DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Thesaurus Day

When you rise to meet the break of day, you can see the first light of the sun showing you the crack of dawn. The birds will make melody as they vocalize their chirps and cantillate their love of morning with the singsong serenade of chants, croons, and warbles. You can celebrate their exaltation of life with blessings as you laud the day ahead, and rejoice as you prepare for the party that exults a new date on the calendar. Thesaurus Day will help you broaden your horizons and your vocabulary, and take joy in the beauty of language!

History of Thesaurus Day
Thesaurus Day is your opportunity to reintroduce yourself to that best friend of writers, the thesaurus. Whether you’re looking for a new word to spice up your vocabulary, or looking for precisely the right nuance to add to a sentence or phrase, a Thesaurus can be there to help you. While many of us don’t use the great expanse of verbiage that’s available to us, the expanse of language really gives us an amazing ability to express ourselves with beauty and precision.

Poets have long used words in their melodious composition of phrases to evoke the most powerful images, knowing that “very happy” is all good and well, but “exultant” brings about an entirely different scene to mind. What makes an author truly expert is knowing how to blend together words and scenes to capture the mind and really bring across the personality of the characters in their stories. When all you can think of is a “brown” pond, it’s so much better to grab that Thesaurus and find that the word Bistre really captures the heart and meaning you’re looking for. Thesaurus Day is when we can defenestrate our old vocabulary, and use the new space to help build up something a bit more elegant.

Word of the Day

voracious

Definition:

(adjective) Having or marked by an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; greedy.

Synonyms:

rapacious, ravening

Usage:

She was a voracious reader and loved to spend her afternoons at the library.

Idiom of the Day

a long row to hoe

— A particularly difficult or problematic task, situation, or set of circumstances to contend with or confront.

History

Legionnaire's Disease Mystery Declared Solved (1977)

In July 1976, members of the American Legion veterans association who were gathered at a Philadelphia hotel began falling ill with a mysterious respiratory ailment that sickened 221 and killed 34. Months later, the US Centers for Disease Control announced that a new bacterium—Legionella pneumophila—had been identified as the culprit.

Joseph Bonanno, AKA Joe Bananas (1905)

Born in Sicily, Bonanno came to the US illegally in 1924. He settled in Brooklyn and became a bootlegger and mob enforcer. In 1931, he founded the Bonanno crime family, one of five families that dominated organized crime in New York City. He ruled the family for decades, and although his empire stretched across the country and involved gambling, loan sharking, and drug trafficking, he was never convicted of a serious crime. He died in Arizona at the age of 97.

Festival of St. Peter's Chair

At the Vatican in Rome, St. Peter is honored as bishop of Rome and the first pope. The current pope, wearing his triple crown and vestments of gold cloth, is carried in his chair of state in a spectacular procession up the nave of St. Peter's Basilica. He is deposited behind the altar on a richly decorated throne that enshrines the plain wooden chair on which St. Peter is believed to have sat. The ceremony dates back to at least 720 and is regarded as one of the most magnificent ecclesiastical observances to be held at St. Peter's.

Researchers Spot Massive Black Hole In Double 'Burp'

A giant black hole located at the center of a galaxy 800 million light-years from Earth has been caught on camera letting out not one, but two massive "burps" of highly charged particles. It is the first time astronomers have viewed the phenomenon ...

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Researchers Spot Massive Black Hole In Double 'Burp'

1778 - English navigator Captain James Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which he called the "Sandwich Islands."

1886 - The Hockey Association was formed in England. This date is the birthday of modern field hockey.

1896 - The x-ray machine was exhibited for the first time.

1929 - Walter Winchell made his debut on radio.

1939 - Louis Armstrong and his orchestra recorded "Jeepers Creepers."

1958 - Willie O'Ree made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins. He was the first black player to enter the league.

1965 - Barbra Streisand and Bobby Darin sang for Lyndon Johnson's presidential inauguration.

1975 - "The Jeffersons" debuted on CBS-TV.

1978 - Neil Sedaka received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1993 - The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed in all 50 U.S. states for the first time.

1995 - The "yahoo.com" domain was created.

Image result for 1995 - A network of caves were discovered near the town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in southern France. The caves contained paintings and engravings that were 17,000 to 20,000 years old.

1995 - A network of caves were discovered near the town of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in southern France. The caves contained paintings and engravings that were 17,000 to 20,000 years old.

