Fine Art

I've always considered myself primarily a fine artist. If I had enough money, that's what I'd be doing full time. It's difficult to make a living by selling paintings, so I've relied on a career in commercial art to pay the bills. Below is a chapter on fine art that was to appear in my book. Few will read this, but my fellow artists might find it of some interest, so here it is. --Ben Garrison

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FINE ART

"Kitsch, using for raw material the debased and academicized simulacra of genuine culture, welcomes and cultivates this insensibility. It is the source of its profits. Kitsch is mechanical and operates by formulas. Kitsch is vicarious experience and faked sensations. Kitsch changes according to style, but remains always the same. Kitsch is the epitome of all that is spurious in the life of our times. Kitsch pretends to demand nothing of its customers except their money – not even their time."

—Clement Greenberg

 Greenberg, the art critic and promoter of Jackson Pollock, wrote this in his famous essay back in 1939. What he wrote was true then and it remains true now. Kitsch relies on falsity, sentiment and a phony nostalgia to lure in the average art buyer. Kitsch isn’t even memorable. The initial nostalgia wears off quickly and it becomes a forgettable and boring symbol of insincerity.

We’ve all seen kitsch. By its very nature it’s ubiquitous. It replicates endlessly. Ask yourself, how many times have you seen the same red barn in a field or the well-crafted western art showing sun-dappled cowboys or Indians crossing a creek on horseback? How many times have you seen a realistic painting of a wolf in the winter moonlight? These things have been daubed thousands, if not millions of times over and over and yet they still sell like hotcakes. Too many artists have figured out that nostalgia and sentimentality help open wallets.

People buy these things because they want to look at something familiar and comforting. They don’t want to think or be challenged. It’s the same way with music. Most people will not familiarize themselves with a great symphony by Shostakovich. No, that requires time and concentration. The payoff is great, but few are willing to invest the time to get that payoff. Kitsch is faster. Kitsch is easier. Kitsch makes no demands.

THOMAS KINKADE, “PAINTER OF LIGHT”

Kitsch is also cynical. Perhaps the biggest painter of kitsch was Thomas Kinkade, the “Painter of Light.” Kinkade was a talented California artist who ultimately cared more about financial success than his art. He decided to develop a formula that would help him sell paintings. He succeeded. It was estimated that 1 in 20 American homes have a copy of one of his paintings. Kinkade made millions selling prints via mail order and in malls. He controlled a company that traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Media Arts Group, Inc., which was in the business of selling Kinkade’s prints and collectibles, was for a while in the limelight. Plush galleries sprung up in malls and pushed his expensive prints on a gullible public. Some prints were given special added touches by Kinkade or his understudies, thus increasing the value of the products.

Kinkade’s formula for success consisted of a mixture of nostalgia, phony religiosity and greed. People bought his work not just because they were attracted to kitsch, but also because they were persuaded by Kinkade’s legion of mall salesmen that his prints would make a ‘good investment.’ As those prints saturated the market, buyers would find out otherwise.

A typical Kinkade painting features a lush landscape with a rustic path. There’s a crystalline brook with a small footbridge. There are verdant trees and bushes, mind-numbingly bright flowers, a gorgeous sunset and a welcoming home or cottage. These homes usually come with stone fireplaces producing wisps of smoke. The windows of his dwellings are glowing brightly. Every single room is alive with warmth, so much so that it starts to look like the homes might be on fire. One critic remarked that it appeared something hellish was going on inside of them.

Pleasant things are ridiculously enhanced in Kinkade’s work. Flowers are blindingly bright. Problem-causing things such as logic are left out. Never mind that a cabin is situated on top of a mountain peak, making it nearly impossible to get to. Don’t worry about the high electric bills from having dozens of 100-watt bulbs left on in the house. Don’t worry about the brook being too close to the house. There’s no chance of flooding. There’s no crime, racism or chance of sorrow in his work. Unpleasant things do not exist in Kinkaid’s world. It’s all harmony—no dissonance. If Kinkade had approached such saccharine subjects with a touch of satire, he might have been onto something, but no. He was adamantly sincere and considered his work to be a vanguard against the degeneracy of modern art.

Such paintings are designed to produce a sense of escapist nostalgia within the viewer. “Eternal Springtime” and “Away From It All” are typical titles. Most people have stress in their lives and Kinkade’s work, for a few moments at least, transports them to a comfortable world without worry, strife or conflict. The problem is, that world has never existed. Ever. His fraudulent beauty rests on a rotten foundation of lies. To infuse more profundity and ‘meaning’ into his work, Kinkade claimed he was a ‘Christian’ painter who was out to return morality and family values into art. He claimed he wanted to counter the corruption in modern art and replace it with a Norman Rockwell-like goodness. He wanted to paint works that people could easily ‘understand.’ He would often add patriotic themes to his paintings along with the initials of his wife and children to prove that he was a good citizen, husband and father.

Kinkade sacrificed artistic integrity to achieve fame and money. His campy art was a charade and he knew it. Everything about the man was imbued in falsity. Even his trademarked “Painter of Light” phrase was stolen from the English artist, Turner. A gaudy, over-large logo of an old fashioned streetlamp was stamped onto all of his prints. Kinkade’s fame and money did not bring him happiness. He violated contracts with the gallery franchises by undercutting them on the price of prints. In once instance he had to pay $860,000 for defrauding the former owners of two galleries in Virginia. He began drinking heavily to escape his self-made plight. He got into altercations at bars. He frequented strip clubs. He was slapped with a DUI. He even urinated on a statue of Winnie the Poo while staying at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, apparently as a drunken tribute to the great man of Kitsch himself, Walt Disney. As he was relieving himself he was heard to say, “This one is for you, Walt.”

Kinkade died at the age of 54 in 2012. He had been on a drinking binge while taking valium. He had left his wife and three daughters and was living in a multi-million dollar mansion with his large-breasted girlfriend. His wife and girlfriend eventually made a settlement and divided up the estate.

I feel sorry for Kinkade. His life was, in a way, Shakespearean in its tragedy. When it came to art, he did not adhere to the aphorism, ‘to thine own self be true.’ His art was a charade that epitomized falsity. He could not escape this truth. Artists need to pursue truth, otherwise they get lost. Kinkade was lost. Darkness caught up to the “Painter of Light.”

PABLO PICASSO, GENIUS

I first became interested in Picasso late in high school. My one and only high school attempt at sculpture was a bust of the Spanish artist. I was attracted to his use of color and composition. In his youth he painted in an academic style and quickly saw it as a dead end. That avenue had been too well explored by 19^th century academic painters.

When I attended college in the late 1970s, I was very fortunate to have had a terrific art professor: Dr. Otis Lumpkin. In one of his classes he encouraged his students to paint in various modern art styles including impressionism, pointillism, expressionism, abstract expressionism and cubism. Everyone loved his classes and his style of teaching. He was never pushy or overbearing. He had a deep knowledge of art and history. He had ready wit and inspired his students.

During WWII he was a navigator in a bombing group based in England. His plane had been shot down twice. The first time his damaged bomber went down in the English Channel. He was a proud member of the ‘Duck Club.’ Later in the war his plane was shot down over Germany. He was injured and German civilians gave him aid. His eyesight was also damaged and he was forced to wear thick glasses for the rest of his life. Dr. Lumpkin’s life was filled with fascinating stories. Like my father, he was born in 1924 and had five kids, but unlike my father, he took a positive attitude about his war experiences.

Otis was always smiling and full of witticisms. His laughter could often be heard echoing the hallways at Angelo State University. His students loved him. He appreciated all kinds of art, but he himself painted meticulous and realistic images combined in a manner that could be called surrealism. He employed an old masters’ style. Even with a large family and professorial duties, he somehow found the time to have a successful fine art career. He sold many paintings at a gallery in Houston. I met two of his kids who were also students about my age. They were smart, happy and well-adjusted people.

One assignment we had was to produce a cubist painting. It was one of my favorite assignments. I later sold the painting in a student art show. Dr. Lumpkin also helped his students understand each genre and the importance of combining emotions with intellect in artwork. He sparked within me a desire to improve and learn more about art. In college I took a lot of art history classes. I read a lot about art. One of my favorite books was a biography of Pablo Picasso.

