Starving Artists

Posted on 07/02/2014 by Grumpa Joe

In my recent post “Horn Man” I went into an overly long essay on how I went about creating an original piece of art. I’m positive I could have done a better job on a photo essay with clever captions. During the sixteen week period during which I made four Intarsia pieces I thought a lot about the business of selling art. Could I make a living doing this? Could I even make any money at all doing this?

I thought about Michelangelo and Da Vinci  and the remarkable work they did. How did they survive? The simple answer is they had patrons who supported them in return for their work. Michelangelo’s sculpture of David took him two years or more to complete. It is not easy chiseling a larger than life-size man from a single block of marble. I wonder if he had any “oops” moments during that time. I had many “oops” moments during the making of Horn Man, but glue and more wood made it easy to either fix the “oops” or to remake the part. Da Vinci had a list of patrons as well. He lived with them while he learned the trade and then worked for them afterwards. When a patron lost his place in society, and could no longer afford to patronize an artist both Michelangelo and Da Vinci found themselves new patrons. While unpatronized they took part-time work by doing commissions for the wealthy.

Getting back to my thoughts about selling Intarsia art I pondered the value of my work. Would I charge by the hour and if so, what is the value of one of my hours? I know what I made while working as an engineer, would I use that value? If  not charging by the hour, then charging by the piece would be the next way to sell. I have seen Intarsia artwork at craft fairs but never at art fairs. The pieces I see are very simple and flat in form indicating that the crafter did not put much effort into the work. I have never been satisfied with the flat style of Intarsia. My pieces become three-dimensional and sculpted. That is why they take me so long to make. If you look at my bass, or the Blue Jay you will see that these pieces are more lifelike than a flat work. The value I see on Intarsia pieces at fairs ranges from twenty dollars to one hundred dollars, unless the picture has hundreds of discrete parts. In cases where a customer commissions a complicated work the value  can jump to thousands of dollars.

StrippedBass-1780845_10201407376251910_722702533_n

Stripped Bass

Blue Jay

Blue Jay On Apple Blossoms

Largemouthbass

Large Mouth Bass About to Eat

When I completed Horn Man I had logged one hundred and five hours on the project. At the current minimum wage of $9.80 per hour I would have to charge  $1039.00 for the Horn Man. If I use my hourly rate as an Engineer the price is $6300.00.

Horn Man

Horn Man

Let me assume I sold each of these four pieces at one fair, and I charged the minimum wage; I would have netted twenty-seven hundred dollars. Divide that by sixteen weeks of time and my gross salary is $169.13/week which extrapolates into a whopping $8794.50/year. No wonder people would rather be on welfare.

The reality of doing something I like loses to what I have to do to make a living wage.  Some of the latest spin by Liberals about why we need the Un-Affordable Care Act is that a person would be free to pursue his dreams if he didn’t have to worry about paying for health care. I recommend reading two recent articles, the first by Avik Roy who wrote a piece published by Forbes and a quote by Nancy Pelosi on Redstate.com

The idea of forcing me to pay for someone else’s dream smacks of slavery. It is different if I choose to patronize that person. Neither Michelangelo nor Da Vinci had healthcare benefits but they followed their heart’s desire to become experts in their field of art and invention by getting a job working for a patron.

Obama is transforming America into a socialist Utopia(Utopia is a place where pigs fly), and to do that he has to make the middle class worker like you and me into a tax-slaves who pay for those who follow dreams without a job. I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck would rather be free to work my ass off as I see fit, and to spend my wages the way I want to.

Filed under: Biography, Conservative, Education, family, Government, health care, liberals | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Will We Awaken to Find We Have Communism?

Posted on 10/09/2012 by Grumpa Joe

A billboard from the highways of America

Thank you, thank you, thank you Dorothy. She has sent me stuff for years that is right on the money. This article below explains why the USA is at war; with itself. It pits Conservatives against Progressives. (Progressivism is a code word for Liberalism, Socialism, Communism)

This election will decide which direction toward which the country will move. It won’t decide the direction absolutely because the two factions will continue to labor toward their ideologies for many elections to come, but eventually, the stronger will prevail. This election, though is bringing us closer to a socialist state than any previous.

Nikita Khrushchev said:

“We can’t expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism.”

