April 2020

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Apr 2020

FREE Jacque Davis Gallery Exhibit ~ Corona Impact Statements 'Twas Just Before Dawn in the Land of Freedom ~ April Comics Sunday Morning Game Night ~ April Submissions

April 2020

Issue

Daniel Nygard

Serving Up Art, Music, and Culture for the Metro Area’s Enjoyment 1 GessoMagazine.com Gesso Magazine

Inside Page

April 2020

Editor’s Word – April 2020 Straight Up Magazine is now Gesso Magazine and it is here with its 57th edition ‘Serving Up Art, Music and Culture for the Metro Area’s Enjoyment’. The St. Louis Metro deserves its own arts and entertainment magazine. And here it is.

It’s called Gesso!!!

We are so very pleased to have Daniel Nygard as our featured cover artist.

Daniel has not only been featured in our Submissions section in the past, he has also been featured twice in our exhibitions at the Governor French Gallery.

Plus, Daniel is one of the original founders of Str8Up Magazine. Daniel is a good Friend of Gesso Magazine who works in various mediums, including photography, sculpture and painting.

Last month, we proudly sponsored and curated another Governor French Gallery exhibition, Jacque Davis's "Dreaming in Color", which, technically, runs through April 10th. Technically, because right after the March 13th Artist Opening Reception, the world shut down. And, though the exhibition is still hanging, it can only be seen from the sidewalk windows as the Gallery – and the Governor French Academy - is quarantined until further notice. Under the current standards of healthy behavior, the next exhibition, scheduled to open on April 17th, has been postponed indefinitely. The Governor French Gallery is located at 219 W Main Street in beautiful Downtown Belleville, IL. Walk or drive by and see the amazing textile artwork of Jacque Davis (see a review of "Dreaming in Color" on pages 4 & 5).

Gesso sponsored "Pizza, Pencils & Pints" A Social Drawing Event was Corona cancelled on the third Tuesday of the month. This regularly occurring event at Bennie's Pizza Pub on Main Street in Belleville is co-sponsor by Belleville Screen Print Company and would normally provide pencils and pens and crayons and markers and drawing paper - tons of art supplies - free of charge as a delectable addition to the family friendly environment that is Bennie's. Diners would draw, converse and share their artworks at this refreshing alternative dining experience. This, too, is postponed indefinitely. In the meantime, feel free to draw at home and post images of your artwork on our Facebook alternative: Pizza, Pencils, and Pints - COVID 19 Edition. And be reminded that Bennie's is open for curbside pickup. Let's eat Bennie's Pizza by calling 618-4116-0019. 124 East Main Street, Belleville IL. We thank our writers for their poignant features and all those who contribute to this project. We appreciate all of those individuals who have submitted their works for publication. And “Likes” to all you followers on Facebook!!! We are grateful to you, the reader, for picking up this latest issue of Gesso Magazine – issue #57 in the Str8 Up Magazine legacy!!!

Like Straight Up before it, the mission of Gesso Magazine is to support local arts and artists and the businesses and organizations that support local arts and artists. We invite you to contact us with ideas, comments, information, etc. that might assist us in our mission to serve you, the residents of the St. Louis Metro area.

WE WANT YOU! - All you artistic and creative types out there! You should contact us. Show us your work. Tell us of your craft and brief personal/artistic history. Submit any art form that you’d like. Perhaps, you can be one of our next published contributors or even a featured artist. Check out the Submissions Pages to see who’s featured this month. Next month, that could be you!!

Enjoy Gesso! Tell your friends. Send us your work. And visit our website at GessoMagazine.com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook daily for new and additional events and content. For the time being, you won't see Gesso Magazine at hundreds of area distribution locations! And we won't see you at the clubs, theatres, galleries, and festivals all over the St. Louis Metro Area. We will be online only till the world returns to ‘normal’ or delivers us a new ‘normal’.

