ISOM SYMBOLIC ART

Saturday, February 5, 2022

Views of my apartment at the Benedictine.

Apartment front door

Living Room open to kitchen

Living room side table

Vinyl collection cabinet.

Friday, February 4, 2022

View of my patio

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'” — Lewis Carrol

Drawing sketchbook 2022

Just finished my first 2022 sketchbook. 100 drawings with Pentel rolling writer.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

Henri takes a turn in the dryer

I think we all have stories about the life and death of family pets. It can be very traumatic and I feel a little guilty that I have used the death of family pets as fodder for stories that I told to my children and students.

Pets were an important part of our family and now my children are carrying on the tradition of finding the right pet for their families. We tried all sorts of pets, rodents, a few reptiles, spiders, a bird, a rabbit and of course cats and dogs.

How to handle the death of a pet was something we did learn about in parenting class and I am sure it is not in my copy of the parent handbook. Explaining the death of a pet to small children often results in a barrage of questions that challenges a parents creativity.

The Henri the cat story was mostly true. The frantic phone call I received from my wife was the start of this tale. I rushed home from school to find my wife seated in the rocking chair with a lifeless Henri the cat on her lap and could not help but notice that the cats tongue appeared to be extraordinarily long hanging out of his mouth light a limp pieces of raw bacon. Gathered around her were four little mourners in obvious distress. I quieted the group and tried to understand what had happened. Each child tried to tell me between the crying and whining what happen. I finally realized that the cat had made several turns inside the dryer. Evidently, he was sleeping in a basket and got tossed into the drum of death. My wife thought is was just tennis shoes banging around in the dryer but shoes do not make cat sounds as they bang around in the dryer.

I quickly scoop up the cat and sped off to the vet. I rushed him into the office and they quickly tried to revive Henri. Slowly his temperature returned to normal and he regained consciousness. He was a bit lethargic after his surprise turn in the dryer. He stayed overnight at the vet and the next day he arrived home and all was well. Of course he would not get close to the laundry room for the rest of his life. He lived for a few more years and the cat trauma become part of the Isom folklore. Over the years the story has been told hundreds of times. I used to regale my students with Henri's story and other outlandish tales about other events in the Isom household. I did have a method to this story madness; It was an attempt to foster creativity. Turning everyday events into art is a hard task for most people. They seem to be searching for some great Epiphany that will provide the creative spark. However, most of the time they wait for that moment of inspiration that never appears. The edited story told to my grandchildren and students included a description of Henri's strange demeanor due what I called a brain injury. There was no evidence of brain damage, but it was a great addition to the story. I added that he spent most of his days on top of the living room curtain, with a wild look in his eye, just waiting for someone to enter the front door. He would then ponce on them an quickly scurry away. Great story but Henri's did not do a lot of scurrying after the life altering event.

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Hand decorated items

Artist Ron Isom's "Symbolic Journey" Mary Shapiro Oct 2, 2017 Updated Oct 12, 2018

You could call the codex compiled by Webster Groves artist Ronald Isom Sr. the book of his artistic life. For the more than 25 years since he retired in 1994 as a high school art teacher, Isom, 82, has been using Sharpie pens to do a kind of automatic writing on Bristol paper (smooth art paper), mannequins or anything else, including found objects."I draw until I fill the paper up. There's nothing preconceived about it," he said.

Isom lives with his wife of 55 years, Anita, in The Rockwood retirement apartment complex in Old Webster. The couple has five children and eight grandchildren.

His art exhibit, "Symbolic Journey," continues now through Nov. 4 at Grafica Fine Art & Custom Framing, 7884 Big Bend Blvd. in Webster Groves.Isom taught art from 1962 to 1994, first at Niles Township High School in Skokie, Ill., for four years, then at Belleville East High School until he retired in 1994. He also taught evening art appreciation and drawing classes for 30 years at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville.Born in Belleville, Isom graduated from Belleville High School in 1957, always having been interested in art.

