How I grew....

My computer whiz second cousin, Dylan, is here and was able to put together this first time lapse video of one area of the Map. I am impressed! I hope that you enjoy it, too.

A clarification....

But first today's panel: S2/E14. More blue water and sandy beaches. Just like Northern Michigan where we live.

That HuffPost headline, "Man Spends 50 Years.....", and now a very similar one on oddity.com, implies that I have worked on the Map, non-stop, for 50 years. I estimate that I have averaged 20 minutes a day over 30 years. I stopped working on this project in about 1983, and it was stored in my attic until 2003 when my son, Henry, found it. He brought the box down to me and said, "Hey, Dad! What is this? And can I have it?" I got re-inspired and took up working on it every day.

So, at 20 minutes a day and allowing for my 20-year coffee break, I have worked on this for a total of 219,000 minutes. If I worked 8 hours a day that would come to
456.25 days or 1 year and 3 months. To have "wasted" 15 months of my 70 years and 9 months doesn't seem too bad.

Blue Water

Oh to be out on the blue water of today's panel, S3/E14!

Instead, I am trying to deal with all the Internet attention of the past ten days. It started with the reddit thread on August 10. There were almost 700 comments, and I tried to read them all. My general response is to say that I am planning to do an AMA in the next ten days. My son, Lucky, will be here to help me. Maybe he will be willing to type my responses. I'll keep you posted.

Then there was the HuffPost article whose headline made it sound as though I had been holed up in a cave for the last 50 years doing nothing but make my Map. That put me on the defensive. I should have shrugged it off the way I do all the OCD and autism comments on reddit. But I got caught in the web. I appreciate the people who always seem to come to my defense. They are usually artists who understand and appreciate the artistic urge and process. Thanks!

TCFF Tile Hunt

The Traverse City Film Festival is in progress, and the town is buzzing with filmies and foodies and beeries. Maybe there are som Mappies out there, too!

So, I have decided to have another Jerry's Map "tile" hunt. I'll be placing a lot of the 2 by 2 1/2 inch cardboard mounted "tiles" of Map panels in public places around the city.

Keep your eyes peeled for them! And let me know here if you find one.....

Am I alone?

I think of my Map as a unique work of art, but maybe I am deluding myself. Some people have compared me to Henry Darger. I'd rather not be lumped with someone who clearly had some faulty wiring. My wiring is intact (self-diagnosed) though the circuits may be complicated.

Am I alone? Do you know of other artists who have basically spent their entire adult years creating a single never-ending work? Made a highly detailed, open-edged, 2000 square foot painting? Shown this work in its entirety only twice in his/its life?

Another post! Another show!

Two posts in two days! Wow! I can barely keep up with myself......

But I digress. A week ago I was at an opening in a beautiful new art center near me here in Northern Michigan, and I was approached by the members of its gallery committee. They invited me to do a show there! The details are very pre-liminary at this point, but, once again, I will keep you posted. What we know is that it will be quite a large section of the Map, will be sometime after November, 2013, and will involve local students. Very exciting!

PS. The image above is the panel I am working on today. I found the watercolor-y feel of it to be very appealing and decided, for lack of anything better, to head this post with it.

ArtPrize 2013!

It looks as though I will be participating in ArtPrize once again this Fall. I exhibited a large chunk of the Map four years ago in this international competition and had a fantastic time. I'll give you more details once I have a firm agreement with a venue.

For those of you who are not familiar with this event, it is a huge (1500 artists and 150+ venues) art competition held each September since 2009 in downtown Grand Rapids. The project was the brainchild of Rick De Vos who also donated the $500,000 prize pot. This year the pot, most of which is handed out based on public voting, will be $560,000. That makes ArtPrize the largest in the world.

For more info, hit the link at the right. See you there!