The Wrighter

Financial FREEDOM! (The Eight Rules)

2013-05-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

by Kobina Wright

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned The Wrighter, I’m simply trying to put a few new irons in the fire. That being said, I’ve been thinking of you, Wrighter Readers, and I came across this list of “Eight Rules for Financial Independence” compiled by financial “guru” Mark Ford/ Michael Masterson (whichever name he goes by these days).

If you want more tips on how to get your financial engine revving, you might want to pick up his book Automatic Wealth: The Six Steps to Financial Independence. I know what you’re thinking…

“Hey, the title of this list is Eight Rules but his book title says Six!”

Yeah, I hear you. I really don’t know what that’s about…

Enjoy.

The Eight Rules for Financial Independence

When I decided to become rich, I began to keep a journal of thoughts I had about making money, losing money, and building wealth.

One chapter of that journal had to do with financial independence. And the eight rules I came up with then are the same rules I follow today:

1. You can't truly trust anybody but yourself with your money.

2. The harder someone tries to convince you to trust him, the less you should.

3. However good a track record someone has, never believe that he/she can't suddenly start your losing money. In fact, if you are like me, the moment you invest will be the moment his/her track record starts falling apart.

4. All markets rise and fall. Don't ever believe anyone who assures you that they can predict the future.

5. If you don't learn to spend less than you make, you will never have peace of mind.

6. Most of what you buy when your income is above $100,000 is discretionary. Don't fool yourself into thinking you need a big house or a fancy car.

7. In making financial projections for yourself or a business, always create three scenarios: one that shows what things will look like if everything goes as hoped; one that shows what will happen if things are mediocre; and one that shows what will happen if things fall apart.

8. Know that the third scenario is optimistic.

Chutima Kerdpitak: Circus Terminal's Ringmaster

2013-04-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

By Nok

Today's artist, is one I consider a friend. I met Chutima Kerdpitak (known also as Nok) on my residency in Thailand. She is actually one of those responsible for my residency and was my primary guide around Chiang Mai.

Though she has had formal training in visual art, Nok, told me she rejected the teachings of traditional art instruction and gravitated to work that promoted self-instruction, as that of outsider art. This tough little woman is very smart, and extraordinarily interesting!

How do you describe your work?

I am preaching and campaigning "Freedom of Choice" through my art. My work has been recognized as political by the others. My works are naturally ‘thought provoking’ by my own nature as an individual. I am keen on working with found /local/discarded objects both in 2 and 3 dimensional. I work spontaneously with what I have found/collected. I work intuitively with my opinion in combination with my direct experience in my circumstance. I use an assemblage of disparate objects to make it makes sense as a single object/sculpture/installation. My work’s tone is sarcastic and playful, using sarcastic/ironic titles as a hint of the ideas behind them.

What will you be working on in the month of April?

My ongoing project since 2010 is called ‘The Toilet Territory (TTT)’Project. Dealing with the manipulation of the capitalism dominated world in relation to the truth of life. I grew up in a Buddhist environment and we have been always ingrained with the fact of LIFE that everyone goes through the same circle, Birth, Age, Illness, Death. Therefore I have been analyzing, questioning, investigating those relationships between the 2 opposite worlds and I stand firmly on what I have concluded; how I and other human beings should live their life. The happy moments are the only things everyone should be considering by gaining the highest level of ‘Freedom of Choice,’ which means our inner WILL/CHOICE not be society; i.e., majority’s choice/influence/force. Corporate marriage and the context of true love in connection to marriage by means of law, are my main focus at the moment.

What is Circus Terminal and what is your role?

"A Waitress" - by Nok

Found movie promotional cardboard stand,

phone chargers, toilet tissues, sponge and

the artist's belongings.

Exhibited in 'COPY0909'

International Exhibition 2009,

Notting Hill, London

Circus Terminal is a worldwide artist led project with a focus of ‘INCLUSION’ that intends to build up a viral sustainable artists’ community across the earth. The project is a movement of its collaboration among artists from self-taught and taught backgrounds to create a barrier-less community from both Uncooked Culture artist members and other artists who are passionate and dedicated to their creation without being a member.

Dr. Melissa Westbrook, Founder of the Neo-Outsider Art Movement has described the Uncooked Culture in support of its 1^st international collaborative project held in Thailand, 2011:

“Uncooked Culture,” an online community dedicated to fostering

free-minded and self-taught artists who are influenced by Insiders and Outsiders but are subservient to neither.”

My role is as the Circus Terminal Worldwide initiator, lead artist, curator (with no jury procedure) and director, who is responsible for collaborating with lead artists who volunteer to host Circus Terminal in their country. I am also responsible for publicity and online documentation, both informational and photographic, such as website information at www.uncookedculture.com; online publicity including design through our online artists’ social network at www.uncookedculture.ning.com; Circus Terminal Worldwide Facebook Fan Page and Uncooked Culture account on Twitter. Circus Terminal’s online collaboration among its participating artists has been ongoing since February 2012. The project’s name, ‘Circus Terminal,’ has been established since March 2012 and launched its first exhibition and accompanied public events at The Tabernacle – London in April 2012. It departed from the UK then travelled to Spain, France and recently Thailand. It continues to showcase work of artists from the ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ world, irrespective of the artist’s educational background, in its exhibitions and contributed creative activities & events in local communities along its journey. Circus Terminal shares artists' 'journeys' through open interpretation of their creations in unlimited forms of art.

Circus Terminal intends to grow by providing opportunity to more artists to join and by creating new relationships among diverse artist’s community to maintain a self-reliant artists’ community. In every country the project is held, local artists are invited to participate in its exhibition and other collaborative activities. After the project’s completion in each country, participating local artists have joined the touring exhibition to our other ‘Stops.’ Circus Terminal started from 41 artists from 12 different countries in its Project Launch Week – London. The number of participating artists has expanded gradually on its routes and has reached 75 artists – 19 countries after we completed our project in USA in the beginning of March 2013.

Our exhibition and collaboration will be travelling to Amsterdam from 13 July – 17 August and will be followed by its ‘Circus Terminal WORLDWIDE Route Masters’ Exhibition at London West Bank Gallery, an exhibition of our lead artists, who host the project in their countries, from our ‘Stops’ across the globe along with invited artists - September 2013.

I am, as an artist, from both self-taught and schooled backgrounds. The brewery of thoughts and realization during an artist residency, turned up subconsciously and has driven me to create projects for 'ALL', where 'Give & Take' are the main ingredients and the benefit are for 'ALL' instead of just for myself as an individual artist.

My awareness of the financial struggle of artists, who are dedicated and passionate to what they are creating, came from having direct experience. I do believe it is also a bright side for an artist not to depend on earning a living from art. If an artist had to follow the mainstream, comply with the market demand that guarantees acceptance from art establishments and sales of their artwork through commercial galleries' guideline; either subconsciously or intentionally, an artist could end up manipulating their practice instead of being truthful to their own passion of experimentation, in order to achieve their financial and social goals.

Relieving artists from investing on application fees to participate in creative activities helps them continue their artistic passion with freedom - free from the pressure of having to earn more particularly for these purposes and free from the manipulative influence mentioned above. A 'not-for-profit' activity builds up a sense of community where participating members share their experiences, knowledge, inspirations and brings endless benefit to share with ALL - within and beyond its community. In order to make Uncooked Culture financially sustainable, it is possible to generate revenue from other tracks of commercial activities which are aside from or incorporated with its non-commercial collaboration in its future plans. Uncooked Culture is committed to the principle of sharing benefits with artists, as an individual and as a global creative community, taking part in inspiring positive changes to its art and human sphere, from both its existing non-commercial and possible future commercial activities. The end results could assist artists on tackling financial struggles and barriers caused from the so call judgment of superiority and inferiority within the art world, especially for the groups that are facing exclusion.

"Who Am I..." - by Nok
White & Red Rice and white painted suitcase
Installation at The RBS Gallery

What living artist do you consider to be "amazing" at the moment?

Too many living artists to be named. Most of them are underrepresented ones, for example, one of our participating artists from Slovenia – Nina Mrđenovič, who I came across in at a guesthouse during Circus Terminal THAILAND and Jim Meehan from Pennsylvania who I discovered during Circus Terminal USA.... both of them keep creating their art without purposes, not even for exhibiting! To me, an amazing artist is the one who is truly passionate, committed and dedicated to their artistic passion which can be anyone that this world has not discovered! My all time favorite artists who are not alive are Joseph Beuys (Social Sculptor with his ethics that everyone is an artist) and Jean Dubuffet ("I am a Sunday Painter for whom everyday is Sunday").

What has been the latest event in the news that has left you feeling disturbed? Why?

News/Over-rated Reviews on any controversial artists/persons’ act, whose work I can see were acts of a short-cut to get from A to B; ie, a Sell-Out!! I am not interested in the contemporary world, especially art, any longer. Why? It’s is just another pilgrim of manipulative/capitalism orbit although their works are against it even, where I cannot see the true point of it, regarding the Truth of Life/Freedom of Choice/True Happiness. I am interested in purity in an individual and the fights against all odds of the manipulative world.

What was the last thing you ever sold, art or otherwise?

Rare! One painting on a discarded part of an advertising vinyl stand founded during our Circus Terminal THAILAND-Artist in Residency at Watch Space, Chiang Mai – Thailand. The piece was exhibited in Circus Terminal USA at Studio B Gallery in Boyertown –Pennsylvania. My works are often installations which are not actually intended to sell. My biggest earning from making art is from a commission from Lynn Todd, one of Circus Terminal WORLDWIDE artists who currently lives and works in New Zealand as a sculptor. It was a family portrait of 5 family members in one painting called ‘Extended Family.’

I let my artist practice flow as I wish to do rather than trying to make a living from it. I have found that trying to make a living from art potentially manipulates an artists’ deep passion from their very own truth, to something following the market demands instead.

Masterson's - Uh...Ford's Savings Bucket

2013-04-05T12:25:00.001-07:00

This is the essay that helped me confirm that Mark Ford and Michael Masterson are the same person. This essay tries to sell a product but is still a good ETR repost.

Enjoy.

The Golden Bucket of Savings

By Mark Ford

Once you have figured out how large your spending bucket needs to be, you can start to figure out the size of your saving and investment buckets.

You may be wondering what the difference is between saving and investing. To most people, they are the same. But I like to distinguish between them because I believe it will help you acquire wealth safely.

Saving and investing are the same in the sense that you are setting aside some portion of your current earnings for the future. The difference is, the purpose of saving is to safeguard that set-aside money, whereas the purpose of investing is to grow it.

The money in the savings bucket is money that I refer to as your SOA (start-over-again) fund–the money you put aside in case of a financial disaster. What if, for example, you woke up one day to find the company that has employed you for the last twenty years has shut its doors, and the pension plan it was holding for you is suddenly worthless?

You would have to start over, right? You'd need money to pay for your expenses while you found a new job, and you'd need money to start investing again. That's why you need money in your savings bucket. And that money has to be absolutely safe.

Imagine how you would feel if you called up your broker to let him know that you needed to cash in your start-over-again fund and he told you its value had suddenly crashed and was now worth 10 cents on the dollar? Well, that's exactly what happened to millions of Baby Boomers. The reason it happened is because these people did not distinguish between saving and investing. They had all their wealth tied up in investments advertised as safe, but were actually quite risky.

