16 years ago, a silly little 7th grade student made this silly little doodle of me as a teacher/crime boss. Now he’s a power lifter who taught me more, in three paragraphs, than I learned in grad school.

“Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Rhetoric, Reasoning, and Critical Thinking used to be taught as part of primary education, the obvious basic foundation for any further study. Those fundamental intellectual dimensions are now circumvented almost entirely, and it’s reflected in our society {see my art teacher/philosopher friend Todd Marrone’s The Necessity for Metamorphosis in the American Education System.

You should not have to explain to an adult, for example, what a “straw man” or “ad hominem” argument is in order to assert that their argument is guilty of it {to call bullshit in Murica terms}, but that is in fact the case. The ability for most adults to think in an independent, methodical, fluid, goal-directed manner is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to the health of a complex society. Not having this capacity is crippling to the development of practical intelligence and functioning, and results in susceptibility to the cookie-cutter, follow-the-leader, groupthink bullshit that tragically characterizes our culture.

Modern politics in particular relies entirely on mass ignorance of basic reasoning as well as a carefully-cultivated public gullibility. It takes only the most basic, straightforward, motive-conscious, loose detective work to plainly see that the government is controlled by an oligarchy of bankers, but this is sadly beyond the ken of the average citizen, because they have not been taught or encouraged to think for themselves. They’re assured that it’s a simple case of Donkeys vs. Elephants and that’s it. I’ll go as far as to say they’re deliberately prevented to think critically, because that’s dangerous. As long as they can blame everything on the opposing political party, everything makes sense to them and they’re limited to aimless, irrelevant bitching. Think for yourselves.

Do I have something on my face?

My collaborator, Ben Feldman, and I recently put the finishing touches on a collabor-intensive, monumental mural. The work is based on a composition, based on Ben’s doodles, based on Ben’s imagination. It’s quite a scene.

One of my most talented art students let me vandalize her hat. Someday, when she’s famous, I’ll put this on my resume.

I borrowed the center character from a former student’s doodle. I borrowed the drawing style from Jon Burgerman, Pablo Picasso, Keith Haring and the Ancient Mayans. I borrowed the palette and crown from a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting. I borrowed the title from Maurice Sendeck. Everything is due back in two weeks.

I’ve recently embarked upon a mural collaboration with my young pal, Ben Feldman. So far, we’ve co-doodled and co-color-selected. Soon, we’ll be co-ruining-their-basement-carpet.

You gotta admit, those little blue nut creatures have heart.

In my classroom, the teacher vandalizes the students’ belongings.

Another day, another custom painted student acoustic guitar.

In 2007, Hanna Williams was one of my most talented middle school art students. In 2010, she’s one of my most talented collaborators. We’ve joined forces to create a series of conjoined paintings, join us and enjoy.

Friday, June 4th, 7:00 – 10:00 PM
MilkBoy Coffee Acoustic
824 W. Lancaster Ave. Bryn Mawr, PA

“Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master.” – Leonardo da Vinci