I’ve never seen a Picasso painting that I didn’t like. He’s my favorite artist, along with DeKooning. I never stopped thinking about how fun it was to paint in the cubist style. I wanted to be painter even if it meant not having money. Instead, I got a job as a graphic artist at the local newspaper after graduating. Years later, in 1997, I became a self-employed commercial artist. I have Dr. Lumpkin to thank for my chance to become a commercial artist. He alerted me to the newspaper job and also gave me a recommendation.

Even though I wasn’t a fine artist, I never stopped thinking and reading about art. I would often see paintings online, in art museums or in art galleries and I would know quickly what was right or wrong with what I was seeing. In 2009, my wife Tina and I moved from Seattle to Montana. Our son Ian attended Rocky Mountain College.

We now live in a gorgeous area that’s close to Glacier National Park and Big Mountain, a world-class ski destination. Flathead Lake is popular in the summer. There are a lot of tourists—especially from Canada. Many of the art galleries seem to cater to those tourists. What I saw in those galleries were mostly clichés. There was the same wildlife and western art that has been painted over and over for decades. One gallery featured realistic sculpture of bounding deer, grizzly bears and cowboys roping calves. I’ve seen the same things hundreds of times and it had become downright painful for me to look at it. C. M. Russell was an authentic cowboy who painted original western art. The problem is, many artists living in the 21^st century are painting similar stuff over and over again and it’s no longer genuine. They’re painting what sells. They’re painting kitsch.

On a lark, I decided to paint a cubist version of what I was seeing in the western art genre. My first painting was titled “Cowboy Cubism.” The painting was seen online and it soon sold. It was the first cubist painting I sold since college. Some time later it was made into a book cover for a novel. This success inspired me to paint more and I have. I was accepted into a gallery in Bigfork, and although my work stood out and generated a lot of buzz, only a couple of paintings were sold. The tourists still wanted ‘official’ Montana souvenirs. They wanted lake trout, grizzly bears, huckleberries and mountain landscapes. They wanted Montana clichés. They wanted kitsch.

When my son was in college in Billings and although he was close to getting his geology degree, it was required that he take some liberal art classes. He took one that combined art history and painting. He had to choose one famous artist and style of art and try to replicate it. He chose Picasso. His professor was lecturing about the styles, including cubism. He was showing students work projected from his computer. He did a search for cubism and one of my paintings came up. It was my “Cowboy Cubism” painting. “My dad did that!” exclaimed Ian. His professor told him it was first-rate and that I should be able to get into a gallery in Billings.

Ian came home on a break and asked me to help him find a good cubist painting that he could copy. We chose Picasso’s painting of a bearded man licking an ice cream cone with a worm-like tongue. The intensely blue man was wearing a straw hat with rope-like swirls and textures. The ice cream was square at the top—not round. His ear looked like a tangled knot. His clump of bulging fingers had triangular nails and grasped the very bottom tip of the cone.

I explained to Ian how well the painting was designed. It was very well thought out, but it didn’t look planned. Everything in the painting had a purpose and it wouldn’t work well if certain things weren’t exactly the way they were. At the same time, there’s a lot more substance to the painting than just color and design. For example, Ian asked me why he painted the ear as a swirling knot-like shape. It almost looked like a musical cleft from an alien world. Why didn’t he paint the ear as it really appeared? I explained that this painting was not an example of realism. Although Picasso could easily draw the ear photographically, it would then contain very little ‘art.’ Art is not about drawing something photographically, even if it requires technical ability to do it. Drawing photographically becomes more about engineering than art. Instead, an artist shows his interpretation of reality or how he feels about it.

Picasso painted the ear the way he did because he wanted people to really SEE the ear and think about the ear as if they were little children again. Babies marvel at the newness of their experience and they observe things unfettered by past experience and ego. Picasso wanted us to see the ear as if it was being seen for the very first time again. We marvel at seeing such an ear. After people see that ear they may again see ears in reality as marvelous things. Every ear is different and new. Picasso’s art is about helping us become more alive. Those who may resent life are able to again see it as something wonderful. It’s about love. Similarly, the tongue darting on the square cone and the way the hand is holding the cone suggest a delicate delicacy. Picasso wanted us to ‘see’ tasting. The flowing tongue and fingers provide a nice contrast to the rigid triangular cone and square ice cream. It’s a intricate balance of form and contrast. If this painting had been done realistically, it would be forgettable. Picasso makes a common event unforgettable.

DeKOONING: “THE KING”

Humans are programmed to process information quickly and efficiently. Things we see every day are boiled down to equations and formulas and prioritized. They become symbols that are recognized on autopilot. For example, learning to type is a process requiring brain and finger coordination. This is learned by struggling and rote practice, but after a while it becomes effortless. The ‘robot’ inside takes over enabling us to think of the words, rather than getting bogged down in a hunt for individual letters. The same goes for many tasks in life including driving, brushing our teeth, playing a musical instrument and so on. The problem is, many of us learn to go through life on autopilot. Everything is done by rote and we end up sleepwalking through life. P.D. Ouspensky, a Russian journalist, traveler and philosopher once said, “When one realizes one is asleep, at that moment one is already half awake.”

Ouspensky realized that too many of us start living their lives mostly in robotic mode. We are put to sleep by day-to-day repetition. It’s easy to drift into a hypnotic state due to cell phones, the Internet, TV and the mundane routine of life. How many times have you automatically picked up your cell phone to check it for no reason without even being aware that you’re doing it?

We are often punished for taking risks so we choose the easiest course. People are more comfortable with playing it safe. This happens with art too, when the same predictable paintings are cranked out endlessly by rote.

Willem DeKooning was a Dutch artist who was able to draw photographically. After he graduated from art school he stowed away on a steamer headed for New York City. In the late 1920s, he got a much sought-after job as a commercial artist for a department store. His work stood out. Years later he was offered an even more prestigious position, but he turned it down. He wanted to be a fine artist and so he quit his job and started to paint. In the 1940s he struggled. He rented a run-down studio that was under-heated in the winter. His first one-man show consisted of black and white paintings because he could not afford color paints. His work didn’t sell. People thought DeKooning was a bum. He couldn’t afford new clothes. Sometimes he went hungry and ate ketchup soup, but he never gave up on his vision. Finally, in 1951, he was persuaded to enter a prestigious contest in Chicago and won. The painting was one of his masterpieces titled ‘Excavation,’ and it was purchased by the Art Institute of Chicago for $4,000. It was a lot of money in the early 1950s. DeKooning did not have a bank account and had to wait several days before the check cleared. His poverty was over. Eventually he became a multi-millionaire and was one of the most brilliant artists of the 20^th Century. With fame and success also came severe alcoholic binges. Apparently too much money and fame can sometimes have a deleterious effect on artists.

I first saw his “Excavation” in an art history textbook. I was mesmerized. I never got tired of looking at it. DeKooning spent weeks or even months building up the paint and scraping it down to achieve unique effects. The painting is complex and simple at the same time. The colors are brilliant. If anyone could surpass Picasso with color, it was DeKooning.

DeKooning could paint realistically and could have eked out a success early on as a fine artst. He could have made a nice living as a commercial artist. Instead, he stubbornly pursued a new path and at first it was definitely not a comfortable one. He experimented and took risks, and his great talent eventually brought him fame and money. His paintings are well thought out. His compositions are always sound and interesting. His colors are fabulous.

DeKooning was also the master of brushwork. He used a thinned down paint to achieve some of his effects, which can be seen applied on his landmark “Woman” series. These paintings redefine beauty and prompt the viewer to rethink the female form in the modern era. Each are a perfect combination of form, line and color. Like Picasso, his work doesn’t tire easily. This is key.

MY PHILOSOPHY OF ART

I have a desire to paint memorable images that do not tire easily. The problem with that is most people will not ‘get’ my work quickly, unlike kitsch. It takes time and effort. People who say they’ve looked at my work a long time really start to love them because they see something different each time. They are putting themselves into the work. It is an active, not passive engagement of the viewer. That is my intention. The human mind is wired to see patterns where none exist. People who look at my paintings long enough begin to see patterns that I have put down intentionally. They also may see things that I had not intended. That is good, too. It means they are putting themselves into the art and when that occurs, the viewer invests emotional energy into the painting. They are engaged in looking at art.

