First Friday Picture Show: Born Under a Bad Sign ~ Paintings by Kevin Margitich

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Kevin Margitich on January 3, 2014

"Born from Lions" 24" x 24"

 As curator of the Recycled Minds Picture Show and an artist, I never planned to show my work on the site. This is the second time, though, and this time, the following paintings also comprise my December exhibit at Bogart Court in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I titled this show Born Under a Bad Sign. It may seem like an unlikely title to those close to me since my son was born this past year.

Animal heads, arrows, skulls, hex signs, sketches, silhouettes, bird nests. This exhibit talks about myth and folklore, birth and death, and family. That is my description of this body of work. The artwork is very minimal. I tend to paint a single object with no background other than a single color or a backdrop of stained wood. The titles of each piece are usually lines from my favorite books or album titles. Over the years, I have said that there is no hidden agenda in my work. I paint the hunted animal in fragile states. These images are simply what I find beautiful in the world.

Happy New Year!

"Sorrow Floats" 16" x 30"

"Witch Hunt" 6" x 6"

First Friday Picture Show: Contemplative Abstractionism by Denise McKellick

Recycled Minds Picture Show

by Denise McKellick on December 6, 2013

Our December Picture Show features the mixed-media work of Philadelphia artist, musician, and poet, Denise McKellick. In her paintings she plays with the concept of conveying feelings and emotions through random objects and abstraction relying heavily on shape and color. Through photography she explores society's need to document our own lives through social media  in images resulting from capturing brief, beautiful moments in time that would have gone unnoticed if not for the need to document.

 Enjoy the rest of the show!

First Friday Picture Show: Art with a Conscience by Cassandra Tondro

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Cassandra Tondro on November 1, 2013

"Enchantment," 24 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas

November's First Friday Picture Show features the green art of Cassandra Tondro. Cassandra Tondro is an artist who has found an innovative use for leftover house paint ‐‐ she repurposes it for her colorful abstract paintings. Cassandra rescues the paint from recycling centers in the Los Angeles area before it is disposed of. By visiting these outlets regularly, she has assembled a palette filled with unusual colors. She enjoys the challenge of working with the colors that she finds, rather than colors of her choice. Once a color is gone, it is unlikely that she will find the exact same color again. House paint comes in a variety of finishes, including flat, satin, semi‐gloss and eggshell, that add depth and texture to the surface of her paintings. 

"Bubble Up," 18 x 18 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas

Cassandra has developed several methods of working with the paint, including pouring, pulling, pressing and dripping it onto canvas. While the paint is wet, she often uses tools, washes of water, or her fingers to create imagery. The paint dries slowly, and in the process of drying, serendipitous things sometimes occur, such as bubbles that pop to reveal another color below.

"Azure," 24 x 12 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas

Cassandra's eco‐friendly paintings create a unique focal point for contemporary interiors, and the green materials complement sustainable design. Collectors of Cassandra's work have said that her paintings evoke feelings of inspiration and joy, and are even more beautiful in person.

"Vortex," 30 x 24 inches, repurposed acrylic latex paint on canvas

Enjoy her show on Recycled Minds, and be sure to visit her at tondro.com for more art with a conscience!

Second Friday Picture Show: 20 Miles Around Shohola, Part II

A Second Friday Picture Show
by Jonathan K. Slingluff
Last week, our featured artist for October, Jonathan Slingluff, showcased photographs from an upcoming exhibit in Scranton, PA, "Photographs, Paintings and Gatherings." Today, we're sharing some shots of Slingluff's paintings, including a few detail pieces. Slingluff is well-known for his minimalist paintings of stark landscapes -- a perfect complement to a crisp autumn day. From our curator, Kevin:

I first saw Slingluff’s paintings when I was living in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. I fell in love with how he captured a landscape (oceans and cornfields primarily). His “Oceans” were dominated by an expansive sky taking the viewer away from what you would think of when visiting a beach. The sand and ocean were present in the most minimal way. The skyline taking up 4/5 of the canvas was what drew you in. It was like looking at a world of possibilities, dreams, melancholy wrapped up in blue paint. Why fill up a canvas with sand and water? I get that. How do you make a beach painting not look tacky? How do you make a skyline look classic and modern in the same stroke? Slingluff figured it out. 

