Archive for the ‘Art’ Category

« Older Entries

Vancouver, BC artist and author Olga Campbell publishes “DEAR ARLO – letters to my grandson”

June 27, 2024

Vancouver, BC visual artist and author Olga Campbell published DEAR ARLO – letters to my grandson, her third book. Like her previous one, A Whisper Across Time, it is filled with art, poetry, prose, and her family’s story of the Holocaust. This one includes old family recipes.

Olga sent me a pdf of the book for review purposes. I found it culturally rich and emotionally authentic and ordered a copy of the 218-page hardback book with colored images. She is offering a special introductory price until July 31st. You can purchase a copy on her website https://olgacampbell.com/dear-arlo. 

From the Foreword: Olga Campbell is a second generation Holocaust survivor. Her mother’s entire family was killed during the war and although her mother survived, that trauma stayed with her and had a profound impact on Olga. The feelings generated by this as well as by the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, at the age of 49, shaped Campbell’s emotional life for years.

“DEAR ARLO – letters to my grandson” is her response to these circumstances through art, poetry, prose – even family recipes. This is an exploration into the legacy of trauma and how it shapes one’s identity.

Arlo in his car with Olga.

The book however does not only focus on trauma, it also celebrates the power of writing and art as a transformational and healing tool, and it looks at the wonder and magic of life. At the heart of the book are letters to Campbell’s grandson, Arlo. These letters serve to unify the book and transition from one section to the next. This book is a legacy, not only for the author’s grandson, but for all of us who are invited to share in this intimate journey.

One of the many poems in the book that made an impression on me is “Morning in Hyderabad” on pages 52-53. Olga wrote the poem during one of her three visits there from 2010 onwards. It is so vivid you can see and hear everything she describes as night slowly transitions to day.

MORNING IN HYDERABAD
 
the night is still
and then awakens 
with a cocophany of muted sounds... 
slowly at first, 
then louder
as it explodes 
into the light of day... 
in the grey stillness
just before dawn 
a dog barks in the distance... 
far away a rooster crows
a new day 
a fresh canvas to be painted on 
all yesterdays forgotten 
the wheels of a car rolling by 
subdued motorcycle rumbles
soft sound of a horn 
the quiet swishing of a sweeping broom 
the dreamlike songbird...
gentle sounds 
giving comfort to the fading night... 
a clock is ticking
time moves 
a door opens - where does it lead to? 
a door closes - what is left behind? 
invisible footsteps marching solemnly
birds join in
to create a harmonious tribute to the day
the songs grow in complexity
and volume 
the symphony of sound gets louder
and more clear 
anxious to cast off the shadow of darkness... 
a voice calls out 
no answer 
more voices and
gentle interchange 
from one heart to another 
the ancient mystical call to prayers 
pulls the string of hearts 
the chanting of centuries 
fills the dawn with inner joy 
the clatter of pots and dishes 
water dripping 
people talking 
children laughing
the smell and sizzle of breakfast 
and burning wood fills the air
and so the day begins

— Olga Campbell, “DEAR ARLO – letters to my grandson”

It reminds me of Varanasi by Mary Oliver in A Thousand Mornings.

There is a wonderful section titled SPIRITUALITY on pages 162-165 where Olga describes how she learned TM and later went to Rishikesh, India in late December 1969 with her husband Chris to study with Maharishi to become TM teachers. I remember meeting them both in June 1968 on a course with Maharishi at Lake Louise. The next time I met Olga was in March 1994 after Chris had died unexpectedly. This was a few months after I had arrived in Vancouver towards the end of 1993.

One of the letters to Arlo (page 65) sets up the section about Chris’s death and Olga’s grief, explaining what she was dealing with back then. “When I wrote these poems they were an expression of my feelings around Chris’ death and some of them are sad and heavy.” She wonders if “they might be too heavy and personal for a teenager to read.” She reminds him that “these were my feelings at the time they were written, and they were written to relieve the pressure of the pain I was feeling at that time.” She reassures him saying, “I am no longer feeling that intense pain, but the words are now frozen in time and you are reading them in the present. So, what you are reading is a fixed moment in time, but is not the narrative of my life.”

She tells him that “the same thing applies to the poetry about Second Generation Holocaust Trauma.” (That section begins with a letter to Arlo on page 106. On pages 114-115 she explains, HOW A WHISPER ACROSS TIME CAME TO BE WRITTEN and what followed once it was in print.) She concludes that she has “spent years dealing with these feelings and coming to peace with them,” but assures him that “I am doing really well most of the time.”