One of my main goals is to allow the viewer to provide their own meaning to what they’re seeing. The universe created us and if some find it completely meaningless, then perhaps it’s up to us to provide that meaning. Maybe that’s why we’re here—so the universe can know itself. Art and music provide a lot of meaning for me. When we can’t find meaning, we often turn to destructive things such as alcohol or other harmful activities that bring about pain to ourselves and to others. Those things may provide temporary escape, but they do no not bring about any lasting meaning.

When people tell me they had to look one of my paintings for 15 minutes before they ‘figured it out,’ it’s a high compliment. Kitsch is understood instantaneously. After that, boredom sets in quickly. My paintings may confuse and irritate some people, but at least in that state they’re not bored.

I want to walk down roads that are not well trodden. The realistic road is crowded and always has been. I sometimes admire the energy spent painting realistic things, but to me the more realistic something appears, the less art is in it. I feel sorry for artists who spent endless hours just to make things appear ‘real,’ without knowing that, in the end, they only produced something painful to look at. I can’t look at realistic animal sculpture, for example. I’ve seen the galloping horse and bounding deer too many times to admire the time spent on such things.

The impressionist road has also been well explored. Thousands if not millions of artists have painted in that style and while the original impressionists still inspire, there is nothing really new that can be produced in that genre. Too often, beginner impressionists mistake sloppiness for looseness. Monet had to develop a high sensibility to make his paintings look ‘loose.’ In reality, there was nothing about his work that was an accident. I know impressionism remains popular, but to me it is not satisfying to look at for very long.

I love abstract expressionism, but it can also be unsatisfying because it leaves out a certain amount of reason. It is strictly right-brained stuff. Cubism, on the other hand, appeals to logic and emotion and it has not been well explored. Many side paths remain. I’ve chosen to go down those paths.

Cubism shows many angles of the subject at the same time. It shows that reality isn’t just one perfunctory view laid down on a canvas. There are many angles and ways of viewing the subject. That appeals to me. I want to paint the different angles and motion. I want to paint the passage of time. Reality is never static. In one painting, “Sioux Chief,” I portrayed an Indian as a young man, middle aged and then in old age all at once. On another called “Gold Panner,” the pick ax and shovel can be seen woven into the background. A bearded man is looking down for color as he pans while he simultaneously looks over his shoulder for a claim jumper. He is at one with the gold-bearing creek. The smoke from his campfire is one with the forest.

These are the kinds of the paintings I enjoy doing the most even though they’re not exactly popular with the public. I realize general public has not looked at as many images as I have and they are not art experts. It is no surprise that the public prefers comfort and escape. Something difficult to do is seen as even more impressive. It's almost as if the art buyers want to buy detail and technical tricks by the pound. They want the familiar, but rendered in excruciating detail. The more detail the better. Detail in ultra high definition is best. That way they can be assured they’re ‘getting their money’s worth.’ Most people don’t want to have to think about what they’re seeing. They want to be told what they’re seeing, like watching TV.

In the Internet era, people want the reward with little effort. They want it now. Kitsch delivers that. I don’t.

ADVICE TO YOUNG ARTISTS

It’s my theory that kids aren’t drawing as much as they did when I was a youngster. My generation didn’t grow up with video games. We played sports outside in the summer. We went fishing. We entertained ourselves. If it was raining, we stayed inside and read books or played board games. Many of us played music or worked on art projects.

The ones who do want to become artists or musicians as a profession are going to encounter a lot of resistance in life. There is no shortage of artists or musicians.

My son grew up playing the violin and by the time he was a senior in high school he was concertmaster. He aced a lot of recitals and won many major music awards. He was an All-State violinist. He won a national music award. He was offered several music scholarships including one from Washington State University. I told him if it made him happy he should pursue a music career. He could not expect to make any money at it, though. He would also have to teach music to make a living. The odds of him becoming a violinist at a major orchestra were slim. There are thousands of violinists and music school graduates are endless. He decided to give up music as a profession. He majored in geology instead. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree and he now has a well-paying job in North Dakota as a field geologist. He still plays the violin for fun.

Artists have a slight advantage over musicians when it comes to making money. Humans are visual creatures and there will always be a need for designers, illustrators, typographers, information graphic experts and animators. Nowadays it’s imperative to know programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign as well as web coding. There will always be a need for commercial artists.

Fine artists are more like musicians. It’s not easy to make a living in the fine arts. It can be done, but few can. I couldn’t. I chose commercial art so I could support my family. DeKooning chucked his career to become a fine artist. He lived in poverty and dressed in rags. He sometimes went hungry. He was devoted to his vision and so for him it was worth it. The fact that he later became a multi millionaire was a rare occurrence. The vast majority of fine artists aren’t going to get rich.

So if you want to become a fine artist, it’s best to have some kind of job that will put a roof over your head and keep you from getting hungry. Jobs that pay well are difficult to come by these days, but even a low-paying job will work if you can learn to cut costs and go without. Art supplies aren’t cheap, but you can look for good deals. Living simply will be worth it if you love art enough.

There are some notions that I recommend you discard. Forget about becoming rich and famous. You probably won’t become either as a fine artist. The quest for fame in particular is especially deceptive. If you insist on becoming famous, you’ll most likely lose your vision. Pursuing fame often requires becoming someone else. You’ll end up producing the art of others in order to gain notoriety. It’s a fool’s errand, so forget about it. Fame may either show up or it won’t. Don’t go on an ego trip to try to obtain it. Produce art that is meaningful for you and forget getting famous and worrying what others think. If you can’t sell anything, at least you’ll still have that job to support yourself. The desire for fame can extinguish your artistic spark. The desire for money can also kill art. Art is more about meaning than money. If you paint for money only, you will lose meaning. Kinkaide found this out and ended up hitting the booze to at least bring about an illusory meaning.

Stop worrying about ‘being the best.’ Most artists will find out that there will always be someone better. Don’t let that fact deter you from being an artist. Jealousy is another distraction that leads nowhere. Expect negative thoughts and inertia to try to talk you out of producing your art because it’s ‘a waste of time.’ Do it anyway. It’s not a waste of your time. You’re doing something positive in life. Expect harsh criticism to rain down upon you from all angles. If you love what you’re doing, don’t let it deter you. Be happy with your talent and what you can do. Respect yourself and your abilities and realize that you will improve if you put in the effort.

Don’t fret that ‘it has all been done before.’ There are plenty of relatively untraveled avenues in art. Even if it has been done before, you have yet to do it. Put your own stamp and your own original mark on it. Take the attitude that you’re an explorer and try painting in different styles to see what you prefer. See what country in which you’d like to live.

Study art history. Knowing where art has been could help point you in the right direction. Nearly all artists in the past have experienced struggle and conflict. Even Rembrandt was poor. His students liked to paint coins on the floor and laughed when he attempted to pick them up.

Do not give your art away. When someone buys your art it’s a huge compliment, especially if that someone is not well off. There are thousands of other things that people would consider more ‘useful.’ Art is not useful except for one thing: It brings meaning to life. A price tag can’t really be put on that, so if you are going to sell your art, do not give it away. Respect your art and yourself. Offer your work at a respectable price commensurate with your experience. If your works sells, do not shower the buyer with too many words of thanks and appreciation. Instead, 'congratulate' them for having the insight and good taste to buy one of your best pieces.

Your work should be uniformly excellent. Therefore, the prices are roughly commensurate with size. Small paintings will fetch less and large paintings more.

Often higher prices for your work will bring you more respect. Much of it is about perception. Consider this: A painting with a $50 price tag will be off-putting. People will think it must be bad somehow. Something is wrong. Now think about that exact same painting with a $5,000 price tag. Even if the painting is mediocre, most people will start thinking it must possess great quality somehow.

I once saw a very good artist put her work in a ‘bargain box’ at a gallery. I cringed. I could see her plein air paintings were superior. She was an excellent artist, but apparently she was desperate to sell her work. Nobody was buying it even at bargain basement fire sale prices. They probably thought something was wrong with it. There was nothing wrong except the artist’s erroneous thinking. If you can’t get an equitable price for your work, do not sell it. Remember, you have that job! If you don’t have the job, then that becomes the priority.

Develop a thick skin. You can’t please everyone. Don’t even try. Please yourself. Critics can be harsh and even cruel, but it’s worth listening to them at times. Take any advice you see as helpful and discard the rest. That goes for art instruction as well. Life can bring a lot of outrageous slings and arrows your way. If you can’t laugh such things off, then develop a healthy contempt for it. You will encounter a lot of resistance externally and internally. Doubt and despair are almost prerequisites for being an artist. Suffer if you must, but don’t let it stop you.