You don't want to take any risk with your start-over-again money. The primary purpose of that money is to preserve, not increase, the capital you set aside. Putting it at risk, even average market risk, is too dangerous.

You need to be equally as careful with the money you set aside to repay debt. Because when the bill comes due, you must pay it. Keep that money safe. Put your debt obligations in your savings bucket, never into the market, even if the market looks safe.

Same is true of any future expenditure that is coming up relatively soon. By relatively soon, I mean, say, one business cycle–seven to ten years.

If, say, your retirement is still twenty or thirty years away, you can afford to invest money set aside for that purpose in vehicles that are safe, but not super-safe. However, if you will be retiring in less than ten years, you can't take the chance of seeing your retirement fund drop by 20% to 30%, because you won't have time to let the market correct itself.

So if you plan to retire in five years and you will be drawing on your retirement savings, you want to transfer at least five years' worth of your retirement fund from your investing bucket to your savings bucket. To ensure that you will be able to pay for the retirement life you want, you can't afford to have that money at risk.

Are you with me?

For your savings bucket, your money should only be in super-safe investments–investments that are highly unlikely to go down in value in the next ten years. Given today's economy, we believe there are only four vehicles that qualify: cash, gold coins, quality municipal bonds, and well-bought rental real estate. For simplicity, my recommendation would be that you diversify your savings bucket funds evenly: 25% into each if you use four of them, 33% if you use three of them or 50% if you use only cash and gold coins.

I want you to estimate how much you'll need in your savings bucket. That includes the money you would need in your SOA (start-over-again) funds if, for whatever reason, you lost everything. It also means identifying all of your debt obligations, and figuring out the totals of any future expenditures that will be coming due in the next ten years.

The Golden Bucket of Investing

As I said, the purpose of your investing bucket is to grow your wealth. This is the bucket you will use to fund all future, long-term expenditures. By "long-term," I mean more than ten years.

If you are young, you may use this bucket to put aside money for your children's college expenses. But for the most part, the money in this bucket will be for your retirement. And when you look at investment returns from a long-range perspective like that, even a few percentage points can make a huge difference.

I won't spend any time here talking about how you should manage your investing, because Tom and Paul do that in The Palm Beach Letter. But I will say this: The kind of stocks they recommend are the only kind that appeal to me. Every other stock investing strategy I've encountered (and I've been in the financial publishing business for more than thirty years) makes me uncomfortable.

The recommendations that you get every month from Tom and Paul in The Palm Beach Letter are designed to give you an average, long-term return of 10%-15%. This might seem paltry to people who dream of doubling and tripling their money in the market every year, but those kinds of investors almost always end up broke. And making 10%-15% on your money over the long term will give you terrific results.

But–and this is a very big but–you won't get wealthy this way unless you invest enough money.

In other words, investing alone can't make you rich. So if you can afford to invest only a few thousand dollars a year, you will not get rich even if you make 15% a year for forty years. To fill your investing bucket, you need to invest more than that–and if you can't invest more than that right now, you need to generate more income so you can.

That brings us back to the metaphorical well that represents your yearly income–the well you're going to use to fill all three of your buckets.

Your Golden Well

If your income isn't sufficient to fill all three buckets, you have only two options: You must increase the flow from the well you have, and/or you must dig some new wells.

You can increase the income from your primary well (your job) by becoming a more valuable employee. I have written on this subject in several of the books I published under the pen name Michael Masterson. The one I recommend is Automatic Wealth for Grads... and Anyone Else Just Starting Out.

If you can become a more valuable employee, you should. But you may also want to create other streams of income.

One possibility would be to invest in rental real estate. If you decide to do that, it will become–after you have paid down the mortgages–its own well, pumping liquid gold to you every year thereafter.

Another option would be to start a side business and let your spouse or a relative run it. If you are interested in doing that, I recommend Ready, Fire, Aim, another book I wrote as Michael Masterson.

The Palm Beach Income system could be another well for you in the future.

Less Than One Day Left to Bid on "2"

2013-04-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

There is less than one day left in the auction for my abstract painting titled “2” currently listed on ebay.

I’ll give you three brief reasons why you should place a bid:

The starting bid is under $70 bucks!

Because the auction is so close to ending, you have a GREAT chance of getting the painting at its listed price (or slightly above it). Believe me it pains me to sell this painting at such a low low price, but I’m doing it anyway.

The number 2 has meaning.

To those who study or follow numerology, numbers have significant meanings. The positive traits according to the belief are: Cooperation, adaptability, considerate of others, sensitive to the needs of others, partnering, an arbiter or mediator, modest, sincere, spiritually influenced, a diplomat.

This is the perfect opportunity to get a work in this series.

The abstract painting “2” is, of course, the second in a three part series. The painting titled “1” sold in January, so, doing the math, there’s only two chances to get a painting from this series. Then that’s it. You’ll be saying to yourself, “DARN IT why didn’t I buy it when I had the chance? AWWW!”

Take a peek (or another if you’ve seen it already) and place your bid. Remember, there’s less than a day left!

Go to: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Abstract-Painting-Titled-2-by-Kobina-Wright-/261192275329?pt=Art_Paintings&hash=item3cd045d581

Have a wonderful week!

Ewen Gur and the Urban World

2013-03-29T12:03:00.001-07:00

by E. Gur

Today’s feature focuses on the French artist, Ewen Gur, whose work undoubtedly is influenced by urban life, pop culture and music. Learn more about Ewen Gur by visiting: ewengur.fr.

How would you describe your work?

My work is a mix between comics and graffiti. I work on imaginary urban characters in various situations, mostly with a rock'n'roll attitude.

I have some recurrent characters, like the rock'n'roll girl or the stressed businessman.

I work with various media supports on which I transfer my characters: illustration, painting, fashion, product design etc….

by E. Gur

What have you been working on in the month of March?

I did some personal works but I've been mostly preparing my show at Galeries Lafayette Berlin: "la Femme rock'n'roll", exhibited March 28th- April 11th.

What living artist (besides yourself) do you find “amazing” right now?

My girlfriend, Delphine Maillard, is a great songwriter and a daily inspiration.

There are a lot of talented people out there, let's just name a few that influence me these times: Shaun Barber, Nate van Dyke, Mc Bess, El Mac, Audrey Kawasaki...

by E. Gur

What recent news worthy event has inspired you? How?

Everything that has a concern with the rock'n'roll attitude. Stories about parallel businesses like all the gang stuff influence me too. I also like to read some news about the rap- or rockstars and their problems. Always funny.

What is your favorite movie? Why?

Hum, difficult choice, there are so many. Maybe "Blue in the face" - so simple, so true, very urban and some great lifescapes.

Abstract painting "2" Now Auctioning on eBay

2013-03-28T13:06:00.001-07:00

Today is the day I listed the abstract mixed media painting titled “2” on eBay. When you get an opportunity, please visit the listing and place a bid. (Click here)

The auction is a five day listing – and you KNOW how fast a week flies by.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to fill out the Duet series, another mixed media project using ink and watercolor (you can check some worksfrom the series here). Also, my residency in Chiang Mai, Thailand has inspired me to experiment with found object sculptures. The first one I’ve ever created now hangs in my bathroom.

In the month of March, Boxcar Poetry Review published two works from the Cali Free series (click here to see those). In the month of April, both Burning Word Literary Magazine and The Bicycle Review will publish some of my poetry in their online magazines. You know I’ll keep you posted!

If you’d like to read more about the history of “2” (or “1” or “3”) click here, but don’t forget to place your bids.

Live. Think. Evolve.

Camille Eskell and The Fez Cap Series (and Other Interesting Tid Bits)

2013-03-25T09:20:00.001-07:00

Contemporary artist, Camille Eskell is back on The Wrighter today and I highly encourage you to learn more about her at her website: camilleeskell.com

How would you describe your work?

My work explores family and cultural dynamics that form our self-perception, identity, and motivation. The resulting “states” of these experiences, psychologically or historically, are imaged in series that frequently meld two-and three-dimensional practices.

What are you working on in the month of March?

Designing the second piece of my Fez cap series, which examines the confluence of cultures shaping the Baghadi-Jewish experience in Bombay, India. The work combines photo-based images with symbolic embellishments culled from Indian and Sephardic traditions. The fez format signifies the foundation established by both my grandfathers, who manufactured and/or traded the hats in Bombay.

What living artist (besides yourself) do you find “amazing” right now?

El Anatsui. His work is stunning, imaginative and resourceful, evokes cultural fabrics/weavings, and straddles painting and sculpture.

What recent news worthy event has inspired you?

I can’t say I am inspired by news events. I keep watch on them, but become rather more disturbed than inspired.

What is your favorite movie? Why?

I have many favorites for different reasons. One of them is the Wizard of Oz, classic, technologically brilliant, with unforgettable design on all levels.

What was the last song you heard? Did you sing along?

It happened to be One Singular Sensation from A Chorus Line (I went to a production very recently). The finale was thrilling and yes, I sang along with the whole audience up on their feet--

It Was Impossible To Spin Her Own Whimisical Dreams...

2013-03-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

by Kobina Wright

It Was Impossible To Spin Her Own Whimsical Dreams Sucking Mud In Through Her Nostrils; Pushed Head First Into Quicksand By A Mother Who Loved Her As A Symbol Of A Child Long Dead By Lecherous Hands, Rather Than A New Soul Of Shared Blood; Yet Her Sulking Father Quietly Turns From His Youngest And She Shuts Down Into Her Self Destructive Demise.

Girl,

get yourself from up under them!

Now!

"2" to be Auctioned Next Week

2013-03-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

"1" by Kobna Wright

On January 23^rd, 2013 I sold an original abstract painting titled. “1.” The history of “1” was briefly discussed here on The Wrighter, where I confessed that “1” and two other similar paintings titled “2” and “3” took six years to complete. To read the history of “1” on The Wrighter, click here.
I was excited to have found a new home for “1” though it sold a bit lower than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, it sold - which paintings don’t always do on Ebay.

When I created these three paintings, the idea was to complete a number series from zero to twenty, and for God knows what reason, I started at one instead of zero. I only got to three before I stopped.

Since the birth of these three I’ve moved on to create several other series including, Kobiphysics (which I made “1” “2” and “3” apart of when I exhibited at “Kobiphysics: An Art Show” last year); Cali Free (a series inspired by the state of California); Eleven Twenty-Three Girl (inspired by one sketch of a girl who looks an awful lot like me) and Duet (a series pairing ink sketches with watercolor).

"2" by Kobna Wright

Two of my works titled “Softer” and “Ocean” from the Cali Free series have made it into the literary magazine, Boxcar Poetry Review(http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/).

Now that “1” has sold, I’ll be looking for a home for “2” (it’s a little jealous). So I’ve decided that next week, I’ll place “2” up for a five day auction on Ebay. Once the painting has been put up, I’ll inform you here on The Wrighter and include a link to its page.

I’m only posting this now, so that you can keep a look out for more information. Give you to time to look over your bank statements so that you can get a good idea on how much you’ll be able to bid.

More info to come!

Take A Look At YOU Now...

