Well, well, well, here it is--nearly a month after the previous post. Who would have thought I would be so busy in retirement from the education game that I would be reduced to posting so infrequently. It is a good thing, though!
Been painting.
I have re-upped for Charles Brindley's open studio class at Scarritt Bennett Conference Center right across the street from my workplace of 14 years, USN. This semester, instead of attending twice a week for three hours a pop, I am clearing the calendar for fishing and camping so I go once a week for 3-6 hours. Here is an abstract I call "exsanguination," which dictionary.com defines as:
[ eks-sang-gwuh-ney-shuhn ]
noun
the act or process of draining or losing blood:
With an extreme mite infestation, up to 6% of a bird’s blood can be drained daily, causing it to become anemic or even die by exsanguination.the act or process of bleeding to death:
The consequences can range from minor blood loss to exsanguination. |
| "exsanguination", acrylic on 16x20 stretched canvas, by Scott Merrick, 2023 |
I do enjoy me some abstract acrylic painting, because I like to play with textures and shapes. My abstracts often have layers and layers as I struggle to draw out intimated meaning potential. The name came after the painting had been completed, beginning with a coined one, "sinmagination." Funny how trains of thought can derail into meaningful connections.
I was working on a portrait of my best buddy Watson alongside the work on exsanguination. This one hopes to convey his lovely smile. I have had two sets of people tell me emphatically that he resembles Matt Damon. I see it, I see it.
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| "Watson", acrylics on 16x20 stretched canvas, by Scott Merrick, 2023 |
I will say here that I have been getting the odd notice that Google has put a warning notice in front of several posts in my "Oh! Virtual Learning!" educational blog, which is no longer being updated but did run from 2007 to 2014, with a random update after that in 2019. I leave it up as an archive to everything I and my small but driven band of merry pranksters did in our efforts to bring the Metaverse to educational use, yes we did, during that period. Those were some days, and we tried intensely and we tried with all we had. The fact that the Metaverse has experienced a flop of epic proportions in the last several years is simply testament to the steadfastness with which human beings cling to the past. Here we are, still educating the masses to be factory workers, grouping them by manufacture date, giving worksheets and tests and grades, in rooms which, even though they may be furnished with chairs arranged in ways other than rows (but often are not), are still rooms.
I have mildly revised those few posts and hit the "request review" button for Google but, really? Google, check your Community Standards and if you are going to put a post behind a firewall try specifying what the alleged offense may be, not just telling the blogger to review the guidelines and make changes. Seriously.
That's it for today. I'm off to continue working on the perfection of my "retirement." Cheerio!