Be proud to be an artist. You are bringing creativity and meaning into a world that perpetuates conflict and ugliness.

ADVICE TO ART BUYERS

Think twice about buying art because it’s inexpensive. Do you really want that cheap motel painting for your living room? Be careful about buying nostalgic kitsch. You’ll be looking at it a long time. Nostalgia wears thin quickly. Pretty pictures can easily become cloying. Some artists consider themselves to be magicians. They know painterly magic tricks that will get you to buy their work. Once you figure out the tricks that are used over and over again, that ‘magic’ doesn’t work as well and the images become tiresome.

If you’re the kind who likes factory-produced Bob Ross spinoffs, it’s unlikely you’re even reading this. Ross stole his shtick from a German artist named William Alexander. ‘Bill’ Alexander painted without pretense, whereas Ross was in it for the money. Alexander’s work at least maintained a sincere, amateurish charm, while Bob Ross taught thousands to buy his custom paint and stab it onto canvasses to create landscapes in a short amount of time. People remember Ross because he was less threatening than Alexander, who had a thick German accent and talked about using ‘mighty’ brushes and ‘showing no mercy!’ Ross was soft spoken and sported an afro. He was better at marketing himself. Regardless, don’t buy this kind of art. Art is better than that. You’re better than that. This kind of trite mawkishness is now seen everywhere and it’s bad.

There are many people with excellent taste who would love to buy quality original art, but they can’t afford it. Don’t buy original works in that case. Making a living comes first. Buy a print instead. There are many places online where you can buy posters. I bought a nice print of a Winslow Homer watercolor and got an inexpensive frame and mat for it. If you buy expensive art that you know is good, you might become resentful over time if you can’t make ends meet. Don’t expect the artist to buy it back. Artists are trying to make ends meet themselves. Art should not cause resentment.

Forget about buying art as an ‘investment.’ It’s another illusion unless you’re a multi-millionaire who can afford to buy the art of famous dead artists. I once met millionaire who had many well-framed paintings on his walls. Although I didn’t care for much of what I saw, I knew they were works done by artists of some repute. He liked having expensive works by ‘famous’ artists in his home, but he knew very little about art. He saw framed dollar signs. Don’t be that guy. Buy the art because you love it and like having it around for its own sake. If you’re a dog lover, you keep your dog as part of the family. You don’t see your dog as an investment. Art is the same way. Enjoy art in the present moment, not because you think it might be worth millions of bucks sometime in the future. If it does happen a hundred years from now, who cares?

If you’re shocked at how much a painting at your local art gallery may cost, consider this: Most artists in that gallery have probably spent a lifetime honing their skill. They’ve spent a lot of money on art materials and frames. Do they deserve to make a pittance for their efforts? Remember also that the gallery makes a large chunk of any sale and deservedly so. Artists need galleries to help bring in a large volume of traffic. Nobody sees the paintings I have in my studio and seeing them on a website isn’t the same experience.

ART AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

Nearly everything penned by man whether it be religion or philosophy can be refuted in one manner or another. Not so with great art and music. The latter two convey the meaning of life in an intangible, irrefutable manner. Someone once commented that Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto conveyed the meaning of life. Others hear it in Chopin. We can see it in art. Artists should be truth tellers who convey meaning that helps us to persevere in an unfair, unjust world filled with war and suffering. Artists and musicians play a very valuable role for mankind. --Ben Garrison, 2015

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Unknown Origin

Unkown Origin Here is the difference between Moot and Ben Garrison. Moot has never once asked anyone for sympathy, and I can guarantee you he's gotten 100x more hate directed at him than Mr. Garrison ever has. Ben Garrison, a self-professed Libertarian on the other hand, has spent many years threatening people with lawsuits for parodying his cartoons, which themselves are a sort of parody of politics and current affairs. Its really sad to see someone who has made a living drawing political cartoons which often times promoted concepts like the first amendment (free speech), anti -regulation, self-reliance, and independence become so upset over people exercising those god-given inalienable rights that himself turned into a sad parody of the very forces he claims to oppose, that he claims are threat to the principles of this nation. All you had to do was ignore them Ben, and while they wouldn't have ever completely gone away, the situation never would've ballooned into what it is today if you simply hadn't fed the trolls and learned how live with the give and take that is essential to any free society. 2:07 a.m., Saturday March 14 | Other comments by Unkown Origin

I get this same kind of pompous garbage all the time. They use it to make me 'the bad guy’ for their own sustained trolling as well as giving them reason to justify even more of it. How long are you going to continue this trolling campaign? Forever? Maybe YOU should ignore me and stop posting the sort of nonsense above. Let’s take this point by point, shall we?

• Moot allowed copyright infringement for 5 long years on his site. He’s not a stoic good guy. He’s a spoiled brat and an ignorant criminal who presents gore, child porn and death threats as ‘free speech.' 100x what I got, huh? Obviously you pulled that number from some unknown origin close to your backside. I've been attacked on 4chan nearly every day for five long years. You 'guarantee' it, eh? How does an anonymous shadow's 'guarantee' have any weight whatsoever? Are you moot? You suffered a bit and were called a few names and that makes you the hero? Ha!

• Unknown Origin is an anonymous troll. That enables him to adopt the bullying stance. He condescendingly informs me that I’m wrong and I deserve to get defamed and destroyed along with my family because supposedly I asked for it and I brought it on myself, blabbity blabbity. Notice how he hides behind his dark cloak of anonymity while stating this. Notice how he uses that same old cliché of ‘ignoring them and they will stop.’ This falsehood actually helps the perpetrators. It gives them rein to do what they want without any consequence. It is their shield that gives them immunity so they can cyber-bully people with impunity. 

• Parody is NOT taking my cartoons, changing them into hate and racism and leaving my name on them in order to defame me. THAT is libel. It is done with malice to ruin me. The trolls have stated that they want me destroyed. I’ve shown evidence to three separate lawyers. ALL of them said what the trolls are doing was against the law and ‘actionable.' Isn't funny how all the anonymous trolls are experts at the law...and they all say there is no such thing as libel and copyright infringement. Anyone can research this and see for themselves that they are wrong. The 2nd amendment is also essential to a free society, but that does not give one the right to randomly shoot someone else in the head with a gun.

• My cartoons are not parodies. They are originals. I am not basing them on the work of others.

• I don’t make a living from political cartooning. I make a living from commercial art. It’s becoming a more tenuous living due to the constant attempts to ruin my reputation.

• Free speech does not mean anyone can engage in silencing my free speech. I have a right to the words I speak and the images I draw to be presented as I intended. Everything I draw is defaced and destroyed into hate by sociopaths of Unknown Origin. Even a recent podcast interview I had? It was all chopped up and distorted to make it appear that I’m speaking words of hate—it too was altered into racism and anti-Semitism. How is that not abusing my free speech? Your pursuit of lulz does not trump my free speech. Laughter can’t justify what has been and is still being done. If someone called up potential employers and told them that you were a registered sex offender--causing you to lose work, would you laugh it off stoically as you strolled the streets homeless, jobless and hungry?

• I ignored the trolls for two years. They did not stop and it’s NOT my fault that this ballooned. It’s the TROLLS fault. Oh—but they are of Unknown Origin…that shields them completely from any responsibility for their actions. They are never held accountable for libel, defamation and character assassination, are they? These bullies are actually weaklings who are too cowardly to attach their real names to their own murderous opinions. No no no…they don’t want to catch any flak for their own hate. They want me to be targeted for that.

So, Mr. Unctuous Unknown, if you had simply left me the hell alone in the first place and drawn your own damn cartoons, you would now not look like the complete idiot and coward that you are.

