Dogs, Fish, and Art

If all goes as planned, our house will be a two-dog domicile for five weeks later this fall while a certain bulky but mellow canine from New York named Junior (see below) edges in on what has heretofore been Lulu’s domain.

Last weekend we gave this arrangement an overnight trial run in advance to see whether the two dogs would be likely to play well together for a more extended period come October.

Above: Junior scopes out the joint.

No significant sparks flew, which is a good sign, and so far prospects look good for peaceful co-existence. Maybe they’ll even be BFFs before it’s over.

Below: Lulu keeps a bemused eye on the interloper.

Above: My visualization of video game inventors being creative

Back in 1982, when video games were fast gaining steam and Pac Man was already getting left in the dust, author Steve Bloom asked me to contribute several illustrations for his book about the phenomenon called Video Invaders. The goofy drawing shown here, which depicts assorted game creators lost in the throes of inspiration, was one of the pictures I came up with for Steve’s project.

It’s a drawing that has been lying quietly in my flat files for 28 years while video games themselves have become ever more bloody and elaborate. Now at last I’m able to put this artwork to socially beneficial use by offering it for sale at the silent art auction that’s sharing billing next week with delicious fish edibles at Sushi Fest 2010, a benefit spearheaded by Berkshire Elder Law Center‘s Jim Sisto. Tickets are $45, the raising of funds for the Alzheimer’s Association being the goal. The fun will take place at Taylor’s Fine Dining (34 Holden Street here in North Adams) on Thursday, September 9, from 6-9 PM.

There will be classier works of art than mine for sale that night at Taylor’s, probably, but it’s unlikely that any will be zanier. And any money you spend will increase the chances that you and your loved ones will live out your later years in a more satisfying fashion than my mother did.

Waxing Illustrious on Eclipse Mill Walls

Above: Robert Rendo‘s promotional image for the show

If you’re in the North Adams neighborhood this Friday (September 3), be sure and drop by the opening reception for Illustrious, the upcoming exhibit at the Eclipse Mill Gallery at 243 Union Street. The party starts at 6 PM, admission is free, and I’ll be there to provide my special sizzle in person since a drawing of mine (my cover drawing for the new edition of Stuck Rubber Baby) will be part of the show.

According to co-curators Charles Giuliano and Astrid Hiemer of BerkshireFineArts.com, the exhibition will showcase "a mix of fourteen local and national artists [and explore] the theme of narrative art and publications." Astrid herself is among the exhibiting artists, whose numbers also include Barbara Armata, Susan Baker, Varujan Boghosian, Shepard Fairey, Robert Henriquez, Bruce Koscielniak, Erika Marquardt, Melanie Mowinski, Marianne R. Petit, Robert Rendo, and Thor Wickstrom. And, as I already mentioned, me.