. . . standing backstage at our album release show and hearing the sold-out crowd stomping and chanting,
“It’s a Gril! It’s a Girl! It’s a Girl!”
I stepped up to the paper and realized, almost immediately, that I did not have control of the necessary skills to complete the piece as I wanted. I could understand the process intellectually, but it wasn’t going to come out of my pen without more practice.
The sweet moments in this video took place on June 5, 2021. Toro was one of my dearest companions and rest teachers. Can I sing you to Sleep? was inspired by and written in a workshop guided by Octavia Raheem. Amongst all the layers in the world that might have you feel and do otherwise… May you feel loved. May you find rest. May you experience moments of ease. May you sing. Maria McCullough (she/they) loves to share and explore with others through music, movement, laughter, love and rest. Maria is grateful to be living on Tiwa Land/Tewa land in so-called Albuquerque, NM and is at the beginning of a relationship-building journey with the land and beings here.You can contact Maria and learn more about her offerings here.
It’s been three years since I left my home of the previous 25 years and drove this Uhaul trailer into the great unknown. During that time, as I laid my head down on my pillow, I heard the roaring wind and crashing waves on the Lake Superior coast and the sand-filled gales and coyotes howl in the foothills of the Chihuahuan Desert. The winds of change have been heaving me along the highway for a long time. Now, it’s time to settle back down. A few weeks ago I was packing up another Uhaul to make a move which I know would bring me to a lull in the vigorous wind gusts. My friend, Kevin Burrows, wrote a short piece on social media which summed up exactly how I am feeling, as the winds die down and I settle into my new home. I am honored that he agreed to allow me to share it with you. Where have you been blown from? Where did you get blown to? Did you find a soft place to land?
I have been invited to show several pieces at the upcoming exhibition, Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water (details follow). It’s the first time that I will have multiple pieces at a show, which is very exciting. I was asked to provide an artist statement to accompany the work. It’s been a long time since I’ve written an artist statement and I’ve never written one based on my visual art. I’m very happy with my final statement. Here it is. Thank you for reading. Jason McInnes Artist Statement Spring 2022 Gather sustaining provisions. Reinforce the tunnel walls. Chip away the stone, blow by blow. I work like a miner pursuing a vein of gold; the precarious notion that, through the mastery of materials, I become the master of my own existence. I was built, broken and rebuilt in the midwest of the United States, although I now reside in New Mexico. I am a music-centric teaching artist by vocation. I build systems of learning in my visual and music-based artmaking, which I use to fortify my resolve to “be here now”. I am drawn to uncomplicated mark making materials. I gravitate toward simple tools like pencils, charcoal and erasers because they are readily available. I dig for universal truths in the tip of a common ballpoint pen. I work alongside the sun; freeing it to develop its greyscale along with me. I choose media that can easily fit in a backpack, be pulled from a pocket on a walk through the desert foothills, or can be worked with in limited studio space. A mixture of celestial light and human-made light, like street lamps and illuminated signage, dependably grab attention. So does the crisp edge of a line of mesquite trees cutting into a blue sky. My work reflects these relationships as a way to offer reverence to the cosmos as well as serving as a path to keep nourished and grounded. Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water, Opening Night Reception Exhibition – Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 26 Opening Night Reception – Friday, June 10 – 4:00 – 6:30 The Anchor Building at Trader Todd’s Marina, 24030 Jefferson, Saint Clair Shores MI 48080 This exhibition is made possible with the cooperation of KB Studios, Chicago IL and is curated by artist and educator Kaye Buchman. This show demonstrates various artists’ interest in honoring and preserving our most precious resource – water. A portion of proceeds from the sale of work will go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The show will open on June 10 and run through June 30.Featured Artists are:Jason McInnesMary RidleyMary GombergSusan GamermanKatharine HathawayKathleen MaltesePhyllis RabineauSue TellerJanet WishinskyJoan BaerVirginia CarstarphenKay Buchman
I’ve been looking into some of my limiting beliefs about both my ability to create art and about how we all create art in general. This memory – a mix of good and bad feelings – is prominent enough that I think about it often. In the 3rd grade I read a book called Dominic, by William Steig. I don’t remember much about it, except that I really, really liked it. Turns out, it’s a book about a dog who kind of hits the road. That the book resonated so much is interesting in and of itself, considering how my life has taken shape. We made diorama for the book we were reading. It was during this process that my dad showed me how I could draw a graph over a drawing and then draw the same graph on another piece of paper and use it to copy the original. I drew a bunch of the books’ characters that way and handed in my diorama. I was thrilled that I could replicate the characters in a way that made the diorama look like a pop-up version of the book. I remember very strongly that the teacher asked, “Did you draw those yourself?” I remember that she seemed skeptical when I answered yes; like she thought I was lying. I don’t want this to be the story of an evil adult squashing my creativity. I liked this teacher, and she liked me. Looking back, I assume she was surprised at what I had made because I had probably never made something that looked like that before. Why does this memory, of all the moments, stick so strongly in my mind? It’s strong enough that I’ve thought about it many, many times over 35 years. This memory has affected choices I’ve made a beliefs I have about what tools I am “allowed” to use when I create art and how much I can say that a piece of work is mine. That, “Yes, I made this.” How will this story change now that I’ve brought it out into the light?
Here is the zine for How to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on your Harmonica. Also, this zine contains a very fun song about everyone’s favorite snack, a Juice Box! You can learn the Juice Box song here. And, here is a video that will show you how to fold your zine, once it’s printed. How to Fold a Zine with Jason
Every year I teach the Music Station at an incredible sports/art/music/community-building camp called Basketball in the Barrio, in Segundo Barrio, El Paso, Texas. We couldn’t hold the camp in 2020, so Coach Denisse Franco and I wrote a theme song which, hopefully, we’ll all be able to sing for camp in 2021. Give it a listen and we’ll sing it at camp next year!
This fall I published my latest zine, The Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice (available in the store). This is a method for taking a lot of the stress that can come with being a learner/do-er out of our lives. I’ve developed the method over my lifetime as both a teacher and a student I am a user of The Sticker Method and one of my favorite aspects of it is that the method can be used for anything. If you’ve heard my music, seen my drawings, watched my skateboard videos, or if we’ve talked about developing a habit of going to the gym, then you’ve seen The Sticker Method in action. What are you going to practice? I’d love to know.
I’ve been playing guitar for a long time. And, I teach a lot of guitar players that haven’t played for very long (comparatively). Learning to play is a lot of work, and for the most part it’s very solitary work, so “the public” only sees the “finished” product. As a teacher, I can tell that it is difficult for students (especially adult students) to believe that I have had, and continue to have, all those same challenges that they have. I’m not special, I’ve just been doing it for a long time. The work isn’t any easier, I just know how to do the work. Here is a short excerpt of a tune I recently wrote. It has a part right in the middle where my fingers need to make a move that they are not familiar with. Now it’s time for me to take my own advice! Slow down. Play with intention. Don’t let your habit take over because your habit doesn’t know it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played this very short section over the past couple days. Finally, it’s starting to come together. It’s taken a lot of work. The work is the thing to do.
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