Squiggles

I spent about an hour outside yesterday spraying a few canvases. This is by far the easiest step in my painting process, but also the most enjoyable. It's easy to loose yourself in the moment and gestures as you run the spray can from side to side. In the past I used wooden board as my canvas. The different textures it provided, created very interesting details within the pieces. Lately however, I found the texture to be more cumbersome. So I have decided to try a few paintings on canvas.

Instead of laying down a flat colored area, I just kept painting lines, building up the layers until I could no longer see the white canvas.

Start with a few simple lines...

Then a TON of orange

Primary colors

Ready for content

Desensitize America

You hear it on the news almost every day; people shot, homes lost, mother nature strikes back, the horror! I've heard it so much and seen it so often that it's hard for me to feel much. Am I alone in this lack of emotion? I'd like to think not.

Recently I've been watching Madmen and I've noticed that during the JFK assassination, as well as the MLK assassination, people were deeply upset about the events. The tragedy hit them all personally. Why have the times changed so much?

For the longest time, disasters and death in the news have not compelled an ounce of emotion to work its way to my surface. Then the rain came. It was just another summer thunderstorm, moving through the area, no big deal. Wow Lightning! But for some reason, this time was different. The amount of rain created a flash flood in the little town of Clear Spring.

I spent my teen years growing up in that town. I hated that town. I hated it when we moved there and I couldn't wait to get out when I graduated high school. I didn't hate the people I knew from there, just the "there". Something about the small town environment and the lack of anything besides homes, a few stores, many liquor stores, and parks; I had no feelings for the town itself.

Like I said, "then the rain came."

I got news that the town was flooding. No big deal. I had seen the potomac river flood near my house, never did any harm (there was a cow one year that went over the dam). This time was different though. Pictures started to surface of the damage, of the once dry creek bed roaring with muddy tides of destruction. I felt something. I knew those houses, I drove past them a hundred times. Something felt familiar. I no longer hated that town. Theres one picture that shows the row of building along the main street, they had yellow papers which read "condemned". That feeling was growing stronger, until it finally broke through. I feel sorrow and pain. The feeling cannot compare to that of those who were directly affected, but I finally felt something real.

So I ask myself this, why did it take this terrible event for me to feel something? The fact that something familiar to me has been changed and destroyed has prompted me to finally feel something. It would have otherwise been just another news story, but it's not. It saddens me.

I am thankful for those that were there to help. My prayers go out to all those in Clear Spring and the surrounding area that have been affected by this.

Banksy

I've loved Bansky's work sense the first day I saw it. I cannot remember what the first piece was that I saw because I must have looked through every single thing he had done over the course of a day.

Anyway, theres a new show up... 

The night shift

I don't know what it is about staying up all night that I enjoy. Maybe it's the quiet; no one around to bother you, no one on the roads, nor the stores, there is nothing in your way. Maybe the lack of people creates a sense of freedom. This in turn gives me a sense of creativity that I can't find during the day. Whatever it is, I like living the night shift every now and then.

Luminous - iNO Visual Artist

Found this great video of ultraviolet spray paint.

Externalities of college education

I am currently studying externalities in my economics course at Hagerstown Community College. My experience at Gettysburg College along with my current struggle with student loan debt prompted a short investigation into the positive and negative externalities associated with higher education. 
Higher education holds a lot of benefits for those enrolled in degree programs. Over all, individuals with a college degree will be able to make more money over the course of their lifetime. In addition, a college degree opens doors for professional advancement, which in turn improves your social status. There is an element to higher education however that creates negative externalities for the country as a whole. The federal government began providing students loans in 1958 through the national Defense Education Act. Many student loans through the federal government are subsidized such that the government pays any interest on the loan before repayment begins. By creating a loan program that makes access to higher education more easily attainable, the federal government is able to bring in revenue from interests on loans. In 2013 in was reported that student loan debt through the federal government had surpassed the 1 trillion dollar mark. This is a huge negative externality associated with higher education. The government has taken on the burden of student loan debt. With loan forgiveness programs such as forgiveness for teachers and medical professionals, as well as a cap on how long individuals must pay back on their loans, a part of the 1 trillion dollar debt will never be paid back and thus the potential revenue decreases.
On the opposite side of the issue, college educated individuals create a positive externality for society as a whole. These individuals will be more likely to pay taxes (as a result of higher income). Further more, it is found that a college education makes individuals more engaged in politics, creating a more informed group of voters. Finally, the recent for push for STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) related studies will provide the nation with an innovative work force that will aid in the foreword progress of this country.