Author Archives: JMN

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.

Did Someone Mention Drugstore Cowboys?

Posted on March 20, 2025 by JMN

The Lone Ranger rides again! That was my first take on the photo. Then it stirred my childish you-haven’t-earned-your-Stetson attitude. I was sure the article would nudge me toward curdled cowboy hat bête noire-ism. But wait: As he cavorted across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged art, style | 1 Comment

The ‘Color(ed) Theory’ of Artist Amanda Williams

Posted on March 17, 2025 by JMN

“There is something anthropomorphic about this work… I didn’t force it. That’s what made it powerful.” (Amanda Williams) In her studio, Williams experimented with her Prussian blue, layering, diluting and pouring the paint, letting it crack, pool and bleed across … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged language, painting | 4 Comments

Atlas Shrugged and Put on a Hat

Posted on March 12, 2025 by JMN

“If you don’t like country music, get outta the way! Cause we’re KBUCK and we’re gonna keep comin’ atcha!” (A radio station, name disguised) In Arabic, ignorance is expressed with a verb, not a predication. It’s not a state you … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged language, music, personal | 7 Comments

Landscapes with High Horizon Lines, Shot Through with Blood and Shrapnel

Posted on March 9, 2025 by JMN

His layers of paint, a mudlike impasto, oil and acrylic paints mixed with raw materials like soil, iron, straw and dead leaves, form deep furrows on the canvas. These landscapes, with van Gogh’s high horizon lines, all seem to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged language, painting | 3 Comments

When You’re Gagging on Humbug, Remember Someone Fondly

Posted on March 7, 2025 by JMN

The family must have had a matriarchal streak, for I was grandly mothered. Grandmother had a choir-dominating soprano voice in the native stone church. She knew her way around the hymnal. Could coax some harmony from the ivories of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged personal | 8 Comments

Messy Bacon

Posted on March 5, 2025 by JMN

Posted in Commentary | Tagged art, painting | 1 Comment

Coda to the ‘Strawberry Roan’

Posted on February 27, 2025 by JMN

Only once before have I presumed to “write a song.” I use scare quotes because I’ve really no idea how it’s done. This latest go-round involves new lyrics for an existing tune. I posted the first version here, and have … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged language, music, rhetoric | 2 Comments

A Bath of Warm Syrup Cooked from Stalk Cut in the ‘Family’ Canebrake

Posted on February 22, 2025 by JMN

My car radio is newly parked on my local country-western music station. It’s giving me the opportunity to hear music tangled in my ranch roots. The music partakes of both the familiar and the strange. In certain respects I’ve changed … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged language, music, rhetoric | 12 Comments

Looking and Listening Versus Seeing and Hearing

Posted on February 20, 2025 by JMN

I relish the tension that exists between certain verb pairs often used as roughly synonymous. This isn’t scientific, but here’s how I think of a couple of common verbs: “Look” describes the action of directing the eye to a focal … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged language, poetry, reading | 2 Comments

The Coarsest of Coarse Discourse Courses Through the Corridors

Posted on February 14, 2025 by JMN

English isn’t made for rhyming compared to Spanish, French or Arabic. Alliteration was its strong suit of old. My title flaunts it with a homophone. It also goes to town on sibilants, which is icing on the cake. That’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged language, rhetoric | 4 Comments