2013-03-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

by Kobina Wright

Today’s essay reposted from ETR is by Paul Lawrence, and discusses the hard look we must all take personally to move ahead and get into the positions we want to be. The reason for this essay today, is because it spoke to me. And though I don’t find the information in the essay to be shocking and profound, I do find that on the path of self-improvement, reading (and stumbling across) reminders on developing our road maps is both inspiring and progressive – as long as action is to follow.

Perhaps you’ll also find a nudge in this.

Enjoy.

Taking Personal Inventory

By Paul Lawrence

My friend JL has something to smile about. He lives in a beautiful home, complete with a swimming pool. And he is well on his way to success as a partner in a profitable (and rapidly growing) talent booking agency. That is an extraordinary change, considering how dire his circumstances were just one year ago. He had just been evicted from his apartment, had lost his job, his truck needed a repair that he couldn't afford (and that would cost more than the truck was worth), and he wasn't even close to achieving his professional goals.

JL took the first critical step toward getting himself out of this mess by performing something I call a "Cumulative Appraisal" of his situation. After doing so, he had to accept the fact that he hadn't lost his apartment because of a mean landlord. He'd lost it because he hadn't saved any money when he had a good job. And he wasn't anywhere near his dream of being successful in the entertainment business because he hadn't done much to make it happen.
Once JL saw his situation with clarity, he was able to formulate a plan to change it.

Making an accurate appraisal of where you are right now in regard to actually living your dreams takes more than simply saying, "Well, let's see ... I work in an office as a clerk, but my dream is to be president of a Fortune 500 company. So I guess I'm not there yet."

That's simply not enough information to enable you to make meaningful changes in your life. In order to truly change direction, you must take some radical actions.

Momentum is a powerful force in physics... and also in your life. If, for example, you are on course to work in a large company as a low-level administrator, you continue to be propelled in that direction by momentum. Factors in that momentum include the way you get supervisors to perceive you, the set of skills you acquire, and your behavior patterns.

In order to break out of this path and get yourself headed toward a higher goal, you must recognize how you got started in that direction in the first place. Once you determine how you got started, it will be easier to see what you need to do in order to change course.

That is why the Cumulative Appraisal is so important. It compels you to dig deeper and identify the true reasons your life has taken the wrong direction. Facing those reasons isn't a lot of fun ... but it is necessary.

When I was very young, one of my strong interests was to become an actor/comedian. Yet, by the time I was in my 30s, I hadn't done anything about it. It would have been easy for me to tell myself that it was because I was so busy with other goals. But that wasn't the truth. The truth was that I was afraid of going on stage and having people not like me.

Once I accepted that reality, I was able to find a solution to my problem. I created a "comedic character" for myself that made it easier for me to give comedy a try. When I had enough experience and confidence, I gave up the character and revealed my true self to the audience. Since then (I'm proud to say), I've appeared as an actor in several large movies, on stage as a stand-up comedian, and as a member of a sketch comedy group.

Now, your circumstances are probably entirely different from what mine were. But if you don't identify the true reasons that have prevented you from living your dreams, you won't be able to overcome the tremendous force of momentum pushing you down the wrong life path.

Are you ready to make your own Cumulative Appraisal and start turning your life around? Here's how to get started.

Step #1: Determine Your Actual Life Position

This step is not easy for most people, because it's natural for us to minimize our shortcomings. Let me share an example.

My close friend DM spent his mid-20s telling himself that he was just one step away from catching that big break ... or moments away from being able to jump into another career or a business of his own.

But that wasn't the case. He was just in a job that he hated – a job with no future. He had no specific life goal, much less a well-planned strategy to change his situation. Until he took a realistic look at where he was and where he was headed, he was stuck treading water.

Once DM finally realized that he was staying with his job because he had a lack of self-confidence, he was able to change things for the better.

After completing the Cumulative Appraisal, he realized that he'd built up some substantial managerial skills. With a new perception of himself, DM found the courage to launch his own business. Now, instead of punching a time card and making just enough to get by, he owns two very successful companies, an exotic sports car, and several properties (including a luxury home in an exclusive neighborhood). And he and his wife enjoy traveling all over the world.
While there are times to put a "positive spin" on things, you don't want to sugarcoat your Cumulative Appraisal. You need to be brutally honest with yourself. It's not always easy to accept reality – but console yourself by remembering that any negative life circumstance can be changed.

Step #2: Identify Your Dreams

When you've determined where you truly are, you've got to figure out where it is you want to go. It's easy for some people to pinpoint their dreams. But others may not know for sure what would make them happy. All they know is that they don't like what they're currently doing.

To determine what you would really like to do, ask yourself, "If I had a $50 million windfall – and never again had to work to support myself – what would I like to do?" The answer to that question is very likely the dream that you should pursue.

Be very specific – and realistic – about your dream. The first part of your Cumulative Appraisal will give you an accurate picture of your strengths and weaknesses. So if, for example, you're a heavy-set man in your late 40s, don't say, "I'd like to be a leading man in action movies." That's not realistic.

But you can still be a movie star. You just need to "tweak" your dream a bit. Perhaps you could say, "I want to be a character actor who works regularly in film and television." That's possible. And then, with this specific goal in mind, you could figure out what specific actions you need to take to achieve it. You might, for example, decide you need to move to Los Angeles and enroll in acting school.
The point is, you've got to take action based on an understanding of who you are now, how and why you got here, and your (very specific) dream. Completing these two steps will make that possible.

Time is the one commodity you have that is truly limited. If you aren't living your dreams now, I strongly urge you to change your life for the better. Believe me ... I'm living proof that it can be done.

Alessandro Fantini: "Multimedianic"

2013-03-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

Je ne sais quoi - oil on canvas, AFAN Alessandro Fantini (2012)
currently exhibiting at the Flower Pepper Gallery in Pasadena (CA).

Holy-Smokes! Alessandro Fantini, today’s featured artist, has probably the greatest answers I’ve come across in the history of my interviewing artists. I believe, for me, it’s because as an artist myself, I totally “get it.”

How would you describe your work?

A lot of people tend to believe that, nowadays, art is just an inexplicable activity belonging to selfish postmodern dandies focused on figuring out improbable concepts that someone else will convert into reality on their behalf, or on setting up politically incorrect happenings and performance to attract media attention in order to boost the prices of their artworks.

Instead, when I think about art, I instantly imagine a dark gigantic pool where each human being learns to develop his own breathing methods and swimming styles. I bet many art connoisseurs will be dismayed to find out that the Greek musician Vangelis is also a talented painter, that the Italian painter Andrea Savinio was also a composer and a writer, or that the Austrian drawer Alfred Kubin wrote a genial novel in 1908 anticipating the themes of movies such as “Dark City” and “Matrix”. These are just few examples to demonstrate that art is, first of all, a primeval urgency that can be declined in many different forms through the same individual sensibility and aptitude.

Therefore I coined the neologism “multimedianic” to better define my versatile creative system by using the metaphorical image of the “medium”. During the séances the latter is the living channel through which the spirits are able to manifest themselves into the human dimension. Thus they can communicate by sounds or words spoken by the medium or formed on the “ouija” board, or even reveal themselves in material shapes like the so-called “ectoplasm” emitted by his body.

Obviously I don’t mean to give scientific credit to these paranormal phenomena: I just consider them an effective poetic way to describe my own artistic process, whose main precondition is the urge to translate, often simultaneously, an over human language through several human procedures able to preserve its selfless and outlandish quality into their wide range of expressive codes. That’s why, even when my writings, paintings, songs or movies are transpositions of my own mood and sensibility, at the same time they’re the simultaneous aesthetic manifestations of a mysterious stream of visions and feelings residing in our “chromosomic memory” of mammals with large brains.

Consequently, dealing with more than a “medium” isn’t dictated by the will of widening my commercial appeal, or by the ostentation of eclecticism as usually happens, for instance, with some musicians publishing books or acting in movies just because they can rely on the popularity they’ve already achieved. On the contrary, my artistic output can keep evolving only until it works like a biologic architecture made of different rooms interconnected with each other. In this sense I like quoting a sentence by the orator Caton: “Rem tene, verba sequentur” “Grasp the subject, and the words will follow”, meaning, in my case, that the engine of creative process doesn’t derive from skills, specializations or knowledge of techniques and art history, but it’s triggered by rediscovering the inborn ability to swim in that obscure pool of visions and memories floating out of time and space.

Abbrivio, oil on canvas, Alessandro Fantini (2010)

What are you working on in the month of March?

As usual I’m caught in an ever mutating river of multiform projects, in some case so ambitious and time-consuming that I need to establish a schedule or mental hierarchy that, however, I don’t use to follow rigorously, but that helps me in psychological terms to keep working in a synchronized way.

Right after completing the new episode of “AFANzine”, a web video-magazine series dedicated to the artists and movements that influenced me the most over the years (available to watch on my Youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq0flpRnA40 )

I’ve reprised sketching my new oil painting based upon the idea of merging spiritual longing with erotic desire, as well as composing a new concept album revolving around the theme of night life and mental darkness (it will be released within the next month on my Bandcamp page: http://afanalessandrofantini.bandcamp.com ). In the meanwhile I keep writing the second volume of my novel “The Abyss Will Gaze” and elaborating concepts for a graphic novel whose story I derived from one of my unfilmed screenplays.

What living artist (besides yourself) do you find “amazing” right now?

It’s hard to say who, among the living artists I once followed, is still able to amaze me or exerting some kind of fascination going beyond mere admiration. I might say that I deeply respect the wizardry of David Lynch, since he’s not only one of the very few contemporary artists closer to my “multimedianic” approach, but one of the very rare who, even after becoming a mainstream director, never ceased deconstructing and contaminating the media. From the underground art-movie “Eraserhead” to the more recent video he directed for his own song “Crazy Clown Time,” it’s quite evident that he’s just complying with the same drive that guided him to conceive his first animated video “Six Men Getting Sick” when he was an art student without any experience in directing or animating. It’s the purity of his vision that defines him, despite the media, the techniques or the style.

What recent news worthy even has inspired you? How?

Even though at first glance many of my artworks don’t look directly related to or influenced by current topics or social events, their conception is always affected by the cultural environment and historical facts occurring in the time span during which I elaborated them.

Somehow the “Arab Spring” and the earthquake that devastated the Aquila city here in Abruzzo (Italy) had a huge impact on the subjects of the paintings made over the last 3 years, as shown by the images of dark thresholds exposing a disproportionate chrysalis or hand bomb covered with faces of dice depicted in “Abbrivio” and “The opening of Mammon’s orgy” (a selection of my oil paintings are available on Deviantart http://afantini.deviantart.com ); or the feature movie “Edonism” I directed in Tokyo in 2010, whose plot offers a symbolic association between the seismic calamity and the emotive realm of humankind.

What is your favorite movie? Why?

For 20 years at the top of my personal list, above “Shining” and “Mulholland Drive”, there’s “Blade Runner.” I‘ve lost count of the times I watched it both for enjoying its peculiar “moodscape” and studying its visual and technical nuances. I would say that it embodies the earnest form of “multimedianic opus” where the summation of music, cinematography, art design, acting and script enhance each of them, to the extent that they contribute to evoke a state of mind otherwise ineffable. That’s why I dare to define it more than a simple sci-fi movie: perhaps it’s the only artwork able to freeze in 2 hours of kinematic melancholy the enigma of human soul.

The Horizon of the events, oil on canvas,
AFAN Alessandro Fantini(2008)

What was the last song you heard? Did you sing along?

