Illustrations by Sam Brewster. He's done work for several publications including Science Fair, Reader's Digest and Bullet Magazine. Brewster employs humorous juxtaposition and an eclectic color pallet. Sometimes social commentary and other times just plain weird, but entirely satisfying. With a trademark style watch out for Brewster's work in future publications and be sure to check out his publishing website Hand of Man Publishing.
What do you do when everything you have is gone? You've divorced your wife, split custody of your kids, bankruptcy is a real possibility and the bank is foreclosing your home. This is the life of Charles Wittenmeier - a down on his luck, middle-aged director who was major player in the TV advertising game through the 90's. For many years Wittenmeier lived a life of luxury in Hollywood, but with the the changing economy of the new millennium, Wittenmeier's career hit a low spot and he moved from Tinseltown to Stumptown with his family. They found their dream home in the Mt. Tabor area and planned to discover happier times. The hard times never ceased for Wittenmeier though and eventually his wife left him. Now the one of a kind home in Mt. Tabor, where he had hoped to reboot his life and career, is a constant symbol of broken dreams. When the bank told Wittenmeier they were foreclosing on his home he decided he wasn't going to let that emptiness be his final memories of that place. Wittenmeier knew he had to do something drastic if he ever wanted salvation. Looking back he says:
"I'm at a time in my life where I've lost everything and I've lost nothing. My goal is to live a life as a positive example for my kids in finally doing what I love. This is an experiment to finish the things I've always wanted to finish, collaborate with people I've always wanted to collaborate with and ultimately gain insight into myself. One day I was sitting in the empty house after my wife moved out and I realized my life has become the Talking Heads song. How did we get here and where do we go? As American's we've been sold a bill of goods, and I've helped sell it."
Together with Jordan Kinley and the rest of the Into The Woods gang, the group has decided to do something with this wonderful home, to make good on that dream to change his life. The house will be seized on May 28th, and so starting May 1st, the group of enterprising folks have joined together to turn the lovely home into a massive work space for musicians, visual artists and writers and document that creative period. The project is appropriately titled "28 Days in May". At the end they hope to produce a coffee table book, an album and a documentary. The group has a Kickstarter page going to raise funds for the project and it also explains the project in much more detail. In addition to purely funding an awesome project and opportunity like this, at Kickstarter you can also find incentives for your level of contribution. With only 3 days to go, the group needs some major donations to reach their $10,000 goal. If you're in the Portland area I'm sure you'll be hearing more about this soon. They plan to have live shows and a constantly rotating crew of creative people coming in and out, as well as some more permanent characters. If you're not, be on the lookout for the end-products which will likely be available sometime this year. Check out this video below or watch it over on the Kickstarter page. Become a fan on Facebook too.
This for my father who was diagnosed with brain cancer this week. If you have parents you love, please give them a call and just have a chat. My dad is a huge jazz fan and still remembers the exact moment he first heard this album in its heyday. Miles Davis will always be one of the greatest musicians off all-time and Kind of Blue is considered by many to be the best jazz album ever, one of the best albums of any genre. His backing personnel on this album may be one of the greatest lineups too - Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly, Jimmy Cobb and Bill Evans. Anyways, just watch this great live version of "So What" and get your parents on the phone because you never know what can happen.
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