“Three Doors” Watercolor Painting by Ed Tajchman

This painting is at my gallery website edsartworkshop.com. It’s also featured on my ‘about’ page too. It’s called ’Three Doors’ it’s 22 x 28″ and it’s one of the latest in a long series of watercolors (all done by hand of course, I like digital art but don’t do any formal work in digital)  in which you can see the style of the series develop. I would like to say this is my newer work but it’s already a couple years old and I have so many new paintings. I really need to get off my butt, and finish the approximately 30 or more paintings I have just waiting to be shared. The new stuff is mostly in acrylics, with a few drawings and watercolors also. I really like this piece though, there is no way for the following to not sound egotistical but I don’t care, I really have never seen an abstract watercolor style that even slightly resembles my own.

              
                  Three Doors, 22 x 28″ watercolor by Ed Tajchman ©2008

A Note to Readers About Negative Comments

Hello readers! Being an artist firmly grounded in the realm of spiritual and abstract expression, I sometimes get comments on this site, (also on my modernartquotes.com)  from artists or viewers who are firmly grounded in the very boring world of recreating reality with their art. To them I say – buy a camera! I too can hypnotize people with my amazing ability to draw a vase of flowers exactly has it appears, but choose not to, booooring. The only interesting vase of flowers ever painted were by Van Gogh, more than a century ago.  A painting of a still life is boring and should probably be burned. I appreciate all comments and all readers, but if you are insecure and jealous and make anti-abstract art comments because it’s something you don’t like or don’t understand, don’t bother, I will only delete them. Please refer to my post: I Hate Pretty Art.

Ed’s Framing Tip of the Day

After more than seven years has a professional picture framer, one of my greatest pet peeves that developed was this insistence from customers that their framed art match their house and their decor. This is perhaps the greatest myth in picture framing, the notion that good art should match everything.  Then again, a lot of what people get framed, is not good art. Any framed item though, should always look classy in and of itself, in and out of any settings. A few basic rules to accomplish this are has follows. 

 Never let your mat and frame choices outshine the art itself, doing so results in tacky and gaudy decor. You spend the money to get it framed to enhance and preserve the art, not to have people only look at the framing. Choose neutral colors from the art for your mat and frame choices. Never choose the boldest colors or the lightest or darkest colors either, from the art. Artists like to use white mats, but again, this will be lighter than most colors in your art and  is going too far in the opposite direction. You do want some color and texture, but at the same time not drowning the art with them. 

For my mat choices, I like to work with whatever family of earth tones like red clay, blue-ish grey, taupe, grey-lavender or charcoal that suit a particular piece. For frames I like a nice genuine well-finished wood texture or a carved (not overly carved) design in pewter, dirty gold or dark bronze finish. Ultimately though, whenever you first see a piece of art, you should always notice it first, and then the framing. Who cares what the color the couch or your wall-paper is? In 5o years you will still have a piece of classy framed art if you do it right, when the decor is long gone.

I Respect Obama, But Who Cares What Ted Kennedy Thinks?

All I have been hearing on the news is how Ted Kennedy is so angry with Bill Clinton for supposedly overstepping the line campaigning for Hilary. Before I proceed with my own little rant here, let me say I have respect for both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton and I think either one makes a good candidate for president.

That being said, let me say this – why do I care what Ted Kennedy thinks? - I don’t, and never did. (This is where my independent political side comes in.) I am seriously so sick of hearing that Ted Kennedy is upset. I’m upset, upset that someone who put a woman in a position to die and left her there and then gets off cause he’s a Kennedy, carries so much supposed influence with his opinion. Click here to learn the disturbing truth behind the infamous incident. Ted Kennedy: The Truth of Chappaquiddick. 

To be quite frank, It is Ted Kennedy seeking the endorsement of Barack Obama, and not vice-versa. Ted wants to hook himself onto a winner like Barack to help his own legacy look like one of hope, like the vision that his brothers offered and helped to mold. I am so sick of the bickering, Bloomberg for president anyone?

