Saturday, December 31, 2011

Saturday Is For Art: Exploding Flag in Progress


This latest piece is on wood and it is my design. The piece is a work in progress, but I thought as it is the last day of 2011, I would post the piece of art I am now working on.

Wishing everyone that comes to my blog a Healthy and Happy New Year in 2012.

Take care and be well.

Exploding Flag by F.D. Zigler, acrylics on wood.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas 2011



And, A Happy New Year.

Mother & Child by F.D. Zigler, linoleum block print, 1996.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

SKI CINCINNati Apparel Time Is HERE!





Ski Cincinnati apparel is available at the following stores and gift shops, but call first to make sure they have the items and sizes you need.

Cincinnati Museum Center gift shop in Union Terminal, the old train station in downtown Cincinnati.

The Contemporary Arts Center gift shop on the corner of 6th & Walnut Streets in downtown Cincinnati. Also see their web store.

The Aquarius Star Cafe at 329 Ludlow Avenue in Clifton business district.

Benchmark Outfitters at 9525 Kenwood Road in Blue Ash.

The Joseph Beth Bookstore in Rookwood Plaza off Edwards & Madison Roads.

The Cincinnati Art Museum gift Shop in Eden Park.

Friday, December 23, 2011

New Work & Wood Icon Update





Started another project the other day as the weather was very nice and I was able to run my table saw and makes some cuts. This wood piece is at the white stage and is painted with a coat of latex primer and a coat of gesso. In the next stage, I start putting on paint. This new piece I am calling Exploding Flag. I will have to see if it lives up to its name. Below is the Wood Icon Project which is still a work in progress, not nearly finished, but just an update. Here are a few photos reviewing the stages of progress.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Where Greedy SOBs Need to Go!


I watched 60 MINUTES last night after the football game. There was a segment about houses that are being torn down in Cleveland, and what they are doing in Cleveland about trying to save neighborhoods from falling apart because of the financial crisis and the recession.

Earlier in the day, I watched THIS WEEK, and listened to George Will speak about the housing crisis. I try to like George Will. He is an intelligent person and while I don't always agree with his conservative positions on various topics, I usually think he has at least his facts straight. Sunday, George Will in my opinion did not know WTF he was talking about when he spoke about housing and why there were so many foreclosures.

Now, I am going to relate a personal story that happened to me almost 42 years ago when I went to get a mortgage on my first house in June 1970. I walked into Central Trust Bank at the corner of 4th and Vine Streets, their main office, and asked where I could apply for a home loan. I was instructed to walk through several sliding glass doors until I got to the mortgage department. A man at a desk asked if he could help me and I told him that I wanted to apply for a mortgage. He asked me where the house was located, and I told him Clifton. He then said to me, "north or south of Ludlow (Avenue)?" I said north of Ludlow Avenue, and he said have a seat.

The reason why the Federal Government got into the mortgage business in the first place is because people of color and other ethnic backgrounds were being denied home loans based on where they had to live or the color of their skin. You see, to fully understand why the government got involved in situations years ago, you must understand the history. Newt Gingrich is a big history buff, but he comes from Georgia where they make up their history to suit the situation.

Have you ever heard of REDLINING? Redlining can be defined as when financial institutions refuse to make loans in areas of a city that have people that don't look like the people running the bank. In other words, credit rating had little if anything to do with why the mortgage was not approved, and the lending institution did not have to say why they refused to give the loan. But, what caused this housing crisis, I have written about for the last several years, but you will not hear this explanation on TV because it is too complicated for the mass viewing audience to listen to.

The 3 large credit rating agencies permitted the housing bubble and fueled the financial crisis. Banks made mortgage loans and were able to sell these loans where they were bundled and broken up and sold as mortgage-backed bonds. These mortgage-backed bonds were sold to pension funds, endowments, foundations, large institutions, money mangers and investors around the world. The key to inflating the housing bubble was the TRIPLE-A ratings that the investment bankers were able to secure from the credit rating agencies. With the TRIPLE-A rating in hand, the bond salespeople were able to sell these mortgage-backed bonds around the world. The key element to keep this charade going was the originators of mortgages. With Wall Street investment bankers able to sell mortgage-backed bonds anywhere in the world with a TRIPLE-A rating, the table was set for greed to fill every plate. Wall Street packaged the mortgages regardless of quality because they knew that the credit rating agencies' growth in EPS was coming from the rating of mortgage-backed bonds. Eventually, these mortgage-backed bonds became suspect and the beginning of the end of the bubble was in sight when credit default swaps came on the scene.