Olga wrote about that unfortunate time in LIFE STOPS, pages 67-68, followed with poems about it, then DEATH AND DYING, pages 72-74, where she describes Chris’s full life and series of events leading up to his death. It’s followed by many pages of images of artworks and poems.

One powerful poem that stands out is I AM NOT THINKING on page 78, which painfully recalls memories of their good times together. The title was the reverse of “I’m thinking of,” one of several writing prompts I had learned from a Natalie Goldberg workshop that I shared with Olga and a few friends in a course I led at her home. Olga kept resisting saying that she wasn’t a writer; she was a visual artist. But once she started doing the exercises, something opened up in her. She couldn’t stop writing and began incorporating relevant samples into her paintings and collages. Olga had discovered her inner poet.

Meditating and creating are the two activities that fulfill Olga’s raison d’être. In the PS at the bottom of that letter to Arlo she explains: “I do art and write because it makes me feel alive and feel connected to something greater than myself.”

In LEGACY (page 125) Olga writes that both Transcendental Meditation and studying art “have been invaluable in my healing and have given me a sense of purpose, joy, and peace. Meditation has given me a solid foundation from which to feel and act, and art has allowed me to express myself fully and has led to numerous art exhibits and to the writing of three books.”

Read about the success of Olga’s previous book: A Whisper Across Time: My Family’s Story of the Holocaust Told Through Art and Poetry.

A wonderful book I had recommended to our writing group was A Walk Between Heaven and Earth: A Personal Journal on Writing and the Creative Process by Burghild Nina Holzer. I created two blog posts about it, which contain two inspiring journal entries about creative expression through writing: Burghild Nina Holzer inspires us to write and discover who we are and what we have to say and B. Nina Holzer’s final entry in her journal shows us how she is an innocent instrument for writing.

Since Olga is a visual artist and a writer, a little poem about expressing your creativity in Words and Pictures, a movie filmed in Vancouver, seems relevant. See A poem in a movie inviting you to be who you are.

NEW: Art Exhibition and Book Launch

Olga Campbell’s artwork is on display at the Zack Gallery Jan. 8-27, with an artist reception Jan. 9, 6-8 p.m. Campbell speaks as part of the JCC Jewish Book Festival on Jan. 23, 7 p.m., in the gallery.

Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery: EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

Olga Campbell: “DEAR ARLO – Letters to My Grandson.” A Memoir
January 8 – 27
Through visual art, poetry, prose, family recipe, and letters to her grandson Campbell responds to second generation Holocaust trauma and to the grief resulting from the premature death of her husband. The book however is not only about the exploration of the legacy of trauma, it also celebrates the power of art as a healing and transformational tool and looks at the awe and wonder and ebb and flow of life.

Artist Reception Jan 9, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Artist Talk In Conversation: January 23, 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Interviews and Reviews for DEAR ARLO – letters to my grandson

January 19, 2025: CBC Radio: North by Northwest with Margaret Gallagher interviewed Artist and author Olga Campbell on her memoir “Dear Arlo: Letters to My Grandson”, which combines art, poetry, prose, recipes and reflections on the impact of the Holocaust and intergenerational trauma. (13:06 mins)

January 17, 2025: The Jewish Independent: Campbell’s art at Zack by Olga Livshin.

December 29, 2024: The British Columbia Review (formerly Ormsby): A tragedy of generational trauma, review by Valerie Green.

December 13, 2024: Jewish Independent: A multidimensional memoir, review by Cynthia Ramsay.

Awards for the book in 2025

Olga’s book was one of three finalists for The Cindy Roadburg Memorial Prize for Memoir/Biography in the 2025 Western Canada Jewish Book Awards. The book also received recognition from the Eric Hoffer Book Awards: Grand Prize Short List; Montaigne Medal Finalist; and Memoir, Honorable Mention.

— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art, Literature, Other poems, Poetry, Writing | 2 Comments »

Hokusai says—a poem by Roger Keyes—inspires us to notice, to feel, to care, to live fearlessly, fully

February 29, 2024
The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai* (1760-1849).

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. Aka, The Great Wave or The Wave, the print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in the centre and Mount Fuji visible in the background. The print is Hokusai’s best-known work and the first in his series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, in which the use of Prussian blue revolutionized Japanese prints. The two other famous prints in that series are Fine Wind, Clear Morning, aka, Red Fuji, and Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa has been described as possibly the most reproduced image in the history of all art, as well as being a contender for the most famous artwork in Japanese history. This woodblock print has influenced several Western artists and musicians, including Claude Debussy, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. 

