Welcome to the Offerings page,

Each month, I will be offering two writtings on this page that have influenced my art as well as myself. Once in a while, I additionally may also post a book or article that ignited my imagination in some way. Included will be both current and recent/past reads, explore and enjoy my precious darlings...

June 2009:



When I elected to study Art History in college the first professor I learned from introduced me to existentialism and its application to Fine arts, knowledge and life in a general totality. We learned the philosophies of the times in a socio-historical context of the artwork we studied; running the gamut from classical giants such as Plato and Aristotle through Kant and Nietzsche. As for myself, of all the authors we read, Jean-Paul Sartre connected with me at the highest level. This book, "Existentialism and Human Emotion", is something of a essay or treatise on the humanistic applications of existentialism to mankind in response to the criticisms launched against it from rival philosophies. Harsh criticisms, such as it being more of a literary movement rather than a philosophical one at best, like a fad. Perhaps to find a way to label it as a kind fashionable way to call oneself a nihilist but not seem heartless. But this is far from the meaning I derive from this man's writings. I have heard the term "existential depression" many times. Suggesting that if one believes (or realizes) that existence is inherently meaningless in of itself, it just 'is', and that our lives are somehow saddened by this revelation. When in actuality, it is the discovery of the infinite value of human existence, second to second that drives our ambition. I call this "existential celebration". We supply the meanings to our existence. We are responsible. Our lives are small and quick, furious and beautiful. It is the gods that envy us, as the saying goes, they envy our mortality. For further and infinitely more eloquent prose on this subject, read the words that lie within the pages of this book. Enjoy, and savor the flavor my beauties...

"I, Lucifer". The allure of such a title is hard for one such as myslef to resist. Then I read the summery of the story within this book. To summerize; God sends his angels to offer Lucifer a deal (how perverse), where by he can gain enterence back into the kingdom of heaven for eternity. All he must do is live out one well behaved (free of cardinal sin) life in a human body on earth. Cue the insueing socratic dialouge of the devil with the reader, the tempations, the motivations, and the concious choices we all partake in.. Decisions made daily, minute to minute in human existence. Now experience it in the eternal realm from the point of view of the morning star himself, the first of the fallen, good ole Lucifer. Quite the interesting fiction, razor-blade wit and humor and viserally depicted pain and anguish. As the book promotes itself, "finally, the other side of the story"...


May 2009:



"The Alchemist" is a story by author Paulo Coelho about a young shepard boy seeking his fortune and destiny in a world of uncertainty. The book is truly a modern fairytale of person's quest through the world and internal growth. Along the way he aquires knowledge and skills as well as mentors and sages. The true quest for the shepard, Santiago, and for the reader is the discovery and determined pursuit of one's own "Personal Legend". The young man goes through all kinds of obstacles and adversity in pursuit of his dreams, of his personal legend. At times faultering and at times overcoming but always striving to move forward, striving to achieve that which he intends to accomplish no matter what the odds. This book was very well written and very inspiring. It is one of those stories one can read over and over with enjoyment and a sense of mental/spiritual reinforcement. It allows you to ask yourself deep questions about existence and the reality surrounding us without feeling overwhelmed by the weight of such inquiries. What is your destiny? Is it choosen for you, or do you decide for yourself how your life will be defined. What is your intention and passion? What do you choose your purpose will be? Ultimatly, you are responsible for your own dreams coming true.



Deepak Chopra's books and philosophy have been inspiring people from all over the world for many years. His writings range from spirituallity and religion to medicine and quantum physics. This book in particular raised controvery and public protests from the religious right due to its subject matter, a book on Jesus of Nazarath.

"The Third Jesus" is a breakdown of the institutionally determined perceptions of the man, and the myth. Then finally, Choopra's arguments for his true "intention". The first Jesus is the historical model, of which we have really no evidence and information. The second is the contrived image developed by the church to gain power and numbers by way of messianic fables and miracles. The Third Jesus is the intentions of an enlightend person and the idea of "oneness with all life", which can be described as the "kingdom of heaven". Which by his arguments and the arguments of enlightend teachers throughout history is not a place or destination, but the internal peace of a universal posative intention towards the world around us.