Christopher "moot" Poole is a liar

Here is a rather big whopper recently vomited out on Rolling Stone...referring to 4chan's troubled young mastermind, Christopher Poole:

"He also complied with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which required him to remove content if a copyright holder objected (although he had cover if anything slipped through the cracks: The Communications Decency Act, which gives immunity to webmasters and Internet service providers over members' content, protected him). "

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/4chans-overlord-christopher-poole-reveals-why-he-walked-away-20150313#ixzz3UII3MJ2I

BULLSHIT! HE DID NOT comply by removing the INDECENT and vicious libel/ copyright infringement hurled at me in the form of defaced cartoons for nearly five years. I repeatedly requested that his moderators do so, and they replied with indifference. I sent them official DMCA removal request forms and I was told I needed to ask Moot himself. I did. I was ignored. He even admitted he ignored me and, in fact, he long ago sent me an email in which he accused me of being a 'racist' before I even knew who he was. And he knows perfectly well that I've never penned a racist or anti-Semitic cartoon in my life. I once even offered to send him some money to help him out IF he repented and mended his ways and started being more responsible. Again, I was ignored.

The attacks on me continued almost daily for over five years. My wife and even my son were viciously attacked. I'm not referring to the name calling, and boy have I been called names. I was called a Nazi mass murderer, a white supremacist leader and even a registered sex offender on your miserable 'politically incorrect' board--even though such puerile name calling had nothing to do with politics. What I am referring to is this: YOU, Mr. 'Moot,' repeatedly allowed a clear violation of the law: My copyrighted cartoons were routinely being defaced into disgusting hate with my name left on them while trolls claimed I drew them. I blame moot whom I've called The CEO of TROLL.

Did moot's hand-chosen 'mods' remove such trolling as a violation of their own rules on /pol/? OF COURSE NOT. The joke was allowed to fester and deepen and continue indefinitely, while I got the blame for merely complaining about it. When I complained directly on the boards, my so-called free and open speech was shut down. I was banned. Did they ban those trying to portray me as their herald of hate? Again...of course not.

This man deserves to be broke. I'm very happy to hear that. I'm glad to hear he's a broke loser because he's a BUM and he deserves it. He deserves to be ridiculed. He deserves condemnation, because he was in charge. THIS MISFIT ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN. HE ENCOURAGED IT TO HAPPEN so he could attract more trolls and jam a few more 'shekels' into his dirty, bugger-riddled little pocket.

Now we're observing how this immoral, weak-minded, pencil-necked, lying little twerp is gushing out crocodile tears and spinning the 'woe is me' sad lament. GOOD! I hope you continue to savor the sweetness of your tears as you weep deeply into your mother's apron. You're a loser. I hope your precious 4chan is finally flushed down the toilet into the sewer where it belongs and I hope you are flushed, too. Enjoy floating out to sea in a filthy Poole of mass sewage because that's what a weak little bum like you deserves for your years of pumping out immoral foulness at the expense of innocents. All because YOU encouraged anonymous, cowardly, sadistic and irresponsible chuckleheads to take control of your site. Free speech my ass. You were busy destroying free speech--especially mine--and now you are trying to claim the moral high ground while refusing to take responsibility. Pathetic.

--Ben Garrison

Johannes Brahms - Symphony No.1 - Wiener Philharmoniker - Bernstein - 1981

This is perhaps the greatest 'first' symphony ever written. Brahms didn't complete it until he was over 40. Great performance! Listen at the 38:44 mark for the sunbeam that shines through the confusion of the dark, stormy clouds. This is a theme that Brahms originally had penned on a post card sent to his friend Clara Schumann. It was a note of apology. The theme is first carried by the French horns and then repeated by a flute. It's a message of pure love and understanding. The rest of the last movement is some of the most happy, triumphant stuff Brahms ever wrote.

"Rogue Cartoonist, Internet Perils of a Citizen-Muckraker

I had originally intended to release an ebook, but now I will redesign it into a 9x12 paperback. It costs a lot of money to print it--especially in color, but I'll take the loss on it. I doubt I'll sell many copies, but I want to be the first published author in my family, so it will be completed sooner or later. The title of the book is "Rogue Cartoonist, Internet Perils of a Citizen-Muckraker." 

Here is a low-res version of the ebook cover. I still might do the ebook sometime after the physical book is printed. --Ben Garrison

Obama's Moral Compass

Barack Obama is using a Cloward and Piven strategy to bring about (more) socialism for America. He feels no guilt for violating his oath of office. He lies to further his agenda, which is to bring destruction to the Republic as we know it. He's also most likely a Muslim. He was raised as a Muslim and has often expressed admiration for that faith. He has bowed to Saudi Royalty. There's nothing wrong with being a Muslim, but of course he has lied about that, too. He has no problem using a stolen social security number or releasing an obviously forged birth certificate document.

Impeach this man.

--Ben Garrison

Where I get my ideas

People have asked me where I get my ideas. I do a lot of reading, for one thing. I listen to podcasts. Alex Jones inspired many of my cartoons because he often speaks using vivid metaphors. I get many ideas when I go on a daily walk. They often come in a flash. If I try to 'force' an idea, it never comes. I call it vertical vs. horizontal thinking. Artists use vertical thinking. Sometimes the ideas are somewhat vague at first, then they develop on their own in a random way.

Here is a case where I was inspired by a Star Trek episode, 'The Apple.' The inhabitants of the planet feed and pay tribute to 'Vol' who takes care of them in return. In our case, people often expect government to meet all needs and solve all problems, but in exchange people lose all freedom. The country becomes a banana republic. That's what the cartoon is about.

I have a cheap notebook in which I chicken scratch out some basic ideas. I've had many good ideas that have gone undrawn simply because of no time. I make no money from the cartoons and commercial art must come first.

Trolls such as Andrew Anglin claim I 'copy' a racist, anonymous cartoonist now known as Nick Bougas. It's a lie. Just because Bougas once drew a train means nobody else can ever draw a train? That's absurd. It’s my contention that Andrew Anglin is not a Nazi at all. He uses his silly, cartoon Nazi schtick as a means to troll. He knows hate pays and figured out he could make a living from doing what he loves best in life—trolling. That's why he drives hard to the donation hoop. You’ll see him often call his ‘troops’ out to troll various targets. When he himself is trolled he cries crocodile tears and fails to see the irony in his own hypocrisy. My lawyer said what he’s doing can be considered satire, but pasting my name onto A. Wyatt Mann cartoons and claiming I drew them crosses the line. He also publishes defaced cartoons which he claims are ‘originals’ and that is clearly libel. Again, I don’t want to censor anyone and they’re free to call me every name in the book. They can ridicule my cartoons all they like. Fine. I can take that. I can’t take them defacing my work and leaving my name on it and then claim it’s the original while mine are fake. If that’s not libel then libel does not exist. --Ben Garrison

The Federal Reserve’s Fairy Godmother

Janet Yellen’s job is to distort reality and keep people believing that the Federal Reserve is an egalitarian, competent entity necessary for stable, sound money. It’s precisely the opposite. The Fed is in place to empower and enrich a tiny elite at the expense of most Americans. Since 1913 when it was allowed to gain control of our money, it has orchestrated booms, bust and endless war to enrich and empower the globalist bankers who own the Fed. Most Americans were asleep and didn’t realize they were slowly turned into slaves via the Fed's debt money. Now that they’re beginning to wake up to the greatest con game in world history, the Fed is anxious to proffer a counterfeit reality. They claim the economy is improving and, in fact, that it’s doing so well that they’ll need to raise interest rates ‘soon.’ This is a lie. The Fed can’t raise rates without making the rapidly expanding debt even more unmanageable. 

Meanwhile, the Fed continues to pump money into the stock market, which continues to go so high up it’s ready to leave the solar system. Quantitative Easing, a fancy phrase for money printing, has never ended. The Fed uses that money to prop up ’their' stock market while claiming it’s a sign of a booming economy. Who benefits the most? The 1 percenters who own most of the stocks. The central bank owners themselves are already unimaginably rich and they are enriching themselves still further. The 1 percent controls 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. They own most of the stocks while middle class America is going away. Most are living paycheck to paycheck while the rich get fabulously richer. The Fed would have us celebrate that fact. In fact, half of the wealth in the entire world is owned by 1 percent of the population.

Thanks to the Federal Reserve, the rich are getting incredibly richer. For them, things are ‘awesome.’ Bear that in mind during tax season. Your taxes aren’t needed. They could merely print up what they need. The national debt is beyond the point of no return. All taxes do is help pay for your own enslavement and globalist wars to protect the dollar hegemony. Taxes are in place as an enforcement tool. They’re there to waste your time and create fear. The tax code is impossible to understand. That’s intentional. Anyone could be painted as a tax cheat that way. They want us all to be criminals. If you don’t pay, the IRS can take your stuff. They can take your stuff on a whim anyway. You’re guilty until proven innocent. They claim the Income Tax is ‘voluntary,’ but few will refuse to volunteer because in realty the government has a gun to our collective heads. It’s a police state.

