Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair (Tossed About)

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, The Rappahannock River, Virginia: [Tossed About]" (c) 2023 Stu Jenks

These days with my cancer and such, I'm feeling a little tossed about myself.

Love you all.

Stu

Circles & Spirals: Stu Jenks' Newsletter #12: October 7th, 2022

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Hillsborough, North Carolina" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

 

Circles & Spirals: Stu Jenks' Newsletter #12: October 7th, 2022

1) Just a short newsletter. I'm having pretty terrible post-radiation side effects. I'll spare you the literally shitty details, but I'm a little concern something else might be wrong. I'll be seeing my GP on Monday and I may be getting a referral to a gastro guy. It's been very painful and unpleasant for the last two months. Keep those prayers and good thoughts coming.

2) I have not gotten around to photographing the new red cedar wall pieces, but I will. I promise. Look for them in future posts. 

3) Alexa is slowly healing up for her abdominal surgery. She's still in some pain. Long roads for both of us, I'm afraid. Pray for her as well.

4) And lastly, the mid-terms are in a month. Go online, if you need to, to make sure you are registered. Vote like your life depends on it. If you are a woman of child bearing age, your life may depend on it. We are on the edge of Federal autocratic rule in America. But if the Dems win big, we can push the fascist bullies back, just a little bit. 

5) Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes. It means the world to both Alexa and I. 

Love, light and luck, 

Stu. 

"The Death of Self (Revisited),Emmerton, Virginia" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks

"The Spider Web Next Door, Greensboro, NC" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

"Infant Grave, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

"Rusted Water Fountain, Aker's Merchandise Store, Patrick County, Virginia" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

Circles and Spirals: Stu Jenks' Newsletter #4: 5/3/22

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Art Lab Building, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Then and Now" (c) 1978, 2022 Stu Jenks. 

 

Hello, y'all, 

1) Pictured here is my sister's chair at the UNC Art Lab Building. If you want to read the Fatal Figures book for free, click here. Long story. Short version? In 1978, I found out where all the fatal traffic accidents had occurred in Chapel Hill from 1970 to the present. Then I painted Fatal Figures on those spots as an artistic statement to make people drive more cautiously. Didn't work out as I planned. Huh. Again, check out the book, if you haven't already.

After a so-so experience at the Cat's Cradle, seeing some old semi-famous Carolina classmates perform music (Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple. They played sweetly. The headliner? Not so much.), I was driving home to Greensboro and I decided I swung by the Art Lab Building. Yep. The Fatal Figure was still on the wall. 

I thought two things: 1) what audacity I had to spray paint on the wall back in 1978. I was full of myself back then. Yeah. and 2) Pamela's chair hasn't been photographed there, as a square. I had the chair. I had the 70-200mm. Here's that image. 

That project defined my senior year in art school at UNC. It doesn't define me now, but it ain't nothing. Still surprised that no faculty member had sandblasted it away in the past 40 plus years.

2) Went to the races a couple of weeks ago. Bowman Grey Stadium racing. 1/4 mile paved. Very old track. Racing around an old football field. Enjoyed the roar of the engines. Enjoyed seeing some people of color there too. Back in the day, this was strictly white-man-land. Now, women, blacks and hispanics are allowed to enjoy racing. Somethings do change. A little. The walk to and from my car about killed me, with my left leg strain that I've had for almost 6 months, but it was fun. Do I need to go back anytime soon? Nope. But it was a hoot. 

"Bowman Grey Stadium Racing, Winston-Salem, North Carolina" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

3) Tomorrow, I fly out to Tucson for 8 days. Get my teeth cleaned in Nogales, Sonora. Visit with some good friends. Eat Picacho Nachos at The Cup at the Hotel Congress. Visit Lipan Point at the Grand Canyon. And many other things. This trip is really costing me money I can't really afford to spend. Nevertheless, I hope to return to Arizona, every year or 18 months or so, no matter the cost. I need to hug a saguaro, eat a fresh flour tortilla and breathe in that hot, dry, desert air. And see some good friends. Pray that my leg doesn't hold me back too much. I got a doctor's note so I can bring my walking stick on the plane, for support. Getting old truly sucks, but as my father used to say, "It beats the alternative." Those of you in Arizona, I hope I get a chance to see some of you. 

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Lipan Point, Grand Canyon, Arizona" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Abandoned Bowling Alley, Bedford, Virginia" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks. 

4) We will have a lot of time to talk about the recent Supreme Court leak/revelation. If this doesn't get the 70% of women in this county who are pro-choice to get out and vote in the fall, I don't know what will. Shameful. Sexist. Men doing more bad things to women. Nothing new, but it still makes me mad and sad every time women and poor people are treated like shit.

5) But there is still art.

There is still music.

There are still friends and family.

There is still love.

It's a dark world now, from the streets of Kiev and the backroads of Ukraine, to the Planned Parenthood building just down the street. But there is still light and love and goodness in most of us. Most of us. I need to remember that. 

Pray that my left leg holds up on this trip. I need that leg.

6) And Alexa is very good, working hard, both at work and on her tan. 

Love you guys, 

Stu

"Morning Mist" by Claude Monet. At the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina. Image capture by Stu Jenks in 2022. Painting by Monet in 1897. 