When I visited Florence some years ago I rented an apartment not very far from the centre, where I spent the nights alone after long days of exploration and walking among museums and churches. Before going to sleep I used to listen to “Hounds of Love” an album by Kate Bush on the bed while reading Murakami’s “Norwegian Wood.” Recently I discovered a cover version of Bush’s “Running up the Hill” performed by the electronic music band “Chromatics” that perfectly encapsulates that sense of gloomy solitude and stillness I experimented with while I was alone in that Florence’s room, like if someone revisited the song I heard at that time, filtering it through the mysterious sadness attached to my memories. Being a song writer and a singer myself, metabolizing the emotive texture of a song becomes a sort of instantaneous feedback that reinforce my own urge of unleashing as a music track, a video or a painting, my personal declination of that sentiment.

If we must be grateful to art and their living “medium”, it’s because of mutual magic like this one; and maybe, paraphrasing Wordsworth, because it’s the only way for all of us to redeem the chaos of feelings into the “emotion recollected in tranquillity”.

Raymond La Motte: The Narrative Artist

2013-03-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

by R. La Motte

Today’s featured artist is multi-media artist, Raymond La Motte.

How do you describe your work?

My work moves in the world of the image. Gravitating in visual and performing Arts. I choose and I use different materials, tools and means, then I apply different experiences and techniques for creating an artwork. My work can be instantaneous, like a photo click, a snapshot; but it can be also progressive, like a video, such as a installation, un montage. Therefore, I need to interact with other forms of language, so I run photography, video -installation, -performance, -dance. I like creating and developing a narrative form, or to break the narrative to create an abstract structure. It is a research taken from different themes, which all lead back to the form of object abstraction.

What will you be working on in the month of March?

Recently I’ve created a framework, which is title is "Observed". The concept of which this work takes form is the power that manifests through its image.

by R. La Motte

Who would you say are your biggest supporters?

I am an independent artist. In fact, I do not have supporters or sponsors. I consider my work free from the constraints of the market. My natural supporter is my life partner. Therefore, I find many people who like and promote my work

What living artist (besides yourself) would you consider “amazing” right now?

We could talk about Maurizio Cattelan as a provocateur, an innovator in the use of poor materials and offering to art critics and curators, objects / sculptures / installations on which to develop psychoanalytic, political and social analysis. But personally, the artist who now has the merit and the courage to denounce and stand in front of the abuse of power, is the Chinese contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei.

by R. La Motte

What was that last book you read, and what did you think of it?

... my last book I read was "Qeer Art" of Renate Lorenz.

The body, with all its significations, is a key element of my work. Doing also photography, I see the body as an expression; this is a subject who expresses his inner state with the word but above all with gestures. Today, the subject lives in a sort of wrapping himself, the anxieties, the fear of the future without horizon, makes the body an object without content. Language itself seems emptied of any form of expression. Therefore, art frees the body and the soul. This book describes a form of art as an attempt to rid the body, that is, to make sense of the body, namely to place the subject in a free form: I dream, I speak, I proceed, I imagine.

What was your favorite purchase in the last 30 days? Why?

The last month I was in China where it is easy to find any goods at staggering prices, in the sense that you can make a purchase with a few yuan. So, I was in Shanghai and my last purchase was photo converters, with which I was able to complete my latest work, the framework "Observed".

Fairness: Investing vs.Egg Hunt

2013-03-08T11:22:00.002-08:00

Today, I’m posting an ETR essay written by Susan Fujii who is an accredited investor and the author of www.KungFuFinance.com, a website dedicated to empowering people to make better financial decisions to and to help her readers make sense of the current financial environment.

Enjoy.

What Do You Mean, Life Isn't Fair?

By Susan Fujii

"What do you mean, 'it's not going to be fair', Mom?" my eldest daughter asked.

That weekend we hosted an Easter egg hunt and champagne brunch for several of our close friends and their children. My eldest Kung Fu Kid was so excited to have her friends come over, and yet she was very caught up with the concept of "fairness"...she wanted to make sure that the hunt was "fair" and that everyone would find the exact same number of eggs.

At all of the local Easter egg hunts here in the Bay Area, the "competitions" are managed so that each child is only allowed to find a certain number of eggs, usually three or five. This makes it "fair" for everyone, and no one leaves disappointed.

Today, kids are often brought up to avoid any exposure to "bad" things like "failure" or "disappointment". At school, if you bring a Valentine, you must bring one for the entire class. If you pass out invitations at school, you need to invite everyone.

While I admire the fact that no one wants to disappoint a child (I don't either--I'm not an evil meanie!), unfortunately this doesn't prepare them very well for real life as an adult.

Because (as we all heard our parents tell us when we were little), life isn't "fair".

And that's the truth.

Believe me, I really wish it were! I wish that everyone could participate in "accredited" investments, and that everyone in the world had enough to eat, all of the time, and that no one was ever disappointed or scared or sick or sad. I truly wish that with all of my heart.

But unfortunately, that's not the way the world works. The world we live in rewards hard work and perseverance, followed by more hard work and more perseverance, followed by (you guessed it...), more hard work and perseverance! And if you really want to stack the deck in your favor, you need to throw in a little planning and strategizing along the way.

That is the path to success, and of course what we all want for our children.

So back to the Easter egg hunt--I hope we taught our daughter an important lesson. After much discussion with her and with the other parents coming, we decided to go with our original plan, the "free-for-all-scrappiest-hunters-get-the-most-bounty" idea.

Because that is how the "real" world works (and it's also a lot more fun).

Our daughter was so nervous before the hunt. She wondered if she would get as many eggs as her friends, wondered if she would find any eggs at all, and worried that the eggs that she did find wouldn't fit in her basket.

But I am happy to report that our egg hunt was a resounding success. And the strategies that we used to help our daughter successfully find a lot of Easter eggs are the exact same strategies that you can use to become a better investor.

1. Cultivate an Abundance Mentality

It is a big, wide, wonderful world out there filled with more than "enough" money and resources for everyone!

(For our Easter egg hunt, we were able to stack this deck in our favor by stuffing and hiding almost 200 plastic eggs--we knew there were "enough" eggs for every child to find lots.)

Likewise, I feel the same about money and investing. There is plenty of money out there just waiting for you to discover it (heck, we've printed trillions of dollars in the past few years alone).

But seriously, knowing in your heart that this is true and that the world is filled with abundance and value gives you the confidence you need to embark on a quest where you don't necessarily know what the outcome will be, which is every day when investing.

We talked with our daughter before the egg hunt, and with all of the children, and let them know that there were more than enough eggs for everyone (they were all nervous about it as they are so used to everything being "fair" all of the time).

Because of this simple step, instead of complaining and worrying that it wouldn't be "fair", they confidently took off and ran around the yard and every single child's basket was overflowing by the end of the hunt. One little girl even came late and still found enough eggs to fill her basket.

2. You need to strategize to stack the deck in your favor

Before the egg hunt, we sat down with our daughter and asked her what her strategy was going to be for finding the most eggs that she could. At first she didn't have one other than to "run really fast and look really hard" but we tried to get her to elaborate on that and to formulate a better plan.

We asked her if she was going to follow all of her friends and look where they were looking, or if she would strike out on her own and go where she thought the best chance of finding eggs would be. She thought about it for a minute and finally replied, "I'm going on my own".

And sure enough, by following her own path and not just running around behind all of her friends and picking up their scraps, she was able to find a ton of eggs in a very short time-period.

This is rather like investing in "sanitized" investments such as your 401k...you are simply "doing what everyone else is doing" and picking up the scraps of the massive Wall Street financial machine.

Instead, I hope you will formulate your own alternative investing strategies that will yield you higher profits, like buying gold and silver bullion, investing in income-producing real estate, betting on foreign currencies, and many other so-called "alternative" investments that we cover here on Kung Fu Finance.

If you settle for the "average" strategy ("invest in your 401k", "buy and hold stocks and mutual funds for the long-term") you are guaranteed to get average results.

But the more "smart money" strategies you can learn, the more you stack the deck in your favor and the more likely you are to succeed.

Those who succeed in life simply have better strategies than those who struggle.

3. Improve your information

Now, in the investing world there is such a thing as "insider information", which of course is illegal, and that is not what I mean here.

However, it is true that the better your information is, the more likely you are to be successful.

As the adults were drinking champagne (we are all about fun and education here at Kung Fu Finance and in our Kung Fu Family...) and hiding the eggs, I noticed many of the children "peeking" out the windows from our porch.

This is a basic human instinct and it's a good one. They were simply trying to improve their access to information so that they could gain an advantage in the egg hunt and be successful.

You should work on improving your information, too, because believe me, everyone else is! Life isn't fair as much as we might wish it to be, and right behind having a great strategy comes having the best information.

Now I don't mean to say at all that I condone "cheating" or "peeking" or somehow illegally getting access to "insider" information (I certainly do not), but it is true that the better your information, the better your chances are of success.

Play by the rules, stay within bounds at all times, but continually work to legally and honestly improve your access to information, and watch your financial prowess soar.

A final word about the playing field...

In general, do you want to play where the deck is stacked against you, or play where you have the advantage?

If you are playing to win, I think you'll agree that you want to play where you have the advantage.

How can you gain an advantage in your investing? Can you go after an asset class where you have more control? Can you learn new and better strategies to give you an edge? What can you do to give yourself an advantage?

I would love to hear the strategies that you are pursuing in the comments that are outside the typical "mainstream" advice.

In closing, life isn't "fair", although we of course would like it to be and try to make it as fair as possible for ourselves and for our children.

Instead, you need to do all that you can legally and honestly do to stack the odds in your favor. That is what I try my best to do here at Kung Fu Finance for you--give you better information, better strategies, and alternative ideas and viewpoints so that you can be the very best investor that you can.

Here's to being a successful, scrappy, winner-take-all investor. Go on out there and stack the deck in your favor.

New York Artist Valeri Larko: Capturing the Stories of the City

2013-03-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

Meat Packing Plant, Bronx, 2012, oil/linen, 20”x 66” - by V. Larko

Today’s featured artist is Valeri Larko. Her appreciation for urban decay is fascinating and she’s a darn good painter… which makes her paintings nothing like I’ve come across before.

You can view more of her work at: http://www.valerilarko.com

How do you describe your work?

I paint urban landscapes in oils on the fringes of the city. I was born and raised on the outskirts of New York City and continue to find inspiration in its abandoned and decaying structures, urban waterways, and graffiti laced walls, where I find grit and beauty in equal measure. Each site has its own story to tell and through patient observation acquired over months of painting on location, I work to bring that story to life and to capture the visual poetry of these places. A large painting can take me up to three months to complete.

Eastchester Barge Canal, 2011, oil/linen, 24" x 60" by V. Larko

What will you be working on in the month of March?

In the winter I worked on what I call “car paintings,” small paintings that I do while sitting in my car. Winter is a wonderful time to check out new sites and do small studies in preparation for spring. This time of year is always exciting for me, as I prepare for the warmer weather to come and look forward to setting up on site to paint my large oils on canvas.

Who would you say are your biggest supporters?

My husband, my collectors and the gallery that represents my work, J. Cacciola Gallery in New York City, all of whom have nurtured and supported my art. Without their help I would never have been able to devote myself fully to painting. I am very thankful.

