bear
the beams of love,
what else
Bells
through the leaves, I am here to endure the
bells tolling
underground
Like you a guest, a ghost
Everything will be forgotten
And either I am too alone
or I am not
alone enough
to make each moment
holy
(No one bats 1.000, friend
no one
bats .500)
And I heave heard God's silence like the sun
and sought to change
Now
I'm just going to listen to the silence
till the Silence
_________________
I went to L’abri with a somewhat specific set of questions, and as I found out happens to many people during their time there, I soon discovered that those questions simply opened up into much larger questions… and it became clear that none of them would really be answered. but as one of my favorite songs by my favorite band, Over the Rhine, reminds us, “we need questions, forget about the answers…”
In my 2nd or 3rd day at l’abri, my mentor invited me to join a reading group that was going through Henri Nouwen’s “Reaching Out.” As a huge fan of Nouwen, I was familiar with this book, but had never read it. Turns out it was exactly what God wanted me to read while I was there, and it prompted exactly the right set of questions for me, even if they would be questions without answers.
If you have not read it, the book talks about three movements of the spiritual life: from loneliness to solitude, from hostility to hospitality, and from illusion to prayer. It was the first movement, from loneliness to solitude, which was a critical theme for this time in my life… after all, I was about to turn 30 as a single man. For the first week of my time at L’Abri, I spent a lot of my time reading about my questions, studying about my questions… before it became clear that in order to struggle with my loneliness I needed to be alone and stop filling the time with seemingly healthy distractions like reading and studying. And for the first time in my life, I actually did desire to be alone, because it was a beautiful place to be alone… The 17th century manor house sits on a large patch of land, with many quiet fields surrounding it. My favorite place to spend time was inside the small chapel beside the sunken garden, which had been converted from a stable house warming room.
Three hours of the day at L’Abri are set aside for study, so for three hours at a time, I would sit in places like that chapel, journaling, praying, listening, and generally struggling with the attempt to have solitude… something that is awful difficult to find if you are as good at distractions, busyness, laziness, and sleeping as I am. I didn’t know what I was expecting… some kind of voice-from-heaven experience… I don’t know. A little bird, a busy little wren, did keep me company every time I was in there, however. And I did hear from God, but I have no idea how to talk about it because a cynical kid of my generation is still too afraid to use trite words that sound like Christianese.
But one day, when journaling some hard questions and angry frustrations, God responded. I would read from my journal from those days, but I swear a lot when I’m talking to God. I think he’s okay with it, he’s never stopped me from it and I figure he knows it’s going through my mind anyway. He does want us to be vulnerable after all, and sitting there in that space for 3 hours a day, I felt the vulnerability of His Presence. And that’s when I heard the words that were clearly not from my internal monologue: “have courage, I can sustain you.”
I wish I could say that an amazing peace descended upon me… I wish I could say that I learned how to be still and make the time for solitude every day. But the reality is much more human than that. I have struggled with this experience ever since. But in those hours in the chapel in the garden, I was reminded of the need to listen… to be still… to listen for questions, or answers, or neither… I learned that what some call the silence of God is really a wonderfully frustrating mystery to experience.
I had brought a book of poetry with me to L’abri that summer entitled “God’s Silence” by Franz Wright. So I’ll close by reading my favorite poem as a prayer and a reminder to us. So listen and pray with me:
Introduction, by Franz Wright (2nd half):
I am here to learn
to bear
the beams of love,
what else
Bells
through the leaves, I am here to endure the
bells tolling
underground
Like you a guest, a ghost
Everything will be forgotten
And either I am too alone
or I am not
alone enough
to make each moment
holy
(No one bats 1.000, friend
no one
bats .500)
And I heave heard God's silence like the sun
and sought to change
Now
I'm just going to listen to the silence
till the Silence
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