"I was always kind of a scribbler. My teachers always told me to stop doodling," he said. "Now I'm retired and can doodle all I want!" som's father, Lowell, was an electrician in a steel mill. His mother, Louise, had an artistic bent."She encouraged me. She kept one of my grade school drawings until the day she died," Isom said.He was the first in his family to go to college."An art teacher took interest in me in junior college and encouraged me, so I went to Illinois State University (then Illinois State Normal University)," he said.Isom comes from a classical art background. However, toward the end of his teaching career, Isom was teaching graphic design using computers.

"That helped morph my art into its own style. A couple years ago I had a collection of my work exhibited at Southwestern Illinois College called 'Codex Isom.'"He does about one drawing a day, and has 3,000 of them collected in boxes."They're like notebook pages, with symbols I've developed, like writing a book. I call the whole thing my codex," Isom said. "I'll scan my drawings into my computer and alter them there. When I draw, I have no conscious idea what my works are. I'll put key words into Google about them, to make connections. I try to find relationships between my art and what's out in the world."

Over his career, Isom has compiled the codex, a body of symbols he calls his "life's encyclopedia.""It's writing that looks like it means something but may not have any context," Isom said. "I've done this over many years, with art filled with images and symbols I've created over a period of time, which is why the exhibit is called 'Symbolic Journey.'"

It was about five years ago that Isom moved to the area to be close to his son, Lowell, who lives in Webster Groves."Webster is really an art community, and I started a conversation when I walked into Grafica. Lynn Bozzay, the owner, got excited about my work," Isom said. "Art has become such a big part of my life. I let my mind kind of wander when I draw, as if an eye is on the end of my pen, so I can do it for hours. I sometimes watch TV while drawing and don't even know what I'm doing. I feel art relieves a lot of anxiety."

He hopes "Symbolic Journey" — unlike gallery shows which he said are very neat, with artwork in rows — will immerse people in his symbolic world."I gave Lary and Lynn Bozzay, with Grafica, the ability to hang things on top of each other, in cubby holes, above the doorway, anywhere to get rid of the formality of art," he said.

For more information about the show, visit www.graficafinearts.com.

Friday, January 28, 2022

First Television

I have been fascinated by electronics all my life. I never had the computational or science skills to peruse a career in science. I seemed to be more fascinated about science fiction and as a child I would dream of robots and magical machines. Art can be a wonderful blend of science and image making. Many of my works today are metaphors about the intersection of science and art.

This interest stems from my grandfather Isom and my dad. Grandpa was always tinkering in his workshop. He had stacks of popular Mechanics magazines in his workshop that I read voraciously. His work bench was piled high with early electronic devices scavenged from his job as signal maintainer for the Illinois Southern Railroad.

My dad background was similar. He was an electrician and always wanted to have the latest gadget on the market. I remember how he was constantly trying to get better reception on the radio and television. He had a small collection of electronic tools that fascinated me and I would dream of how I could make a great scientific breakthroughs if could learn how to use them. He had a tube tester, oscilloscope and signal generator. Unfortunately, he did not let me help him or share his knowledge. He always felt I was not bright enough to do such complicated work. I still watched from afar and continued to dream.

When I was about eight years old, my dad obtained a Hallicrafter television. I don’t remember where he got it, but I assume it was from Sears Roebuck. I do know that is caused many arguments between my mom and dad because its original cost was 200.00. We were just recovering from the Depression and money was tight. My dad put the television in the front room on a small table. My mom refused to watch it and did not want me to have anything to do with the evil machine. My curiosity got the best of me and I begged for permission. I remember being mesmerized by the grainy black and white pictures and the tiny figures moving inside this mysterious metal cabinet. Stations only broadcast sporadically and my dad was constantly adjustive the antenna and turning the knobs. We were able to watch Crusader Rabbit, Time for Beany and Kukla Fran and Ollie. Crusader Rabbit was the first animated produced specifically for television. The concept was test marketed in 1948, while the initial episode - Crusader vs. the State of Texas - aired on KNBH in Los Angeles on August 1, 1950. Beany and Cecil first appeared as a hand puppet television show in the late 40's created by Bob Clamped. Burr Tillstrom was the creator and only puppeteer on the Kukla Fran and Ollie show, which premiered as the hour-long Junior Jamboree locally on WBKB in Chicago, Illinois, on October 13, 1947.