Additionally I am lucky to have a small group of close friends, many of whom are artists that I can turn to when I need advice whether it’s a creative question or a career decision. Their advice has been invaluable over the years.

What living artist (besides yourself) would you consider “amazing” right now?

I love the sculptures of Chakaia Booker. What she does with tires is nothing short of amazing! I was first introduced to her work at the Whitney Biennial in 2000 and while I can’t recall much else of what I saw there, Chakaia’s sculpture stayed with me. She continues to create inspiring work that keeps on getting better. Her solo exhibition last year at Marlborough Gallery in NYC was a knock out.

Loading Dock, Bronx, 2012, oil/linen, 32”x 58” - by V. Larko

What was that last book you read, and what did you think of it?

"Geography of the Heart" by Fenton Johnson. It’s a very moving memoir, a love story that is touching, warm and funny. It’s the kind of book that makes you reassess your own life and your connections to the people you love. Even though the ending is sad, overall it is an uplifting story about the power of love and its ability to help us transcend our limitations.

What was your favorite purchase in the last 30 days? Why?

Dinner out with good friends. A close friend will soon be moving half way across the country. Three of us met at a local restaurant to celebrate our friendship and recount stories about how we first met i.e. at the local dog park. Our dogs became friends and so did we! It will be sad to see Theresa leave New York.

Back Again With Artist Melissa Lambert

2013-03-06T10:32:00.000-08:00

Covalent by M. Lambert

Back on The Wrighter, is high tech contemporary artist Melissa Lambert. I just loved her so much the first time, I thought I’d check up on her to see what she’s doing now.

Has your work changed at all since your last interview on The Wrighter?

Yes and no...I am learning Photoshop "from the ground up," so am employing more tools than I use to; however my overall process combining the inspiration of science and music; in addition to my intuition and synesthesia, has remained constant. I seem to be developing a new direction, however, in terms of how quickly I work. The last piece I've done, Covalent, took me exactly two weeks. Most pieces take from three to five months to finish.

What projects will you be working on in the month of March?

by M. Lambert

I will be finishing my book on Photoshop as well as learning Flash; I wish to start animation next. I am also working on a new piece; I had a small break but can't help myself. If I don't do art every day I feel at a loss.

Who would you say are your biggest supporters?

My parents and Diana Zlotnick. There is another anonymous Chelsea district artist as well as my boyfriend, William Farroux. Peter Frank has been there for me as well. All are straight shooters, you know where you stand with them. My mother was the first person with whom I knew I might "have something," she liked my jazz series. Diana Zlotnick was my first collector who has helped me immeasurably.
I am reading about the Turner Prize now in Sarah Thorton's book "Seven Days in the Art World," and she states "I've experienced a similar chicken-and-egg confusion about the prize's ability to reflect or create a defining sense of the moment. It finally hits me that it's vital for the prize to do both." That's how I feel about Diana, without her support I wouldn't be the person I am today.
What living artist (besides yourself) would you consider “amazing” right now?

I love the work of friends Cynthia Paige Aaron and Nancy Ungar. I also like Rex Bruce, Laurie Hogin, Llyn Foulkes, Doug Harvey, Lark, Phyllis Green, Channa Horwitz, Raymond Pettibone, Ed Rusha, and Norton Wisdom (in no particular order). William (Bill) Farroux is an amazing photographer/artist and my love. To answer this question in full is difficult however, there are so many. I hope I haven't left anyone out that I'll regret later.

What was that last book you read, and what did you think of it?

by M. Lambert

I read "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys. It is a page-turner that is both passionate and heart-breaking (as accurately stated on the back cover). Her reputation was made from this book. I do recommend it.

Next I'm going to read "The Gift" by Lewis Hyde next. I also read Artillery - Killer Text on Art, my favorite art magazine. I love to read as much as I love listening to music and doing art.

What was your favorite purchase in the last 30 days? Why?
I bought watercolors by Sennelier. Even though I'm mostly known for digital work I love to paint using watercolor. It is my favorite medium, and I regularly appropriate from my works on paper in my digital pieces.

The "Personal Archaeologist" (and Artist) Paul Lorenz

2013-03-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

by Paul Lorenz

Today’s artist featured on The Wrighter, Paul Lorenz, is now doing with his art work something I’ve been doing with my writing lately. He calls it “Personal Archaeology” (I never had a name for it). You can learn more about Lorenz on his website: http://paullorenz.com.

How do you describe your work?

My work involves exploring materials, and seeing what they want to do...and what they may not want to do. Having studied architecture and have worked as an architect and designer, I feel very comfortable in taking risks with media, but also not forgetting composition and finish. My pieces straddle the line between control and chance... recording my reaction and resulting choices, whether paintings, drawings or sound experiments. The titles of graphite pieces are based on the date when the work was finished (and number of lines drawn)...titles for paintings are based upon the date the pieces was started. I am never really sure when a painting is finished, they sometimes go on for years.

What work will you be working on in the month of March?

I have been re-examining older works... pieces I thought were complete three or four years ago...and reworking the composition and surface to find what I may have covered up or buried in the process of working. I am calling the journey 'Personal Archaeology'. All the work is oil on panel, though it may not stay that way once I stop digging through the surface. I am also heading to Austria at the end of March for a group exhibition in Innsbruck, with some of the 'Personal Archaeology' pieces.

by Paul Lorenz

Who would you say are your biggest supporters?

Family definitely! I have been very fortunate, my family, immediate and extended, has been very supportive of my endeavors over the years...even if the end result was a bit sketchy or questionable. Professionally, I work with five galleries (four in the USA and one in Europe) and the encouragement I get from them, both personally and creatively, has made my path as an artist very positive and fun. As a demographic, I have found my biggest supporters/collectors to be professional, mostly male, between 45 and 65...which I am sure is not an unusual statistic.

What living artist (besides yourself) would you consider “amazing” right now?

I am fascinated by performance and endurance art...Tony Orrico does some amazing, mesmerizing work... Marina Abramovic never ceases to surprise and move me. I had the opportunity to hear her recite her manifesto on art in Italy in 2009 and was blown away by her thoughts and observations. Architecture is my biggest influence and I am always inspired by what is designed by Shigeru Ban, Tadao Ando and Santiago Calatrava... just to name a few.

What was that last book you read, and what did you think of it?

I am finding myself reading fewer and fewer books these days. I love short stories and truthfully, the New Yorker keeps me supplied. I did receive “We Need To Talk About Kevin” by Lionel Shriver for Christmas, and I will begin reading that shortly. Reading is such a luxury for me. I spend way too much time watching movies though.... catching up on Ingmar Bergman classics right now... hooray for Netflix!

by Paul Lorenz

What was your favorite purchase in the last 30 days? Why?

At the Kenneth Cole outlet outside Palm Springs last Monday, I just bought a pair of green boots with red stitching, very similar to Doc Martins. Green leather...they grabbed my eye and I was hooked. Clothes and fashion do hold a special place in my heart... luckily I have a very small closet.

Simon P. Laurent - Featured Artist

2013-03-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

by Simon P. Laurent

How do you describe your work?

Photography, film, for me it is like breathing, like a heartbeat. There are many ways to become emancipated, to distance oneself from reality with imagination. In fact, I do not think the purpose of art is to reproduce reality. When we see the world though a different lens, it helps us understanding the space we live in, and allows us see things from a different perspective. There are many ways to speak about the world. The most important thing is to move the reality. It's the same with art. As an artist, I try to explore the boundaries between painting, photography, and graphic design. Not unlike the ebb and flow of the sea, I oscillate between representations (but I try to go beyond, to create my own world with my own codes) and abstractions. My strong desire to leave the beaten path associated with non format aesthetics leads me towards having a very experimental vision of photography and art. First of all, I would like to say that flaws are part of the process and to my own aesthetic. Several of my pictures can be seen alternatively as paintings or photographs. Some images are shown without treatment; other works movies and photography (digital or film) can be reworked and enhanced. I would like to add that new technology has never been an ultimate aim. It is just a tool to achieve what has to be accomplished. Digital technology is here to investigate. It modifies our perception of things and our environment: I can play with clear-cut representation.

by Simon P. Laurent

The fruit of research, of a real exploration of territories, can be seen in some of my works, the result is an artifact of that technical process: a glitch. My work is not about autobiographical logic, although a few works do represent what I actually saw, I prefer to remember the things for myself. What really matters is what I feel, what I think, not necessarily, the way things happened. There is no distinction between my feelings and my art. There is a real mise en scene – en oeuvre – of the nature, of the environment, and barely nothing can come between evocation and suggestion, devoid of characters. I enjoy the challenge of creating emotions in this form; some of my works are often based on nothingness and can illustrate this word as void, an absence. The work is about loneliness; quite moments, shapes, volumes, illusions, and some of the abstractions are the sole projection of my subconscious. At first sight, my works are reflective; however, like steps of life, in an evolving world, they are based on series of events and facts in which we can all relate. Most of us will be confronted with it one day or another. Dark, but also radiant, the works have a bittersweet taste.

About the work presented here

In 2012 Lorenzo Diez, director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture of Nancy, personally contacted me and commissioned me to shoot some special interior and exterior photos of this particular school. The school itself architecturally, is a special place and beyond its facade, it has great poetic strength. The aim of this project is to present the building in its entirety. My personal research and investigations on this topic led me to discover the beauty of its poetry. One that does not exist at first glance, but dwells somewhere between suggestion, perception, construction and reconstruction. Somewhere between the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragan and the School's architect Livio Vacchini. The poetry and beauty of this building came to life not only in color but also black and white, as seen through my lens.

What will you be working on in the month of March?

Will work on some ecological works; Probable Future Global Catastrophes. It's a personal project.

Who would you say are your biggest supporters?

Well other artists and art lovers - I won't name them, they will recognize themselves - because we all share the same struggle, and we all have the same lust for art.

What living artist (besides yourself) would you consider “amazing” right now?

Well it's hard to say, and I'm not sure of my answer because that would be a kind of ranking, and I don't like that. But for sure, what we need is groundbreaking artists, rather than artists who don't take risks (message, form) - Also I don't like artists who work for the establishment; but to answer your question, well, I really like Peter Doig; Gregory Crewdson (not everything) Also, David Lynch and Lou Reed: they express themselves in many fields of art.

by Simon P. Laurent

What was that last book you read, and what did you think of it?

A couples of weeks ago I read a French book called " Les Lisières " by Oliver Adam. Loved it. Something quite heavy and dark to read; A portrait of France without or little concessions with in the background a philosophical conflict between what we want and what we can do with our lives. How our own limits can be pushed. That's the way the novel - because it's a novel - can be read and analyzed. Lot of good things on social classes. Loved also that mirror device of the book. Interesting - because I'm an artist - when writers talk about themselves, and to a certain extent about artists. Lots of things we “artists” can relate to. Then I needed to read something which was supposed to be very soft, "My Dog Stupid" by John Fante. Loved it too ... But I think there's kind of a misunderstanding with the way the book was reviewed in France. Racism's not light, but the opposite. To a certain extent, well, we can make the same reviews with Carver. One could say he portrays everyday life & little things. But domestic violence is a big problem, not a little thing. Kind of confusing... Right now, I am reading Elias Canetti's Auto Da Fe (among other books, because I read two or three books at the same time).