P.O. Box 412 Belleville, IL 62222 * (314) 266-9199 Editor@GessoMagazine.com

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March Credits

Staff

Editors: Jake Bishop, Dylan Seibert, Paul Seibert Layout Design Artists: Jake Bishop, Dylan Seibert, Mark Polege Sales: Thomas W. Allred Sr., Jake Bishop, Jake Choate, Dakota Kramer, Michelle McGee, Jennifer Lynn Reida, William Schmitz, Paul Seibert, Dylan Seibert Ad Artists: Jake Bishop, Mark Polege, Dylan Seibert, Wil Sullivan Calendar: Dylan Seibert, Paul Seibert Website Design & Up-Keep: Mark Polege (MarkusDesignWorks.com), Jake Bishop Photography: Mark Polege (PhotographyofMarkPolege.com) Distribution: Jake Bishop, Gregory Dierlam, Jennifer Kiser, Daniel Nygard, Mark Polege, William Schmitz, Dylan Seibert, Paul Seibert, Wil Sullivan, Herald Publications

Contributors

Cover Artist: Daniel Nygard Cover Logo: Jake Bishop Comics: Jake Bishop, Wil Sullivan Game Page: Dank By Design Fun Page: Jake Bishop Photography: Courtesy of: Jacque Davis and Paul Seibert (p.4-5), Paul Seibert & Dave Schnoenborn & Art Gecko Creative Studios (p.8-9) Submissions: Henry Collins, Daniel Nygard, Jeffrey Sass All material in this publication and its affiiated on-line content are copyrighted to the individual contributors or Gesso Magazine, LLC and may not be reproduced without written consent. We are very grateful to those who have submitted material to be considered for publication. However, the opinions and views of those contributing content to Gesso do not necessarily reflect those of Gesso Magazine.

The Gesso Movement Relies on Your Support!!

We are committed to supporting local artists, musicians, & businesses and providing this printed material FREE to readers month after month!!

We invite you to reach out to us!!

Together we can discover how we can best help you, your band, your business or organization, etc. and how you can best help us in our continuing mission.

Hit us up on Facebook or Instagram or via GessoMagazine.com Editor@GessoMagazine.com

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Table of Contents

April 2020

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Jacque Davis Gallery Exhibit

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Friends of Gesso Membership Program

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April Comics

by Jake Bishop / Wil Sullivan

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Sunday Morning Game Night from Dank By Design

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April Fun Page

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'Twas Just Before Dawn in the Land of Freedom

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COVID-19 Business Impact Statements

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April Submissions

(An Op-Ed) by Raoul Kingsley III

featuring: Henry Collins, Daniel Nygard, Jeffrey Sass

June 13th

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April 2020 Jacque Davis

Artist Statement Dreaming in Color Exhibition Every person’s mind builds images while asleep or daydreaming.

This language helps us to process and communicate our thoughts and feelings. Even as our dreams are uniquely ours, they have a thread of the everyday world in them. It is this thread that allows us to recognize the common language spoken in dreams. Cloth, paint, and thread provide the perfect tools to capture the evocative nature of the dream world. Cloth, soft and familiar to us all, provides the foundation. Thread connects the layers and lies visible on the surface, and paint can highlight or shadow an image adding another layer of interest. My art work is a celebration of our connection to one another. When the separateness created by culture, society, and life disappears for a time, together we can rest in a quiet, familiar place.

Editor’s Note: Jacque’s work is currently on exhibition at the Governor French Gallery in Belleville. The Gallery is, however, on lockdown till further notice. Her “Dreaming in Color” exhibition opened to an adoring crowd of fine art enthusiasts on Friday, March 13 (see photos). The Social Distancing orders were issued in the days following that opening. Jacque’s work is visible from the sidewalk through the expanse of glass windows at Governor French Gallery, 219 West Main Street, Belleville.

Facebook.com/JacqueDavisTextileArts

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Comics

April 2020

By: Jake Bishop

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April 2020

FUN PAGE Word Search: Famous Composer Edition

-Haydn -Stravinsky -Bach -Wagner -Schumann -Copland -Puccini -Brahms -Berlioz -Schoenberg -Handel -Smetena -Beethoven -Debussy -Chopin -Schubert -Mahler -Listz -Webern -Vivaldi

Gesso Phrase of the Month Answer: Creativity Takes Courage

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April 2020 Gesso’s many friends and clients have been severely impacted by the necessary Covid-19 prevention measures. We reached out to some of them for their comments about that impact.

Here are some of their responses.