April 2009:



Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was a French philosopher, historian, sociologist and critical intellectual. He is best known for his work studying social institutions, most notably psychiatry and medicine. He also was well known for his work on the history of human sexuality. Much of Foucault’s work focus on the relationships of power within society and social institutions. In the late sixties, he was an activist fighting for social and global equality, at times alongside some of his students. During his time Focault's interests also included the arts, particularly the Surrealist movement. This book, entitled "This is Not a Pipe" is a treatise on the Rene Magritte painting of the same name. Magritte was very important to the surrealist movement and a profound artist. However, he preferred to think of himself as, "a thinker who communicated by means of paint." Furthermore, "while many painters whose work holds philosophical implications are not self-consciously involved with 'ideas'. Magritte was well read in the existential philosophies of Satre and Heidegger and included Foucault among his favorite authors."

The meaning behind "This is Not a Pipe" is both simple and fascinating. Foucault aims to decipher Magritte’s piece and reconstruct it in a way that illustrates the distinction between modern art and everything that came before it. The distinction is found directly on the surface of the painting in the calligram; "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" [This is not a pipe.]. Because the painting or drawing of a pipe (or anything else representative of the reality surrounding us) on a canvas is exactly not that object. It is a representation of that object. Modernists of the day wrestled continuously with the meaning and intentions of abstract painting. They desired to break free from the established, traditionalist attitude toward the validity of what art "is". Magritte lays this concept out with a intellectual simplicity. There are subtle simultaneous realities at work here. Both defined by a collection of lines and the meanings of word, and language. As modern art pushes forward from this distinction, it eventually arrives at absolute abstraction, and the abstract expressionist movement. Where representation to the world around us is completely abandoned, all that is left is pure form.



To say that this read was an adventure into the mind of an eccentric would be an understatment akin to insult. "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali" by Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is an autobiographical fable. I use these words carefully. It is the story of the man, of his art, and his obsessions. But one must, as always, consider the source. The tale is full of random "false childhood memories" and strange, almost unbelievable experiences that one may doubt the honesty of the text. Consequently, another section entitled "true childhood memories" proves in many ways to be just as bizarre, and often wicked. The madness of them is usually too similar to distinguish. I guess one could say that he writes with the same kind of lines that he draws with. The way he tells the storys and secrets of his life are an artform unto themselves. Needless to say, it was a great read, especially since I am a big fan of Dali's style, especially his giant master works.

But this book is not only madness and wicked thoughts; I mean not to give that impression. Much of it is filled with an elegant, airy prose depicting his views on all things, from family to religion, from art to murder, from socialism to absolutism, and of course, love and death. Beautifully executed, "The Secret Life of Salvador Dali" is an insightful, thought provoking read. You may learn as much about yourself and your own art, as you do Dali. I thought of including some minor stories to whet your appetites but really, its better if he explains them, after all he is the “Divine Dali”.


March 2009:



This is a very important book to me, I now have read it twice and will certainly read it again. "A New Earth", in some ways, is actully the driving inspiration behind the title "Offerings" for this page of my web site. I will not say much about this reading, because it would be counterproductive to the conceptual meaning behind the book. I will say this though, I have yet to find a more applicable book outside of the existential, and/or humanistic philosophies I read. This book is about shifting consciousness and awaking to your true self. A lot of labels have been assigned to this book and it's readers since being discovered by mainstream America. It is not a "self-help book" and the readers of it are not "in a cult". Read this book if it interests you, and if so, please send me some corrospondence. I enjoy discussing this book with others.



Once in a while, an artist will write a book. Sometimes it is worth reading, other times it is inconsequential. Mark Rothko's book, "The Artists Reality: Philosophies of Art", is quite worth the read. Now, I admittedly am not a huge fan of Rothko's work, the formal complexities that I prefer in high art is not there. Although having learned about plasticism and other movements previously unknown to me before my education, such as De Stijl and Abstract Expressionism, I gained a solid respect for the boundries Rothko toppled. In this manuscript, compiled by his heirs, he offers opinionated arguments about art, and the art of his contemporaries.