Google this quote and you will find author David Emery make a detailed case trying to confuse who made the quote or if  someone said it at all. I remember reading the quote in the newspapers at the time of Khrushchev’s visit with President Eisenhower in the USA .  Somewhere during that trip Khrushchev said it.

What does this quote have to do with the article below?

In my opinion Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and many Democrats declare themselves Progressives. They are the ones who set the agenda for the downfall of the economy. Harry Reid continues to use delay tactics in the Senate to keep from passing budgets and the many laws passed by the House of Representatives. Why?

The article below is what Dorothy sent me, I checked it out and lifted it from SNOPES.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

<><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><

The day the Democrats took over was not January 22nd 2009, it was actually January 3rd 2007, which was the day the Democrats took overthe House of Representatives and the Senate, at the very start of the110th Congress.The Democrat Party controlled a majority in both chambers for thefirst time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.For those who are listening to the liberals propagating the fallacythat everything is “Bush’s Fault”, think about this: January 3rd, 2007was the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress.At the time:The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5%The Unemployment rate was 4.6%George Bush’s Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOBGROWTHRemember the day…January 3rd, 2007 was the day that Barney Frank took over the House

Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate

Banking Committee. The economic meltdown that happened 15 months

later was in what part of the economy? BANKING AND FINANCIAL

SERVICES!

Unemployment… to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping

5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie

Mae and Freddie Mac FIASCOES!

Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie – starting in

2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy.

And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie

Mac? OBAMA And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie? OBAMA

and the Democrat Congress.

So when someone tries to blame Bush. REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd, 2007….

THE DAY THE DEMOCRATS TOOK OVER!”

Budgets do not come from the White House. They come from Congress and

the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democrat

Party.

Furthermore, the Democrats controlled the budget process for 2008 &

2009 as well as 2010 & 2011.

In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused

them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough

on spending increases.

For 2009 though, Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid bypassed George Bush

entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running

until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a

massive omnibus spending bill to complete the 2009 budgets.

And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that

very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he

signed the omnibus bill as President to complete 2009.

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the 2007 deficit, the

last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five

years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After

that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that

includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets.

If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself. In a

nutshell, what Obama is saying is I inherited a deficit that I voted

for and then I voted to expand that deficit four-fold since

January 20th.
<><><><><><><><><><><><<<><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What did Khrushchev say again?

“We can’t expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism.“

I’m thinking this generation of elected leaders leap frogged the effort.

Related articles

Filed under: Conservative, Election | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

News Release Just Leaked

Posted on 03/09/2012 by Grumpa Joe

This news release was just delivered to GJP for dissemination to all who are anxious for the DNC to convene. For those of you who are DNC compatible this post will appear nasty and despicable, leave right now. For those of you who are RNC compatible, have a good laugh.

This is funny folks! It is a parody, they are supposed to be an exaggeration of something that falls far short of the real thing.  Now you know where GJP stands.

Subject: Just leaked from Ether-World- DNC Schedule, Charlotte , N.C.4:00 PM – Opening Flag Burning Ceremony – sponsored by CNN

4:05 PM – Singing of “God Damn America ” led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright

4:10 PM – Pledge of Allegiance to Obama

4:15 PM – Ceremonial ‘I hate America’ led by Michelle Obama

4:30 PM – Tips on “How to keep your man trustworthy & true to you while you travel the world” – Hillary Clinton

4:45 PM – Al Sharpton / Jesse Jackson seminar “How to have a successful career without having a job.”

5:00 PM – “Great Vacations I’ve Taken on the Taxpayer’s Dime Travel Log” – Michelle Obama

5:30 PM – Eliot Spitzer Speaks on “Family Values” via Satellite

5:45 PM – Tribute to All 57 States – Nancy Pelosi

6:00 PM – Sen. Harry Reid – 90-minute speech expressing the Democrat’s appreciation of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and George Soros for sparing no expense, for all that they have accomplished to unify the country, improve employment and to boost the economy.