Bennie Parr - Bennie’s Pizza Pub: As a newer business owner of only 22 months, the uncertainty of how everything will bounce back is very unsettling. But I am not a person to give up easily, and our community is not either... the out pouring of support has been incredible, people going out of their way to support us and the amount of people offering helping hands has been very heart warming. The downtown Belleville businesses work very well together; we are in constant contact sharing ideas and ways to get through this. We are hopeful that our government will come through with guidance and support to help the small businesses that employ so many in our community until then we will continue to work together to get through these hard times.

214 West Main Street, Belleville IL

Dave Schoenborn - Lincoln Theatre: Having been one of the first business sectors affected, I do believe it was the right thing to close. We must distance ourselves and avoid socialize in person at this time. Having said that, we will have no income for a couple of months yet bills will keep coming from utilities, etc. Here is an example: just had a friend tell me that his cable company would not let them pause their cable service at the business but keep their phone and internet up. No one is there to watch the TV at the bar and that is half their bill.

Jacque Davis - Textile Artist: I am grateful my studio is at home; that being said, it has been harder to start a new idea; too many distracting thoughts.

Everybody is home so there are a lot more interruptions. I have been cleaning my studio, hand-sewing baby booties for the Mourning Project. Cooking and baking a lot!

Like me, many of my artist friends have exhibits hanging with no audience... we are sharing pictures in our on line groups. Of course, this is not a buyers market, but I have seen some art trades happening. The impact of no audiences is very difficult for working artists since we do the work up front and have already spent time and money on the materials. No audience less potential for sales. Knowing my artist and musician friends are not able to earn a living troubles me greatly.

Stress has always impacted my creativity. Currently, I just feel a creative stuckness. I am beginning to get glimpses of ideas here and there so I know I won’t be stuck for long. The colors I use in my work may not be so bright for a while but my dreams are providing lots of material.

I am trying to stay positive, share good thoughts with others and listen to music!! Meditation to ease fears and then there is wine and board games with Brad.

Facebook.com/JacqueDavisTextileArts

Biggest thing is loans. We, like others, already have business loans. Relief loans just add to our debt and when we open back, it may take months to get back to normal so making payments and just in general hardship is likely to carry on well past the time we start to allow gatherings again.

103 East Main Street, Belleville IL 8

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April 2020 Cory and Robin - Art Gecko Creative Studio:

Gesso Magazine:

Art Gecko Creative Studio at 218 East State Street in O’Fallon Il., is closed for business. Not permanently but as long as the Covid-19 Shut-Down is in effect. We are one of many small businesses that have been affected by this pandemic.

Like so many others of the region, Gesso Magazine is experiencing multiple effects from this Covid-19 Shut-Down. Those effects are most publicly noticeable by the absence of a physical magazine not in distribution to all those hundreds of Metro locations. Thank you for joining us online. We, too, miss the look and feel of this issue in our freshly washed and re-washed hands.

Art Gecko is an art school that has weekly classes for school age children and adults. We also have birthday parties and special events for clients. Because we work closely with our students and clients, we felt it was in the public interest to suspend our business until this health issue is resolved.

Although we are doing fine personally, we miss that interaction with our students and community. We could do videos, but we have found that it is harder than it looks. That special connection in the teaching process is lost. It is hard on everyone, but we will all get through this together. Art is beauty. Art is all around, so get out and create, whether it be to hang in your home windows or sidewalks for all to see, or to hang on the walls.

We, like so many other small businesses, are staying positive that we will get through this and be back in business sooner than later. We hope our students are staying creative and we encourage families to get out the art supplies and have fun.

We will see you back at the studio before you know it. God Bless.

218 East State Street, O’Fallon IL

The calendar was the first aspect to be affected. Instead of the vast list of art, music and cultural events included every day, we are down to “All events subject to postponement or cancellation” and postings of the inspiring livestream events our Metro musical family is offering. That may be sufficient for a Facebook post but does not support print.

We have lost all of our own events. Our concerts at the Lincoln Theatre. The big Boulderdash 40th Anniversary concert - though they will be back. Our Jacque Davis textile arts exhibition at Governor French Gallery is on lockdown. And our next April exhibition will not open on schedule.

And all of our great sponsors and advertisers. Gesso has always prided itself in featuring ads and sponsorships from local, shopsmall stores, restaurants, and venues. Partnering with annual events of local origination, like Midwest Salute To The Arts and the SWIC high school student art show and others. All of our sponsors are truly friends. And all of our sponsors have suffered shutdowns, adjustments, and/or postponements. Vicariously, we have felt the impact as well. We wish them all the best of health, both physically and fiscally. In the meantime, we join together with them in solidarity amidst this temporary austerity, watching for the big turnaround ahead.