Roger Start Keyes, art historian, Hokusai scholar, and co-founder of York Zen, wrote his poem “Hokusai Says,” featured on the York Zen Welcome Page, in Venice in 1990. It appeared suddenly as he was making notes for the “Young Hokusai” paper he was to give at a symposium on Hokusai the following day.

Hokusai Says – Poem by Roger Keyes

Hokusai says look carefully. 
He says pay attention, notice.
He says keep looking, stay curious.
He says there is no end to seeing.
He says look forward to getting old.
He says keep changing, 
you just get more who you really are.
He says get stuck, accept it, 
repeat yourself as long as it’s interesting.
He says keep doing what you love.
He says keep praying.
He says every one of us is a child, 
every one of us is ancient, 
every one of us has a body.
He says every one of us is frightened. 
He says every one of us has to find a way to live with fear.
He says everything is alive –
shells, buildings, people, fish, mountains, trees.
Wood is alive.
Water is alive.
Everything has its own life.
Everything lives inside us.
He says live with the world inside you.
He says it doesn’t matter if you draw, or write books. 
It doesn’t matter if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn’t matter if you sit at home and stare at the ants on your veranda
or the shadows of the trees and grasses in your garden.
It matters that you care.
It matters that you feel.
It matters that you notice.
It matters that life lives through you.
Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength is life living through you.
Peace is life living through you.
He says don’t be afraid.
Don’t be afraid.
Look, feel, let life take you by the hand.
Let life live through you.
Click to listen to poet Roger Keyes recite his poem, Hokusai Says.

Enjoy this presentation by curator, gallerist, and passionate art lover, James Payne, for his series, Great Art Explained: The Great Wave by Hokusai. You can see more of the artist’s work in these two presentations posted by The British Museum: Curator’s Tour of Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything and Hokusai’s Unpublished Illustrations (Curator’s Corner S6 Ep8).

Hokusai’s instructions, received, written and recited by Roger Keyes, about paying attention, noticing things, and living life fully, remind me of Mary Oliver‘s lessons on attention, receptivity, listening, delighting in and writing, expressed in many of her poems, like Mindful and Praying.

Added this Instagram with 5 slides: Evolution of Hokusai’s “Great Wave”.

COLOSSAL: Explore Hundreds of Thousands of Japanese Woodblock Prints in a Ukiyo-e Archive. Find some of our favorite works in the database below, and head to the archive to dive into Ukiyo-e history.

This Famous Artwork Isn’t What You Think … | “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Hokusai explained. Why It’s Art dives into the fascinating story behind “The Great Wave off Kanagawa,” one of the most famous Japanese artworks in the world. This video reveals the surprising truth about Hokusai’s masterpiece and how it was created. We explore the deep symbolism within the image, from the powerful wave to the distant Mount Fuji, and uncover how this single woodblock print profoundly influenced Western artists like Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. Discover the incredible journey of a piece of Japanese popular art that ended up changing the course of art history across continents.

Related post: Japanese culture: poetic aesthetics, artistry, and martial arts, inspired me to write haiku and tanka

— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in Art, Literature, Other poems, Poetry, Videos | Leave a Comment »

Canadian Harpist Kristan Toczko plays Walking in the Air from the animated film The Snowman

November 8, 2023

I first listened to Canadian harpist Kristan Toczko when she performed Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune. She recently posted a video on Instagram plucking harp strings to Walking in the Air, a song featured in the 1982 animated film, The Snowman. Both are played beautifully!!

Kristan played a sample of it on lever harp. She also played Für Elise.

Here is that scene, Walking in the Air, from the animated film, The Snowman, Opus 310, September 1982. Howard Blake’s original soundtrack features the voice of Peter Auty. This is the only section of The Snowman movie to feature any kind of human voice, the remainder of the film being carried purely by music and visuals, a highly unique and bold approach at the time. © Channel 4 Films www.howardblake.com

I loved it so much I bought myself these three Christmas gifts in 2012: the Picture Book, CD, and DVD.

Here is a new edit (1080p) of Channel 4’s classic The Snowman with the original introduction by author Raymond Briggs (26:34). Another version has an introduction by David Bowie. Music by Howard Blake.

— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Art, Audios, Films, Literature, Music, Videos | 4 Comments »

More funny Dave Coverly Speed Bump cartoons on how tied up we are with our digital devices

September 2, 2023

Here are more cartoons from Dave Coverly in Speed Bump: A 25th Anniversary Collection. The book is filled with many gems. These two remind us of how tied up we are with our digital devices.

Page 22 shows a bungee jumper hanging upside down still talking on his phone. It was originally published on September 7, 2009 and is as funny today as it was back then.

Page 168 shows a man standing naked in front of his computer screen attempting to answer a verification question. It was first published on September 27, 2018. Very funny!

Dave Coverly was kind enough to send me these funny cartoons for this blog post so I could share them with you. The book’s inspiring and insightful Foreword was written by fellow cartoonist and friend Nick Galifianakis at his mother’s hospital bedside. You can read it on Amazon, along with hilarious cartoon samples from the book by using Look inside. They were so funny I had to buy a copy, which Dave inscribed at his local bookstore, Schuler Books. Amazon also lists his 11 book titles.

Visit Dave Coverly’s website, www.speedbump.com, and read his impressive bio. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram where he is known as speedbumpcomic.

Previous posts on Dave Coverly

Cartoonist Dave Coverly shows dogs begging for food from two perspectives—humans and dogs

Dave Coverly makes dogs appear smarter than humans in these cartoons @speedbumpcomic

More brilliant cartoons from Dave Coverly as he anthropomorphizes a dog and a crash test dummy

— Written and compiled by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in Art, Humor | Leave a Comment »

Cartoonist Dave Coverly shows dogs begging for food from two perspectives—humans and dogs

September 2, 2023

Here are two more funny Speed Bump cartoons from Dave Coverly. These deal with dogs begging for food, but from two different perspectives—that of humans and of dogs. I liked these so much, Dave sent me copies of them for posting. This first one came out March 28, 2014. The second one, July 3, 2019, which I posted a month and a half ago.

When I first saw and posted the begging cartoon below, I asked Dave how it came about. He replied: “I don’t recall an exact moment that the idea hit me, as info tends to settle somewhere in my head and doesn’t percolate until later when I’m in my studio and I turn my work brain on. But at the time this was drawn, our pup was still with us, and she was very food oriented. Easy to train thanks to this, but also could get a bit obnoxious with the begging.”

Dave went on to say it was entirely possible that his wife had said, “can I get you anything” and that he “made a mental note to convert that into a dog’s world!” And he certainly did! He turned what must’ve felt like a human’s frustrated sarcastic remark into a sincere request from a dog’s perspective. I laugh every time I see this cartoon, it’s that funny.

Visit Dave Coverly’s website, www.speedbump.com, and read his impressive bio. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram where he is known as speedbumpcomic.

Previous posts on Dave Coverly

More funny Dave Coverly Speed Bump cartoons on how tied up we are with our digital devices

Dave Coverly makes dogs appear smarter than humans in these cartoons @speedbumpcomic

More brilliant cartoons from Dave Coverly as he anthropomorphizes a dog and a crash test dummy

— Written and compiled by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Art, Humor | 3 Comments »

Dave Coverly makes dogs appear smarter than humans in these cartoons @speedbumpcomic

August 10, 2023

While reading Dogs Are People, Too by Dave Coverly, I noticed three funny cartoons that deal with greetings between humans and dogs. They show an evolution on the part of dogs—they’re smarter than humans! (Click on a panel to enlarge it, then on the top left arrow to come back.)

About Dave Coverly and Speed Bump

Dave Coverly is the creator of the cartoon panel “Speed Bump”, which runs internationally in hundreds of newspapers and websites. His work was named “Best in Newspaper Panels” by the National Cartoonists Society in 1995, 2003, 2014 and 2022. In 2009 the same organization gave him its highest honor, the prestigious Reuben Award, for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year”. See his impressive bio, which includes a photo of Dave with his dog Macy.

Amazon lists his 11 book titles where you can look inside to see some of his cartoons. Dave’s local bookstore, Schuler Books, also carries his books and is set up for him to personally inscribe copies for customers.

Visit Dave Coverly’s website, www.speedbump.com, and follow him on Twitter and Instagram where he is known as speedbumpcomic.

See More brilliant cartoons from Dave Coverly as he anthropomorphizes a dog and a crash test dummy with links to more of Dave’s cartoons as well as the work of other funny cartoonists listed at the bottom. Later added these Dave had sent me: Cartoonist Dave Coverly shows dogs begging for food from two perspectives—humans and dogs. And these: More funny Dave Coverly Speed Bump cartoons on how tied up we are with our digital devices.