What was your favorite purchase in the last 30 days? Why?

Some books (Sarah Hall's Beautiful Indifference, Keith Scriber's Oregon Experiment) Why ? I think it's very good food the mind. :) At least, they won't kill you, but make you think which is a good thing - that goes without saying.

No Arctic Drilling for Shell in 2013

2013-02-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

Earlier this afternoon I received an email from Greenpeace that stated (very excitedly) that today, Shell (Royal Dutch Shell PLC) announced that it is giving up on its plans to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic in 2013.

According to the Washington Post, Shell’s president, Marvin Odum described the decision not to conduct exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beafort Seas in a statement as a “pause.”

“We’ve made progress in Alaska, but this is a long-term program that we are pursuing in a safe and measured way,” Odum said. “Our decision to pause in 2013 will give us time to ensure the readiness of all our equipment and people following the drilling season in 2012.”

The Chukchi Sea is bounded on the west by the De Long Strait, off Wrangel Island, and in the east by Point Barrow, Alaska, beyond which lies the Beaufort Sea. The Bering Strait forms its southernmost limit and connects it to the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is only navigable about four months of the year.

The Los Angeles Times stated today that the decision followed a series of weather problems and mechanical mishaps that prevented the company from drilling anything but “top holes” during the 2012 debut season — never reaching oil deposits. Then on the way south from the Arctic, the conical drilling rig that was the centerpiece of Shell’s operations in the Beaufort Sea, the Kulluk, grounded on a small island near Kodiak in heavy seas after its powerful tow vessel inexplicably lost power.

On an article posted on Saturday, February 23^rd on www.truth-out.org, the Coast Guard found 16 violations on the Noble Discoverer, one of Shell’s two drilling rigs for Alaska’s Arctic waters.

Details of the Noble Discoverer’s violations were obtained by Democratic staff of the House Natural Resources Committee, which had asked the Coast Guard for an accounting of inspections that took place on the rig at the end of November.

Multi-Media Artist, Michelle Lance

2013-02-26T14:46:00.001-08:00

by Michelle Lance

Multi-media artist, Michelle Lance, has graciously agreed to be featured on The Wrighter, to my great satisfaction! Lance just so happens to be married to another artist… I imagine their life together must be pretty darn interesting.

How do you describe your work?

I am a multi-media artist. I work in watercolor, gouache, acrylic, oil and encaustic (beeswax). My styles vary depending on the idea I have and what medium best expresses it. Mostly I would describe my work as contemporary though...

What work will you be working on in the month of March?

by Michelle Lance

I am working on an encaustic project of interlaying shells (muscles and oysters) in a piece for Hawaii.

Who would you say are your biggest supporters?

The hospitality business- hotels.

What living artist (besides yourself) would you consider “amazing” right now?

Roark Gourley, my husband is amazing to me. Totally different work. He works mostly in sculpture and photograpghy/video of dancers underwater. He is an unusual artist in that he can create with his computer as well, unlike me. He is on cutting edge technology...

What was that last book you read, and what did you think of it?

The Fundamentals of Thought- I liked it because it goes over very basic principles of life and how you can use it in your own life to better yourself, your work, your marriage, etc.

What was your favorite purchase in the last 30 days? Why?

Lierac Hydro Balm skin cream- it makes your skin feel super soft and hydrated...

by Michelle Lance

The Little Things Add Up: Revamping Productivity

2013-02-21T15:27:00.000-08:00

In this essay I’ve reposted by Matt White from ETR, White outlines how a person can move ahead by: (1) realizing they have feet; (2) lifting one leg in the air and (3) taking a small step forward. You’ll see what I mean.

Enjoy.

Why Small Bites Trump Multi-Tasking

By Matt White

At a press conference early in his presidency, Dwight Eisenhower was asked for the name of his favorite author. "Harry Sinclair Drago," said Eisenhower.

The reporters looked puzzled. They obviously hadn't heard of Drago, even though he'd written several classics of western fiction, including Suzanna: A Romance of Early California and Whispering Sage.

So they asked Eisenhower for his second favorite. "Bliss Lomax," replied Eisenhower. If nothing else, this proved that Eisenhower was consistent, because that was a pen name used by, you guessed it, Harry Sinclair Drago.

Drago used at least eight additional pen names. He needed all those names because he wrote a lot. Over the course of his career, he wrote short stories, screenplays, articles, and more than a hundred novels. More than three full-length novels a year for 30 years.

When Syracuse University announced that it would be the custodian of Drago's papers, the thing that seemed to fascinate reporters the most was the amount he wrote. One of them asked him: "How did you write over a hundred books?"

"Four pages a day," replied Drago.

One Bite at a Time

Harry Sinclair Drago knew that, often, the secret of accomplishing big things is to break the big task into lots of small tasks. There's an old joke that illustrates the point.

Question: "How do you eat an elephant?"

Answer: "One bite at a time."

You can make it a big bite or a small one. I bet Drago didn't start out writing four pages a day. It might have been as little as one hundred words.

By breaking your big projects into little action steps and doing at least one step a day, you can accomplish great things. Just don't keep all your action steps in your head.

Get Out of Your Head

I've met people who get the "baby steps" concept, but they still don't get anywhere because they never get to the action part. They come up with action steps like "Think about the plot for the novel" or "Analyze marketing options."

Those sound like action steps, but they're not. They don't result in real action. Real action is something out in the physical world that others can witness.

Instead of "Think about the plot for the novel," try "Draft plot outline." Instead of "Analyze marketing options," try creating several specific action steps. They might include: "List three sources of information," "Contact source A," and "Prepare report on costs and benefits."

Make a call. Make a list. Send an e-mail. Write a report. Do something. If you make it visible, you won't fool yourself about whether you're making progress. And to keep things moving, define action steps that are small enough that you're sure to succeed.

Make It Small Enough to Get You Going

You're more likely to succeed at small, easy action steps. So when you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things, or the big thing, you have to do, make your action steps smaller and easier. One clue that you need to break your goal into smaller chunks is when you find yourself procrastinating.

Say that you know you need to get the house painted, but you're not doing anything about it. So make it smaller.

What's the first thing you need to do?

It could be: "Get some estimates."

If getting estimates is still blocking you, make your next action step even smaller. Try: "Call three painting companies."

If you're still procrastinating, choose a smaller step. How about: "Make a list of five painting companies to call?"

At some point, you'll be down to an action step that moves you forward but isn't so big it stops you in your tracks. That gets you moving and gives you momentum.

Savor the Small Wins

The principle of using small wins to build psychological momentum was presented in a Ph.D. dissertation at Stanford University in 1977. The theory: It works because it's a truly brain-friendly concept.

When someone praises you, you feel good because your brain produces a chemical called dopamine. When you praise yourself by checking off a completed action step, you get the same physiological result. As you achieve one small win after another, you find it easier and easier to take the action steps that generate the wins.

One way to keep things moving is to keep score.

At the end of every day, Ben Franklin would ask himself: "What good have I done this day?" You can ask the question: "What have I done today to move my life and career forward?"

Think about the action steps you took today. Think about how they helped you achieve your goals. Savor your victories.

Remember that success usually isn't a result of achieving great big things all at once. Eat the elephant of a big achievement one bite at a time.

Identify the next small step. Make it visible. Reward yourself for achievement. Then identify the next small action step.

Mind Cries and Swedish Whispers (a poem)

2013-02-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

Credits blinked with chimes

crimson and snow Swedish caps
leading to the opening scene

A metronome of time

Flickers of sleeping sisters

Kvinna in white

waking to pain

following the voluminous sounds

of swallowing

and the rustling of sheets

enters the sight of quiet suffering

Unsettling

A maid prays for her dead flicka

Caring for her mistress

Coaxing away a misery unarticulated

in a red room

Sisters notice the whispers

of their schizophrenic minds

caring for each other with smiles

and resentment

The only dependable loyalty

are the warm billowy breasts

of a dedicated kvinna

nursing the rotting dead

who still cannot sleep

Financial Fear

2013-02-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

This essay I’ve posted written by Mark Ford is a pretty good read while we all deal with the global financial news that may or may not be reporting accurately. There are a few dodgy spots at the end of the essay I’m not sure I’m on board with, but the essay, overall is a good message, one I intend to heed (for the most part).

Enjoy

Making Friends with Your Financial Fears

By Mark Ford

Recently I wrote an essay about protecting your wealth by using stop losses, diversification, legal strategies, and tax planning.

I thought it was a good essay. It covered, I thought, everything I knew on the subject. But I've been thinking about it since then and realized that there was one important idea I did not include. It is perhaps the most important idea.

You see, the essay was in response to a reader who was obviously afraid of losing the wealth he had. The fear of losing something you value is completely natural. And it is also healthy as long as the fear is not too great. But when fear is great - and I sensed that for this person it was - it can be destructive. Unbridled fear produces two negative responses: immobility and rashness.

When you fear too much, you won't take the positive actions you suspect you should. When opportunities are presented, you'll shun them for fear of the potential dangers and downsides.

Tim Mittelstaedt, a research analyst at The Palm Beach Letter, sent me the following note after he read the first draft of this essay:

I've wanted to buy rental real estate since high school more than 13 years ago, but fear has prevented me from doing it all of these years. And at times I've wanted to start a business, too, but fear got in the way. Do you have ideas on how I can overcome my fears?

Tim isn't alone. Years ago, when gold was trading at around $500 per ounce, fear was the reason why so many of my friends and colleagues were afraid to invest in gold despite my urging them to do so. It is the reason that many Palm Beach Letter readers are ignoring my advice to buy real estate now.

It's important to remember that the major media are almost always wrong about investing. When prices skyrocket, they write stories about people making money. When prices drop, they write stories about people losing money. Most readers have a hard time disbelieving the major media. They wonder, "How could all of these pundits on TV be wrong?" So they stay on the sidelines, waiting for positive confirmation from their favorite newspaper or television channel. But that never comes until it is too late.

Some investors who don't trust the major media are fearful, too. They are persuaded by what they read in the alternative press about government debt and worldwide economic collapse. So they put all of their money into gold or bury it in their backyards. And when gold soars, they are afraid to cash in and invest in the stock market. The end result is just as bad for them as for those who foolishly trust the mainstream media.

I see how fear impoverishes people in the world of business all the time. Smart, hard-working people who want desperately to quit the nine-to-five routine and start their own businesses fail to do so because they can't get the threat of failure out of their minds. I spent 10 years writing books and essays on entrepreneurship and taught hundreds of thousands of people the secrets to business success. But only one in 10 was actually successful. When I met them at conferences and got to know them, the reason was obvious. They were simply scared.

If you fear losing money too greatly, you will never implement the knowledge you gain. You may invest money in investment education - thousands and thousands of dollars over time - but you won't put the ideas you learn into action. Instead, you will do only the few things you are comfortable with. As a result, you will make no progress toward your wealth-building goals.

So that's what I want to talk about today: how to make friends with your fear of losing money.

This is how I did it.

I was 26 years old. I was halfway through a two-year Peace Corps stint as a teacher of English at the University of Chad. (Chad is in Africa.) My new wife and I were living in a three-room, plaster-coated mud house. We had no kitchen, and the bathroom was a latrine.