The Fed is anxious to prevent an ‘audit.’ No need to pull back the closed curtain to reveal their vast landscape of corruption. Remember this the next time the smiling Janet Yellen spouts her fairy tale of optimism to an obsequious Congress.

—Ben Garrison

Racist and anti-Semtic cartoonist A. Wyatt Mann is Nick Bougas

http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/the-surprisingly-mainstream-history-of-the-internets-favorit#.afP5l97XLR

See for yourselves. Oh--and he also has a Jewish girlfriend.

Unlike Bougas, I've never penned an anti-Semitic or racist cartoon and I never will. Case closed. 4chan trolls are free to choke on the facts. --Ben Garrison

m00t gets the boot

Christopher "m00t" Poole is leaving 4chan. He leaves behind a wasteland of reckless hate and in my case, five long years of constant defamation and lies along with libel, copyright infringement and general apathy among his so-called 'moderators.'

Don't let the door hit you on the way out. On second thought, I hope it hits you with great alacrity. OH--and don't extend any apology or anything for using me to make your ill-gotten gains. I don't expect one.

Here's a souvenir poster I drew just for you, 'm00t.'

Update: This young man is also a liar. He knows he sent me an trolling email accusing me of being racist. It's the same email address he is using now. Confirmed. Also, he claimed he never received email from me and then he admitted he did, but ignored it. There's no way he can't be unaware of the libel and copyright infringement as well as defamation occurring on his most popular board for five years. He could have had 'trolling' threads removed. His moderators told me they wouldn't do it--I would have to ask 'mOOt' to do that. I did. He ignored me. Why? Because trolling attracts eyeballs and brings dollars into his pockets. He is the head troll. Christopher Poole is a contemptible scoundrel. His character flaws will worsen as he grows older. Mark my words.

Anglin the Coward is At It Again...

A troll named Andrew Anglin continues to attack me on his hate site. He is asking his followers to send out tweets using my face and signature pasted onto a long racist hate screed. This is a cowardly tactic from a troubled young man who claims he's not violent, yet he invents straw men to cry out for mass murder.

He does this for 'lulz.' I doubt he's even a Nazi as he claims. He does it for laughs and donations. His site is a cartoon of hate that appeals to those lacking in humanity and intelligence. He enjoys fooling people into thinking he's a Nazi--thereby profiting from his enterprise. He has figured out how to make a living from trolling.

Bear in mind that if you see hateful images and words attached to my face and signature, it's the work of trolls like little Anglin. --Ben Garrison 

ANDREW ANGLIN AND HIS "CHRISTIAN COUNSELOR" DAD, GREG ANGLIN:

A Salute to Free Speech

I saw a French cartoonist proclaim that for today, he was drawing for Charlie Hebdo. I decided to do the same and I call on all cartoonists to speak up for free speech and denounce the murderous radical Islamists.

Happy New Year!

I want to thank everyone who has supported and 'liked' grrrgraphics this year. We should see some momentous events in 2015 considering how unstable our dysfunctional monetary system is under the corrupt Federal Reserve. I expect to see a lot of trouble arising from this and I plan on drawing a lot of new cartoons.


My book is finished and it's currently being edited. I hope to have it released sometime in the next month or two. Meanwhile, let me again reiterate that I never draw anti-Semitic cartoons and if you think that, you've been trolled. I appreciate everyone who understands that I've been under heavy attack from Internet trolls almost since I first penned an anti-Federal Reserve cartoon back in 2009. The trolls blame it all on me of course, and they also claim I'm against free speech. That's nonsense.


I especially want to thank everyone who donated to my legal fund. Some progress is being made and I can't say what it is, but I want to see at least one of the trolls brought to justice this year for persistently defacing my work while claiming it was drawn by the 'real' Ben Garrison. Well, here I am. I'm the real Ben Garrison. (see video).


Happy new year from Montana!!!

Public Figure?

public figure

n. in the law of defamation (libel and slander), a personage of great public interest or familiarity like a government official, politician, celebrity, business leader,movie star, or sports hero. Incorrect harmful statements published about a public figure cannot be the basis of a lawsuit for defamation unless there is proof that the writer or publisher intentionally defamed the person with malice (hate). (See: defamation, libel, slander)

The trolls erroneously claim that since I'm a public figure they can do anything they like while the very core of their ruse depends on the fact that the vast majority of people have never heard of me. They know that many will unquestioningly accept whatever they see on the Internet as 'the truth.' That's the source of their never ending side-splitting laughter. The very fact that they're laughing proves I'm not a public figure and I certainly do not deserve such malicious attacks designed to ruin my business via ruining my reputation. Attacking my family is completely outrageous. My son is not a public figure.

I have actually received email apologizing to me because they really believed I was a racist anti-semite until they bothered to take the time to learn the truth. They would not have to do make such a discovery if I were a public figure. Of course, trolls do not worry about logic and reason. They are mostly anonymous. Some day, at least one of them will be held accountable for malicious libel.

--BG

Hating Trolls are Against Free Speech

Internet trolls continue to disseminate their meme that I'm against free speech. Ridiculous. I'm for freedom of speech. Hate speech is not free speech when it is LIBEL and infringes on copyrights. That's against the law. Trolls do not own Facebook and they should not be using it as a megaphone to cry for the murder of human beings. That's what they're doing in direct violation of stated community standards. Apparently some trolls are too stupid to understand this, but hate does tend to appeal to stupid minds.

Those same trolls ARE free to set up their own sites and pay for it themselves. Andrew Anglin does this with his ridiculous and cartoonish Nazi site. It's his nickel, so he's free to spew all the hate he likes there and we're free to ignore him. The problem is, many of the haters aren't satisfied with their own dreadful hole in the wall sites. Few people want to visit their ugly, boring hate hives. I say boring because they post the same predictable hate day in and day out. It's not only deplorable, it's dull.

They want to get noticed and make hate go mainstream. They want hate to go 'viral.' That makes them feel trumped-up and important instead of the nobodies they really are. If they can convince young minds through repetitious hate that it's somehow acceptable to murder groups of people because they're not really human (Hitler did this with the Jews), then we've got big trouble.

Speak out against hate on social media. Hate is censorious speech. Hate is tolerated as the price of free speech, but hate speech should not be endorsed. The haters' goal is to drown out reasoned debate on serious problems. In my case, their constant hate speech and libel has muddied the waters and compromised my ability to communicate. The trolls continuously forge my signature, deface my work and libel my name. The trolls are against MY free speech. Hate is against free speech.

ANDREW ANGLIN, NAZI TROLL

ANDREW ANGLIN, HYPOCRITE

ANDREW ANGLIN, PHILIPPINES

ANDREW ANGLIN THE PUNK

GREG ANGLIN AND HIS NAZI SON

We need to send a message

Time for Justice

http://www.gofundme.com/helpbengarrison

Justice is expensive and we need help in our battle against Internet trolls. While hate speech is legal in the U.S., libel, defamation and copyright infringement are not. I've been attacked by trolls for five years now--ever since I began drawing anti-Federal Reserve and anti-police state cartoons. They've also attacked my wife and my son. A cyber investigator has tracked down a few of the perpetrators and we have the evidence, but we need help with legal fees to pursue a case. We need to send a message to the troll community that sometimes their cyber bullying has consequences. If you can donate a few bucks to the cause, it would be much appreciated. I will continue to update the progress on my blog. --Ben Garrison

This sounds familiar

Max Keiser:

Maxcoin has a lot of haters. The thing about these haters is that facts don’t matter to them. Their purpose in life is to spread piss and vinegar. Most of these haters are blind followers of the “oh, it’s cool to hate Max Keiser” movement. They have no original thoughts or facts to support their negative claims. Indeed it’s quite clear that most of these guys are probably in their early 20s, have no meaningful source of steady income, and choose instead to live in their parents’ basements, sitting in front of a troll box 22 hours of each day and tending to their group masturbation hate efforts. They can’t be bothered to actually watch/listen to Keiser to understand his credentials because that would require disconnecting from the hive mind for 30 minutes, which might lead to their sudden death.
Read more at http://www.maxkeiser.com/#YMjPTqPhSA9yA5QF.99

http://www.maxkeiser.com/

Why the Stock Market Doesn't Crash

Why doesn't the stock market crash? The short answer: There is no longer a free market in America.