The paintings in this month’s Picture Show are not of Oceans, but Slingluff’s cornfields. I feel the same emotions when looking at the cornfields. The snow: the stalks barely holding for life. They are beautiful and speak volumes to me when thinking about the farms where I grew up. The expansive sky lets you know how small and large the world is in a few brush strokes. Years ago when talking to Jonathan about his work he said that he would rather see his “Oceans” on the wall in a cabin in the woods and the “Cornfields” at the beach. I always keep that in mind when I look at the collection of work that I have of his. I live in Philadelphia -- right in between the Atlantic Ocean and miles of cornfields.

First Friday Picture Show: 20 Miles Around Shohola, Part I

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Jonathan K. Slingluff on October 4, 2013

"20 Miles Around Shohola": Photographs, Paintings & Gatherings

 Our October Artist of the Month is Jonathan K. Slingluff. This is Part I of a two-part Picture Show focusing on Slingluff’s photography. Using medium and digital formats, this collection of photos is part of an upcoming exhibit in Scranton, PA, showcasing his photography, paintings, and “gatherings," which are objects he found within a 20 mile radius of the Shohola Waterfalls in northeastern Pennsylvania. Part II of the Picture Show will be on Recycled Minds next Friday and will focus on his paintings.

Slingluff’s work was featured on Recycled Minds in November 2011. Recycled Minds' curator, Kevin, caught up with him for a brief Q & A to get a little dialogue to go with Kevin's fascination with his Instagram updates. They talked coffee makers, beer, and the reintroduction of an old hobby, fly-fishing. But to get down to knowing person, sometimes it's best to ask the simple questions in life.

Enjoy this week's show, and be sure to check out Part II next week!

What is your favorite music to listen to while you paint?
Jazz or some slow-paced music. I like to avoid lyrics and keep it simple - nothing to hinder the process.

What is the last beer you drank that you loved?
Right now I’m opening Anchor’s Wheat beer. I also like Pepe Nero, Goose Island.

First Friday Picture Show: Lavender Grid Installations by Greg Patch

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Greg Patch on August 2, 2013

~ dune installation ~ 

Our August Picture Show features the unique work of Greg Patch. Greg is an artist and a traditional herbalist whose paintings portray the earth, the unconscious, and the one-ness of all life. His commitment to restoring the planet and its supported life to its natural balance is reflected in his work with individuals as a natural healer, in the environmental themes of his artwork, and in the non-toxic medium which is integral to the meaning of the finished work.

~ Green Wall Installation ~

Greg was introduced to art during the 1960s era of anti-establishment and high ideals. Studying in New Mexico and New York, Greg’s work evolved through a web of inquisitive explorations of the world surrounding him and of time and space through traditional landscape painting and social "happenings."

In his early experiences working for sculptors Willard Boepple and Robert Schuler, Patch was influenced by the texture, shape, and diversity of these internationally acclaimed artists' work. Influenced by alternative culture, Sacred Healing Arts and the study of indigenous cultures, the artist accomplishes a melding of 1960s idealism with traditional and futuristic science. In his work, Patch explores social movements with a naturalistic and simple style and method.

He continues to integrate and express movement in space with texture, as well as his medium, subject, approach, and holistic lifestyle.

Mexican Puppetry and Balance in Technology

Open Minds

~ Mechanical details for a puppet head ~
Photo courtesy of Puppetitieres.

by Diane Daly, Puppetiteres, on July 12, 2013
Puppetry is a fascinating art form from an Information perspective because it is defined by balance in the technology it uses. The term technology today has come to mean digital tools - the more, the better. But when I speak of the balance in technology inherent within puppetry, I am using the older meaning of technology: Using devices to more effectively accomplish our goals. A puppet itself is technology used toward the goal of creative expression, but a puppet's movements must convey to the audience an intimate connection with the movement of the puppeteer(s). Overdo the technology of Mr. Punch, or El Negrito, or Hanuman, and you end up not with a puppet but with an automaton.