But we had a porch that overlooked a garden of Eden frequented by a family of monkeys and a dog that barked at them insanely when they hung over the roof, begging for food. We also had neighbors who became lifelong friends. On weekends, we had parties at which African friends and Peace Corps volunteers would drink copious amounts of Gala beer and dance madly until the sun rose.

I was sitting on that porch one afternoon, sipping whiskey, when it suddenly occurred to me that I would never have a nicer house or a nicer life than I had right then. I knew or I sensed that one day I'd be wealthy and live in a mansion and all that, but I knew that it would never be better than the plaster-coated mud house.

So I said to myself, very consciously, "Mark, life will never be better than this." I said that because I knew that when I started making big money, I would become afraid of losing it, and I somehow knew that the fear of losing what I didn't need could hurt me. I didn't want that kind of hurt.

My intuition was right. I came back to America and became a writer for a newsletter on Africa. Six years later, I was a multimillionaire. I bought a $170,000 house and then a $550,000 house and then a $5.5 million house. But I never forgot the truth I had discovered then. I have loved all of the houses I've owned since then, but none better than that first house, which I could have bought for $1,000.

That thought helped me a great deal over the years, and it still helps me today. Whenever the fear of losing wealth invaded my consciousness, I was able to remind myself of how little I really needed to be happy.

So now, when I get that fear - and I have it from time to time I simply remember how beautiful my life was when I was making $50 a week and living in a $1,000 mud house.

Warren Buffett seems to understand this, too. In fact, he's famous for still living in a house he bought 50 years ago for $31,500. He enjoys his wealth, but he doesn't fret over it. He makes better financial decisions because he doesn't let the fear of loss control him.

You may be thinking, "That's fine for you to say. You are rich. You can afford to lose money."

But that's exactly my point. Because I am not afraid to be poor, I don't make foolish mistakes born out of fear. I don't let good investments - investments that are sound and well-priced - pass me by. And I don't put all of my eggs in one basket. But I do take action.

That's what I forgot to tell this reader: The most important secret of wealth preservation is to make peace with your fear of becoming poor.

You can't control the economy. You can't control the forces that affect your business. But you can control your emotions. By making friends with fear, you will enjoy the wealth you have and make smart, wealth-building decisions.

You don't want to be forever on the sidelines, watching other people make money. And you don't want to put all of your money in gold, hoping for Armageddon.

To make friends with fear, you have to imagine yourself living a simple life, one that can be supported by a modest income, enjoying your work and the time you spend with your family and friends. Imagine that until you feel comfortable with it. What will happen is that your anxiety will disappear and, counter-intuitively, you will make better financial decisions.

If you are scared to start a business, imagine yourself failing. Then imagine feeling okay with it. (You will be okay financially if you have limited your investments as I recommended in the last essay.) Imagine yourself smiling to your spouse and saying, "Well, that didn't work out."

If you are scared to invest in the stocks we are recommending, imagine your portfolio dropping 25%. (It won't, but you must imagine it.) Imagine yourself thinking, "Okay, I've been stopped out. Now I will pick myself up and start over again."

If you are afraid of investing in real estate, imagine the worst thing that could happen. You sell the property and take a 10% to 15% loss. (This is highly, highly unlikely.) Imagine yourself being okay with that.

In other words, do everything I suggested in that essay. Use moving stop losses to protect your performance portfolio. Diversify your investments to include debt instruments, precious metals, and real estate. And take full advantage of legal structures and tax-minimization strategies. But don't live in fear. Life can very sweet and rich in pleasure - even if you do lose money, which will probably not happen if you aren't afraid.

Outsider Artist: Dion Hitchings

2013-02-15T12:54:00.002-08:00

D. Hitchings - nude with large red nose and eyeball with one horned beast
eating butterflies at snow civered nipple mountain

Today The Wrighter is featuring artist, Dion Hitchings, and at his very moment, his work is being exhibited through Circus Terminal, USA at Studio B in Boyertown, PA.

Hitchings has a BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, and has in the past, worked as a fashion illustrator and art director. His website, http://www.dionhitchings.com details his life from birth to the present.

I was supposed to interview Hitchings in person, but unfortunately, I’m unable to attend the Circus Terminal, USA exhibit and workshops (https://www.facebook.com/CircusTerminalWorldwide) … DARN IT!!

I interviewed him via email.

D. Hitchings - 3 tranny beasts with red titties
grazing at nipple mountain

Where are you from?

St. Louis, Missouri.

Where do you currently live?

Milford, New Jersey.

How would you describe your art work?

When describing my art you can call it primitive narrative, childlike, colorful, self-revealing, erotic, funny, strange and lots of eyes. My inspirations come from many places -- people I see and work with, dreams, the garden, news, guests on The Jerry Springer Show, my American Indian heritage, movies, and sex.

D. Hitchings - Prey

Who are your favorite artists?

Jean Michael Basquait/ Aubrey Beadsley/ Peter Max/ Toulouse-Lautrec/ Gustav Klimt/Picasso/ Francis Bacon - because they have all influenced me and my work in some way.

If you had to define yourself as a particular material (i.e. wood, glass, metal, etc.) what would it be?

Children's art supplies/paper/magic markers/colored pens/crayons/highlighters/spirograph - because it makes me feel like a child again and to think out of the box/untrained

What would you like to see more of in the art world?

Neo-outsider art.

What are some of your interests outside of art?

Gardening/art/my gallery/art/drawing/art.

What the Black Man Wants: A Speech by Fredrick Douglas, April 1865

2013-02-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

WHAT THE BLACK MAN WANTS

I came here, as I come always to the meetings in New England, as a listener, and not as a speaker; and one of the reasons why I have not been more frequently to the meetings of this society, has been because of the disposition on the part of some of my friends to call me out upon the platform, even when they knew that there was some difference of opinion and of feeling between those who rightfully belong to this platform and myself; and for fear of being misconstrued, as desiring to interrupt or disturb the proceedings of these meetings, I have usually kept away, and have thus been deprived of that educating influence, which I am always free to confess is of the highest order, descending from this platform. I have felt, since I have lived out West [Douglass means west of Boston, in Rochester, NY], that in going there I parted from a great deal that was valuable; and I feel, every time I come to these meetings, that I have lost a great deal by making my home west of Boston, west of Massachusetts; for, if anywhere in the country there is to be found the highest sense of justice, or the truest demands for my race, I look for it in the East, I look for it here. The ablest discussions of the whole question of our rights occur here, and to be deprived of the privilege of listening to those discussions is a great deprivation.

I do not know, from what has been said, that there is any difference of opinion as to the duty of abolitionists, at the present moment. How can we get up any difference at this point, or any point, where we are so united, so agreed? I went especially, however, with that word of Mr. Phillips, which is the criticism of Gen. Banks and Gen. Banks' policy. [Gen. Banks instituted a labor policy in Louisiana that was discriminatory of blacks, claiming that it was to help prepare them to better handle freedom. Wendell Phillips countered by saying, "If there is anything patent in the whole history of our thirty years' struggle, it is that the Negro no more needs to be prepared for liberty than the white man."] I hold that that policy is our chief danger at the present moment; that it practically enslaves the Negro, and makes the Proclamation [the Emancipation Proclamation] of 1863 a mockery and delusion. What is freedom? It is the right to choose one's own employment. Certainly it means that, if it means anything; and when any individual or combination of individuals undertakes to decide for any man when he shall work, where he shall work, at what he shall work, and for what he shall work, he or they practically reduce him to slavery. [Applause.] He is a slave. That I understand Gen. Banks to do--to determine for the so-called freedman, when, and where, and at what, and for how much he shall work, when he shall be punished, and by whom punished. It is absolute slavery. It defeats the beneficent intention of the Government, if it has beneficent intentions, in regards to the freedom of our people.
I have had but one idea for the last three years to present to the American people, and the phraseology in which I clothe it is the old abolition phraseology. I am for the "immediate, unconditional, and universal" enfranchisement of the black man, in every State in the Union. [Loud applause.] Without this, his liberty is a mockery; without this, you might as well almost retain the old name of slavery for his condition; for in fact, if he is not the slave of the individual master, he is the slave of society, and holds his liberty as a privilege, not as a right. He is at the mercy of the mob, and has no means of protecting himself.

It may be objected, however, that this pressing of the Negro's right to suffrage is premature. Let us have slavery abolished, it may be said, let us have labor organized, and then, in the natural course of events, the right of suffrage will be extended to the Negro. I do not agree with this. The constitution of the human mind is such, that if it once disregards the conviction forced upon it by a revelation of truth, it requires the exercise of a higher power to produce the same conviction afterwards. The American people are now in tears. The Shenandoah has run blood--the best blood of the North. All around Richmond, the blood of New England and of the North has been shed--of your sons, your brothers and your fathers. We all feel, in the existence of this Rebellion, that judgments terrible, wide-spread, far-reaching, overwhelming, are abroad in the land; and we feel, in view of these judgments, just now, a disposition to learn righteousness. This is the hour. Our streets are in mourning, tears are falling at every fireside, and under the chastisement of this Rebellion we have almost come up to the point of conceding this great, this all-important right of suffrage. I fear that if we fail to do it now, if abolitionists fail to press it now, we may not see, for centuries to come, the same disposition that exists at this moment. [Applause.] Hence, I say, now is the time to press this right.

It may be asked, "Why do you want it? Some men have got along very well without it. Women have not this right." Shall we justify one wrong by another? This is the sufficient answer. Shall we at this moment justify the deprivation of the Negro of the right to vote, because some one else is deprived of that privilege? I hold that women, as well as men, have the right to vote [applause], and my heart and voice go with the movement to extend suffrage to woman; but that question rests upon another basis than which our right rests. We may be asked, I say, why we want it. I will tell you why we want it. We want it because it is our right, first of all. No class of men can, without insulting their own nature, be content with any deprivation of their rights. We want it again, as a means for educating our race. Men are so constituted that they derive their conviction of their own possibilities largely by the estimate formed of them by others. If nothing is expected of a people, that people will find it difficult to contradict that expectation. By depriving us of suffrage, you affirm our incapacity to form an intelligent judgment respecting public men and public measures; you declare before the world that we are unfit to exercise the elective franchise, and by this means lead us to undervalue ourselves, to put a low estimate upon ourselves, and to feel that we have no possibilities like other men. Again, I want the elective franchise, for one, as a colored man, because ours is a peculiar government, based upon a peculiar idea, and that idea is universal suffrage. If I were in a monarchial government, or an autocratic or aristocratic government, where the few bore rule and the many were subject, there would be no special stigma resting upon me, because I did not exercise the elective franchise. It would do me no great violence. Mingling with the mass I should partake of the strength of the mass; I should be supported by the mass, and I should have the same incentives to endeavor with the mass of my fellow-men; it would be no particular burden, no particular deprivation; but here where universal suffrage is the rule, where that is the fundamental idea of the Government, to rule us out is to make us an exception, to brand us with the stigma of inferiority, and to invite to our heads the missiles of those about us; therefore, I want the franchise for the black man.