Please stay safe out there and enjoy this month’s digital issue of Gesso Magazine.

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Introducing:

The Friends of Gesso membership program * Donate any amount to become a member * Donate $10 or more and receive a Gesso sticker as a thank you gift * Donate $100 or more and receive a Gesso sticker and a T-shirt as a thank you gift All Members will be thanked in print in the next issue (unless they wish to remain anonymous) All members who provide a valid email address will periodically receive invitations to access special bonus content on GessoMagazine.com, as well as other perks!

(No email addresses will be sold to any third party EVER) Gesso Magazine reaches THOUSANDS of people on both sides of the river & serves the local art & music scene by making this physical zine available FREE of charge at HUNDREDS of great locations throughout the St. Louis metro region.

This community project relies on the support of the community it serves. Help us keep LOCAL art and music ALIVE.

April 2020

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY

To become a member, send us an email at Membership@GessoMagazine.com Or send us a message on Facebook Or cut out this form and mail it to: Gesso Magazine P.O. Box 412 Belleville, IL 62222 Your name, or that of your business, band, group, or organization: Email (optional): Donation amount: Would you like to have your name excluded from print in the next issue?: (those who do not answer will have their name included) GessoMagazine.com

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April 2020 For the first in our series of guest-game-designer-games, the multifaceted artist John De Campos reached out to me with a free game that requires no components to play and as little as one other player to experience the fun!

The goal is for this free game to become a household name and global phenomenon but in the meantime you should absolutely go fall in love with his current project “Token Terrors” and print it for free by signing up at TokenTerrors.com so you are in the loop when the kickstarter goes live!

You are cordially invited to volume number fourteen! This left column of games will remain the same trusty games with a different setup each month, while the right column will introduce new games monthly. Want to support more games like these? Want next month’s issue before it goes to print? Join our patreon at: Patreon.com/DankByDesign Bring as many eggs to the exit of the dungeon as you can carrying them in your inventory. Each skeleton is worth 1VP when defeated but undefeated costs 1 heart (1VP) when encountered. If you have no hearts you may not cross over a skeleton without a sword. Items are one time use! All items take 1 inventory slot and you must have empty inventory slots to pick them up. Use of any item means it is discarded and items may not be discarded without first using them. Eggs may never be discarded. You may cross a space more than once. Dark spaces require the use of one torch to travel through each time, even if you already traveled through it before. You may not travel diagonally. Start at the S and end at the E. You must finish if your path hits E.

Sword- Defeats 1 skeleton Torch- Travel through 1 dark space Key- Unlock 1 chest or 1 door Egg- Score 2VP when brought to E Ice- May not turn on ice unless if stopped by a dark space or edge.

Chest- Score 5VP when unlocked Warp- Transports you to any other warp, any time you step onto one.

Door- Blocks travel in all directions.

Escaping this room requires you to figure out the password for the door.

Solve the password based on how many letters long the code is, the selection of letters you have to choose from and what the room or painting looks like. You may use a letter more than once. Check back each month for the password to escaping from last month’s room!

Volume #13’s Password: “REFUSE”.

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Attention Gesso Readers: We are seeking to continue highlighting in our digital magazine, on our website, and on social media those local artists, bands, musicians, performers, and businesses that are continuing to do their thing during this Corona Shutdown time period.

Please help us in that mission by sharing with us any such examples that you are aware of either via email at: editor@GessoMagazine.com or via our Facebook Page Thank you so much and please stay up with us via social media and GessoMagazine.com GessoMagazine.com

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April 2020

'Twas Just Before Dawn in the Land of Freedom (An Op-Ed)

by Raoul Kingsley III

One April morning, I awoke and ventured outside to the conversational sounds of the owls in my small-town neck of the woods. Elsewhere, there might be wind instruments being walked down the otherwise empty urban streets and played inspirationally. While still elsewhere, a ventilator isn’t enough to keep someone breathing.

We, as a nation, have left ‘normal’ behind us in the sand like a hermit crab abandons a soda can, venturing forward towards whatever better-suited comforts we can hope for and out into the dangers of the unknown.

What ‘new normal’ do we think we’re evolving into?