Are You Kidding Me? Obama is the One Fighting Dirty

Obama is the one fighting dirty. Yes it’s a fact; John Edwards said it himself,  when Hilary was leading substantially there were no attacks from her. Obama, when it looked like his campaign was faltering started the attacks with the rest of the democrats falling in line to attack Hilary. Remember? she was taking all the blasts from all of her democratic opponents in the debates. Only then did Hilary start fighting back, and how could she not? With everyone ganging up on her. It’s his camp that these reports of the Clinton’s fighting dirty repeatedly are coming out of.

Do you hear Hilary accusing Obama of fighting dirty? No, despite very cheap and underhanded statements from Barak Obama’s wife, who said “If you can’t run your own house, how can you expect to run the country?” Now, the Clinton’s daughter is doing very well, so what could she possibly mean? We all know what she means, she’s referring to the Lewinsky incident and that is the most cheap thing I have heard anyone say on either side. Shame on her. If anything Hilary and Bill are defending themselves. It’s a Bush like tactic that the Obama team is using, accusing the Clinton’s of fighting dirty, while acting innocent, has reports  repeatedly coming from their campaign, flood the media. Frankly all I have heard from the Clinton’s are denials and defensiveness. The Obama group is the one on the offensive, like I said, that’s a Bush like tactic; act innocent while you subtlety play the other side. It’s ridiculous, wake up people! Obama is the one playing the role of the trickster, not Hilary.

Frankly, another thing that Obama does that is eerily like Bush is that he is not a hands on manager, he puts people in place to do the thinking for him. Obama said it himself, he’s not a hands on leader. Do we need another hands off male running this country? We know Hilary has the guts and decision making skills that Obama obviously lacks.

Ghost Hunters International Episode: Evil Unearthed

A new television show; Ghost Hunters International (a spinoff from Ghost Hunters, both Wed.’s on the Sci-Fi channel) had its premier this past month. This team includes Brian, Donna, and Andy from Ghost Hunters with associate Barry from Ireland, and newcomers Shannon and the leader; Rob. This is my quick review of the recent episode, Evil Unearthed.

The team really got excited with their experiences at the Italian site. Donna claims to have been repeatedly touched by something, although this was at the urging on of Brian. I found that whole sequence a little weird. Brian keeps shouting and then Donna reacts to Brian’s shouting, but I don’t think anything really happened, typical Brian weirdness.

Shannon almost started crying she was so scared and not to be mean, but that really blows my mind. You are out hunting ghosts, but the second you even suspect you find something, you go rigid with fear, that is just so not the way to Ghost Hunt, I am sorry! Ridiculous! You really have to give Rob credit though for questioning Donna’s reactions, and making Shannon and Donna go back in when they were scared, letting them know, duh! that’s why we’re here people. (in not so many words; he has more tact than I do.)

The case at the old English Mansion went a little smoother, a much more TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society from Ghost Hunters) style investigation. For all the excitement and experiences the team had at both places though, all they came up with were some very iffy EVP’s (electronic voice phenomona caught on tape). It just goes to show that this team is really letting their fears control them. Brian is always the inventor of something from nothing, with Donna and Barry his willing cohorts and vice-versa. At least Andy and Rob both seem level headed and out to dismiss most of the nonsense.

The Neverwinter Nights 2 Ending Was Only Okay (spoilers)

After starting the game more than 7 months ago, putting it down for a while, starting from the beginning with another character, and after weeks of staying up way too late, I finished the game Neverwinter Nights 2. Let me start by praising this game in saying it’s the best living legacy of the original D&D, and Ad&d. (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.) I’m sure Gary Gygax is proud.

Yes, there is that massively multiplayer online role-playing game D&D: Stormreach, but it’s dumbed down if you will, for the sake of smooth game-play. The true roleplaying game connoisseur, is playing Neverwinter Nights 2 which implements almost fully, D&D in it’s current form; 3.5 edition has published by Wizards of the Coast. It seems like only yesterday I was playing Ad&d 2.5 edition rules with Baldur’s Gate. NWN2 comes from that great tradition of computer role-playing games; The Baldur’s Gate series with it’s expansions, Icewind Dale I & II, Torment, and of course the original Neverwinter Nights.