Every pullback is met with shouts of 'buy!' on CNBC and back up it goes. The market goes up despite the threat of war, a possible epidemic and lackluster performances of major companies (Netflix and Amazon are recent examples). It goes up despite high unemployment, lack of buying by consumers and abysmal housing starts. If an asteroid hits the Earth, would the market then collapse? Probably not.

Everyone knows why. It's not a big secret. The Federal Reserve keeps things propped up with endless quantitative easing. They may claim they are 'tapering,' but that's just a token. The Fed may talk about raising interest rates 'down the road,' but they are posturing. They cannot raise rates. The debt has become so massive that it almost transcends imagination. The debt level is nearing $18 trillion, with unfunded liabilities are $127 trillion (Source: Forbes).

Roughly every taxpayer owes over a million bucks. Raising interest rates would make the debt, which has already gone past the point where it could ever be paid off, unmanageable. Taxes would have to be raised drastically. The middle class and small businesses would, as usual, bear the brunt of that. Many global corporations pay zero in taxes thanks to our thoroughly corrupt system. Small businesses take the brunt. Raising taxes even further would bankrupt many. Many would be pushed to the edge into outright revolt. Maybe we should be revolting already, considering how crooked the IRS has become.

Ending the easy money and raising rates would crash the market. That would hurt those who own most of the stock market--the top 1 percent. After all, most Americans own little or no stocks. The middle class is going away and the poor are forced to accept food stamps in record numbers. Most people can't afford stocks--especially at bubble prices. The mainstream media are saying the unemployment figures are low and the economy is humming along just fine and dandy. Try telling that to a jobless college graduate burdened with enormous debt. The job figures are cooked by government propaganda ministries. Real unemployment is over 20 percent. Housing starts remain stagnant. Industries have been sent to slave labor overseas. Real wages are stagnant while the cost of food has risen. Too many Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are burdened with credit card debt.

Meanwhile, the stock market keeps rising, so the media are barking 'all is well!' All IS well for those at the very top. Especially for the 1/10th of the 1 percent. Those that control the printing press make sure the money keeps getting printed and flowing into their coffers. That money doesn't go to the middle class or small businesses. OH NO! It goes to the global banks and corporations who own and control everything and everyone--including Congress. It goes into the stock market and to the companies they own. They are doing quite well and probably hope that most of us 'useless eaters' just go ahead and die so they can enjoy their fantastic paradise of wealth in peace.

When will it end? It will end when the dollar loses its world supremacy. When King Dollar gets dethroned, then we might see some serious crashing. That's why there's endless war. Nobody is allowed to leave the buck umbrella. Certainly not Saddam. Not Gaddafi. Not even Russia.

It's time to end the Fed. It's time to end the sick plutocracy that allows a few at the top to get fabulously richer while most Americans get poorer. If we counterfeit, we get sent to prison. Those who own the printing press can do it at will and without accountability. Those at the very top definitely will not give up their private printing press without a fight. The Congress won't end the Fed. After all, both parties are largely the same and owned by the Fed. They're not on the side of the people. They're on the side of the central banks that own the Fed.

That's why we need a third party--the Libertarian Party.

--Ben Garrison

Tuesday update: The Dow continues to climb back up toward all time highs. 
Friday update: The Dow is at all time highs while silver and gold continue to get slammed.

Butt nut troll exposed

Trolls continue to ramp up their attacks on me. The troll who calls himself 'Butt nut' is so despicable and low that he has attacked my wife and even my son. He wants to destroy my business. He has stamped my name onto a vile anti-Muhammed cartoon and expressed hope that I could get murdered. Yes, he even wants me murdered. Why? Because he is a far-left Obama fanatic and he doesn't like my libertarian cartoons. He gets on /pol and pretends he's a Nazi in order to encourage Nazis there to pile on and attack me. He is very arrogant and he will never stop attacking me. He's made me his hobby. (Aside from growing tiny fruit trees. He also has a giant fruit blossom tattooed on his chest).

Let me say this again as clearly as I can: I don’t hate Jews. I don’t hate Muslims. I don’t attack people based on their skin color, religion, country of origin or their sexual preference. I’ve never drawn a racist or anti-Semitic cartoon in my life.

When my cartoons began getting defaced with words such as "Zog" and "Goyim" starting back in 2009, I didn't even know what those words meant. One thing I do know: I never received hate mail from Jews. The Jews I have met have been fine, caring people and they're the only ones who have tried to help me remove libel on Face Book—and they did that even though I know that few of them agree with my politics. They have helped me and they have done it for free. 

If you see a racist or anti-Semitic cartoon with my name stamped onto it, bear in mind that Ben Garrison did not draw it. 

--Ben Garrison

Ben Garrison Believes in Free Speech

Ben Garrison is a libertarian who believes in free speech. He also favors smaller government and adherence to the Constitution. While hate speech is legal in America, copyright infringement and libel are not. Those things are against the law. People have to make a living and when they are impersonated, defamed and libeled, their name and online reputations are sullied, which makes it more difficult for them to find work.

Hate speech is not permitted on social media--Facebook in particular. There are stated community standards. It's not a violation of 'free speech' when pages calling for the murder of human beings get removed. Trolls do not own Facebook. Nazis are perfectly free to set up their own hate sites and pay for their own servers. Those who do usually have a hat in hand--begging donors for 'support.' To get support, they need attention. That's why they stir up trouble and attack people for no reason. They are children stamping their feet so folks will notice them. The trolls gain some sort of sick, sadistic satisfaction from doing this, but most likely they simply want more traffic on their boring web sites. They want to profit from their hate. Hate is a commodity to them. They want to harvest the haters.

Libertarians are not anarchists, and so it should come as no surprise when a libertarian disagrees with the 'anything-goes-including-vicious-libel' trolls. Libertarians respect property--including intellectual property that is copyrighted. Hate-spewing trolls seem to believe that free speech means they can destroy whomever they wish by posting their 'memes' of libel. They claim a copyright is meaningless. There is no such thing as ownership. They think they are free to edit and deface someone's writing or artwork and then publish it on their site while asking for donations.

Their bullying and defamation is used for entertainment and they want to get paid for doing it. It's done with malice. How do I know? I've received hate mail asking me if my business is suffering. They want to ruin my commercial art business. That's malice. Those who say they can do it because I'm a 'public figure' are wrong. I'm hardly a public figure. Very few know who Ben Garrison is. Just ask anyone on the street. Nope. I'm not a public figure. Even if I were, it's no excuse to trash my reputation using obvious malice. Those who do want to find out who the artist Ben Garrison is via internet searches are now forced to wade through all sorts of disgusting rubbish posted by the trolls.

The haters are so blinded by their own hatred that they're incapable of understanding the difference between libertarianism and anarchism. Their 'philosophy' (if it can be called that) consists of anti-semitism, racial slurs and other ad hominem attacks. It's difficult to tell whether they're really serious about their philosophy of hate or if they're merely spewing nonsense in order to gain attention and money. The 'chuckleheads' also do it for the 'lulz.' (Chuckleheads is a word I came up with to describe them).

When someone rightfully tries to remove Nazi troll libel, the chuckleheads get very angry. They are crybabies when it comes to this matter. They scream, "Muh free speech!" -- even though they have no problem with trampling on the free speech of others by posting defamation and libel. They do not respect free speech. If given the power, they'd take it away from others just like Hitler did.

They're weaklings who have probably been hurt and bullied at some time during their lives. They have discovered that they now have the ability to easily bully others on the internet. They quickly spurt crocodile tears when their libelous hate is threatened.

The Internet Hate Machine

Trolls don't believe in free speech. They overwhelm and shut down reasoned debate and replace it with blind hatred. They believe in hate speech, which is a form of censorship. 

Far left socialists and far right Nazis and trolls of all persuasions in between are routinely defacing Ben Garrison's cartoons. They add in offensive racist and Jewish caricatures, usually drawn by an anonymous racist artist going under the pen name of 'A. Wyatt Mann.' These libelous trolls also stamp the copyrighted Ben Garrison signature onto racist images that Ben did not draw.