‘Normal’, in this context, is the theory of a nearly ubiquitous routine experience shared within a culture.

So, ya, the new normal will surely include that the sun will rise in the morning, and that’s about it. Whether the clouds deny us sight of it or not, the sun will gift us daylight until it has expired its own celestial longevity. And then, too, will we be faced (a dozen or so hours later) with nightfall and a sense of darkness. But here in America, we have become splintered from the conceptual normal experience in part by how this crisis has bloomed: the widely varying shades of our reaction to it.

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Photo by 'cottonbro' from Pexels.com

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April 2020 The word ‘pandemic’ wasn’t much in our national dialogue when some of us began first sounding alarm bells that seemed reminiscent of a boy yelling ‘wolf’. SARS, MERSA, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Ebola, Zika, and so on had barely scratched us in American casualty numbers (by comparison), whilst we were all-the-while inundated between campaign ads with their daily mentioning on TV and Radio, at bus stops and water coolers, and whatnot.

or household supplies and whatnot, whilst others are sent home to spend time with themselves, their houseplants, their pets, or loved ones and stay distant from all others as best they are able. Some parents haven’t spent this much direct time with their kids since their kids began kindergarten. And some haven’t deep cleaned their houses so hard since they first moved in.

There are videos and pictures (circulating on social media) of So, this early wave of Novel Corona outcries went widely unheard doctors and nurses who come home these days only to live at a or unheeded. Not by the congress members who were being distance from their families like in quarantined rooms or tents in briefed in detail on the subject before dashing towards their stock the garage. And still some of us are out there complaining about brokers for pre-panic sell-offs, but by us the daily-grind everyday how hard it is to be disembarked from the ‘normality’ of their old everybodies. Now, while some households are wearing gloves and routines – calling it ‘lock-down’ to keep mostly or entirely within masks to do even lawncare or get the mail and wiping down every their abodes. These people have rather certainly never been jailed, item that dares to come through the door, other folks in other institutionalized, captured by a foreign enemy, or incarcerated or states haven’t even been asked by their governors to ‘stay-at-home’ they likely would understand what ‘lock-down’ truly is and see how yet. much of a distinction it is to simply stay-at-home. (Those of us with homes to stay in would be well-advised to remain grateful - besides In more than one mentionable instance, folks have recently gratitude in general is good for the mind and the body) gathered together in large-scale ‘corona parties’, laughing this all off between drinks and smoke (presumably).

But still, some folks aren’t playing along with precausions (not by far) – experiencing this as a blown-out-of-proportion socio-political Those whose jobs or vocations are deemed ‘Essential’ are forced hype aimed at fear-mongering, power-grabbing, and control. These by their commitment to their vocation or the economic necessity people are also not altogether off-base in their perspective. of their jobs to venture out again and again for more than groceries

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April 2020 In the time that we have been on a non-stop COVID-19 news cycle, the elected or appointed ‘powers-that-be’ have made impactful changes on our environmental standards to the detriment of nature, taken lands from native peoples, sought to ‘temporarily’ dismiss segments of our constitutional protections, and floated a multi-trillion dollar cover-story laden with vague distributive powers and a misguided notion that trickle-down relief will assuredly reach the masses.

situation first became large scale for our country, we had advised everyone to wear masks, the same thing that happened to toilet paper would have happened to masks. Now, we are in a position whereby just as WWII called for victory gardens in our yards, wives to take up factory jobs, and familial rationing of food and supplies, this ‘war’ currently calls wide-spread for volunteer ‘seamsters’ and seamstresses to make and distribute home-made masks from whatever the most well-suited materials they can find.

Most of us, are listening nearly exclusively to the numbers of $1200, $2400, and $500 (per child), ignoring the rest of the allocation. The Pentagon has appealed to congress (rather quietly) to no longer be required to fully disclose its spending habits while we’re all checking our mailboxes or our bank apps to see a few extra dollars join our household's budget. Food stamps and the Social Security system are still under attack, whilst the ideas of universal healthcare and universal basic income are put into temporary taste-testing phases. Strange times, indeed. Some states have taken up an even stronger attack on abortion amongst these tribulations of public health under the premise that ‘frontline’ medical needs are being unmet because of ‘non-essential’ medical care.

