We are old, Father William...

Issue #13, a zine, "No One Tells You When to Shout", has finally begun shipping. Which is to say, put in envelopes, sent to subscribers.

“The world found nothing sacred in the abstract nakedness of being human.”

 Hannah Arendt, quoted by Lyndsey Stonebridge

 

“Identity would seem to be the garment with which one covers the nakedness of the self: in which case, it is best that the garment be loose, a little like the robes of the desert, through which one's nakedness can always be felt, and, sometimes, discerned. This trust in one's nakedness is all that gives one the power to change one's robes.”

 James Baldwin, from The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction,

1948-1985

 

 

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,

    When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,—

When he beats his bars and he would be free;

It is not a carol of joy or glee,

    But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,  

But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings—

I know why the caged bird sings!

from “Sympathy”, a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872–1906)

 

 

 

So, I say to you, as others have told to me, hold fast to what is good, and

seek to return no one evil for evil.

Strengthen the faint-hearted, support the weak, help the suffering.

Let each of us not be proud, but instead welcome help when

we are in need.

Let us always honor all people, tempering justice with mercy, as we

indeed desire for ourselves. Find something sacred in

the abstract nakedness of being human.

 

 

 

Lara Scott             metamer@protonmail.com

The Metamer Quarterly, Issue #13 “No One Tells You When To Shout”

https://themetamerquarterly.blogspot.com/

ArtistSupportPledgeUSA

I've been posting work for sale as part of the ArtistSupportPledge. The #ArtistSupportPledge is a movement to help artists support one another. Begun by a UK artist, Matthew Burrows, it is now active in the U.S. To participate, artists post pictures of their art for sale, costing $200, or £200 or less, with the hashtag #artistsupportpledge. For every five sales an artist makes, or for every $1000 or  £1000, they then pledge to purchase a work from a fellow artist.

I think it's a great idea, and it is excellent timing for many of us. I am posting on Facebook, but also including the art for sale here. They are priced at $140 to $180, plus shipping and handling. I will charge the buyer for shipping and handling, but count it towards the $1000 goal. All are ready to hang without framing. Email me at metamer@protonmail.com if interested.

I have been moving between a pc and a mac, and some of the photos are slightly darker than the actual paintings.

Gerber daisies

16x16", oil on board, $180

Butterfly

24x24", acrylic on board, $150

Snapdragons

16x16", oil on board, $180

Summer flowers

16x16", oil on board, $180

Summer flowers, II

16x16", oil on board, $180

SOLD

Falling Tulips

10x10", oil on board, $140

for more info on this movement, search on #artistsupportpledge

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-support-pledge-instagram-1807881

https://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/article/artists-support-pledge

TMQ at Spring Writes Literary Festival in Ithaca, NY

The Metamer Quarterly is on the road again, headed to Ithaca, NY, on Sunday, May 5th, to lead a workshop with Kate Blackwood, frequent contributor and collaborator.

11:00am - 12:00pm @ Tompkins Center for History & Culture, 2nd Floor Conference Room **

Workshop: Book + Art: Make a book and write a poem to go inside

A workshop for those who love to write and make things. Write an original poem or flash story following an in-workshop prompt, or revise a piece of writing you've already started. Then make a book using one of three simple techniques. Formats will be appropriate for beginners, but interesting enough for pros! The final step is to place your writing in your book and take it with you: a new, complete piece of literary art. It's a done-in-a-day version of the artist's book project The Metamer Quarterly lead by the Metamer's founder, artist Lara Scott, and a frequent contributor, writer Kate Blackwood. All book-making materials will be provided. You just bring the words. (**For workshops in the 2nd floor conference room, we ask that you arrive a few minutes early to ensure we have enough seating for all participants!)


More information here:
http://artspartner.org/content/view/spring-writes

a note about our location:
Tompkins Center for History and Culture, 110 N. Tioga Street. This is on the Commons, to the left of M&T Bank. There will be signs as you enter the building pointing you to the Gallery/Program Room and the elevator to the 2nd Floor Conference Room. 

Issue #8 of The Metamer Quarterly

Issue #8 ships soon. And Issue #9 will follow shortly after. For more information, please email Lara Scott at metamer@protonmail.com

or drop me a snail mail line -- send to

The Metamer Quarterly
PO Box 725
Sherburne NY 13460

Metamer Years Three and Four

Buffalo, NY

The zoetrope was, hands down, the biggest hit of Tour Stop #1, The Buffalo Bookfest at the Western New York Book Arts Center in Buffalo, NY. Someone wanted me to make them one, but I am still thinking through how to make one that isn't a book.

https://www.facebook.com/WNYBookArtsCenter/

I also sold a copy of the basic No Subject, Issue #6. Contributors, someone is reading and seeing your work and perhaps sharing it with their friends. I sold some cards as well, but selling a copy of the Metamer made my day.

Watch this space for news of the next stop on the tour, and additional information on the next two years of the Metamer.

deadline extended!

Those who have ever made an appointment to meet up with me knows that I am almost always late. Even notoriously late folks become prompt in my presence, in deference to my superior tardiness. So who am I to stick to a deadline, or to rigidly enforce it?

So, there is still time to send in a submission -- a diagram of a soccer play, or a hockey play, or the batting list from your last best game, or a poem, or a shopping list, or a drawing, or a cartoon, a comic, anything that can be printed in b&w -- for Issue #6 of The Metamer Quarterly.

Send it to me, Lara Scott, at P.O. Box 725, Sherburne, NY, 13460, by Feb 10th.

Please do!

And here's a glamour shot of issue #5,

and a line from Carrie Newcomer:

"The curious promise of limited time."

everyday i write the book

Really, Elvis Costello writes the book every day.

Every day I waste some time.
Every day I sit in my studio and look out of the window.
Every day I look around the studio and think, I need to get more organized.
Every day I glue some things together.

Today I went to a presentation given by John Freeman.
(Every Thursday I go to the Living Writers series at Colgate University.
I sell books. I listen to the lecture. I sit next to the author and sell more books.)

And, luckiest of all, I get to chat with the authors. They are a lovely bunch.
John Freeman is a poet, critic, and editor of Freeman's, a biannual fiction anthology.
So that was a treat -- to meet someone else who felt strongly enough about something
to publish it, to find the things, some excellent things, and publish them.

He talked about subscriptions. Which he does not take. And I understand why.

But, every week I am reminded that making and sharing are important disciplines.

So thank you, Living Writers.

time it was and what a time it was it was

photograph by Ralph Eugene Meatyard (1925-1972), an optician and photographer, who lived and worked in Northern Kentucky.  He is a hero of mine.