There are still a lot of people who still play the original Neverwinter Nights, which is a testament to the design of the game, and the community created content ability it has. It’s multiplayer functionality is developed by the community with the toolset that comes with the game, with a lot of intensely developed worlds to play on. NWN2 also has this ability for community created content, either with modules (stand alone adventures), or persistent worlds (developed worlds hosted on servers for multiplayer role-playing). The Mask of the Betrayer expansion for NWN2 really streamlined and improved the game engine a lot, so the people that still play the original, really have no excuse not to start rebuilding their worlds in NWN2.

Anyways, after recently finishing the original campaign for NWN2, I was a little disappointed with the ending. Don’t get me wrong, the whole thing is an amazing piece of work, with seemingly endless hours of game-play, characters, and adventures. It’s an amazingly long journey and build up to that final scene in the lair of the Shadow King. Which is why I was so disappointed, with all that incredible build up, I was expecting a lot more in the end.

 In part III when you are in command of your own fortress, I thought was some really interesting new game-play. It brought in elements of simulation and strategy games, with having to find and assign sergeants to different missions, choices in rebuilding the keep, funding your army, training them, etc. The end of part II in the keep of Ammon Jerro felt much more like a proper ending than the real end did, I had to replay the final battle with Ammon several times with new strategies and approaches to finally win. At the lair of the Shadow King I waltzed in and destroyed everyone in one swoop, kind of cool but boring.

I much prefer to be challenged in the climactic battles of a game. With the Baldur’s Gate series, Torment, and the Icewind Dale series even, many of the battles are very hard to win. They required replay many times with different spell combinations loaded, different potions, different character positioning, and different strategies. Overall NWN2 is a fantastic game, which does not deserve the stigma of being buggy that it has gotten. Like I said the MOTB expansion really enhances and improves the NWN2 engine, and there are no excuses for anyone not to play it. It has endless options for game-play with the toolset, modules, and persistent worlds available.

Ed’s Picture Framing Tip of the Day

For those of you that don’t know me, I have more than seven years experience has a professional picture framer. After framing a few thousand pieces, one tends to pick up on a few things. Here’s my tip of the Day:

Always use conservation UV glass when framing your art/items. For not a lot more investment; this, along with an acid-free mat (or an all cotton rag mat is even better) for your prints and paintings on paper will prevent fading. Make sure that the mounting of the item is on an archival foamcore backing and completely reversible. (photo-corners or light hinging tape.) Of course you shouldn’t use glass on an oil or acrylic painting.

New Caney School Teacher Should Be Fired!

Check out this news story out of Texas:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=5890046

A 6th grade band teacher forced students to empty their spit valves into another students hand after he forgot his trumpet that day. I was in 6th grade band class a number of years ago, and let me say, if this had happened to me, the teacher would have been fired immediately without question. What is wrong with that school? Currently the teacher is on administrative leave, PAID! They gave the teacher a paid vacation! He should be fired.

Google ‘New Caney Elementary’ to find their website with an email link right on the homepage, so you can voice your frustration.

This Independent Voter Is Voting For Hillary Clinton

I was leaning towards Barak Obama for a long while, until the New Hampshire debate when to me, he revealed himself to be just another pompous egotistical male with his snide remarks, now famous I guess: “you’re likable….. enough Hillary.”

There was just something about that remark that drove me completely away from supporting Obama. It was too personal, too much male vs. female, and for me it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. To further illustrate my frustration let me show another example, in one part of the debate Edwards, supporting Obama said, ‘I didn’t hear these types of attacks from Senator Clinton when she was ahead, but now we do.’ Puhhh-lease! So it’s okay for every single other candidate to rail Hillary constantly in the media and at debates, but she’s not allowed to attack anyone else? Is Edwards new to politics? Maybe he hasn’t heard of the Clintons? They attack when they need to and are extremely good at it. The fact that she did wait so long to begin direct attacks on the other candidates does show a measure of respect for a clean campaign, much more so than Obama or Edwards obviously.

