Yesterday evening Annyth and I, each of us with a glass of wine, sat out on the deck of our rental listening to the birds as they sang the day to a close. I had my iPad. Before night fell and lightning bugs began appearing, this is what I could see through the deck’s railings:
tail end
Kitty Lane
A few weeks ago Annyth and I got to see Jorma Kaukonen and John Harlbut at the River Of Time Boutique in Uptown Athens. That was on December 16, 2023. Now that we’re back in Athens we get to see first hand cool things like this. I took a photo between songs which I used as a photo reference for this freehand iPad digital painting. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon, and the live music warmed our souls. Annyth bought a really cool apron there too.
This isn’t Jorma’s first appearance on this illustroblog. Check out these two other posts, one of which tells the story of my weekend at the Fur Peace Ranch back in the early 2000s when I learned at camp directly from Jorma himself that, when it comes to finger picking, the secret is in the thumb: yep, click here. See a couple of must-see links below the following image:
Check these out too:
1. Click here
2. Click here too, this is cool!.
Board members, senior management, and the entire staff at portfoliolongo.com met this past weekend for our annual, year-end retreat and 2023 holiday party. As usual, it was a productive, uplifting, and festive event. In addition to electing new Board officers, unveiling another parallel strategic planning initiative, and restructuring our Miscellaneous and Peripheral Affairs Division, we issued this year’s Annual Christmas Letter, “C” for Construction. We’ve been issuing Letters for 10 years!! (See previous years by clicking here.) We are pleased to celebrate our corporate relocation from Merced, California to Athens, Ohio and the construction of our new international headquarters. In accordance with our corporate values, we are committed to keeping our Annual Christmas Letters as short as possible; however, a copy of our 500-page Annual Report is in the mail, and you should be getting it before the end of December. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year from everyone here at portfoliolongo.com.
Yea, the Dairy Barn! Read all about it!
I first laid eyes on this landmark in 1979, and it never ceases to amaze and inspire me. I’m glad we’re back to visit the grounds and take part in the art and music events. There are also gorgeous, very nearby hiking trails guaranteed to please any time of the year. Ora Anderson Trail. The Ridges.
Freehand iPad painting in Sketch Club. Reference photo:
A freehand quick sketch based on a reference screenshot from a YouTube video (see below) featuring old friends Jorma Kaukonen and Tommy Emmanuel playing a Roy Book Binder song in 2023. See also this 2014 post of Jorma in which I refer to my own weekend at the Fur Peace Ranch back in the early 2000s.
Jorma and Tmooy
My first Athens, OH iPad drawing of a local landmark. Unfolding re-entry story to follow. Sketch Club app, Apple Pencil, iColorama, and an iPad Pro.
40 Court St.
See an accompanying video…it’s a kind of illustration of “value,” check it out:
5 minutes by car to OU, 2 Bedroom, 1.5 bath, Wi-Fi; Athens, OH. July/August 2023
5 minutes by car to OU, 2 Bedroom, 1.5 bath, Wi-Fi, Athens, Ohio
Photo on the wall in the men’s room at Little Fish Brewing Co., Athens, OH
The Pawpaw Pad: Athens, OH. Late June/early July 2023
The Pawpaw Pad: 5 miles from Athens & Hiking Spots
Ohio University
249 Franklinton/Downtown Condo: Columbus OH. June 2023
249 Franklinton/Downtown Condo
Deeptones, Columbus Art Festival
Serene Cozy Couples Getaway: Milton, DE Mid-April to mid-May 2023
iPad art
Spring unfolds in Milton, DE mid-April to mid-May
Cozy house on friendly, beautiful Baltimore block: Baltimore, MD Mid-February 2023
iPad art
Cool house a few doors away, used to be a church.
Emergence, Art Exhibit, Contemporary and Humanistic Artists Association (CHAA), November 30, 2022 to January 8, 2023, Merced Multicultural Arts Center, Merced, CA.
Digital Renderings: This 4 minute 37 second video consists of series of digital images, animations, and time-lapse videos that I have created on an iPad while living in Merced, CA from 2014 to 2022. Displayed in this video is a collection of digital-art expressions whose meaning requires motion for its significance to emerge. These expressions include: Miss the Basket; Hannah Arendt; Turquoise; Love Letter; Owl’s Wide Open; Jorma; Paint Swatches; Strategic Vision; Outhouse Bird; Abelike; Heavy Heart; Birdie Wine; Barber Pole; Pucker Danny; Old Man Face; Sí, se puede; Beginnings; Gyro; Lead Guitar; Bald Mitt; Bernie; Sphere Spade; Sniff Sniff; The Pundant; Whirling Skeleton; Hydrospurt; and Selfie.
Update: Summer 2025
I’ll keep the 04/14/21 post below for historical purposes, but I do need to update the information since my situation has changed. If you’re interested in learning English through conversation, please contact me via iTalki or in the comment form below. Thank you.
Oh, one more thing! In the original post I made reference to being the “luckiest person on my cul-de-sac.” Well that changed too! We no longer live on a cul-de-sac.” We moved from Merced, a small city in California’s Central Valley to the countryside in Southeast Ohio, less than 10 miles from Athens, OH. So, let’s just say that nowadays I’m the luckiest guy in my neck of the woods!
Update: 07/28/25
Click on video to experience the digital transformation.
Since late February 2021 I’ve been a Community Teacher on an online platform called iTalki, a Chinese company headquartered in Shanghai. You can visit my profile page by clicking on the following link: [CLICK HERE TO VIEW MY iTALKI PROFILE PAGE]
To date (4/14/21) I’ve completed around 75 online lessons with approximately 35 students. It’s conversation-based learning, so I target students who can already speak English at intermediate and advanced levels of proficiency. Each “lesson” is about an hour. I currently charge $10 per lesson, although I may increase that once I reach 100 completed lessons. Some students purchase packages of 5 lessons at a slight discount.
The conversation topics are completely open ended. Occasionally, I pause the dialogue to provide feedback on pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and expressive, interactive style. So far I’ve had students from Russia, Estonia, Korea, Japan, Brazil, Peru, China, and the list is growing. It’s a remarkably eye-opening and rewarding experience.
If you know anyone who might benefit from such a learning experience, please help them book their first iTalki lesson with me or any number of other qualified teachers. Thank you.
By the way, did I mention that I’m often blown away by folks who use our conversations as an opportunity teach this old dog new tricks? Yes, it happens; and that makes me the luckiest person on my cul-de-sac!
After a hiatus of two years, 2018 and 2019, the Mobile Digital Art and Creativity (mDAC) exhibition and conference returned. However, because of the pandemic, mDAC2020 took place online in a virtual manner a la Zoom. On the evening of Friday, June 26, 2020 there was the exhibit featuring the top 100, and out of them, the top 11, and on Saturday (6/27/20) and Sunday (6/28/20), two days of digital art workshops (click here to see the top 100 plus other details, including the jurors and the hands-on presenters). And if you had looked closely at the winners, you might have noticed that my piece, entitled Jerry, made in into the top 100!! How cool is that? What’s as cool is that I made it into the top 100 at mDAC2015 and mDAC2016.
Click on image to enlarge “Jerry”
I had already presented something about Jerry in a recent post about how cool it is to spend a little extra time with folks no longer with us in the flesh, click here to see that. Jerry was a dear friend whom I had gotten to know while living in Athens, Ohio from 1998 until 2005, but even after Ann and I moved away, we all stayed in touch. I’m so happy that Jerry was selected because, remembering this honor will always allow me to continue celebrating Jerry’s extraordinary life. See Jerry’s obit here.
portfoliolongo 