— Written and compiled by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , , , ,
Posted in Art, Humor | Leave a Comment »

More brilliant cartoons from Dave Coverly as he anthropomorphizes a dog and a crash test dummy

July 13, 2023

Cartoonist Dave Coverly has a clever knack for anthropomorphizing animals with ordinary human speech. Here’s an example with a dog that just cracks me up.

He uses a similar approach blending both worlds when humanizing a crash test dummy in this New Yorker cartoon.

Here are a few more of his funny cartoons I’ve enjoyed in the past: about an old wolf that any senior can relate to; what a young wolf tells another will happen if they play nice with humans; what your dog is up to wondering when you’ll be back home; the frustrations of a wannabe author; and contemplating the central question in the Directory at the Institute of Philosophy, which complements an earlier one about the Center for Reincarnation Studies. That cartoon was so good, I used it to highlight a post about Coming Back for Love in Five Romantic Films.

Dave Coverly, (with assistant Macy), creator of the cartoon panel “Speed Bump”, which runs internationally in hundreds of newspapers and websites.

His work was named “Best in Newspaper Panels” by the National Cartoonists Society in 1995, 2003, 2014 and 2022. In 2009 the same organization gave him its highest honor, the prestigious Reuben Award, for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year”. (See his impressive bio.)

Follow Dave Coverly, aka, speedbumpcomic, on Twitter and Instagram. Visit his website, www.speedbump.com. Amazon lists his 11 book titles.

I later sent Dave a tweet asking him which book the dog cartoon appears in and which one he’d recommend with this kind of human transference to animals sense of humor since I wanted to buy one. I’m adding this information in case you’re also interested in ordering one of his books for yourself or as a gift for someone.

He replied: “This one is in Dogs Are People, Too – my local bookstore is set up so I can personalize copies if you’re interested (they do that for all my books). Just let me know in the comments box how you’d like it inscribed!”

Update: I’m glad I ordered it, but that cartoon was not in the book. Dave later apologized recalling that it must’ve missed the deadline to make it into the book and offered to send me a print of it. He also sent me a digital copy of it along with copies of some of the dog cartoons I liked from the book for posting.

I asked him if it was in Speed Bump: A 25th Anniversary Collection. It was not. The Foreword was written by fellow cartoonist and friend Nick Galifianakis at his mother’s hospital bedside. You can read it on Amazon, along with cartoon samples from the book. The Foreword is so well written, the cartoons so funny, I ordered a copy from Schuler Books, where Dave will personalize it with an inscription.

Also see: Funny cartoons make us laugh ‘cuz they’re true. They include links to many others. I later added: Gary Larson’s cartoons are funny because they make us see the unexpected humor in things. Then followed up with Cartoonists show us the pressure some people put on their pets and how they try to deal with it. Just added this new one: A clever twist on a classic fairytale by Kate Curtis. And this latest one, which contains three of the ones Dave sent me: Dave Coverly makes dogs appear smarter than humans in these cartoons @speedbumpcomic. Added these Dave had sent me: Cartoonist Dave Coverly shows dogs begging for food from two perspectives—humans and dogs. Followed by these: More funny Dave Coverly Speed Bump cartoons on how tied up we are with our digital devices.

— Written and compiled by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Art, Humor | 2 Comments »

‘Along the Potomac’ by watercolorist Margaret Pearson beautifully portrays a stark winter scene

December 31, 2022

I saw this beautiful watercolor painting online and was so impressed with its zen-like quality I had to post it. Along the Potomac by Margaret Pearson seems appropriate for this time of year. The different textures in the sky and on the river along with the various shades of black and white contribute to the gloomy atmosphere in this stark winter scene. But the sun must be shining through the clouds since we see the picnic table casting its shadow onto the brightly colored sandy beach at the bottom.

“Along the Potomac” by Margaret Pearson, member of the Potomac Valley Watercolorists, a juried society of watercolor painters based in the Maryland/Virginia/D.C. area.

John Ford and the horizon line

I am reminded of what John Ford, played by David Lynch, said to a young Steven Spielberg at the end of The Fabelmans, the semi-autobiographical film about his life. Ford asks Spielberg what he knows about art and tells him to look at different paintings in his office and describe them. Spielberg’s descriptions miss the main point. It’s all about where the horizon line is placed in a picture. Ford tells him if it’s at the top or at the bottom, it’s interesting, but if it’s in the middle, it’s boring. The horizon line in Margaret Pearson’s painting is in the lower half—another reason for it being interesting.

