Artistic Tendencies Archives - Life Outtacontext
The personal website of artist and writer Jeff Gates
art, politics, graphic design, writer, storyteller, photo illustrator, "Washington, DC"
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Artistic Tendencies / 06.11.2021

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_video link="https://youtu.be/I_u-Eh3h7Mo"][vc_empty_space height="20px"][vc_column_text]How many of you have experienced “flow,” that feeling of such focused energy you feel when making art, participating in sports, writing, or trying to solve a problem? I have. And I credit it for keeping me sane during some dark political days and throughout the pandemic. Time seems non-existent. One minute you are aware of what you’re doing. And, suddenly, you realize it’s three hours later. Not only is the experience wonderful, the afterglow, that sense of accomplishment, also carries the feeling even after you’ve re-entered the real world. After a...

Artistic Tendencies, Commuting with Nature, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 15.09.2015

This morning, as I was walking towards the subway entrance I saw a young mother with her two daughters running to catch the No. 8 bus. It pulled away without them but as it came closer to me I motioned there were people running to catch that bus. I kept pointing over and over with an exaggerated movement between the family and the bus, hoping to catch the driver's attention. I've done this before but the driver didn't see me. Or, he just didn't care. This driver stopped. With a twist of my...

Artistic Tendencies, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 09.04.2015

For some strange reason I put my watch on upside down this morning. Time appeared backward the whole day. And each time I looked at my watch, just for a second, I was thrown off kilter, as if I had tripped and was trying to right myself. It seemed like time was mocking me and I wondered if anyone noticed. I kept asking myself, "Why don't you just take off the stupid watch and put it on the right way?" But, I never had the time. This really wasn't getting me anywhere. Telling time didn't come easy to me today. Tripping over...

Artistic Tendencies / 31.12.2014

At the end of last year I posted my Top Ten (+6) Photographs from 2013. With a trip to China, I had lots of images to choose from. There were some momentous events this year as well, perhaps not as monumental as taking our girls back to China to see where they came from. But, still they were worth contemplating as the year ends and a new year begins. Like last year, I couldn't narrow it down to just ten. As last year, choosing my top photographs and putting them in order was a difficult task. I liked each one...

Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 07.02.2014

For its 10th anniversary Facebook created a short video for every one of its users, taking a look back at their favorite posts and photographs. "A Look Back," these minute videos, started showing up on everyone's stream as people shared them. The music was intentionally inspirational; the sentimentality was obvious. People either loved or hated them and a backlash shortly ensued. Of course, this made it ripe for parody and I never turn down an opportunity, especially when I can also make a powerful statement. So, what if this remembrance, a look back, was made for the Republican Party? Here's...

Artistic Tendencies, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 26.12.2013

Photographically, this was a wonderful year for me. I found myself in all sorts of interesting places and situations. And the best souvenir of an experience is either a story or a photograph. The best is when I get both. Yesterday, I began to contemplate the end of 2013. And I started to grimace at all the end-of-year lists of which we were about to be inundated. Suddenly, I thought the best way to combat the nostalgia those lists always bring out in me would be to put together one of my own. So here are my top ten photographs from...

Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 05.02.2012

Vote Out Obstructionists!

The latest poster from the Chamomile Tea Party. Click on image for larger view. (Not only is this a remix of a World War II-era poster this is a remix of my first Chamomile Tea Party poster. And aside from the text, I've made some subtle changes in this new one. Can you see them?)

Pulling this country out of the Wall Street-induced recession has been glacial. To a great extent it's because the Republicans aren't that interested in solving America's problems as much as making sure that Barack Obama is a one-term president. This is Republican Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell's stated goal.

He's not alone. Recently, GOP Senator, Mike Lee, of Utah said he would obstruct all of President Obama's judicial and government agency nominees in the Senate, even though these nominees have bipartisan support.

This behavior is unconscionable. We must move forward to help Americans in need and to compete in the global economy. We need to elect people from both parties who will work together towards these ends. Extreme ideology and obstruction have no place in American government now. Vote out the obstructionists!

Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 29.01.2012

Don't pigeonhole the American public. We've got a lot of opinions that aren't so easy to categorize. Click on images for a larger view. Polarization of Congress, the electorate, and, most importantly, the issues that are important to Americans is destroying this country. Believing America can be so easily categorized into liberals and conservatives, blue and red, is hampering our progress. Solving our problems are more complicated than that. We should acknowledge shades of gray when debating the election of our President and Congresspeople. The issues are not simple and to make them so in debates and political ads is disingenuous....

Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 15.01.2012

A new poster from the Chamomile Tea Party. In today's Washington Post, Jonathan Turley, Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University, discusses 10 reasons why the U.S. is no longer the land of the free. It's a sobering account of the slow and sometimes transparent erosion of American's rights after 9/11. In addition, to our political rights, our economic wellbeing sits on a precipice. The disparity between the rich and the poor is one of the widest in the history of our country. Why aren't people protesting? Well, they are. Occupy Wall Street and others are pointing their...

Artistic Tendencies / 10.12.2011

I used to say by the time one sees an artist's work the creative process has long ended. What the viewer sees are the vestiges of that process—the skeletal remains. Yes, there is beauty, horror, and all sorts of emotions that can be reflected in the work. But the joy of creating or of telling a story has passed and the artist is on to his next idea. Yet, as I've gotten older I've realized that sometimes the story continues. And, if an artist is lucky years later he is reunited with the piece on a completely different level. The...