My dad bought a magnifying glass for the set and the illusion was straight out of a science fiction book. We had that set for about two years. As the economy improved we had a series of televisions. My dad also built a DeForest-Sanabria television from a kit in 1950. Each new television was a wonder and sparked my interests and enchanted me.Today at eighty-two it is hard for me to resist new technology.

Hallicrafters Model 505 (T-54) Television (1948) Introduced in 1948,

Hallicrafters sold this TV in a few different cabinets. The first was model T-54, introduced in 1947. The T-54 came in the same grey metal cabinet as the popular Hallicrafters SX-42 communications radio. Raymond Loewy, the famous Machine Age designer, is credited with designing both of these sets.

Crusader Rabbit

The concept of an animated series made for television came from animator Alex Anderson, who worked for Terrytoons Studios. Terrytoons turned down Anderson's proposed series, preferrring to remain in theatrical film animation, so Anderson approached Jay Ward to create a partnership, Anderson being in charge of production and Ward arranging financing. Ward became business manager and producer, joining with Anderson to form "Television Arts Productions" in 1947. They tried to sell the series (initially presented as part of a proposed series, The Comic Strips of Television, which featured an early incarnation of Dudley Do-Right) to the NBC television network, with Jerry Fairbanks as the network's "supervising producer".[2] NBC did not telecast Crusader Rabbit on their network, but allowed Fairbanks to sell the series in national syndication, with many NBC affiliates (including New York and Los Angeles) picking it up for local showings. WNBC-TV in New York continued to show the original Crusader Rabbit episodes from 1949 through 1967, and some stations used the program as late as the 1970s.

Altered book

What sets art apart from other technological endeavors is not the innovative use of technology, but a creative misuse of it. To use a tool as it was intended, whether a screwdriver or spreadsheet, is simply to fulfill its potential. Misusing a tool by peeling off its ideological wrapper and applying it to a purpose or effect that was not its maker's intention-artists can exploit a technology's hidden potential in an intelligent and revelatory way.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Title page of proposed biography.

“One of the basic abilities that should be taught in our schools is the ability to discover, to search for answers, instead of waiting for answers and directions.”

Viktor Lowenfeld (1964)

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

The desire for repetition and order, forms an inherent part of my psyche. My recent work considers the creative application of repetitive processes, motifs and meticulous order. I am exploring and trying to understand why I am drawn to repeated, ritualized actions and to motifs which have become increasingly more obsessive.

“The creative habit is like a drug. The particular obsession changes, but the excitement, the thrill of your creation lasts.”(Henry Moore)

Monday, January 24, 2022

Asemic art

My work is a hybrid of asemic writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content”.Traditional asemic writing does not use real words or phrases. An asemic text may be "read" in a similar fashion regardless of the reader's natural language. My work sometime include words but the meaning is left for the reader to fill in and interpret. In addition to words I use pictograms, ideograms, glyphs and symbols. The works are meant to be read as a story much like a medieval rebus. I also make use of the unconscious by spontaneously drawing with ink with no pre planning. My work is influenced by esoteric codices such as the Mayan Codex and the writings of Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. I also have an interest in scriptorium the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts by monastic scribes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asemic_writing

http://asemic.net

http://www.asymptotejournal.com/visual/michael-jacobson-on-asemic-writing/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scriptorium

Saturday, January 22, 2022

The horror of horror vacui.

Literally translated, Horror Vacui is the fear of empty spaces. In a more technical sense, it refers to a maximalist aesthetic in visual art in which details proliferate to fill every square inch of blank canvas. This aesthetic is associated with many different periods and places, including Islamic art and the medieval manuscripts illuminated by monks.