I added that clip in this recent blog post on Steven Spielberg, where he tells Martin Scorsese how he was able to get David Lynch to play John Ford. He also reveals that he and his wife had learned TM 3 years ago from Bob Roth at DLF, and had mentioned it to David Lynch in the hopes of softening him up to take the role. Visit that post to get the full story.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in Art | 2 Comments »

Cartoon wisdom from Karl Stevens appears in this week’s print edition of The New Yorker, and more

February 1, 2021

When I saw this wise cartoon by Karl Stevens on his Twitter and Instagram feeds I had to share it. I posted comments on both and Karl replied. Turns out there’s a TM connection. See our conversation below.

The New Yorker Cartoons have now also posted it on their Instagram.

I was so taken with this cartoon, I had to share a comment on Twitter and on Karl’s Instagram: “Love this! So funny and so true!!”

Surprisingly, Karl replied to both! Here’s a compilation: “Thanks, Ken! By the way, (You know) I’ve been doing TM for the past 7 years. Completely changed my life for the better! Thanks for all your work.”

I’ve been doing TM for the past 7 years. Completely changed my life for the better!

I had a suspicion this may have been the case when I saw a page from Karl’s forthcoming book, Penny, A Graphic Memoir. Published by Chronicle Books, this colorful graphic novel features the philosophical and existential musings of a cat named Penny.

The original publication date of April 13 was pushed back to April 20, then May 4 because of the shipping crisis, but you can still preorder the book in Karl’s profile @karlstevens from booksellers around the world.

In this frame on his Instagram, Penny says: “No, true transcendence comes from within. There is an oasis of happiness inside of me waiting to be unlocked. I just need to find the right key.” The second frame shows the cover of this new book, his fourth.

I had asked Karl if I could post his cartoons and he replied: “You can absolutely use that Penny comic for your blog. I’ve been meaning to be more vocal regarding my TM practice. Use the links for the Penny graphic novel in my profile, and my IG and Twitter handle,” which I’ve done.

I looked up Karl Stevens’ books on Amazon, and Time Out Boston wrote on the back of his book, Failure, “Karl Stevens may be the closest thing to a Charles Bukowski equivalent working in comic art. Except Stevens is way classier….” I mentioned it to Karl and told him that Charles Bukowski had learned TM later in his life. Karl was excited to learn about this. He said when he was working on Failure, “I was struggling with alcoholism which I think was where the comparison lies. I stopped drinking a couple months before beginning to learn TM. Obviously the practice was crucial to helping me focus on living a cleaner life.”

I stopped drinking a couple months before beginning to learn TM. Obviously the practice was crucial to helping me focus on living a cleaner life.

Karl Stevens is a Boston-based comic strip artist. He’s written four graphic novels, and his comics have appeared regularly in the New Yorker, Village Voice, and Boston Phoenix. His comic strips appeared in the Boston Phoenix between 2005 and 2012. His work has been well received all around, and The Lodger was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist.

Find out more about Karl Stevens at https://linktr.ee/karlstevens, and follow him on Twitter @KarlStevensart and Instagram @karlstevensart.

UPDATE: After reading this blog post my niece found a cartoonist profile on Karl and sent it to me. He mentions his TM practice further down under Misc. It was posted May 22, 2019 on A Case For Pencils. The blog, created/edited/run by Jane Mattimoe, is a peek inside the pencil bags and minds of New Yorker cartoonists, where they talk about their art supplies and drawing process.

Cartoonists sit and concentrate on drawing for long periods of time. In that profile, Karl describes the benefits of exercise and TM. He says:

It’s important to take breaks during the day, especially exercise. At the risk of sounding like David Lynch, I would also recommend learning Transcendental Meditation. I’ve been doing it for five years, and have never felt more creative. Slacking off twice a day for 20 minutes each really does help your mind and body recharge.

Karl also recommended The Winner, published May 23, 2018. He did it after he started TM. He said, “It’s on the lighter side, basically a love letter to my wife Alex.” I took a Look inside at the book preview on Amazon and it’s beautiful! Some of the panels are like miniature paintings. I can see why this book garnered rave reviews.

