Welcome back! uh…to me, I guess, since you have been here all along, reading Dan Claymore’s posts. Speaking of which, a big thank you to Dan for looking after the old blogstead while I was home enjoying the gorgeous waning days of summer. We’ll keep our eyes out for his novels as soon as they hit the shelf (and I’m going to look more attentively at the tops of my sandwiches to see if there is parsley there). He’s right: terriers and working dogs are super awesome (although so are all of the hunting dogs…and the hounds…and most of the frou frou dogs too: in fact, pretty much all dogs are awesome, full stop).
It is good and necessary to get away, and as soon as I unpack, I will share some of the lovely and interesting things I found during my trip, but first, I realized I have been remiss in a more fundamental matter. I built a website for my artwork, but I never shared the link with anyone! So, without further ado, here is the link to my online gallery of artwork.
If you have a moment to kindly look the site over I would appreciate it enormously (and if you would perhaps leave me some thoughts about how things could be better, I would appreciate that even more). I work really hard on my artworks, but I try not to make them obsessively autobiographical. We have had a LOT of autobiographical art lately and it seems like maybe we could refocus a bit on the worldwide ecological crisis, or perhaps on some overlooked non-human characters who would enjoy our attention too. However the art world has sort of a set template (which is known to work), which frames the artist front and center instead of the artwork. My work instead focuses on a tragic all-knowing fish who reappears in endless protean guises. This flatfish represents ecology (specifically the complex and sometimes rapacious relationship of organisms to one another) and human history’s role in larger ecological cycles. It is unclear if people will be able to transfer the strong feelings they have for Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, or Cindy Sherman to a strange benthic fish.
If this strikes you as contrived, or if flatfish are not to your taste, there are other works from earlier creative periods, and there is even a little biographical section (although the best artists I know are mostly introverts/workaholics who spend the bulk of their time furiously drawing or painting). Anyway check it out and see what you think! I am happy to be back and I have some amazing things to talk about. Thanks again to Dan, and above all, thank you for reading and for you kind attention and your wonderful comments!
ferrebeekeeper 
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August 27, 2019 at 3:46 PM
E
Hello Ferrebee,
Congratulations on your new website, it looks fantastic, and as full of whimsy and deeper truths as your own blog – which is always enjoyable.
The things one learns!
Since you did ask, I would recommend a couple of amendments on the biographical section.
1) as you already have “contextualize” (which is an important verb in the blurb) you may consider replacing the repetition of its root, and adjacent words (“in the context of”) for something like “within” (which happily resonates with the first sentence’s “between”.)
2) As just betrayed by my last punctual order (period after the quote) I do not follow the conventions of grammar as English professors would prefer… so you can absolutely disregard my most idiosyncratic advise to use a colon after both “Thus” and “So too”. Normally one might add a comma there, but I feel a deeper breath must be taken than that of a comma, and yet, a period would be incorrectly final, whereas a semi-colon: completely out of the question. That’s my argument, anyways.
3) Lastly, I would add quotes to the the sentence “Each…hydra.” because whilst the voice in the rest of the blurb is about you, and that seems like a direct quote. For that reason, you may want to also credit yourself! Oh, and maybe add an exclamation point instead of just a period. Such a statement merits: a little extra emphasis!
And thus ends what I hope you take as merely a token two-cents worth of friendly advise from someone whose own writing requires far more massive correction, each time, than anything of yours. My sentences run like Usain Bolt, on and on. So, take it in kind (the two cents) as a grain of salt… on a cracker. Maybe with some cheese? Invite friends, why won’t you? The salt of life is best enjoyed with things on sticks drizzled with balsamic vinegar, a sprinkling of parsley, toasted sesame seed? And people whose shirts become napkins for the damned balsam? But, I do digress.
Cheers and best wishes on your endeavors. Much success!
– E
(PS Tried to send this to email, but couldn’t find any contact information beyond the option of leaving a reply here. Feel free to delete once read. This message will NOT self-destruct. It is not a James Bond movie one is on.)
August 28, 2019 at 4:16 PM
Wayne
Wow, E! Thanks a million for your careful reading and your valuable comments. Since I am not a grammar expert, your specific notes are particularly helpful. Additionally I have a horror of using the same word multiple times in quick succession, so thanks thanks for letting me know about that. I like your delicious metaphors concerning the zest (and the bitterness) of writing, but it sounds like you are being way too hard on your own cooking.
Finally, you are right, I need to figure out if/how people can contact me through this site without writing a physical letter. There is always a lot of work to do, but it goes more quickly with good editors. Thanks again!