 

Tohono Chul 10 x 10 show 2022

From March 4th until May 29th, 2022, Tohono Chul Park in Tucson, Arizona is having their annual 10 x 10 fundraiser. A ton of art work created by a bunch of artists.

Everything is 10 inch by 10 inch, bagged and boarded, all for the low low price of $100. I have five pieces there. If you don't see the work of mine that you want on display, just ask James or any of the great museum staff and they will help you out. Great people.

10 x 10 helps Tohono Chul and it'll helps me. Good all around. (I get $50, they get $50 for each sale.)

And if you want something specific of mine, you may want to get up there early.

Love y'all.

Stu.

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair at the Seashell Shell Gas Station

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Seashell Shell Gas Station, Winston-Salem, North Carolina" (c) 2022 Stu Jenks.

A deep dive into my hard drives, and a few new images as well...

"Council Rocks Flame Tower, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

So recently I've been doing deep dives into my hard drives, to perhaps find some images I had overlooked, or reprocess some photos from the past that I can make better. It's been fun.

Here, is a Zippo lighter image, shot at dusk at Council Rocks in Arizona a few years back. (I may need to do more flame tower images here in North Carolina. Hmm.) I popped the color a bit and sharpened the photo a little. I really like this image and this place. It is the place where the Apache chief Cochise lived, and where he made peace with the Americans in the 1870's. I miss Arizona so.

Other old and a few new images are below. If you want a print of anything, reach out.

And may you all have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Love y'all.

Stu.

"Shiprock at Dusk, New Mexico" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Washington Monument 1961, D.C." (c) Image capture Stu Jenks 2021, photographer unknown, from a postcard.

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Jesse Brown's Cabin, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.


"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Brown's Summit, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair (with pelican), North Topsail Island, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"A Dartmoor Stream, UK" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Scorhill Stone Circle, Dartmoor, UK" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"The British Oaks in Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor, UK" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Crowned Buddha, Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina" (c) Stu Jenks.

"Parvati, Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Little Copper Dome, Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Mossy Creek Church, The Valley of Virginia" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks. (The place where my fourth great-grandmother Polly is buried, in an unmarked grave)

"Rodin's Burghers, In front of City Hall, in Calais, France" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Acis and Galatea, Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Portrait of a woman, outside of Chartres Cathedral, France" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"The Blue Virgin, Chartres Cathedral, France" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Cheyenne, Wyoming" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"The Blue Mary, Parroquia de la Purisima Concepcion, Nogales, Sonora, Mexico" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Flame Spiral atop Tumamoc Hill, Tucson, Arizona" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

 

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair at the Grand Canyon

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona" (c) 2013, 2021 Stu Jenks.

 

This image is one of my favorites. A perfect winter's day at the Canyon. It's also the back cover of my book Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair (The Deaths of Mary and Pamela Jenks)

Speaking of that book, a nice thing happen to me today.

I gave the PBRC book to my father-in-law Norman Smith to read. He's a highly educated gentleman, a voracious reader, and a sweetly religious man. He read the Dementia Blues book a few days ago and liked it.

"It's very well written, Stu," he said. "Thank you, Norman," I said.

High praise from a man of few words.

But this morning as he was dropping off the paper (He lives just up the street from Alexa and I and he shares his newspaper with us), he got out of his car and said:

"You did a wonderful job writing your mother's eulogy. As good if not better than the priest's. And I love the Bible passage you picked for your mother. Oh, my."

That touched me a lot. I know I'm an OK writer and I was the designated eulogist for the Jenks clan for years, because I knew how to write, how to speak, and how to not talk too long at a funeral.

But still.

It was nice to hear such kind words from the only father figure I have in my life. A very sweet moment.

(As always, if you want to buy something: books, prints, and music, you know where to find me. www.stujenks.org, here, bandcamp, CDbaby, Bookbaby, and at Amazon and Apple stores. Have a great day, y'all.)

Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Ruby's Mini-Mart, Caswell County, North Carolina

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Ruby's Mini-Mart, Caswell County, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

 

The PBRC at North Topsail Island

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, North Topsail Island, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

I went down to the beach, on a rainy day, to try out a new hand board for body surfing I had recently bought, but the waves were only wind-made, very choppy, and the current was too strong for me to really effectively use the hand board.

I'm just old school, I guess, about body surfing. Just put me in the ocean and see if I can catch some waves. I had a 10 foot long board, before it was stolen a few years ago, but given the smaller waves here on the East Coast, body surfing without the weird hand board, for now, will do just fine. 

I got beaten up pretty good by the waves, and the current was a lot to fight, but I had a great time. I like being beat up by the waves. I think most surfers feel that way: We like to catch waves, either on a board or with our bodies, but the stories and the big-time-fun comes from wiping out. I laughed out loud a few times as I was getting thrown around by the sea. So much fun.

Before surfing, I took these pics of the PBRC in the surf. Business before pleasure, don't you know.

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Low Gap, North Carolina (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

"Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair, Low Gap, North Carolina" (c) 2021 Stu Jenks.

(To read the PBRC ebook, just google my name, 'Stu Jenks'. and the book's title, 'Pamela's Baby Rocking Chair', and you'll find it on most worldwide book platforms.)