When I asked Karl what or who inspired him and his wife to learn TM he said that a friend of his had started six months before they did. He also said, “it was because of David Lynch. Well, Howard Stern too. We were/are regular listeners and would hear about the benefits from him too.” I sent him a link to a conversation Howard Stern and Jerry Seinfeld had about their TM practice.

Speaking of slacking off twice a day for 20 minutes to meditate, Jim Carrey, in his 2014 Commencement address at MUM/MIU mentions a similar thing at this point in his talk. Very funny!

Mark Wooding animated some highlights of Jim’s wise advice to the Class of 2014 for his After Skool site, which I’ve also posted, with links to the full talks and news coverage.

Here’s another post on cartoonists: Good cartoons teach us a lot if we’re willing to learn and laugh at our little foibles and neuroses. Click the humor category for more funny cartoons on The Uncarved Blog.

UPDATED: April 26, 2021, The New Yorker, Daily Shouts: Penny Rejects the Rules of Man by Karl Stevens.

June 24, 2022: Karl tweeted his New Yorker cartoon again.

July 7, 2023: Karl’s funny cartoon about Brad Pitt in the New Yorker.

July 17, 2023: WBUR’s Radio Boston aired: Local artist teams up with Jamie Lee Curtis in new horror comic about climate change. Host Tiziana Dearing spoke with actress Jamie Lee Curtis, co-writer and film director Russell Goldman, comic book artist Karl Stevens, and Joel Christian Gill, inaugural chair of Boston University’s MFA program in visual narrative.

Jamie said she had this idea since she was 19 and it’s finally being realized with Russell. They came up with a script, and then reached out to Karl, who put in hundreds of hours of work giving it a shape and a direction. They worked on this graphic novel, Mother Nature, for 2 years. It comes out Aug 8, 2023. The movie is in pre-production.

July 21, 2023: San Diego Comic-Con 2023 International: AIPT Comics: ‘Mother Nature’ lets Jamie Lee Curtis flex her writing chops – and embrace her dark side. Check out our recap of the SDCC panel featuring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Jamie Lee Curtis with Russell Gordon (L) & Karl Stevens (R) at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 International to present ‘Mother Nature’.

Publisher Titan Comics and host Comic-Con International publicized the event on social media.

Karl tweeted 4 images: Pics from San Diego Comic-Con International where @jamieleecurtis @russell_golds and I debuted our graphic novel MOTHER NATURE. It was a surreal and incredible experience. BIG thanks to @ComicsTitan for organizing it, and ALL their hard work. ❤️ ❤️

The video in the 4th panel shows Karl flipping through the pages of their newly minted graphic novel. Jamie Lee stops to ask him who that is focussing in on Cynthia, the main villain, then says, tongue-in-cheek, that “she looks a lot like someone we know.” Karl later posted it separately on his Instagram. Interestingly, one of the panels shows a character that looks like Karl. I asked him about it, but so far he hasn’t responded.

July 22, 2023: Cartoonist Kayfabe: The Karl Stevens Shoot Interview — The New Yorker, Xeric, Hollywood Horror, & Fine Art Secrets. Halfway through (46:01) Karl tells host Jim Rugg about meeting popular storyteller and essayist David Sedaris, and how he enthusiastically promoted Penny on his own book tour.

At 1:08:25 Karl discusses his morning routine, which consists of him and his wife Alex both doing Transcendental Meditation for 20 minutes, running for 5 miles, then getting ready for their day. They’ve been doing TM for 10 years now. Jim and Karl talk about the value of running for physical and mental health, especially for cartoonists who sit in a chair drawing for hours.

At 1:14:18 Karl advocates for TM and how it helps him improve his focus, increase his energy, and enhance his awareness of everything. TM rests his brain deeply and sometimes ideas come up for his work. He even sleeps better. When asked how he learned TM, Karl mentioned that he and a friend used to listen to Howard Stern who talked about it on his show, and knowing that David Lynch promoted TM as well. His friend learned first and encouraged Karl and Alex to learn, which they did. That TM section ends at 1:16:26.

August 4, 2023: LiveSigning: Jamie Lee Curtis’s Book Signing & Interview | Mother Nature. Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goldman, and Karl Stevens discuss the creation and evolution of their graphic novel, Mother Nature, as they sign copies, interview each other, and answer fan questions.

You can get a Hardcover Edition of “Mother Nature” with Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goldman, and Karl Stevens’s Personal Autograph Inside Book and a Certificate of Authenticity from Premiere Collectibles.

