Mother & Child in Black Tabernacle Frame 2013

The final painting is pretty close to this photo and most people would not even recognize any difference, so I am posting this photo until I take one when it is hanging on a wall.  A friend has invited me to hang it in his gallery so I am going to do that.  The piece is made of 1/2" birch plywood and pine, glue, nails, gesso and acrylic paint.  It weighs about 28 pounds and is about 37" in height. I am comfortable with the way the piece turned out.  I have wanted to make a smaller version of a tabernacle frame I made and exhibited in Covington and Chicago in 1992.  That piece was 6 feet by 4 feet and was painted in oil on board.  The wood frame was covered in gold metal leaf.

Mother & Child: An American Icon by F.D. Zigler, oil on board w/gold metal leaf, 1992.

Federal Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Revisited

A few years back, I wrote about our Fed's monetary policy and explained, I thought fairly well, how monetary policy is made totally with a view of, what is good for the banks, and not the consumer of bank services.

This morning I was watching Morning Joe on MSNBC, and I heard one of their stock market commentators say that the stock market is up so high because older people have no other place to put their money because interests rates were paying "squat"! 

This is true. Interest rates on U.S. Treasuries are very low relative to what they have been over the last 25 years.  Interest rates on bank certificates of deposit, known as CDs, also are paying very low rates at the present time.

This has forced people looking for a fair return on their money into the stock market where yields on stocks that pay a quarterly dividend are much higher.  This has made saving money very difficult for seniors in retirement because savings accounts and other fixed income instruments are paying "squat".

Well, at some point, you may be asking what does this have to do with the Fed's monetary policy? The answer is EVERYTHING!!! People in need of income because they are retired must by process of elimination look at the stock market for investment securities that will generate income. And, as a result, this means that millions of Baby Boomers are searching for more income for their retirement. Do I need to draw you a picture?

If the Federal Reserve Bank would consider the plight of seniors in their search for a fair monetary policy for both the banks and for the rest of us who use our monetary system, then perhaps, seniors and others would not have to put nearly all of their money in the stock market.

Meanwhile, the banks are making a killing because they borrow money for next to nothing and make a huge spread by charging high interest rates.

So much for monetary policy being set where it benefits everyone in the system and not just the banks!

Memorial Day Weekend 2013: Spring Grove Cemetery

Graves of Union Army soldiers buried at Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Photos by F.D. Zigler, 2013.

Black Tabernacle Frame

Work in progress.

Tabernacle Frame Covered In Gesso

A little more gesso and some sanding, and the next big phase should begin! What do you think?

Tabernacle Frame Progress

The woodworking part is finished (I think).  Now for a few coats of gesso and light sanding and it should be ready to paint.  This work is enjoyable, but it does wear me out.  12 mile Bike ride tonight.

New Woodworking Art Project 2013

A few cuts here and a few cuts there,
A little glue here and a little glue there,
A few little nails here and a few little nails there,
Slowly, ever so slowly, the tabernacle frame takes shape!

F.D. Zigler