As the words encroached on the images, I found a passage that described the latter: “My work is good, it has potential”. Given how badly I had doubted myself, it may be the closest that I ever came to praising what I had done. In the rest of the paragraph, I displayed my usual ambivalence:Continue reading “Potential”
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A Story Born Again
A couple of months ago, I wrote about a painting of mine from the mid-1990s. In A Pivotal Piece, I described its abstract imagery as a way of abandoning the figure and freeing myself from the heavy baggage of the body. I’ve always had a complex relationship with the nude. There’s a line somewhere betweenContinue reading “A Story Born Again”
Like Anywhere Else
“That desolate place, not even a town but a corner — the intersection of two roads on their way somewhere better — that was home. The street names are Jackson and Bradshaw but that doesn’t really matter. On my last trip into the area, I discovered every landmark gone. The city that used to castContinue reading “Like Anywhere Else”
Making Amends
Last week, I had the best luck with drawing that I’ve had in a long time. I considered the awkward sketches a breakthrough. Lisa was supportive (luckily for me since she was the unwitting model). I used a photo of her that I keep on my desk as the source material. Her one complaint wasContinue reading “Making Amends”
A Pivotal Piece
Creatively speaking, I haven’t decided where to go next. Understanding where I’ve already been, it seemed to me, would help. Pouring over my old work, I stumbled across a couple of photographs. Both were out of focus. Why had my camera refused to cooperate? In 1996, if you took a picture, you had to waitContinue reading “A Pivotal Piece”
Different Windows
The plastic sheets had sat in a wooden wine box in the closet for years. It wasn’t until I began to compile a record of my work that I dug them out. They were from the early nineties. To exhibit your art anywhere back then, you submitted your slides. What I needed were jpegs forContinue reading “Different Windows”
Mixed Reviews
In April of 2021, I clicked the “publish” button. IMAGE: An Illustrated Novel went live on Amazon. What drove me to that decision was largely a positive editorial review that I had paid for the year before (thank you government stimulus check). Kirkus Reviews, a famously harsh and widely respected judge of literary merit, hadContinue reading “Mixed Reviews”
A Few More for the Gallery
Some were newly photographed. Other shots were older. I chose seven as sufficiently mature to include. With their addition, I have forty pieces (or their digital equivalence, anyway). The ones under glass have a camera and tripod reflection. It wasn’t a big enough issue to warrant taking any frames apart. A theme has emerged. IContinue reading “A Few More for the Gallery”
Launching a Novel
After a while, it was sort of funny how little seemed to work. From erratic e-book formatting to low toner levels on the first batch of printed copies, a licensing dispute and the title getting attributed to a different Colin Turner, there were so many complications that I had to laugh at the latest. Admittedly,Continue reading “Launching a Novel”
Posterity
While connecting the communities of Gold Hill and Eagle Point, Oregon, State Route 234 passes through Sams Valley (the basin was named after Chief Sam of the Rogue River Tribe). Impressive views of Upper and Lower Table Rock dominate the nearby horizon. Turn North from the modern highway, however, and the weathered remains of theContinue reading “Posterity”
Colin Turner's Work 