They also impersonate Ben by stealing his name and photos and incorporate them into hate 'meme' boxes in order to defame him. They've clearly stated they're out to ruin his reputation and his ability to make a living from commercial art. One of the trolls even stated that he'd like to see Ben get murdered. Ben's family has also been attacked.

Ben Garrison is not against Jews, Muslims, African Americans, Hispanics or any other religion or ethnicity. This is a battle of ideas, not skin color, country of origin or religious heritage. Ben Garrison is against racism, bigotry and libel. Ben is against hate speech on social media where community standards are clearly stated. By 'hate speech' I'm referring to those who want to murder people based on their race or religion. Ben is for free speech and those wishing to express their hatred are free to do so on their own sites and using their own names. 

Ben Garrison is for freedom and the Constitution.

Ann Coulter's Attack on Libertarians

Here's my latest cartoon I drew for the Independent Gazette. It is a honor and privilege to have my work published on real newsprint again!

Ann Coulter is a mouthpiece for the Neocons. She is the attack dog, er, attack horse for the Republicans. She recently joked that she would track down and 'drown' Libertarian voters. Ann is somewhat horse-faced and makes a good cartoon caricature.

Another cartoon I drew for the Independent Gazette:

Dvořák Symphony No 9 "New World" Celibidache, Münchner Philharmoniker, 1991

Hillary's Presidential Race Against Herself

It's Hillary's turn. The CFR, Bilderberg Illuminati and bought-out mainstream media all say so. You will see specials on TV about 'strong women' and you will be groomed to think it's "Hillary's turn." If you disagree, you'll be smeared as sexist.

I'm all for a female presidential candidate as long as she supports the Constitution. Instead, we'll get Hillary. She's pick up where Obama has left off. There will be more war, more taxes, increasing totalitarianism and crony capitalism. The top 1/10th of the one percent will continue to get fabulously richer while the middle class will get poorer. 

In short, the same shabby system will continue to be pushed down the road. The Federal Reserve will print money for their friends and the bought-out Congress will continue to rubber stamp whatever tyranny the president has in mind. 

Hillary doesn't deserve to be president. It's NOT her turn. There has to be thousands if not millions of people more qualified--male and female. Instead the media will drum it into our heads that it's 'her turn.' She'll be jammed down the nation's throat whether people like her or not. Polls and elections will be 'controlled' to make sure she gets in. After all, 'Her Inevitableness" has all the right credentials of corruption.

Shostakovich's 5th

Here is a great symphony conducted by a great man--Leonard Bernstein.

Shostakovich was admonished by Soviet 'authorities' to write a symphony that was not 'formalist.' They wanted something easy to understand. They ordered Shostakovich to produce such a work. Here it is.

This came after Shostakovich wrote what was perhaps his greatest symphony--his 4th. It epitomized the emptiness and heartlessness of forced Soviet collectivization, industrialization and police state of the 1930s. The 4th was written around 1936, but the premiere was cancelled. It was not performed until nearly 30 years later. Shostakovich heard it performed live for the first time when he was an old man. The 4th is like a great novel. It is filled with interesting characters and unexpected plot twists. It ends at first monumentally and then mysteriously and quietly. It is not easily understood at first, but gets better with each hearing. The Soviets detested such work and made it clear to Shostakovich that he must produce something simpler and instantly understandable--or else.

Shostakovich delivered the goods. It is perhaps his most popular symphony. The third movement was an elegy to the suffering of the people under the Soviet regime. People listening knew that and many were moved to tears. It is pure Russian poetry.

The last movement is also very Russian and easy to like. The finale in particular was especially easy to understand. After all, Shostakovich was under orders. Listen for the string section at the end. They repeat the same note over and over and over again as if to say, "There. Is THIS simple enough for you?" It was Shostakovich's way of showing contempt for the Soviets and yet the ending is still marvelous.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FF4HyB77hQ

Painting Sold

I sold "Sioux War Party" recently at the gallery in Bigfork. I can't tell you how good it feels to sell a work of fine art. I spent a lot of time on the painting. It was based on a watercolor sketch by CM Russell. I considered the work to be my masterpiece and someone recognized that and bought it. Hurrah!

The REAL Ben Garrison

I posted on /pol for the first time today. Yes, it was the real me and this is the proof. For the record, I, Ben Garrison, am neither anti-Semitic nor a Nazi. The hate memes repeated there have nothing to do with me.

It's good that there's a place for unfettered dialogue and expression, but all-too often the conversations are reduced to the lowest common denominator: Hate.

Hate is like a bar room brawl. Instead of having a lively discussion with friends over a beer, all attention gets riveted to the brawl. Conversation ends and hate takes over.

The hate memes must be repeated over and over by their perpetrators. That's why the same hate memes are reposted daily on /pol with mind-numbing regularity. The same 'Jew-meme' character rubbing his hands together is seen hourly. The same Hitler memes are repeated ad nauseum. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. Wouldn't it be more interesting to see posts that escape morass of hate? Hate is not cool. Hate is destructive. Hate is boring. You've been there. You've done that.

4chan is a disgusting snake pit of hate. It's a perpetual 7th grade hell of put-downs and lies. Don't expect it to ever mature.

4chan long ago surrendered to the FBI due to illegal content allowed on /b. It's now a honeypot to snare criminals. That's fine, but it's also being used to smear and discredit those who really do value free speech. Are you a blogger who values liberty and the Constitution? Are you against the unfolding police state? On /pol you can expect to be smeared regularly. You'll be called anti-Semitic and a racist. Straw men and ad hominem attacks are typical tactics used by the far-left who grab the spigot of hate on /pol and aim it at their libertarian targets. Anyone can post using the name Ben Garrison--or any other name. It's a free for all of impersonation, lies and deception. There's no responsibility or accountability there.

Never believe anything you might read on 4chan's /pol. Any so-called 'free speech' existing there operates at a very low level of consciousness. Stay away.

The Internet Hate Machine

Far left socialists and far right Nazis and trolls of all persuasions in between are routinely defacing Ben Garrison's cartoons. They add in offensive racist and Jewish caricatures, usually drawn by an anonymous racist artist going under the pen name of 'A. Wyatt Mann.' These libelous trolls also stamp the copyrighted Ben Garrison signature onto racist images that Ben did not draw.

They also impersonate Ben by stealing his name and photos and incorporate them into hate 'meme' boxes in order to defame him. They've clearly stated they're out to ruin his reputation and his ability to make a living from commercial art. One of the trolls even stated that he'd like to see Ben get murdered. Ben's family has also been attacked.

Ben Garrison is not against Jews, Muslims, African Americans, Hispanics or any other religion or ethnicity. This is a battle of ideas, not skin color, country of origin or religious heritage. Ben Garrison is against racism, bigotry and libel. Ben is against hate speech on social media where community standards are clearly stated. By 'hate speech' I'm referring to those who want to murder people based on their race or religion. Ben is for free speech and those wishing to express their hatred are free to do so on their own sites and using their own names. 

Ben Garrison is for freedom and the Constitution.

Meanwhile, in Andrew Anglin's basement...”Go away, hatin!'”

Trolls continue to hammer away at me and my reputation on Reddit, 4chan, Twitter and Facebook. They've even attacked my wife and kid. Yes, that's how low they go...there is no bottom to their cesspool.

Let me reiterate: Ben Garrison has never drawn a single racist or anti-Semitic cartoon. If you see my cartoons defaced into hate, rest assured I did not draw them.

For those who skimmed over what I just wrote let me repeat: I've never penned a racist or anti-Semitic cartoon. I've never hated Jews.

What I care about are the deeds of men--not their religion or skin color. If they do laudable things like Ron Paul has, I will draw positive cartoons praising him. If they do corrupt or downright criminal things such as what Obama has done, I will skewer him with cartoons. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin.

When my cartoons began getting defaced with words such as "Zog" and "Goyim" starting back in 2009, I didn't even know what these words meant. One thing I do know--I never received hate mail from Jews. The Jews I have met have been fine, caring people and they're the only ones who have tried to help me remove libel on Facebook--and they did that even though I know that few of them agree with my politics. They've helped me and they've done it for free. Freedom of kindness.

If /pol wants to collectively hate Jews, that's your prerogative. Leave the Ben Garrison name off of your blind hatred.

"Go away!...hatin'!"

Andrew Anglin, Nazi punk.

His dad, Greg Anglin, encourages him.