This book truly was a pearl to read, at times very heavy and verbose but the intellegence behind the words is unmistakable. It provided insights that only a manuscript written by the artists own hand. Not an autobiography, but a treatise on the complexities of high art and the philosophies that have shaped human expression and existence throughout the modern age.


February 2009:



Richard Dawkins is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author. He was formerly professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford and was a fellow of New College, Oxford. He has written a number of books centered on biological science and Darwinian natural selection as applied to all existence.

In this brilliant book, "Darwin's Rottweiler" (as he is known by critics and colleagues) applies the theories of natural selection to faith, and the spread of religious institutions. Dawkins, an atheist and staunch opponent of intelligent design, presents his arguments against the validity of religious institutions with succinct candor and exquisite scientific prose while taking great care to keep his concepts at the "kitchen table" level of description. He does well in refuting his opponents' arguments against himself throughout the read and, from a rational perspective; it is hard, if not self inflicted folly, to disagree with him. For the most part, I do not. So if you are looking for an in-depth, insightful and scientific look at faith and faith based institutions and their influence, please do yourself a great service and read this book, you will never look at faith the same.



If Dawkins is "Darwin's Rottweiler" then Christopher Hitchens is his Tyrannosaurus Rex. "God is not Great", is an marvel achievement of activist-atheism. You will find a distain, and a more aggressive attitude towards religion from Hitchins than you will from most other opponents of faith based institutions. From moral perspective, one will be hard pressed to disagree Hitchins and any other atheist when it comes to the actions of horror and slaughter promoted by the world's many religions throughout history. Similarly, at the root of the problem is the concept of divine faith. In the name of the unprovable, unknowable and invisible, literally countless men, women, and children have been tortured, killed, raped, abused, and oppressed into submission for their lack of, or incorrect faith. In many cases for reasons completely out of their control; such as being born a woman, or having a birthmark, or an assortment of other meaningless and naturally occuring consequences of nature.

I understand that critics of these readings will argue that Hitchens and Dawkins are only writing about the bad parts of religion and dismiss all the good it does for the world. Both authors address this criticism in their respective books so I will not indulge upon it in this review, but I will give one point. That they would not have so much evil atrocities to elaborate on, if they hadn't constantly and consistently happened in the name of God in the first place. The evil in organized religion far outweighs the good.


January 2009:



Allan Moore and David Gibbons', "Watchmen" is widely regarded as the greatest graphic novel of all time. It is on Time magazine's list of the 100 best novels and known by many comic enthusiasts as a masterpiece.

"Watchmen" takes place over two generations of characters in a false-historical modern America where masked vigilantes and superheros are a realistic and prevelent part of society. Part of the genius of "Watchmen" lay in the humanity of the so-called "heros" of this reality. It turns the heroic model on its head by making them remarkebly flawed and human. It questions the role of the "heroic" in society and what it truly means to be regarded as such. "Watchmen" asks what it would mean to the world if there truly existed masked crime-fighters and super heros. What would it mean to society, to crime, to the arms race, to war, and to the potencial of peace. Truly a masterpiece.



"Johnny Got His Gun" is one of the most important anti-war novels ever written. This book was black listed and pulled from the shelves of American book stores and librarys multiple times for its potential to encourage its readers to question the rightousness of any war. Something a traditionally war mongering country inevitablly viewed as a real threat. Especially during a time of world wide war. The author, Dalton Trumbo (blacklisted as a communist for this writing) also wrote the screenplay for the film of the same name.

The story tells of a young man who goes off to war for the prescribed ideals of his country. He goes off to fight and kill, ultimately for nothing more than words. After being severely injured, and unable to speak or move, the story moves to be literally told from within the silence of his mind. Deafing introspection and violent self-interogation ensues as he lay in a military hospital questioning all he has ever been told and all he has ever held dear. A very important read for anyone who questions the status quo, and the reasons given to wage war.