This is what this piece of prose is actually aimed at: We as a nation will never fall back to the ‘normal’ that we knew last year or previously. Polluted airspace and waters are clearing up as wildlife begins an urban expansion the likes of which we’ve only seen in dystopian films and books and comics and such. A new generation is planting food and rationing their household supplies and growing up with an educational necessity-based emphasis on the internet and social media. We are raising a generation that will not forget these times as quickly as other large-scale events.

This ‘event’ on our American stage has scarcely finished with its opening scene and for sure we are in for the long haul; and yes, surprise, we are (with a wide varying array of contexts) “IN THIS TOGETHER”. And we can all act as though that is what is ‘new’ here, but the generation googling all its curiosities from the couch And this brings us conveniently around to this wartime idea of a or curb or park bench will not be fooled into falling backwards into 'frontline' where the virus is being fought with mixed results by an old paradigm of ‘everyone for themselves and their kin and hospital staff and that the rest of us are relatively safer behind their no one else’ … This, in hindsight, more so than the Cuban Missile protection. It was recently declared in a somewhat viral video from Crisis, the Challenger explosion, or the events of 9/11/2001 will a doctor’s perspective that (as Rage Against the Machine summed remind us that the planet, not just the nation or the neighborhood it up concisely):“The frontline is everywhere.” share in the synergy of convergent fates. Should we export some proportional amount of masks to other countries at this moment?

Dr. Michelle Au expressed her opinion that we, those everyday Of course. everbodies going about our lives with varying degrees of precaution and social distancing, ‘Essential’ workers and ‘stay-atNationalism will not protect this nation from a global pandemic, homers’ alike, are truly the frontline forces of this ‘war’ and that and why would we expect other nations to send us masks, the hospitals are actually the ‘last line of defense’. ventilators, or PPE of all necessary sorts or other aid if we have a Puts a new take on things now doesn’t it. The preventative power lies with us, all of us in the general public.

It is just in the last few days that the CDC has put it out there that even asymptomatic individuals ought to wear masks in addition to social distancing when their circumstances call for leaving the house. POTUS Trump rather immediately expressed a more casual take, something to the effect of ‘you can if you want to, you don’t have to. I’m not going to as of now.’

So, why did it take so long to be advised to wear masks rather than not? Perhaps simply to allay potential panic. Perhaps because the supply chain of PPE such as face masks was originally so very strained and meanwhile unprepared to give the hospitals their due preferential bias when it comes to dispersal. If, when this virus

purely ‘America-First-and-Only’ policy in this ‘war’ situation. If our government is confused, I hope they find clarity soon: This is not a war between nations, but a universal struggle of our species – our giant family of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and so on – and of the planet.

And just like a great deal of families in America, we are prone to many different viewpoints and ultimately much drama along the way, but in the end it will be a result of us all (individually) whether we (collectively) thrive our way into a ‘new normal’ or perish at the hands of the old one.

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To be in touch with the author: Please Direct Questions / Comments to Editor@GessoMagazine.com Gesso Magazine

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During the Corona Shutdown, You are invited to Join the Pizza, Pencils, & Pints Social Drawing Event Facebook Group and participate every day at: www.facebook.com/groups/518322762218025/

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Submissions

April 2020

Save the Planet

by Henry Collins

Though the concerns had been voiced for some time, it was during the Eighty-sixth Jurassic Council that the discussions became widespread. It was apparent that the environment was changing.

It was a Tyrannosaur that spoke most vehemently on behalf of his kind. The number of small mammals was declining. In certain regions of the Pangaea, hunger was widespread due to the declining food supply. It was his researched opinion that the decline was the result of the evershrinking natural habitat afforded these fragile creatures.

That same research indicated that dinosaurs themselves were at fault. Dinosaurs were generally enormous creatures with huge appetites. This famine was to be blamed on the plant-eaters of the species – for example, the Brontasauri.

After all, a descending herd of Bronts would clear-cut acres of Conifers in a single day. It was obvious to the Tys that ingestion of the forest must be managed. Without such management, the ecological balance would be lost, the endangered mammals would become extinct, widespread famine would plague meat and plant-eaters alike. The very existence of the planet hinged on saving the forests.