In the US, birthplace of so many digital innovations, we rarely imagine a ceiling for our technological inundation. In my studies of of Information and Library Science, I have begun to explore how people who know how to balance technology approach social networking. Although puppetry exists everywhere, I chose the puppetry community in Mexico as the focus of this research because in my experience digital technology is approached very practically here in Mexico. Tech skills are not perceived as hallmarks of superiority; one simply learns them to advance human objectives.

The Mexican Puppetry Community

Knowledge about puppetry techniques, source and construction materials, performance venues, and marketing are just a few of the types of information that are shared online in this community. But on a deeper level, the puppetry community in Mexico is interesting from an Information perspective is because it is alive.

First Friday Picture Show: Imaginative and Otherworldly Drawings by Jon Carling

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Jon Carling on July 5, 2013

Future Shaman

Our July Picture Show features the drawings of Oakland-based artist Jon Carling. Carling’s work has been described as imperfectly precise and otherworldly. Childhood imagination haunts his drawings, as they often swing from pure fantasy to dry terror. Working only with pen and pencil (and the occasional spot of color), he weaves creatures and environments that recall 19th century book illustration, while incorporating transcendent and sinister themes.

“I want people to have an emotional response to my work that reminds them of being a child. When certain details are left out of an image, you use a very special part of your brain to fill in the spaces, and I think that is the key to engaging the viewer, let them write the story for themselves.”

Moving the Triangle

Since graduating in 2002 from Oakland’s CCA with a degree in illustration, Jon’s work has been featured in numerous gallery expos and publications, either in solo exhibitions or alongside his contemporaries in cities across the United States and Italy. Along with those exhibitions, he has made  animated videos, multi-media projections, posters and album art for bands such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Entrance Band, Meho Plaza, Agent Ribbons, Magic Castles, Noceans, Voice on Tape, The Lovely Eggs and Ema and the Ghosts. Visit Jon Carling online at www.joncarling.com.

Continue reading to view the rest of the show >>

First Friday Picture Show: Maya Resilience by Kristina Baines

Recycled Minds Picture Show

by Kristina Baines on June 7, 2013

~ Keep Moving ~

Turning sesame seeds toasting on the firehearth.

Our June 2013 Picture Show is by Kristina Baines, an ecological/medical anthropologist who has been taking, developing, and thinking about photos for over 20 years.  She has a strong interest in corn, how what we do in our environment makes us well, and using innovative methods to make anthropology relevant and accessible to a wide audience.  You can find out more about how these interests translate into projects and pursuits at www.coolanthropology.com or by contacting her at yesbaines@gmail.com.   

~ Simiona's Shop ~

Rice to be sold if the mill is buying.

I made this set of photographs in 2011 while I was living in Santa Cruz, Belize conducting my dissertation research. A traditional Mopan Maya village in many ways, Santa Cruz continues to be in flux, its residents actively negotiating the changes brought about by new opportunities and stressors - road paving, new schools, changing politics… These photos capture both the adaptability and the resilience of the community’s residents, and their landscape, to these changes, highlighting the subtleties, and beauty, of everyday life that continues in their midst.

Continue Reading to view the rest of Kristina's show. 

First Friday Picture Show: Realist Paintings by Adam Vinson

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Adam Vinson on May 3, 2013


Ventriloquist (18x14) by Adam Vinson

This month's Picture Show features the paintings of Adam Vinson. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa in 1978, Vinson began his artistic training studying commercial illustration at the Luzerne County Community College and continued his studies thereafter under the tutelage of Anthony Waichulis. Upon finishing the Waichulis Studio curriculum, he enrolled in the historically prestigious Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.


Momentary Things (20x16) by Adam Vinson

Using the styles of trompe l’oeil and contemporary realism, Vinson reflects a balance of contemplation, humor and irony in his work. He believes that, for him, representational painting is the best direct route to forming both a visceral and cerebral connection with the viewer.

