Author Archives: JMN

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.

Horacio Cardo

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

Some of Mr. Cardo’s earlier works were painted in oils, to which he added fabric, lace and plaster of Paris to create various textures. Later on, he created dramatic illustrations with ink and acrylic paint that he altered with digital … Continue reading →

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Alex Katz at 91

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

“I was in the abstract art world, socially – they all thought I was really stupid. The poets all liked my work – I had some of the smartest people on the planet buying my work. I knew I was … Continue reading →

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Limits of Art?

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

What kind of change his or any political artist’s work can actually achieve remains an open question. In his book 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, the art critic Ben Davis argues that political art is not a force on … Continue reading →

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Martha Nussbaum, Philosopher

Posted on October 30, 2018 by JMN

She is also known for helping to advance the so-called capabilities approach to economic development, which holds that progress should be measured by things like increases in life expectancy and education, rather than simply by increases in income. Her work, … Continue reading →

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“… Mind of a Genius at Work”

Posted on October 30, 2018 by JMN

One note Leonardo wrote to himself reads, “Make eyeglasses to see the moon larger.” The first known record of a telescope came around a century later. (Elisabetta Povoledo, “In Leonardo da Vinci’s Scientific Notebook, the Mind of a Genius at … Continue reading →

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Subjoins Mons Veneris? Nope

Posted on October 30, 2018 by JMN

This week, the European Space Agency released a picture taken by its Mars Express orbiter that showed what it described as “a curious cloud formation” stretching from east to west near Arsia Mons, the southernmost in a string of three … Continue reading →

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Marmite versus Vegemite

Posted on October 27, 2018 by JMN

Faced with delay in receiving my mail-order Marmite, I recently ordered for the first time a supply of Vegemite as backup. They were, I assumed, essentially the same product under different labeling. Far from it! Here’s what I discovered. Consistency: … Continue reading →

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Berthe Morisot (1841 – 1895)

Posted on October 27, 2018 by JMN

She had the loosest, least finished-looking of Impressionist techniques—a trait that helps explain her neglect, versus the more decisively branded manners of the men, but one that also fascinates. Her paintings, indefinite at first glance, are hard to stop contemplating … Continue reading →

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A little twirly birdie?

Posted on October 27, 2018 by JMN

I stream my music from Spotify and Pandora, resorting to radio only when I’m in the car. My local station is Jack Radio. Its jaunty slogan, We play what we want, belies the wretched predictability of its fare, a trait … Continue reading →

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Persuasion

Posted on October 27, 2018 by JMN

“The only way you persuade someone is to listen harder.” [While setting aside the guns?] (John Hickenlooper, quoted by Roger Cohen, “Can Colorado Save America?”, NYTimes, 10-26-18) (c) 2018 JMN.

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