If you are observant enough, careful enough, curious enough, there is an entire world underfoot waiting to be discovered. It is a world nestled in ours but unlike ours—an illusionistic wonderland etched in chalk by Ann Arbor’s neighborhood “chalk man.” It’s a reality only visible to those who are looking for it amongst the jumble of the mundane. But in this world, if you are lucky enough to stumble across it, one rule remains the same as ours: things will not, cannot, last forever. Artist David Zinn says that’s the point.
Creative Outlooks: Questions for Robb Johnston and Rachel Nisch
Robb Johnston’s first book, The Woodcutter and The Most Beautiful Tree, tells the story of a beautiful tree and an eager woodcutter who would like nothing more than to chop it down (and hear his ax go “Thwickety-THWACK!”). Johnston created the detailed, colorful illustrations using watercolor, ink pen, color pencil, and acrylic paint. Described as “gorgeous” in a Kirkus Starred Review, the book was also named to Kirkus’ Best of 2011 list.
100 Indian Music Nights
Earlier this year, on the second Saturday night in May, the Crazy Wisdom Tea Room was crowded by 8:00. It was Indian Music Night. (Indian Music Night # 95 to be exact, but more on that in a minute.) A quintet of musicians sat in chairs at the front of the room, their backs to the windows that look out on Main Street. John Churchville, the founder of Indian Music Night, was warming up on the tabla (the traditional Indian hand drums), while Dan Ripke picked out notes on his acoustic guitar.