There are, however, other reasons, not derived from any consideration merely of our rights, but arising out of the conditions of the South, and of the country--considerations which have already been referred to by Mr. Phillips--considerations which must arrest the attention of statesmen. I believe that when the tall heads of this Rebellion shall have been swept down, as they will be swept down, when the Davises and Toombses and Stephenses, and others who are leading this Rebellion shall have been blotted out, there will be this rank undergrowth of treason, to which reference has been made, growing up there, and interfering with, and thwarting the quiet operation of the Federal Government in those states. You will se those traitors, handing down, from sire to son, the same malignant spirit which they have manifested and which they are now exhibiting, with malicious hearts, broad blades, and bloody hands in the field, against our sons and brothers. That spirit will still remain; and whoever sees the Federal Government extended over those Southern States will see that Government in a strange land, and not only in a strange land, but in an enemy's land. A post-master of the United States in the South will find himself surrounded by a hostile spirit; a collector in a Southern port will find himself surrounded by a hostile spirit; a United States marshal or United States judge will be surrounded there by a hostile element. That enmity will not die out in a year, will not die out in an age. The Federal Government will be looked upon in those States precisely as the Governments of Austria and France are looked upon in Italy at the present moment. They will endeavor to circumvent, they will endeavor to destroy, the peaceful operation of this Government. Now, where will you find the strength to counterbalance this spirit, if you do not find it in the Negroes of the South? They are your friends, and have always been your friends. They were your friends even when the Government did not regard them as such. They comprehended the genius of this war before you did. It is a significant fact, it is a marvellous fact, it seems almost to imply a direct interposition of Providence, that this war, which began in the interest of slavery on both sides, bids fair to end in the interest of liberty on both sides. [Applause.] It was begun, I say, in the interest of slavery on both sides. The South was fighting to take slavery out of the Union, and the North was fighting to keep it in the Union; the South fighting to get it beyond the limits of the United States Constitution, and the North fighting to retain it within those limits; the South fighting for new guarantees, and the North fighting for the old guarantees;--both despising the Negro, both insulting the Negro. Yet, the Negro, apparently endowed with wisdom from on high, saw more clearly the end from the beginning than we did. When Seward said the status of no man in the country would be changed by the war, the Negro did not believe him. [Applause.] When our generals sent their underlings in shoulder-straps to hunt the flying Negro back from our lines into the jaws of slavery, from which he had escaped, the Negroes thought that a mistake had been made, and that the intentions of the Government had not been rightly understood by our officers in shoulder-straps, and they continued to come into our lines, threading their way through bogs and fens, over briers and thorns, fording streams, swimming rivers, bringing us tidings as to the safe path to march, and pointing out the dangers that threatened us. They are our only friends in the South, and we should be true to them in this their trial hour, and see to it that they have the elective franchise.

I know that we are inferior to you in some things--virtually inferior. We walk about you like dwarfs among giants. Our heads are scarcely seen above the great sea of humanity. The Germans are superior to us; the Irish are superior to us; the Yankees are superior to us [Laughter]; they can do what we cannot, that is, what we have not hitherto been allowed to do. But while I make this admission, I utterly deny, that we are originally, or naturally, or practically, or in any way, or in any important sense, inferior to anybody on this globe. [Loud applause.] This charge of inferiority is an old dodge. It has been made available for oppression on many occasions. It is only about six centuries since the blue-eyed and fair-haired Anglo-Saxons were considered inferior by the haughty Normans, who once trampled upon them. If you read the history of the Norman Conquest, you will find that this proud Anglo-Saxon was once looked upon as of coarser clay than his Norman master, and might be found in the highways and byways of Old England laboring with a brass collar on his neck, and the name of his master marked upon it. You were down then! [Laughter and applause.] You are up now. I am glad you are up, and I want you to be glad to help us up also. [Applause.]

The story of our inferiority is an old dodge, as I have said; for wherever men oppress their fellows, wherever they enslave them, they will endeavor to find the needed apology for such enslavement and oppression in the character of the people oppressed and enslaved. When we wanted, a few years ago, a slice of Mexico, it was hinted that the Mexicans were an inferior race, that the old Castilian blood had become so weak that it would scarcely run down hill, and that Mexico needed the long, strong and beneficent arm of the Anglo-Saxon care extended over it. We said that it was necessary to its salvation, and a part of the "manifest destiny" of this Republic, to extend our arm over that dilapidated government. So, too, when Russia wanted to take possession of a part of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks were an "inferior race." So, too, when England wants to set the heel of her power more firmly in the quivering heart of old Ireland, the Celts are an "inferior race." So, too, the Negro, when he is to be robbed of any right which is justly his, is an "inferior man." It is said that we are ignorant; I admit it. But if we know enough to be hung, we know enough to vote. If the Negro knows enough to pay taxes to support the government, he knows enough to vote; taxation and representation should go together. If he knows enough to shoulder a musket and fight for the flag, fight for the government, he knows enough to vote. If he knows as much when he is sober as an Irishman knows when drunk, he knows enough to vote, on good American principles. [Laughter and applause.]

But I was saying that you needed a counterpoise in the persons of the slaves to the enmity that would exist at the South after the Rebellion is put down. I hold that the American people are bound, not only in self-defence, to extend this right to the freedmen of the South, but they are bound by their love of country, and by all their regard for the future safety of those Southern States, to do this--to do it as a measure essential to the preservation of peace there. But I will not dwell upon this. I put it to the American sense of honor. The honor of a nation is an important thing. It is said in the Scriptures, "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" It may be said, also, What doth it profit a nation if it gain the whole world, but lose its honor? I hold that the American government has taken upon itself a solemn obligation of honor, to see that this war--let it be long or short, let it cost much or let it cost little--that this war shall not cease until every freedman at the South has the right to vote. [Applause.] It has bound itself to it. What have you asked the black men of the South, the black men of the whole country to do? Why, you have asked them to incure the enmity of their masters, in order to befriend you and to befriend this Government. You have asked us to call down, not only upon ourselves, but upon our children's children, the deadly hate of the entire Southern people. You have called upon us to turn our backs upon our masters, to abandon their cause and espouse yours; to turn against the South and in favor of the North; to shoot down the Confederacy and uphold the flag-- the American flag. You have called upon us to expose ourselves to all the subtle machinations of their malignity for all time. And now, what do you propose to do when you come to make peace? To reward your enemies, and trample in the dust your friends? Do you intend to sacrifice the very men who have come to the rescue of your banner in the South, and incurred the lasting displeasure of their masters thereby? Do you intend to sacrifice them and reward your enemies? Do you mean to give your enemies the right to vote, and take it away from your friends? Is that wise policy? Is that honorable? Could American honor withstand such a blow? I do not believe you will do it. I think you will see to it that we have the right to vote. There is something too mean in looking upon the Negro, when you are in trouble, as a citizen, and when you are free from trouble, as an alien. When this nation was in trouble, in its early struggles, it looked upon the Negro as a citizen. In 1776 he was a citizen. At the time of the formation of the Consitution the Negro had the right to vote in eleven States out of the old thirteen. In your trouble you have made us citizens. In 1812 Gen. Jackson addressed us as citizens--"fellow-citizens." He wanted us to fight. We were citizens then! And now, when you come to frame a conscription bill, the Negro is a citizen again. He has been a citizen just three times in the history of this government, and it has always been in time of trouble. In time of trouble we are citizens. Shall we be citizens in war, and aliens in peace? Would that be just?

I ask my friends who are apologizing for not insisting upon this right, where can the black man look, in this country, for the assertion of his right, if he may not look to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society? Where under the whole heavens can he look for sympathy, in asserting this right, if he may not look to this platform? Have you lifted us up to a certain height to see that we are men, and then are any disposed to leave us there, without seeing that we are put in possession of all our rights? We look naturally to this platform for the assertion of all our rights, and for this one especially. I understand the anti-slavery societies of this country to be based on two principles,--first, the freedom of the blacks of this country; and, second, the elevation of them. Let me not be misunderstood here. I am not asking for sympathy at the hands of abolitionists, sympathy at the hands of any. I think the American people are disposed often to be generous rather than just. I look over this country at the present time, and I see Educational Societies, Sanitary Commissions, Freedmen's Associations, and the like,--all very good: but in regard to the colored people there is always more that is benevolent, I perceive, than just, manifested towards us. What I ask for the Negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice. [Applause.] The American people have always been anxious to know what they shall do with us. Gen. Banks was distressed with solicitude as to what he should do with the Negro. Everybody has asked the question, and they learned to ask it early of the abolitionists, "What shall we do with the Negro?" I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are wormeaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! If you see him on his way to school, let him alone, don't disturb him! If you see him going to the dinner table at a hotel, let him go! If you see him going to the ballot- box, let him alone, don't disturb him! [Applause.] If you see him going into a work-shop, just let him alone,--your interference is doing him a positive injury. Gen. Banks' "preparation" is of a piece with this attempt to prop up the Negro. Let him fall if he cannot stand alone! If the Negro cannot live by the line of eternal justice, so beautifully pictured to you in the illustration used by Mr. Phillips, the fault will not be yours, it will be his who made the Negro, and established that line for his government. [Applause.] Let him live or die by that. If you will only untie his hands, and give him a chance, I think he will live. He will work as readily for himself as the white man. A great many delusions have been swept away by this war. One was, that the Negro would not work; he has proved his ability to work. Another was, that the Negro would not fight; that he possessed only the most sheepish attributes of humanity; was a perfect lamb, or an "Uncle Tom;" disposed to take off his coat whenever required, fold his hands, and be whipped by anybody who wanted to whip him. But the war has proved that there is a great deal of human nature in the Negro, and that "he will fight," as Mr. Quincy, our President, said, in earlier days than these, "when there is reasonable probability of his whipping anybody." [Laughter and applause.]
(Foner, Volume Four, pages 157- 165)

Judith Martin - Author of "The Goddess of Beauty"

2013-02-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

Featured today, is recently published author Judith Martin, whose children’s book titled “The Goddess of Beauty” got my attention. She graciously agreed to be interviewed for The Wrighter. Visit her website at: http://www.thegoddessofbeauty.com.

Where are you from?

I am originally from Jamaica.

Was your book "The Goddess of Beauty" inspired by anything you witnessed in your community or your life? If so, what?

The Goddess of Beauty was inspired by my beautiful childhood. I was blessed to have a mother who always told me that I was beautiful and so I grew up believing it.

What was the target age range when you wrote this story?

My book targets young girls from age six and up. Essentially all women can read this book and feel empowered by Goddess Oshun. Women of African origin will feel a sense of pride reading this book while women of other backgrounds can also learn about black beauty and culture.

The story is about a girl who gains confidence after learning about the goddess Oshun. Is that right?

That’s correct. A young insecure girl on the island of Trinidad gains confidence after she learns about the remarkable outer and inner beauty of her ancestor Goddess Oshun.

In African lore, Oshun is known also to have a quick and destructive temper. Do you demonstrate any of this in your story?

Goddess Oshun can have a slight temper just like any other Orisha or human but the book does not focus on this side of her personality. The book embraces Oshun’s inner and physical beauty because this is what she is primarily known for.

What would you like your readers to feel or think after reading the book?

Goddess Oshun has been a part of the West African culture since time immemorial. Africans in Africa and the diaspora have preserved this wonderful Goddess and her image through various struggles and hardships in our history. I would like all readers of this book to feel like they are a part of this magnificent culture that has been around for thousands of years.

Have you written any other books?

I have written other books about beautiful women from various cultures around the world. My other books are not yet published so “The Goddess of Beauty” is the first published book in the series.