Image result for weekly coffee evolution

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, January 18

While you are essentially conservative and of a practical mind, you do have an emotional and impulsive streak. There is an inner restlessness in you that can sometimes be at the root of dramas in your life if you examine it closely. You prefer to be self-taught, finding much to enjoy in learning new things through your own studies. Poised, dynamic, and benevolent, you are an intriguing mix of intuition and practicality. Famous people born today: Cary Grant, Kevin Costner, A. A. Milne, Danny Kaye.

READERS INFO

Telluride Mountainfilm on Tour 2018

Jan 18-19, 2018 | Dallas, TX

Moody Performance Hall|2520 Flora St

Telluride Mountainfilm has a rich collection of inspiring and educational films to show the world. This mountainous tour travels to six different continents to ensure they leave no members of their audience out in the blistering cold. Each film packs a lot of content into a short-running time to ensure you’ll see as many films as possible.

further information: Mountainfilm on Tour - Dallas, TX 2018

RM Sotheby's Automobile Auctions 2018

Jan 18-19, 2018 | Phoenix, AZ

Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa|2400 E Missouri Ave

If you’re embarrassed to ride around in a soccer mom van or a PT Cruiser, then the RM Sotheby’s Automobile Auctions should rev your engine a little bit. As you know, the highest bidder goes home with the sickest whip. What qualifies as “sick” may be a modern muscle car or something your grandpa drove in the 40’s, but you’re guaranteed to find what it is you’re looking for so you don’t look like a car crash on wheels every time you pull out of your driveway.

further information: RM Sotheby's - Arizona 2018

Winter Lights Festival @ Canary Wharf 2018

Jan 16-27, 2018 | London, United Kingdom

Throughout Canary Wharf

Image result for Winter Lights - Canary Wharf

Canary Wharf becomes an astonishing light spectacle that will provide a charming and scenic view of the business district. In addition to the jaw-dropping use of LED lighting, the district will also glow thanks to a collection of dazzling sculptures and visual installations from artists all over the world. Canary Wharf won't see a hint of a darkness well into January as the winter season makes itself known.

further information: Winter Lights - Canary Wharf

A dear reader, Ara, allows us a viewing of the remarkable work of her daughter, Suze's art. I can sit here and just stare at the amazing paintings and the stunningly bound books she creates!

Thank you for sharing your daughter's creativity with us, Ara.

I have been a poor correspondent since last May, but perhaps when I describe my hectic schedule since then, you might forgive me.

In June I greatly enjoyed being a juror for the Utah Watercolor Society’s annual plein air week in Capitol Reef National Park. I got to hike around, paint in, encourage artists about, sell work near and otherwise learn to love yet another national treasure landscape.
Below, top: The Reef from near Fern's Nipple, watercolor on paper, 7.5" x 22"
Below, bottom: Cathedral Valley, watercolor on paper, 5.5" x 30"

In July I returned unofficially to Stehekin in the North Cascades for a 2-week visit to the people and places I met as official Artist-in-Residence in 2013. I finally got to Boulder Butte and Purple Pass, as well as delighted in painting the informal fleet of aging trucks dotting the valley. Mark Scherer gave me some beautiful honey-colored and buprestid-bored scraps of yellow cedar.
Top: Diamond T Pole Setter watercolor on paper 11" x 15"
Middle: Town of Chelan Fire Truck, watercolor on paper 11" x 15"
Bottom: Stehekin Bakery Truck, watercolor on paper 15" x 11

In August-September I joined 3 other visual artists and 2 writers as residents at Jentel near Sheridan, Wyoming. Those scraps of yellow cedar became a book with stamped leather pages and wood covers, recapitulating the boring beetle galleries I found in the Lost Fire of 1988 in the northeastern Big Horn Mountains. I learned to love yet another landscape.
Below top, Book made from Wyoming truck plate, hinges, eyelets, pop rivets, 6-ring notebook clasp, digital prints of original watercolors, steel plate, opens to 6" x 43".
Below bottom: Bark Beetle Book Volume XII: Buprestid Katakana, yellow cedar, leather, linen thread. 9"H x 8"W x 4"D.

In September-October – almost the only time I was home long enough -- I taught a 5-week class at Gage Academy in Seattle. I’m thrilled that one of my burned tree paintings was the cover of their winter catalog.

