I don't toss the term genius around very often, but if it ever applied to anyone it was Pieter Bruegel the Elder. What an eye! What a hand! What a spirit!

(The image above is a detail of his painting of childhood games.)

Bruegel puts so much into his paintings that he must have kept prodigious sketchbooks. Very few of his drawings have survived. Maybe they're stashed away in some attic in Antwerp.

I haven't had much time for the web site this week, but things are at least keeping me entertained.

The Path has led me to the Flemish masters of the 16th Century. Bosch and Bruegel are slamming my head around, and obviously influencing what I do. Here's a work in progress:

A reception tomorrow evening December 2 at Capital Community Television (CCTV), 575 Trade St., Salem, at 5:30. I have three pieces in the Fall Show there. Then I'll be MC at the awards ceremony for Artists In Action's annual "Something Red" show. The fun starts about 7:30 at Elsinore Framing in Salem.

This Friday my band Cooper Hollow was scheduled to play at the Best Cellar Coffee House in Corvallis, the seventh year we've been invited back. Unfortunately, our multi-talented lead singer Paul Scheerer has been called to West Virginia because of family illness. Rather than leaving the audience sitting for an hour waiting for the second act, I'll be joined by Sally Clark and Jo Hockenhull, and we''ll put on a show at 7:00 PM.

Saturday December 5 is Max Marble's 1st Annual Type-In at Willamette Heritage Center. I'm going to dust off my ancient Royal and join in.

Tuesday December 8 is the deadline for this round of the Oregon Arts Commission's Career Opportunity Grants. I'm applying for funds to do some larger-scale prints for my 2016 show at the Corvallis Arts Center.

Meanwhile, I noticed last night that the left front headlight on my Prius is burned out. The days of running down the the auto parts store and picking up a sealed-beam are long gone, so there's an hour or two cooling my heels at the Toyota dealer.

Hey, it keeps you young, right?