A new round of Humanitou portraits will be on exhibit in the 1st Amendment Gallery at the Manitou Art Center, opening August 3 with First Friday events throughout the area. For the past two months, framed 11″ x 14″ prints of Floyd Tunson, Layla Redding and Peter Maksimow have been on Read more
“Greatness exists in the inconspicuous and overlooked details,” writes Leonard Koren in Wabi-Sabi. Simple things get my attention. Edges of transformation in nature. Objects worn and discarded. I notice them. Then, I feel a mix of curiosity and reflection, almost sadness, and I imagine their stories. I wonder about the Read more
I previously noted my packing list for creativity on the go, that it includes a variety of note- and sketchbooks. Not to mention my smartphone, with which I also use Google Docs to capture ideas in the wild. So, not long ago, while standing with a double scoop of helado, Read more
From the #showyourwork files … I’m living by the peso and here’s my packing list: a pocket notebook for poetry notes on the go, a morning pages journal, an unlined pocket notebook for small sketches and pithy lightning bolts, a bigger sketchbook, and new artist pens and graphite pencils. Three Read more
A guitar hangs on the wall, and another leans into a corner in Xanthe Alexis’ living room. Poetry books are neatly stacked on the coffee table. An abundance of morning light and the art placed here and there fills out the vibe of creativity, comfort and quiet joy. Xanthe, 38, Read more
Sometimes I use the tag #showyourwork. It came from the mind of the writer and artist Austin Kleon. He popularized the idea in his 2014 book, Show Your Work. With that book Kleon suggests: “ … ways to think about your work as a never-ending process, how to build an Read more
Sophie Cowman is easy-going and honest. She has a fantastic sense of humor and earthy sensibility. Every chat enlightens the mind and lightens the heart. I first got to know her with a Humanitou conversation that I published late last year. Since then, I occasionally pop in to say hello. Read more
I’ve talked twice recently with longstanding professional artists about legacy. Floyd Tunson and Mark Wong both shook off the idea of their work in that longest view. They work for themselves, their visions, and let the rest play out as it will. In recent months, I’ve transitioned from the workaday Read more
Sunlight and a few dogs quietly stretch in Mark Wong’s home studio while he works at his potter’s wheel. His work fills shelves and other spaces throughout the studio, even though he makes an effort not to cling to anything for too long. “There seems to be a lot of Read more
Creative people create. It comes out sooner or later. It’s who we are. We are made, and we make. I was reminded of that universally human piece of myself when I recently found stashes of haiku, poetry and watercolors I’d created nearly 10 years ago. They were boxed and forgotten. Read more
Words come. Wherever I am. Sometimes I let them in, we sit down together, I listen. I wish I could capture them all. It is amazing, though, how creative work adds up by just letting in these moments. The poet Carl Sandburg is well-known for his 21-word poem, “Fog.” The Read more
Introducing Echoes of Oms Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra I.1 atha yoganusasanam “Now this is yoga as I have observed it in the natural world.” There are nine short poems in the Echoes of Oms chapbook. These, and the monochromatic photographs that accompany them, come from experience in the natural Read more
Any given creative work is what it’s meant to be in its time. Its value, meaning and purpose will shift over time. Let that be about learning and growth, rather than self-limitation. Let it all be about service, to self and others, rather than ego. The energy of creativity — Read more
UPDATED (5.8.20) Humanitou transitioned from text-based interviews to podcast in March 2020. It also expanded beyond the Pikes Peak region in Colorado, where it was born to include diverse voices and stories from around the world. [Through Humanitou] Adam invites guests to share their perspectives and experiences of humanness and Read more
Stepping into Floyd Tunson’s work-live loft, the magnitude is overwhelming. Thirteen-foot ceilings cap long walls filled with Floyd’s art. Light washes in from large windows. Dried paint speckles the wood floor. It’s fantastic. It’s tongue-tying. While I try to center my focus for the conversation at hand, I notice the Read more
When I walk into the light, airy color of Fare Bella Studio & Gallery, owner-artist Patrice Filler is thinking ahead to the next day, when she will lead a wabi-sabi watercolor painting class. I’ve long been interested in wabi-sabi, the Japanese aesthetic that views imperfection as a higher form of Read more
KJ Becker pours freshly made coffee and we sit down in her home art studio with a view of Manitou Springs. She begins to make art, painting whatever she feels in each moment on vintage Austrian and German vinyl records. “I use a lot of textures and I kind of Read more
Hannah Rockey’s stage presence is clear, even as we sit in the print shop of her father, artist Charles Rockey (“Rockey”), on Canon Ave. in Manitou Springs. It’s the clarity and strength of her voice, the punctuations and emphases. Rockey sits in on the conversation, listening to his daughter’s stories Read more
Those who follow Humanitou on Instagram and/or Facebook know I was in Vietnam recently. It was the first international vacation my wife, Becca, and I have taken, and without our kids, in 10 years. Things have changed for us about the experience of travel but not the reasons for it. Read more
Nineteen chickens gather around Steve Oliveri in anticipation. He pours dry food onto the ground from a white, five-gallon bucket. The work of the moment is done. Steve, 29, is a caretaker of Flying Pig Farm in Manitou Springs, along with Elsa Kendall, Barak Ben-Amots and Alex Hare. Together, they Read more