So, don't be so quick to blame people for making liar loans if the originators were pushing people to buy homes they knew they could not afford. Regulations need to be put in place to discourage greed. Jail is where these greedy SOB need to go.

Stay tuned.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Wood Icon Project: Progress Report


I have been dividing my time between picking up and delivering Ski Cincinnati apparel and working on my wood icon project. I have now painted the primer coat and the red oxide onto the frame. The center panel has received a coat of gesso. The frame has been painted with Golden's acrylic gold liquid paint. There is more to be done with the frame after the center panel is finished. The drawing for the center panel is not complete as I have more to add. But, since this Saturday and Saturday is for Art, I thought I would post another progress report. What else does an old artist have to do?

Have a safe and great weekend.

Mother & Child in Tabernacle Frame by F.D. Zigler, 25" x 25" x 3" wood and acrylic paint, 2011.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

A Progress Report: Wood Icon Project


This is a progress report on the wood icon project. This is a much smaller piece than The Altarpiece I constructed earlier this year. Actually, it feels like I made the piece last year, as I started it last winter. When it came time to enter the piece in The Golden Ticket Art Show at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, I was told it was too big. There was a weight limit of 20 pounds and a square footage limit of 9 square feet. Whether The Altarpiece was rejected because it weighed too much, or, the judges did not think it was worthy of being accepted, I really don't know. So, the piece I am working on now is within the 9 square feet limit and weighs much less than 20 pounds. If they reduce the weight limit, I will just drill holes in the back and remove the excess weigh that way. This wood icon may be rejected, but it will definitely be within the legal limits of the exhibit. The wood structure is now covered in white primer paint. My next step is to give it a coat or two of gesso. Then the undercoat of red followed by the acrylic gold. After the wood structure is nearly completed, I will then paint the center panel. After the center panel is completed, it will be time to detail the wood frame. I have to confess that as I get to the end of a project that I am enjoying, I slow down. It is like getting to the end of a good book and you know there are only a few pages left and you wish it would not end so soon.

Wood Icon Project by F.D. Zigler, 25" x 25" x 3", wood and primer (work in progress)

This post is sponsored by Ski Cincinnati apparel which makes nice inexpensive gifts for all holidays year round.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Saturday Is For Art: A Wood Piece In Progress



Here is a wood piece that I am working on and is in progress. If I get some nice weather Sunday I might be able to get a lot done. I don't know what it is going to look like until it is finished as I have no drawings and I am just doing it as I go. Try something and see how it looks, then glue and nail, and then move on to the next step is how I work.

The MacKenzie-Child Flag is also a work in progress and it may change quite a bit from the way it appears now. I posted an earlier photo of this piece last week, so it has changed a little.

Have a safe weekend.

This post is sponsored by SKI CINCINNATI apparel. SKI CINCINNATI t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts "hoodies", baseball caps and coffee mugs can be found at Aquarius Star Cafe in Clifton on Ludlow; BENCHMARK OUTFITTERS in Blue Ash; Cincinnati Art Museum gift shop in Eden Park, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal, Contemporary Arts Center at 6th & Walnut Sts. and Joseph-Beth Bookstore in Rookwood Pavilion. These quality items make great gifts for the holidays!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Saturday Is For Art: A New Flag


This piece is my latest work and it is a work in progress like me. Can anyone guess what designer inspired this piece? I got the idea for the painting during Thanksgiving, and thought I would give it a try. Who knows perhaps someone will like it. I will continue to paint next week. If the weather gets into the high 50s today, I hope to hook up my table saw and work on a wood icon for next year's Golden Ticket art show. I have scrounged some pieces of wood from my favorite lumberyard, and will get sawing later in the afternoon. I hope everyone has a nice and safe weekend.