Genetically Engineered Chicken:   It occurred to me one day, as I grabbed a package of chicken from a freezer bin, at a Key Foods supermarket in New York City, that this headless mass of flesh was kind of a lie. What had once been, like myself, a living breathing creature, capable of feeling pleasure and pain, was now a slickly packaged and labeled product—so remote that I could avoid any pangs of guilt about eating it. That was a relief. On the other hand, I suspected that there was a dark underbelly to the ease out of which that relief sprang. I felt that this reliance on convenience, ... May 3, 2023, 1682 reads

Pottery and the Ancient Life: A Conversation with Michael Miller I met Michael Miller thanks to an impromptu call from John Toki. , "Richard, there’s a guy giving a presentation to my class who I think you’d like. He’ll be here in an hour. Any chance you can make it?"      I did make it.      The following day, Toki sent me a note about a slide lecture Miller had given couple of years earlier at the California College of the Arts Ceramics Department. "His first slide at his lecture on the wood kiln firing process was of a tent. I thought it was a unique ... Apr 2, 2007, 17789 reads

A Lost Mariposa Garden: Jacqueline Airamé at work in her garden in Mariposa, CA (date unknown) Coming home late one evening, I found a message on my voice mail. I didn’t know Jan Peters, but next morning I returned her call. "I'm eighty, she told me, and an artist." Jan wanted me to know about a unique garden in the little town of Mariposa not far from Yosemite - about a three-hour drive from the Bay Area.      It was being bulldozed. "Soon, nothing will be left," she said with strong emotion. "Could you go up there and see what's ... Apr 2, 2006, 11562 reads

The Secret of Bayou Teche: photo - r. whittaker Jerome untied the pirogue and picked his way out a few feet from the banks of the Atchafalaya. The morning sun reflected off the river and a solitary black nutrea rat skimmed waters creating a wide, silvery wake. It had been a long time since Jerome had crossed these waters, almost eight years, when he was ten. As he eased upstream near the bank of the slow moving river, he was careful not to disturb Dewey Hebert’s trotlines. Jerome knew that they were Dewey’s by the distinctive knotting on the low-lying branches from which they ... Apr 28, 2004, 2768 reads

A Conversation with Craig Downer & Elyse Gardner: The Plight of the Wild Horses On an overcast Sunday morning I drove across the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge to meet wildlife biologist Craig Downer at the Tiburon Baptist Church. The service had just ended and Craig met me with his friend Elyse Gardner who joined us in a conversation about the plight of wild horses in the western U.S. As we talked, I found Downer to be a quiet, thoughtful man, but it wasn't long before I could sense the depth of his feeling about his subject. I soon learned that Elyse shared his passion for these beautiful animals. Both have an ongoing and deep commitment to ... Aug 30, 2011, 28879 reads

Mark Bulwinkle—What Drives Us?: by Richard Whittaker Bulwinkle at his studio in West Oakland, CA 1997 While Mark Bulwinkle was a student at the University of Pittsburgh his eyes were opened to the world of art. In 1972, four years after graduating, and a year spent in New York, he moved to the Bay Area. He decided to continue his art education at the San Francisco Art Institute, and in only eight months received his MFA. I remarked it was a pretty quick trip to the degree.      “Well, I’d been doing a lot of work,” he said.      No doubt, this was an understatement. A ... Mar 2, 1999, 21807 reads

A Conversation with Ann Weber: Enough, Not Enough Sometime not so long after this magazine had been launched, I remember a conversation I had with Ann Weber. I knew her work, but if we’d actually met, the word acquaintance would suffice. The conversation began well, and quickly became quite friendly. In recollection, I was surprised by its warmth and can remember feeling emboldened. Before long a proposal was put forth—by whom, I don’t recall, but I suspect it was Ann. “Why don’t we begin a series of dinners with artists? We’d each invite two or three artists. It could be at my studio ... Oct 15, 2017, 23894 reads

Three Short Pieces: The Post Office; Time-Sensitive; Reckless Abandon The Post Office I have an incurable love for lines at the post office. This is a luxurious indulgence, I know. The kind important people can ill-afford. But I am comfortably insignificant. Nothing catastrophic happens to the world when I am made to wait for indefinite periods of time, so I am at liberty to love these lines and the speed of molasses at which they move. They give me opportunity to admire the cheerful competence of our postal workers. How brisk and good-natured they are. Even the curmudgeons among them, the ones who speak sharply, criticizing ... Jan 23, 2014, 25484 reads

A Conversation with Pat Benincasa: A Geometry of the Heart Pavi Mehta brought artist Pat Benincasa to my attention. She suggested we have a conversation, the three of us. Then she told me a stunning back story, I looked at Benincasa's work on her website and that settled it. The following conversation took place on February 17, 2020. It will appear in works & conversations #38. - Richard Whittaker works:  At the age of 16, you’d been drinking and went out and laid down at night in the middle of a busy street. I mean you could have died there. Pat Benincasa:  Yes. I was a teenager, drunk—feeling all ... Feb 17, 2020, 11017 reads

Camille Seaman: We All Belong to the Earth The first thing that captured my attention upon stepping into Camille Seaman’s home was one of her stunning photos, a large framed print centered on one wall.  And then I noticed two large, wolf-like dogs in kennels. They regarded me silently. About forty-five minutes later, having looked at scores of Seaman’s sublime Arctic and Antarctic photos, she let one of the dogs out. It came over quietly to check me out. As I looked down at the animal’s long face and erect ears, it wasn’t apprehension I was feeling—let’s call it mobilized ... Apr 30, 2013, 112870 reads