May 22, 2009

Fresh Ziggy: Good-Will Painting!

Introduction to new blog offers on May 22, 2009

Greetings again one and all. Don’t you just love this time of year? Here in the neighborhood of ZN HQ, there's a May tradition of gathering with perhaps 10 to even 15 of the most boring people you’ve ever met in your life and having a long and drawn out lunch-time which inevitably begins to stretch into the next Presidential administration or Summer Olympics, which ever comes last.

Personally, I think we do this now before it gets too hot and would therefore feel much more (but not too much, mind you) inclined to stifle Uncle Guffaw with farm implements and bury Aunt Willsheeverstoptalking somewhere in the nearby marshlands. Sigh, families: can’t live with ‘em, can’t legally... never mind...

As you can see, rather than including this entries long-introduction into a jam-packed e-mail for the Faithful (note the capital F! If you're a 'small f' and want to be a BIG F = get emails, let us know!), we went ahead and put this part into a blog itself. So for those of you reading this (to both of you: as always, thank you! And the check IS in the mail...), just a few words:

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First, many thanks and muchas gracias for all your nice comments about the Enrique Rodriguez article from last time (and to MS who wrote in: well, I guess he is rather cute now that you mention it).

All kidding aside, it really is amazing what this talented young fellow has managed to do over the past few years with his light boxes and really what we’ve come to think of as ‘space enhancers’.

Again, be sure and check back often to his blog and what should also be an updated web-site in the coming weeks!

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Speaking of updated in many ways and forms, we’re pleased to bring you these updates:

First, our favorite Editor-Supremo has picked up our previous entry about Christoph Niemann and published it on the ‘X’, including fine-tuning my En-ga-leesh dialect and also adding some new pictures. Check it out!

Second, speaking of Christoph, he also released just hours after the previous article went live his newest blog entry in the New York Times. This is an exceptional piece and amazing in so many ways, including the power of the story itself – the fall of the Berlin Wall and the memories it has left behind – and also as usual Christoph’s mastery of making absolute genius from seemingly the simplest of approaches!

Someone to watch and enjoy for years to come for sure (just put his name in the NYT search engine for example and you’ll see almost every week new graphics offers!).

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And now for the new bits here at our happy house-hold: it is indeed a privilege and honor to bring you an interview with Ross Bleckner. See

You're On Earth. There's No Cure For That.
An Interview with American Painter Ross Bleckner

Or copy-paste in this URL into your browser: http://ziggynixon.blogspot.com/2009/05/youre-on-earth-theres-no-cure-for-that_6505.html

Ross is not only an exceptional and very well-known American painter but also has just been named Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Please read on to learn more about Ross’s philosophy’s about life and art, as well as more into his caring about those less fortunate and amazing amount of time he donates to help others.

We hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed getting to meet Ross, who was an outstanding ‘host’ and supported the entire interview process with tremendous patience and grace! Thanks again, Mr. Ambassador, sir!!

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And finally, friends, we ask that if you do indeed print out this week’s introduction or even the article itself, that you be environmentally conscious and use only real Roo Poo Paper. Not only does it utilize resources that no one usually can think of a better thing to do with them, but it’ll add another sensory experience to your blogging pleasure!

(Roo Poo Paper not quite your scent? Then try Wombat for that rare audi-... odat-... ouaral- ... for that rare smelling experience!)

Be good Troopers!
Ziggy

P.S. Before we forget, we want to include a little bit about this episode’s blog header image (for those that came in late, we try to change the blogger header image with each new entry, just to keep our own creative juices dripping down the spine of our mornings and into the underpants of our afternoons).

This week’s exercise is really an attempt to follow the KISS principle, namely Keep It Simple Stupid. Several of our interviewees, including also Christoph Niemann, who has now reached his full quota of plugs for the week, have pointed out how important it is to keep things simple, even when trying to be creative. However, keeping it simple – or brief as you’re noticing by now!!! – is not one of the Zigster’s talents!!

Anyway, we took one of the simplest – and really incredibly powerful – images we knew of and tried to imitate that, namely the Little Kitty collection. Our own daughter has several items – ranging from clothes of all sorts, bags, jewellery, books and more – with the simple image of Hello Kitty on it. But it’s amazing! It never changes, it is so gosh-darned simple, and yet it will burn a hole in your brain like nothing else. No joke, when I take the kids to school, I am amazed at the number of these images that abound! I don’t know whether to be very respectful or very very scared... but the group that came up with this should be enshrined somewhere in graphic arts immortality! And – I kid you not – even before I had gotten very far with this, I noticed that I was working in fact with a Hello Kitty pencil! Aaah, it’s everywhere.

So I merely have tried to make similar images of the most popular, uh, popular people or even current faces that perhaps most if not all will recognize in one way or the other (sorry folks, but Fidel’s image is Nr.1 globally). Enjoy... or don’t, your call, but it did teach me something. Which is nice.

Bye!



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