When an artist pours his or her whole self into their artwork, it becomes something alive.  That living entity draws people.  The people who look close are rewarded with a relationship. I had a very wise art professor in college who said that you have to live with a work of art; you only come to know it when you live with it.  Then it brings you into its own circle, and you become richer because of it.

The people who are fans of Seth's art are those who have seen the life that is in it, and want that life in their lives.
Occasionally someone wants to give back.

J(ay) has been someone who has over the years given back in many ways to Seth's memory and Seth's family. Regular readers of this blog will remember other sketchcards commissioned by J(ay) and sent to me for Floweringnose day.  Above is this year's crop of cards, a particularly fine selection, I think.

In order to give back to the memory of someone like Seth, one has to find some form that is both generous, quirky, and is part of one's own artistic scheme.  In this commissioning, J(ay) has hit on the perfect combination.  I suspect that J(ay) traded his own sketchcards for each of these, so they are all done by different artists, with their own take on the Flowering Nose. Then J(ay) sent them all on to me.  Generous, quirky, and his own oeuvre.
A beautiful tribute.  Thank you J(ay).

Flowering Nose sketchcards 2013

Once more the indefatigable J_ay has solicited Flowering Nose sketchcards from artists all over the world wide web.  He sent us these for Flowering Nose day, Jan 30, though I only received them when I returned from Japan yesterday.

This is a particularly nice group of cards, I think.  One was done by a burgeoning artist; we look forward to seeing her art in another 10 years.  The upper right one is a collage of colored paper.

Many thanks to J_ay for your faithfulness to Seth's memory.  And thanks also to the artists who have contributed to the growing collection of sketchcards.  Surely these are also part of Seth's oeuvre--work inspired by him.  

Floweringnose Day 2012 continues

Last year on Seth's birthday, the indefatigable J(ay), having put out a call for sketchcards of the Flowering Nose, sent us a big packet of cards, each one with a little different take on the character and form of this website's eponymous creation.  This year on Floweringnose Day, he sent us another packet of sketchcards.

I am impressed with how much energy strangers put into these cards.
I am not sure I would do the same for a project about the art of someone I did not already have an interest in.

But it is the energy and heart of Jay, who brainstormed the idea, poked and prodded artists to make them, traded his own cards, and in many cases, shelled out his own hard-earned cash in order to have a nice array to send to us--that is the real force behind this collection.  Thank you Jay.

The right hand black and white image is the final page of a nice little color-cover sketchbook by Cory Walker. 



There is also a charming two-inch high string doll with green face, hands, and feet, a flower in the middle of his face, and a blue cape.  Where else would we get a real Floweringnose doll?
The Floweringnose lives on.