Omen, November 1st

Life On Mars

Beauty

Grandma Henri

I miss her.

a fungus

birthday hike

more pics here

But Being With You Doesn't

Coexistentialist Bumper Sticker by theomnivore
View other Coexist Bumper Stickers

Being With You Makes Me Smile

being with you makes me smile by theomnivore
Design Custom postcards at zazzle

"she just does this part-time so she doesn’t get bored"

The Omnivore extends a hearty congratulations to Gypsy Martin on her recently published short story, "Mall Story" Page 22 of The Right Eyed Deer, Issue Four.

Upon reading it, I felt like I'd just been sucker-punched, which is a good thing.

Sparks That Set the Flames

I'm uncomfortably excited and pleased with a piece that I recently finished. The composition, materials, and the overall tone of the finished product all converged on an unexpected sweet spot for me.

Admittedly, a lot of the work I prefer to do is hard to look at. This piece feels a bit more easy on the eyes, yet has something to say, yet also isn't heavy handed in getting that done. And, I liked doing it. Dare I say a triumph? Or at least a triumph on a smaller scale...like a 5th-graders-end-of-the-year pizza party?




Pammela Springfield, at Cannibals Gallery, had a vision for a Day of the Dead show for the month of October. I started working on Elisha Didn't Get to Say Goodbye with that in mind. Actually, I had been wrestling with a completely different idea, of showing a Elisha in tears, staring at the empty robe laying on the road left behind by Elijah, who moments before was caught up in a fiery chariot. I couldn't really wrap my creative skull around that...seemed like it might be better expressed through cgi/special effects...but then that might have some ObiWan Kenobi connotations that I don't want. One morning, before the concerns of the day crept in, I had a eureka moment of seeing the trees expressing this event instead. For me, a tree uprooted and flying up into the air seems somehow more improbable, than your average everyday rapture. The trees can convey a human figure, and grouped together, or alone, they can provide a tone of companionship or solitude. And that literal motion of being uprooted poses some deep connotative territory for further exploration.

I find that my non-art life has been competing all the more defiantly for my attention, so it is a real gift to be excited about my creative work. This motivation and pleasure with my work is probably exactly what I need to carry me through until things calm back down in the other realms.

Monumental Irony

The top of the Peace Arch at the Canada-U.S. border crossing says, "Brethren Dwelling Together In Unity".

You stay on your side, and we'll stay on ours...unity!

Tic Tac, Time's A Wastin'

All In Favor?

Lanterns, by Wendy Vonderahe

Our friend Wendy painted this for Joy's birthday. I think it's fantastically fun!

Animals We Saw

Vote Now. The Future Is In Your Hands

You Might Not Need That Thing You Thought You Needed

No Way To Start a Saturday Morning

This actually happened last Saturday, but it has taken me a full week to recover.

Not seen are the chipped edges on Joy's beautiful blue bowl that flipped over when I was catching myself from hitting my head on the counter after stubbing my toe on a stray sharp metal refrigerator part.

--Chris

A Reason to Ride

Hey all,

I wanted to ask for your support this Sunday as I ride in the Bike for Shelter event. The ride is raising money to build a rehabilitation house for girls rescued from sex trafficking in the Portland area. Check out more about that here.

I'll be cycling 27.7 miles to show my support. Would you sponsor me? E-mail me at christopher.t.dennis AT gmail Dot Com and let me know what you are pledging and how fast you want me to ride. Checks should be made out to Transitions Global. If you want to donate online, you can do that at the Transitions Global site.

"A recent F.B.I. investigation ranked Portland second in the nation for number of child prostitutes apprehended during a three-day, cross-country search. There were 96 cases of underage sex trafficking in the Portland area during the first six months of 2009 alone.

Portland's location and trade links make it a popular destination for trafficking young girls, but another factor is Oregon's financial inability to address the problem. Prosecutions are few and far between, and when girls are discovered by local law enforcement there are few living arrangements available to them besides juvenile detention centers and foster care. Neither of those options is appropriate for a girl in such a unique circumstance; running away is their usual response, and most of them end up on the street and in the control of their pimps once again."

Slider: Episode 2