He maintains a rigorous exhibition schedule in venues around the country and has been featured in numerous publications including American Art Collector, American Artist, Southwest Art, Stroke of Genius and American Arts Quarterly. In 2009, Vinson was the recipient of the third place award in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.

Continue reading for the rest of the show!

Sunshine Streets: Street Art of St Petersburg, Florida

by douglas reeser on April 17, 2013

Downtown St. Petersburg, Florida has become something of a burgeoning street art and mural scene. Widely known as an arts-friendly city, this small Gulf-coast locale has seven art museums (including the Dali, with the largest collection of Salvador Dali works outside of Spain), a bunch of galleries, and significant city-government and community support. Still, until recently, most of the city's art had to be enjoyed indoors. After a year and half in Belize, I returned to find murals throughout the city, with a special concentration lining a few blocks of a downtown alley. Here are a few of my favorites:

~ Third-Eye Kitty ~
Can see the true you

First Friday Picture Show: "Ultima" by Nick Pedersen

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Nick Pedersen on April 5, 2013

~ #5 ~
by Nick Pedersen

Nick Pedersen is a photographer and illustrator from Salt Lake City. He holds a BFA degree in Photography, as well as an MFA degree in Digital Imaging from Pratt Institute in New York. He has shown artwork in galleries across the country and internationally, recently including the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, the Museum of Russian Art, the Slingluff Gallery, Bastardo Gallery, and Copper Palate Press. His work has also been featured in numerous publications such as After Capture, Beautiful Decay, Juxtapoz, Hi-Fructose, and Empty Kingdom. In the past year he has also completed Artist Residencies at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada and the Gullkistan Residency in Iceland to work on his newest project Ultima.

~ #7 ~
by Nick Pedersen

“Ultima is a body of work that is deeply rooted in environmentalism, showing my concern for the future by depicting the ways in which mankind’s creations have an impact on the planet. Primarily it is about the modern conflict between the manmade world and the natural world, and between modern and primitive cultures. I portray this as an epic struggle and in my work these forces clash in theatrical, post-apocalyptic battlegrounds. My goal with this project is to create striking juxtapositions between the ruins of modern civilization and a futuristic ecological utopia. The narrative progression shows a rediscovery of these remnants belonging to the conceivably forgotten past.”

View more of Nick's work at www.nick-pedersen.com and www.behance.net/nickpedersen.

Click to view the rest of the show:

First Friday Picture Show: Collected Works by Rachel Moore

"Abstract Wetscape 6" by Rachel Moore

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Rachel Moore on March 1, 2013 
This month's Picture Show features the paintings of Philadelphia artist Rachel Moore.

"I am a third generation artist, born and raised in Philadelphia. Most of my work has been within the abstract realm of oil painting, but I have dabbled all around from glass blowing to machine embroidery. My explorations in other mediums have been very important, some winning my interest for a year or two, but I always come back to painting."

"Pear Tree" by Rachel Moore

 "The subject of my work over the past decade has been the push and pull of the natural and the artificial. Some pieces are more abstract than others, but my process always begins with action painting. My job is then to fight those original marks down to something more organized. Sometimes it gets too tidy and I have to rough it up a bit. The process itself is a demonstration of the subject; the natural effects of gravity and bleeding versus the action of my brush and the image I have planned. Once I get started, I am fueled by curiosity to see what will emerge."

Visit Rachel online at rachel-moore.blogspot.com/ and read an interview with her at boroughgallery.wordpress.com.

Click to view the rest of the show:

First Friday Picture Show: "A Beautiful Mess" by Jake Keeler

Winter Chrome: Birds of America #2 | Jake Keeler | 2012 | 8″ x 5.5″ | Mixed media on book cover

Recycled Minds Picture Show
February 1, 2013
February's First Friday Picture Show features the artwork of Minnesota artist, brewer, and fly-fisher Jake Keeler. Jake has a background in fine arts, with an MFA in Painting and Drawing and years of exhibitions under his belt. He started his professional career as an artist and college professor, then transitioned to pursue a career in homebrewing/craft beer, and now does a lot of both. These two pursuits make up ⅔ of his “character-trifecta.” Fly-fishing occupies the other third. He's been fishing almost as long as he's been drawing, so the two have gone hand and hand, year after year. The making, and drinking, of great beer came a bit later, but weaves itself into all paths seamlessly. Along with family, these three things are what make him tick.