August 8, 2023: Today was the official release of the graphic novel, “Mother Nature,” and Jamie, Russell, and Karl were interviewed on NPR’s All Things Considered: Jamie Lee Curtis’ graphic novel shows how ‘We’re blowing it with Mother Nature’.

August 9, 2023: Read Henry Chamberlain’s glowing review of Mother Nature in The Comics Journal. Karl shared the article on his Instagram. Karl tweeted his interview on The Virtual Memories Show with Gil Roth.

September 23, 2023: On my way back from visiting family in Europe, then seeing Angelina Jordan at her Portsmouth, NH concert, I met Karl Stevens for lunch in Boston’s Chinatown. He took me back to his apartment where I met his cat Penny. Karl’s wife Alex arrived home later. Here is a photo of the three of them.

Karl generously gave me a signed copy of MOTHER NATURE. He then surprised me with the original print of the two dandelions he had sent to The New Yorker seen at the top of this post! He showed me the February 1, 2021 issue it was published in. I later discovered his was the 5th of 12 cartoons for that month. My commenting on it had started up our correspondence and subsequent friendship.

Karl happened to mention that David Sedaris will be promoting PENNY again on his upcoming new book tour.

A while back, Karl had offered to donate some of his original prints to an upcoming DLF fundraising event, so I connected him with one of the organizers. When I asked him what had happened to them he said that Jamie Lee Curtis, or her husband Christopher Guest, had made a generous donation for them. A fan of Karl’s work, Jamie was happy to receive the prints and support the work of the David Lynch Foundation.

In his Introduction to a 2008 cartoon collection by The New York Times bestselling artist Harry Bliss, Death by Laughter, Christopher Guest mentions his love of cartoons. “My wife and I have been collecting originals for more than twenty years. We have a gallery of the Greats, and among them is the work of Harry Bliss.” Several of Karl’s cartoons are included in that special collection, so he’s in good company!

I recently saw some of Karl’s New Yorker cartoons in the Condé Nast Store. I cracked up when I saw the one from the classic film Casablanca, where Humphrey Bogart’s character Rick Blaine looks forlorn sitting at the bar with a drink in his hand saying, “Alexa, play ‘As Time Goes By.’” It’s so funny, so good, blending an iconic film character from the 40’s with today’s technology! Clever! And done with superb artistry!

Speaking of Jamie Lee Curtis, Karl said she bought this Bogart cartoon independent of the DLF contribution. “It’s how I got to know her, and she was just being nice by donating to the foundation.” You never know how one thing will eventually lead to another unexpected opportunity—an invitation to collaborate on a graphic novel with a famous Hollywood actor and author. Who also happened to be an all-round great person.

I had recommended Karl as a possible guest to host Christine Albers for a TM Talks interview. She really enjoyed talking with Karl. It aired Sunday, October 19, 2025, 5:00 pm ET: The Creative Life of Cats, Cartoons, and Meditation. A conversation with Karl Stevens. The video was later embed after it was posted in their TM Talks Archive.

— Written and compiled by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.

Tags:, , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art, Articles, Humor | 9 Comments »

Enjoy Jim Carrey’s wise advice to the MUM class of 2014 animated by After Skool’s Mark Wooding

January 27, 2021

A friend sent me this link on wimp: Jim Carrey’s wise words about chasing acceptance. This voiceover was taken from Jim’s inspiring speech at MUM Graduation in 2014. I had posted videos from that amazing day and some of the many news reports. Jim’s speech has been seen by around 15 million people and was selected twice as one of the top ten commencement addresses of 2014.

Mark Wooding, a San Francisco native, created this white board animation on After Skool using highlights from Jim’s speech: the NEED for Acceptance Will Make You INVISIBLE – Jim Carrey. Here’s part of his introduction to the video posted Oct 3, 2017.

Life does NOT happen to you, it happens FOR you. Many things in life are outside of our control, but the way we respond to events can shape our reality. Viewing challenges as opportunities, not misfortunes, will help you lead a productive, successful life. We all know Jim Carrey for his comedy, but he is now spreading joy through his inspiring words.

Mark wrote on his Patreon page: “My goal with After Skool is to enhance the most empowering ideas with my art. I animate the ideas that have impacted my life in a beneficial way, and hopefully by sharing them, they have helped you in some way.” Visit his website to see more of his amazing work: kRAMgallery.

Maharishi University of Management (MUM) was later changed back to Maharishi International University (MIU), its original name.

Tags:, , , , , , , ,
Posted in Art, Articles, Education, Maharishi University, Videos | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries