Jim O'Neil's photos

Best viewed large (especially if you want to read the little haiku poem.). Alright already, so it's schmaltzy. :-) Mixed media, Faber-Castell 'big brush' pens, colored pencil and Caran D'Ache Neocolor crayons on Bee's 'bogus rough cut' sketch paper, 11 by 19 inches.

The seven of them in Latin. Chalk it up to my early school years. I avoided at least a couple. Hey, 2 or 3 out of 7 ain't bad! :-) Oh yea, in Latin are listed the seven deadly sins. Mixed media (ink, markers, soft pastels) on 11 by 19 inch Bee's 'bogus rough sketch' paper.

I've no idea why this subject came to mind, I don't/didn't play nor watch polo. Woodless colored pencil on colored stock. 12 by 12 inches.

Jumbled memories; The church, the street vendors, the nightlife, the plaza, narrow streets, close buildings. Memories from being there over 55 years years ago & I was young teenager, of course my memories are jumbled! Colored woodless pencils and Crayola, Extreme Colors, pencils and crayons on colored stock. 12 by 12 inches.

風 The weight of the wind, Burden of no consequence, For those who are young. Haiku 2010 Ink, brushed, and colored pencil on colored stock, 12 by 12 inches.

Watercolor on clear acetate, photographed against a window . Approximately 12 by 12 inches.

I cut a little wood today. This axe blade I've had for over 30 years. It's outlasted two commercial handles, the one on it now I made from local white birch. & no, the motto engraved on it didn't come with it originally, I added it myself. :-)

This montage is a bit over a week's worth of sketches in various media and sizes on various grounds. 20 by 30 inches.

Faith? Maybe philosophy instead. Creatacolor watercolor on cheap copy paper, 8 1/2 by 11 inches

Marker, colored pencil on colored card stock, 12 by 12 inches

震, Quake. Within the last 8 hours we've had 18 recordable earthquakes here in Alaska, not an unusual number. I originally posted a photograph of this image that I took last night with flash. I just replaced it with this photo made with morning sunlight hitting it at a low angle to emphasize the wrinkles in the 'rice' paper. If I decide to mount this one I think I'll leave the wrinkles as they, in my opinion, add to the mood I want to convey. Ink and watercolor on 'rice' paper. Approximately 15 by 20 inches.

Maybe after the second cup.... Faber-Castell brush pens and colored pencil on 12 by 12 inch colored stock.

I suspect the only way to really glean an understanding of a culture or society is to be born in to it and then spend enough time immersed in another culture to gain a perspective from which to view your own. For example Margaret Mead's (cultural anthropologist, 1901-1978) 'Coming of Age in Samoa' explains far more about about the U.S. of her era than it does Samoa. On the other hand, for at least a superficial understanding of your own or a foreign culture, listen closely to the storytellers, the cautionary tales, the fairy tales, cartoons, manga, etc. that the children therein grow up with. For example it's been my experience that Eskimo tales generally emphasize patience as a major virtue while in many Athabaskan tales quickness is most important. If you think about the difference in how you'd hunt a seal and how you would hunt a moose, this is quite understandable. A phrase that I've quoted before, though I still don't remember who originally said it, is that the poets and outlaws define and delimit the world the the rest of us live in. However it is the simple storyteller, by the fireside, telling the bedtime story, reading aloud in the living room on a summer's evening, who shape our futures and provide us our compasses to navigate our cultures. To end on a somber note, to view today's cautionary tales, etc., turn on your TV, and may the lord have mercy on your soul. Faber-Castell brush pens on Bee's 'Bogus Rough Sketch' paper, 9 by 18 inches

Just doodlin'. colored pencil on colored stock, 5 by 5 inches

Yarka watercolors on 140 pound cold press, 11 by 15 inches

It's natural and right that we grow up, grow taller, by standing on the shoulders of others. When we've small and weak we may have been known to taunt; "My dad can lick your dad!" "My mother cooks better and is prettier than your mother!" Later we "know" my family is the bestest! Then my nation is right and has God on it's side! Sometimes, tangentially and tragically, we "know" mine is the superior race thus I must be good, I stand head and shoulders above "those' people. We nurtured by our family, given a moral compass by our faith, educated by the state so it's only natural that we gain stature standing on the shoulders of others, but, if we truly mature, we learn to stand tall on our own two feet. Then and only then do we fully understand we can depend on ourselves, on our own wisdom, on our own abilities. Then and only then do we know and utilize our own strengths and are aware of our many weaknesses. If needed, we'll gratefully accept help from others, but we won't demand such, beg for such, or depend on such. Of course we also are aware of our responsibly to lend a hand to others in return, -not because it's their right but because it's the right thing to do. If necessary we know how to and are willing and able to hew our own wood. When we understand these things, that is Independence Day! While making this sketch on this 4th of July, I found my hand and thoughts, it seemed then,oddly, moving back and forth between 2 graphic styles, The Soviet 'heroic' poster style and American primitive, -now in retrospect I can see how the subject matter wanted both. Soft pastel on Bee's 'Bogus Rough Sketch' paper, 9 by 18 inches.

3 a.m. Now to decide if I'm starting the day early or ending it late. Watercolor (Createacolor Bricks) on Strathmore 140 pound cold press. 11 by 14 inches

In spite of the hustle and bustle of the cities, it's interesting that the most persistent images of Japan that have stuck in my mind all involve quiet and tranquility. Faber-Castell and Pitt brush pens on colored card stock, 12 by 12 inches