The work itself draws its inspiration from nature: fish, birds, bones and the beautiful mess that they make together. The style is derived from a background in drawing dragons, painting in the open air with his mother, painting miniatures with his brother, reading comic books, listening to Dio, and a stint as a graffiti writer. There is an explicit goal in the current work to create a look that bridges imagery and techniques from tradition, and fuse them with a contemporary take on how to express the beauty of what he sees in nature; the richness of color and line on a brown trout, the enduring form of the human skull, the complexity of feather/line/color of an overlooked sparrow.

Jake resides in St. Paul MN with his wife, his son, two cats and cold, but functional, basement studio/ brew cave. To see more of his work, and to occasionally find out about his adventures in fly-fishing and homebrewing, go to: www.20acrecarcass.com.

Fucking Bird | Jake Keeler | 2011 | 12”  x 12” | Pen and ink on paper

Check out the rest of the show by clicking:

First Friday Picture Show: Thorns & Sand: Exploring Southern Puerto Rico

~ Thorns & Sand 16 ~
photograph by Federico Cintrón Moscoso

Recycled Minds Picture Show
by Federico Cintrón Moscoso on January 4, 2013

Our first Picture show of 2013 presents an amazing set of photos from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. OJOxOJO (Eye for an Eye) is a visual project developed by anthropologist Federico Cintrón-Moscoso. It represents the conversation that occurs when the audience's and the photographer's point of view meet over the photograph. In this collection the author invites you to explore the particular thorny and dry environment of southern Puerto Rico, one of the most ecologically diverse areas in the planet. In particular, these pictures where taken around Guanica's Dry Forest and Caja de Muertos (Dead People's Coffin).
You can see more of Federico's projects and ideas at Cultura de Papel

~ Thorn & Sand 6 ~

photograph by Federico Cintrón Moscoso

Check out the rest of the show....

Recycled Minds in 2012

by Lana Lynne on December 31, 2012

Keep taking the road less traveled...
photo by douglas reeser

The changing of the calendar year always compels reflection of the past and prediction of the future. This seemingly universal response to a new year is something that the contributors to Recycled Minds like to do year-round – reflect, interpret, and possibly offer new ways of thinking about the world. What we like to do is tell stories, one of the most powerful tools in humankind’s handbag for preserving and encouraging knowledge. As a culture, we have become accustomed to hearing a single story – one that hopes to leave us complacent and taciturn. Our storytelling intentionally seeks out a different narrative with many perspectives, and we’d like to thank our readers for contributing to this collection of ideas.

Following is a short reflection on some of our stories from 2012.

Since douglas spent most of the year in the field for his dissertation research, many articles he wrote for his “Views from the ANThill” column centered on his experience as a field researcher. Among other things, he wrote about  knowledge and trust among his research participants, how language affects research and fieldwork, applied anthropology at work with the development of language classes, going through research slumps, and the positive experience of working with a local research assistant.

Similarly, the Maya and other indigenous people of Belize were a frequent topic of conversation, given doog’s research interests, including a fun video of Maya Day 2012; a not-so-fun look at the creation of a new Belizean ministry that lumps together Forestry, Fisheries, Sustainable Development and Indigenous People; and how the decline of the ancient Maya compares to today’s environmental destruction and concentration of wealth.

The “Consumption Junction” column continued to examine consumption in its various manifestations, including an article on agency and panopticism in a digital world, pursuing meaning instead of money, and the state of literature in our self-centered “culture of me.”

Recycled Minds Picture Show Highlights from 2012

Some highlights from the 2012 Recycled Minds First Friday Picture Shows.

We've chosen some of our favorite works from the 2012 First Friday Picture Shows - one from each month. A special thanks to our contributors for sharing their amazing photographs and art. The Picture Shows have become one of our most successful additions to Recycled Minds, and we couldn't do it without the artists! Thanks also to our readers, who make this work so rewarding.