The idea that Hillary isn’t an agent of change is just plain false. Who was the first one to formally address health-care reform? Hillary, more than 10 years ago. It can seem like Obama is the one really preaching change, but she has been fighting the same battle a lot longer than he has. I was honestly buying into his message there for a while, but like I said, his snide comments at the New Hampshire debates to me revealed his true nature, another predatory oblivious egotistical male. So he spent a couple years in the world of Chicago politics, this makes him an agent of change how?

Oh and one last thing, a message to TIME’s Ana Marie Cox who said after Edwards’ Comments (listed above): “Hillary: Angry, Attacking, Frustrated. This May Be the Moment We Look Back on and Say, ‘That’s When She Lost.” NOPE, for me that is when I realized I was voting for Hillary.

Roger Clemens is a Huge Laughable Fool

Roger Clemens is laughable at best. The McNamee tape is hilarious, you see the tape of Roger Clemens’ lawyer (his recently hired lawyer by the way, with an obvious fight-dirty strategy) lean over into Roger’s ear and give his advice has the taped phone conversation between Clemens and McNamee plays on. In the conversation Roger is obviously fishing for a statement that McNamee was lying about his Mitchell report statements concerning Clemens. McNamee is obviously fishing for a deal from Clemens like the one Barry Bond’s trainer got for refusing to testify, and/or fishing for Clemens to slip up and ask (after McNamee’s repeated “what do you want me to do?”) him to come out and lie on Roger’s behalf.

Did you see the sixty minutes interview? Roger could barely look Mike Wallace in the eye, turning his head downcast after every answer he gives. Body language is 80% of communication, and Clemens’ body language clearly indicates a man who is unsure of himself; shifty downcast eyes, akward nervous gestures and movements. He is also extremely defensive and angry, does this remind you of anyone? I had to look twice to make sure it wasn’t Barry Bonds I was looking at, it was difficult because Clemens now has that same angry feigned indifference attitude.

This whole circus does nothing but make Roger Clemens a huge laughable fool. I don’t buy any of his lies for one second. He admits that McNamee shot him up, with what he says are B-12 shots and lidocaine. Sure Roger I believe you, several other people that McNamee had shot up have come out and said that this is the truth, but with Roger though, it was B-12 that was shot in his ass, yeah right, because when you get a B-12 shot, they put it in your ass. That whole taped conversation is obviously a ploy by Roger and his lawyer, and Mcnamee like I said definitely has his motives too. This is not some random genuine conversation that happened, it’s a setup, a ploy, and Clemens is the worst actor I’ve ever heard. No hall-of-fame, no respect, no dignity left Roger – save what little of your pride you still might have and walk off into the sunset. Although I do enjoy this hilarious circus that you keep presenting before us though.

In Your Faces! KU Wins the Orange Bowl!

Gunshots and fireworks explode around me here in Lawrence, Kansas has the Rock Chalk Jayhawks defeat the Virginia Tech Hokies and win the Orange bowl. The KU defense had 5 sacks and 3 interceptions; one for a touchdown, the special teams had a blocked field goal, the offense comes up big with a 4th and 10 fake punt for a first down. Todd Reesing shows that he is one of the great poised decision makers in all of college football. End result: KU: 24, VT: 21.

In your face Missouri fans! I guess you shouldn’t have let Oklahoma stomp you so embarrassingly, you only beat us by a score; you belong where you ended up, defeating an unranked Arkansas team. In your face ESPN and all the other sports analysts who were laughing at KU and the Orange Bowl who selected them. The fighting MANGINOooooooo’s win; in your faces everybody! I hope you lost a lot of money betting on Virginia Tech. KU wins the Orange Bowl..AHAHAHAHAHa!!

Hmm, I’m feeling what it must be like to be a New England sports fan, KU is in the top 5 in basketball and will be in football too. Aqib Talib will surely go pro, but KU will be returning most of their offense and defense. Now if Bill Self can lift the Jayhawks basketball team into the final four, what an even greater sports year this will be for KU fans.