I have realized that my favorite week of the year in the Cascades is when the larches still have golden needles and the first snow has fallen in the mountains. This year included at least three sunny days and almost every painting from then has been a winner.
Top: Colchuck Tarn, watercolor on paper, 11" x 15"
Left: Stuart and Ingalls Slope, watercolor on paper, 11" x 15"
Right: Back along the Maple Loop, watercolor on paper, 11" x 15"

In late October I hit the road again for Mancos, Colorado, to return to Willowtail Springs for a collaborative residency. I managed to finish a number of small plein air landscapes and two large burned tree paintings. Wildland firefighter and author Lorena Williams and I are working on an installation together which we hope to have realized by next fall.
Top: Jolie laide, varnished watercolor on torn paper, 52" x 26"W (rotated right)
Bottom: Blazed (sold), varnished watercolor on torn paper, 52"H x 20"W (rotated right)

In November I again joined my friends and colleagues at the annual Zion Plein Air Invitational. After six visits I am still finding new places and new views to celebrate, and I came home with lots of sketches for winter studio work as well.
Top: Above the Checkerboard Mesa Viewpoint (sold) watercolor on paper, 11" x 15"
Middle: Zion from the Rockville Bench, watercolor on paper, 11" x 15"
Bottom: Eagle Crags, watercolor on paper, 15" x 11"

Two of my burned tree portraits, printed on fabric and suspended from the ceiling, are on exhibit for the Grand Canyon Trust at Dark Sky Brewery in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Like all who are lucky to have their friends and family nearby, I survived a multitude of holiday events with only a few nights’ less sleep and lots of extra calories.

And now, for what's coming up in 2018:

The group show “Re: Acclimating” opens January 12 at the Kirkland Arts Center. You can see that bark beetle book made from Stehekin yellow cedar scraps in person. It will be up until February 17. Photo is shown above in the Wyoming section, Volume XII: Buprestid Katakana.

I'm giving a presentation January 13 at the University of Puget Sound's Collins Library, for the Puget Sound Book Artists' annual meeting about how I use technology to create my artist books.

Another bark beetle book will be part of "So Sew" at the Vestibule Gallery in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood from January 25 to February 18. I plan to attend the reception on February 15.
Top: Bark Beetle Book, Volume XI A and B: Teanaway Log. Fir-engraver-inscribed log, magnets, linen thread, stamped text. 8"W x 4.75"L, 4.5"H closed
Bottom: detail, how the stamped pages open. Each page has a phrase from a Department of Natural Resources paper about bark beetles.

It's true that I paint individual charred trees and make artist books about the bark beetle epidemic as ways of thinking about climate change. But it’s the sublime (in its art historical sense) beauty of wilderness landscapes that got me noticing the changes in the first place and that keeps me painting small landscapes for the pure joy of it. A selection of these will be up at Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle from February 14 till the end of March.

Two of my “rockbound” books will be at an exhibit, “What *is* an artist book?” at thePort Angeles Fine Arts Center February 20 – May 13.
Left: Dendritic Rhyolite, rock, laser-cut and -etched mat board, linen thread, wood case. Case: 4.5"W x 7.25"L x 3"D
Right: That Transparent Alabaster of Memory, rock, laser-cut Duralar, Tyvek (R) endpapers, wool felt, silk thread, wood box. Case: 4.25'W x 6.375"L x 4.25"D

I am planning to stick closer to home in 2018 but I am thrilled to have been selected as one of Capitol Reef’s 2018 Artists-in-Residence and I will be there in October.

In 2016 one the high points of my artistic year was seeing 12 of my burned tree portraits suspended from the ceiling at the Museum of Northwest Art’s SURGE exhibit in La Conner WA. I’m happy to be participating in this year’s extended event which will be on display from October 6 – January 6, 2019. The photo below is of a just-completed artist book. The beetle-inscribed log was sawed in half and pages inserted between the halves. Each page is essentially a single bar from a bar chart describing the areas of British Columbia and Alberta affected by mountain pine beetle from 1999-2007.
Bark Beetle Book Volume XIV, fir-engraver-inscribed log, laser-cut mat board, laser transfers, paint, linen thread. 16.5"H x 5" diameter.

Phew! Thanks for sticking with me this long. Happy new year -- hey, it isn't even Chinese New Year yet -- and I promise to do a better job of reporting in 2018!

Pictures of the day

The Wikipedia blackout was a 24-hour period in which access to all articles on the English Wikipedia, barring those on the protested Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act, was suppressed. From January 18–19, 2012, visitors to the website saw only a protest message and the phrase "Imagine a world without free knowledge." It is estimated in excess of 160 million people viewed the banner, which was one of numerous protest actions undertaken at the time. The political environment regarding both bills shifted significantly following the protests, and both were removed from further voting.

BRAZIL'S TERRY RONCA CAVES LOOK INCREDIBLE