Consumption Junction: "Forget the Money"

by Lana Lynne on November 30, 2012
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" That ubiquitous childhood refrain echoes throughout many people's lives, evolving with each new chapter of experiences. When we're young, the possibilities are limited only by our imaginations. As we get older, for many these choices begin to fit into pre-molded channels, into recognizable and attainable occupations. By the time we're "grown up," what we want to be has been replaced by what we do for money. Our options for alternative lifestyles are few, and unceasing bombardments by consumerist messages tell us what to do with our money, each tailored to our socioeconomic positions. Cultural critics call us automatons of the industrial complex, and as members of "the masses," we fall in lockstep time to a soundtrack of retail therapy.

And yet, the idea of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" or, as Alan Watts puts it, "What if money were no object?" still resonates with us. A short video made by a 20-year-old "self-taught video creator" takes a snippet of Alan Watts speaking about living a meaningful life to narrate a nicely spliced montage of dreamy time-lapse images. Watts asks listeners straightforward, "What makes you itch? What would you like to do if money were no object? How would you really enjoy spending your life?" For the rest of the video, he laments people's complacency with "doing things you don't like doing in order to go on living." "Forget the money," he says, "because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time."

On Youtube, the video has gotten more than one million views. On Facebook, one posting of the video was shared over 200,000 times. Is this a whisper from within the masses of complacent consumers, breaking free of the amnesiac lullabies of monetary desire? Or has our ability to answer Watts' question been reduced to a like and a share?

Read more about Recycled Minds' exploration of similar ideas in this article about a world without money, this one about profiteering in academia, and this one on how Occupy is helping people out of debt.

Corporate Crime Comics

Corporate Crime Comics, 1977, front cover

by douglas reeser on October 24, 2012

"Corporate crime... Corporate crime... I could be robbed or poisoned by corporate criminals and never know it until I read about it in the papers... or maybe never know!"

And so begins Issue #1 of the 1977 publication "Corporate Crime Comics" (CCC) by the Kitchen Sink Press - the first of only two issues. From an era before personal computers, smart phones, and tablets, Corporate Crime Comics is a great example of the creative efforts of activists from the time who sought to get their message out in a way that may grab the attention of a youth-oriented readership. Issue #1 includes around 15 stories of varying length and quality that touch on controversial, unethical, and quasi-legal or illegal corporate (and government) actions, all of which have fairly dire human consequences.

The issue opens with the story of Karen Silkwood, a lab technician who worked for the Texan oil company of Kerr-McGee, which at the time was the largest producer of atomic fuel in the US. Silkwood had become active in unionizing and worker's rights, and had reportedly secured incriminating documents on the company, only to lose the documents - along with her life - in a suspicious car crash. This story was turned into the film "Silkwood" starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell and Cher in 1983.

First Friday Picture Show: Drawing Fantastic by Jedi Wright

Gauche (2000) by Jedi Wright

Jedi Wright returns with a set of drawings for our October 2012 Picture Show. Jedi is an Internet entrepreneur, Information Architect and a student at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, where he is studying Interaction Design. He has been working professionally in the information technology, multimedia, event production, and environmental fields since 1993. He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA where he works as an information architect and interaction designer at Disney, and is fully immersed in the Information Architecture (IA), User Interface (U/I), User Experience (U/X) disciplines and how they intersect with social values and sustainable practices. In his spare time, he is very actively involved with raising his son. Visit jediwright.com to learn more.

Old Man Winter (1999) by Jedi Wright

A note about the show from Jedi: 
For this month's picture show, I opted for an eclectic mix of my artworks produced between the ages of 6 and roughly 26. As I am now a student at Art Center, I felt inspired to return to my creative roots with this collection, which I felt was an interesting look at my progression of skill and style over those years. Note that very little visual art (work) was done after about 2001-2, as I had made a pretty large shift from analog to digital creative processes at that point. Now that I'm back in school, I am picking a lot back up within the analog realm, particularly drawing. I hope to return next year for another show with an even greater leap forward in (drawing) skills!

As usual, view this show in full screen mode for optimal enjoyment....