8:30 PM – Airing of Grievances by the Clintons

9:00 PM – “Bias in Media – How we can make it work for you.”  A Tutorial – sponsored by CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times

9:15 PM – Tribute Film to Brave Freedom Fighters incarcerated at GITMO – Michael Moore

9:45 PM – Personal Finance Seminar – Charlie Rangle

10:00 PM – Denunciation of Bitter Gun Owners and Bible readers

10:30 PM – Ceremonial Waving of White Flag from Iraq & Afghanistan via satellite

11:00 PM – Obama Energy Plan Symposium / Tire Gauge Demonstration / You too can get rich with Green Investment bankruptcies

11:15 PM – Free Gov. Blagovich rally

11:30 PM – Obama Accepts Oscar, Tony and Latin Grammy Awards

11:45 PM – Feeding of the Delegates with 5 Loaves and 2 Fish – Obama Presiding

12:00 AM – Official Nomination of Obama by Bill Maher and Chris “He sends a thrill up my leg” Matthews

12:01 AM – Obama Accepts Nomination as Lord and Savior

12:05 AM – Celestial Choirs Sing

3:00 AM – Biden Delivers Acceptance Speech
Related articles

Filed under: Election, politics, Satire | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

The Ugly Faces of Reform

Posted on 29/07/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Did I leave anything out? I’m sure I did. Let me know what bothers you about these reforms.

These bandits now have a .666 batting average, are we going to let them make it three out of three?

Filed under: Cartoons, Conservative, economy, Government, health care, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Conditions For Health Care Reform

Posted on 23/08/2009 by Grumpa Joe
My Flag Flies Everyday

My Flag Flies Everyday

 Earlier in the month of August, Nancy Pelosi was ranting about the health care protests as manufactured “Astro Turf” stunts.  I kinda  think she meant they were artificial like Astro Turf.  Whatever, she meant it to be derogatory, as Nancy does not show love for protesters who are rejecting her ideas.  After she made her comment, Robert Gibbs, Presidential Press Secretary, referred to the protesters as the Brooks Brothers Brigade. I had no clue as to what this meant. I filed it for later.

Yesterday, I received some advertising from my credit card company.  Part of it was a brochure dedicated to Brooks Brothers. Evidently, they make men’s suits. They have been in business since 1818, and have a very impressive list of customers. One of the articles featured in this magazine is titled  “Dressing the Presidents.” Guess who their current poster boy is? You guessed it, none other than himself  “The One.” Now I’m really confused. Is he protesting health care reform too?

The Speaker of the House called me a Nazi, and the presidential press secretary said I belonged to the Brooks Brothers Brigade.  Judging by the quality of the 50 page ad that I received that is dedicated to Brooks Brothers products, I would guess they sell expensive items. There are no prices shown on anything, only very detailed descriptions about the quality of the materials and the workmanship that go into making their suits, shirts, ties, etc.  You know the old adage, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Well I have to ask, and I surely cannot afford anything in this catalog. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that no one who protested with me spent as much on their entire wardrobe as a single Brooks Brothers suit costs. Get the picture about why I am confused?

I’ve attended a few protest meetings since April 15, 2009. I didn’t see anyone dressed in a suit, much less a Brooks Brothers Suit. Most of us wore denim jeans and message tee shirts. I think the elitist Nancy Pelosi, Robert Gibbs, and Barack Obama, who all seem to know about Brooks Brothers, are the ones who are way out of touch with reality. Like I said many times before, “they just don’t get it, or maybe they don’t want to.” 

Here are some conditions I have for accepting the health care reform  bill:

1. Nancy Pelosi, Robert Gibbs, and Barack Obama and families all fall into the high salary group who POTUS says will be taxed to pay the bill. I want them to pay 100 percent of their income for life into the plan.  Let them live on their socialist programs.

2. All elected government officials and bureaucrats must be cited and named in the bill as recipients of the same service they want us to have.

3.  Remove all the functions and references to “The National Health Care Board ” from the bill. We know this more by the endearing term “Death Panel.”

4. Remove all the functions and references to ” The Federal Coordinating Council For Comparative Effectiveness Research,”  from the bill. (This one slows progress in the field of pharmacology and medicine so as to reduce costs.)

5. Add the words “This Bill Does Not Cover Abortion,” either early or late term.

6. Add the definition, “Life Begins at the Moment of Conception.”

7. Add the definition: “Abortion is not a medical procedure, but an act of murder.”

8. Add the following: Neither the Constitution nor The Bill of Rights Guarantees the Right To Government Health Care.”

9. Add this: “In the event the cost of the services defined by this bill exceed original  estimates by twenty-five percent, the bill becomes null and void.

10. Add this: ” This bill is the product of a joint effort by all representatives of the people of the United States of America, and they are in complete agreement with its content.”

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Next Page »