Bigfork Art Walk

Here I am standing next to one of my paintings at the Art Fusion art gallery in Bigfork. There was an 'art walk' last Saturday and this one was featured on the outside. It looked good in the sunlight. I have a lot of ideas for new paintings and I hope to sell some this summer. I'm also working on a website for my fine art and I hope to have it launched soon! --Ben Garrison

Gunslinger

Here's my latest painting, "Gunslinger."

Of course, I do support the 2nd amendment!

Walt Garrison

When I was a kid, I was a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys. My dad was born in Denton Texas and attended a game in the mid 60s shortly after the Cowboys were established. One of my best memories as a kid was when my dad took me and my little brother to Texas Stadium in 1973 to see the Cowboys beat the Rams in the playoffs. My dad could only afford Texas Stadium end zone seats, but they were great--especially since our team scored two TDs in front of us.

Walt Garrison was one of our favorite players and he's a distant relative. He had a mediocre game against the Rams, but that was OK. We got to see him in person...as well as Bob Lilly, Chuck Howley, Lee Roy Jordan....all of our favorite players. Walt was 29 when I saw him play. I was 16. Walt was 6'2" when he graduated from high school and weighed 165. I was 6' 3" and weighed 165 when I graduated from high school. Unfortunately, I had no athletic ability aside from being a fairly good shot at basketball. Walt grew up in Lewisville, about 40 miles south of Denton. Walt's dad was a sharecropper-turned mechanic. My dad grew up poor in a sharecropper family and he became a mechanic, too--after spending 20+ years in the Navy. Ironically, Walt named one of his boys 'Ben,' which is my name and also my dad's name.

My dad gave up cigarettes in the late 60s but then became addicted to Copenhagen, a product produced by the company the Walt Garrison endorsed. It was an awful habit that he could not kick. Right up until he died at the age of 79 he could not give it up. I don't blame Walt, of course. A lot of those Texas country boys grew up with such tobacco. It was a matter of course.

The point of this mini-essay? No point. I happened to come across Walt's autobiography and I just finished it. He was a talented athlete, but also had a lot of luck. Mostly, it underlined the fact that time is going by quickly. The bird of time has but a little way to fly and it is on the wing.

While I'm at it, I thought I'd publish my latest 'End the Fed' cartoon.

It has been a long time since I've posted. Fortunately I have had a LOT of work lately and little time to blog or draw cartoons or play my viola. I have also not had time to work on my paintings, but I have plenty of ideas, paint and canvas awaiting me.

More posts to come once I finish up some commercial art projects. Meanwhile, here is a famous ballad played by my favorite Chopin interpreter.

Chopin Ballad in G Minor

Ron Paul Quotes

PERSONAL & CIVIL LIBERTY

“I'm convinced that you never have to give up liberties to be safe. I think you're less safe when you give up your liberties.” “You wanna get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws.”"The federal government has no right to treat all Americans as criminals by spying on their relationship with their doctors, employers, or bankers." “Ideas are very important to the shaping of society. In fact, they are more powerful than bombings or armies or guns. And this is because ideas are capable of spreading without limit. They are behind all the choices we make. They can transform the world in a way that governments and armies cannot. Fighting for liberty with ideas makes more sense to me than fighting with guns or politics or political power. With ideas, we can make real change that lasts.”

TAX & ECONOMY

“One thing is clear: The Founding Fathers never intended a nation where citizens would pay nearly half of everything they earn to the government.”

THE WAR ON TERROR & THE PATRIOT ACT

“A citizen walking through the airport today is bombarded with 1984-style propaganda messages that are designed to make us fear some amorphous threat and also be suspicious of others. The government designs these messages to make us feel dependent and heavily lorded over in every aspect of our lives. These messages are becoming ever more pervasive, hitting us even in grocery stores when we are shopping.” 

PRINCIPLES & INTEGRITY

"Unlike my opponents, I'm not running from my voting record. I'm not running from my public statements. I'm not running from my predictions.I'm running on them."

NON-PREEMPTIVE WAR & MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

"When one person can initiate war, by its definition, a republic no longer exists. "“It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking.” “Setting a good example is a far better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.” "Another term for preventive war is aggressive war - starting wars because someday somebody might do something to us. That is not part of the American tradition. ""Our foolish policy in Iraq invites terrorist attacks against U.S. territory and incites the Islamic fundamentalists against us." 

LIMITED, CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"In the free society envisioned by the founders, schools are held accountable to parents, not federal bureaucrats." "The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people."“When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads.” "Every government, democratic or not, is capable of tyranny. We must understand this if we hope to remain a free people.""I will always vote what I have promised, and always vote the Constitution, as well as I will not vote for one single penny that isn't paid for, because debt is the monster, debt is what's going to eat us up and that is why our economy is on the brink.""I will continue in my uncompromising opposition to appropriations not authorized within the enumerated powers of the Constitution."

NON-PREEMPTIVE WAR & MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

"When one person can initiate war, by its definition, a republic no longer exists. "“It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking.” “Setting a good example is a far better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.” "Another term for preventive war is aggressive war - starting wars because someday somebody might do something to us. That is not part of the American tradition. ""Our foolish policy in Iraq invites terrorist attacks against U.S. territory and incites the Islamic fundamentalists against us." 

Similarities

Two paintings. I love them both. Both affect me similarly, and yet they are from vastly different times. I wonder what DaVinci would think of Picasso...

Likewise, I often wonder what Tchaikovsky would think of Shostakovich. What would Beethoven have made of Stravinsky? One thing is certain: I know our founding fathers would be very disappointed at what's going on with our government today.

(Click to enlarge)

Ron Paul is Doing Great!

Ron Paul is doing great. We can tell by hit pieces such as this:

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111229/OPINION01/712299993

In it we hear pejorative and ad hominem attacks such as:

Ron Paul..."truly dangerous"

(Ron Paul's platform is) "nothing short of nuts"

"...Paul being the favored candidate of the lunatic fringe (see white supremacists, anti-Semites, truthers, etc.)."

"Paul has been consistently spouting this nonsense." 
In other words, we are called racists for supporting Paul and the Constitution. Oh gee...I'd better vote for one of the neo cons so we can continue to start wars we can't afford and blow up innocent people to get people such as Gaddafi. We will support muslim fundamentalists to do it! Why? So we can replace leaders we don't like with radical muslims so we can...defeat the muslim fundamentalists? Yeah, that makes sense. Oh--and let's make sure America is called a battlefield and everyone give up our rights so that 'terrorists' can be whisked away and tortured. FEAR FEAR FEAR! And our own government creates false flags to get us all scared so we can give up more money, lives, liberty AND DIGNITY (groping at airports) to those at the top--you know who I'm referring to--the ones you admire, Mr. McQuaid...the big banksters ripping us all off. The Federal Reserve who has destroyed our middle class and are propping up the corrupt banks. People such as Corzine who outright steal billions of dollars from private accounts.

YOU and your ilk are 'evil nuts,' not us. I have news for you, Mr. BIG SHOT PUBLISHER JOSEPH W. McQUAID, New Hampshire Union Leader, we 'lunatic fringe' care about the Constitution and ending your ridiculous wars including the war on drugs that sends plenty of minorities to prison just because they have the wrong vegetation in their pockets. We are going to vote for Paul and end the cycle of fear they are using to strip us of our rights, our dignity, our money and our jobs just so your banker buddies can make bigger bonuses. And the traitors who are trampling our rights in Congress? THEY are the enemy--not some turbaned-guy in a cave that was sent there by the evil CIA. And what can be more anti-Semite than dropping bombs on Arab children? (Yes, Arabs are Semites, too). Sorry, Mr. Big shot McQuaid, YOU are anti-American, anti-decency and anti-Constitution. YOUR opinions are warped and truly dangerous.

Ben Garrison, a Ron Paul supporter.