Last Week Before Winter Solstice 2015

The last week before solstice, December 14-20th was a good one. Winter swell; great food, drink and smoke; and the usual awesome December light combined for some nice images. Here are the top-ten photos from the week.

 Monday morning started out with offshore winds, nice light, and swell.

Awesome light for photographing this Cali Creamin' beerski at Mission St. BBQ.

The mornings were cold but pretty, early in the week.

Photographed the amazing food at Palacio Los Gatos on Wednesday. 

Got to photograph Big Pete's garden. He's producing some fine medical cannabis.

Preacher Boy was howlin' on Thursday evening at Aptos St. BBQ, like he usually does.

The rain brought some sweet photo-ops for the newly released Ginger's Winter Warmer at Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing, one of the prettiest beers around.

Picasso is the truth. The Literary Guillotine is my favorite bookstore.

Big Jon has a cool sound, like a soundtrack to some post-noir crime flick.

I liked this photo for all of the diagonals. 

Bitchin' week, hope you like the photes, folks! 

Art and War, part 1: The Absurd Solider

The fine arts and the martial arts are sometimes seen as antithetical, but they stem from the same tree. They are both lifestyles that require commitment and discipline. It’s a mistake to take art too lightly. An artist is a warrior, a soldier finding the strength to fight on behalf of the unborn, the unrealized, and the impossible. The artist is an absurd soldier, but a soldier nonetheless.

Soldiers fight for something, but more importantly they fight for someone. As an artist, though, it's complicated to say who is friend or foe. The war artists are involved in is a battle against the deadening aspects of life. Artists fight against corporatism. Artists fight against totalitarianism. Artists fight on behalf of those who are vulnerable and unable to withstand the seasons of change.

Being an artist, to me, simply means taking on that role. If you take up the fight against monoculture and stand up for difference by working creatively, then you are on the side of art. It isn’t about having some special talent or some innate natural ability. It has to do with principles and deciding what is most important to work for in life. 

Remembering September

Tommy's Farewell Party

Aces in August