A Triceratops retorted. He agreed with the major premise. Dinosaurs, the predominate world inhabitant, were the culprit. Their seeming insatiable appetites for the planet’s resources were the root of the apparent pending ecological disaster. Though only a small percentage of the planet’s land population, they consumed 90% of the world’s natural resources. The ecosystem was out of balance. A Management Plan must be instituted.

But as a plant-eater, he took exception to the castigation of blame. Over-hunting of mammals by the meat-eaters was at fault for the famine.

Conifer consumption and the natural regeneration that followed was as much a part of nature’s ecosystem as the changing of the seasons.

Developing a more diverse source of mammalian fodder would eliminate the dependence on endangered species and in turn bring nature back to its natural balance.

An Apatosaur offered a different theory on the loss of the Conifer Forests. More Conifer acreage had been lost in the last ten years through fire than by vegetative consumption. The Conifer Forests are ripe for wild fire due to an increasing abundance of deadfall on the forest floor. Much of the deadfall can be attributed to the damage wreaked by mammal hunters as they stalked and pounded amongst the Conifers, seeking prey.

The swipe of one great dinosaurian tail can ravage as much if not more damage than the munchings of a vegetarian herd.

So the Apatosaur also proposed the Council adopt a Management Plan. But the priority be for management of hunting and its related practices, with a parallel program to manage forest fires, generally the result of lightning strikes and lava flows. Though, he acknowledged, the management of naturally occurring fires would be difficult, the results would be worth the undertaking. After all, the survival of the planet rested in the balance.

Amongst the Council, there was little agreement as to who or what was at fault, what plan or plans should be implemented. And, of course, there were those amongst the Council that did not agree that there was a problem at all.

And so it was that the Eighty-sixth Jurassic Council adjourned in disquiet. Each member pledged to consider all proposals with a promise to return the following year to the Eighty-seventh Council and again attempt to hammer out the program of management of the world’s environment that would ultimately save the planet.

Eleven days later, the planet was struck by a meteor of enormous proportions. The existing eco-systems all were devastated. Dinosaurs, as were many other species of animal and plant, were dashed into extinction. The planet, however, survived quite nicely and is now the home of other species who walk – mostly unknowing – in Jurassic footsteps.

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Submissions

April 2020

PHOTO KATASTROPHI A SERIES OF IMPERFECT IMAGES by

Jeffrey Sass

In this body of work I am attempting to create a counterpoint to the current state of photography by creating a series of imperfect, unique images. It seems that what is valued today is sharp, fully resolved digital perfection. That once achieved, can be endlessly re-printed for mass consumption, each one indistinguishable from another.

Ink on paper.

The word, “Katastrophi” is from Ancient Greek. It means to ruin or undo. Photo Katastrophi celebrates the imperfections of the hand-created image. Each one is unique and unduplicatable. When I went into the darkroom for this body of work I worked loosely, bending rules, allowing myself to create mistakes, seeing what directions they could drive the work. The materials that were used added to the Katastrophi. Some of the photographic papers were decades expired and acted unpredictably, creating tones and textures that were unforeseen. The gelatin photo-emulsions on the film and the papers were deliberately distressed or melted away so that other emulsions could be reapplied and exposed.

(Kintsugi Typewriter, photo assemblage with cyanotype on distressed silver gelatin print, gold leaf and ink)

The subject matter for the images was chosen because of their timeless or mechanical nature. Technology from the current century was avoided so as to accentuate the hand made qualities of the work. The passage of time, the combination of time and light to create the historic photographic image all serve as an analog statement in a digital world.

(Campbell’s Katastrophi, a photo assemblage with cyanotype, silver gelatin prints, gold leaf and acrylic paint)

(Red,Yellow and Green, photo assemblage with cyanotype, distressed silver gelatin print and watercolor paint)

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(Red Stripe, photo assemblage with silver gelatin print, gold leaf and acrylic paint)

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April 2020

Cover Artist: Daniel Nygard

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April 2020

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April 2020

Daniel Nygard artist statement: I grew up in Fairview Heights Illinois and have lived in the Metro east area my whole life. My artistic expressions started with pencil drawing and acrylic paint. I’ve experimented with chalks and watercolors.

I love to do photography. A lot of my current work is done with photography and photoshop type layering and editing. I’ve started using acrylics again as it is my favorite form of artistic expression after photography. Artistic expression is a doorway to another dimension, you enter inside your mind, the ability we are given to be a creator is one that makes us closest to our creator.

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