Since there is no specific space for visual artists I'll list a few favorites here. Pacific Northwest Artists - especially William Ivey, Margaret Tompkins, Guy Anderson, Morris Graves, George Tsutakawa, Helmi Juvonen, Philip McCracken and Clayton James. Other artists that I enjoy: Emily Carr, Eliza Tolley, Franz Kline, Georgia O'Keefe, Joni Mitchell, Joan Mitchell, Hans Hoffman, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec. Also Native American/First Nations art both historic and contemporary.I also like running my dogs on windy beaches. Anything hand-made. And a good cappuccino.
"Duke Ellington riding in the back of his limo, somewhere in Indiana. He is reading by lamplight. Billy Strayhorn is with him, but asleep. The tires hiss on the pavement. The Duke goes on reading and turning the pages." - Raymond Carver
People who get on with it, like Duke Ellington, even when there is no audience or their friends have fallen asleep. Including people who have seen the Cattle Call Parade, eaten tacos from Johnny’s Market, caught the last ferry back to an island, know that an umbrella in Seattle is a waste of energy, remember my dogs’ names (and forget mine), or know how to pronounce “Skagitâ€.
SKETCHES OF SPAIN - Miles Davis, SAILOR'S DAUGHTER - Celia Chavez, CHILDREN RUNNING THROUGH - Patty Griffin, SKY BLUE SKY - Wilco, MODERN TIMES - Bob Dylan; plus some Billie Holiday, Willie Nelson, Los Lobos, X, Joni Mitchell, Etta James, Sonny Rollins and Dwight Yoakam too.
Rather randomly... Anything with Marlon Brando. Cyclo, Persona (and most Bergman), La Dolce Vita, Jules and Jim, L'Avventura, Zorba the Greek, Solaris (the original by Tarkovsky), 8 Women,Blue Velvet, White, Claire's Knee, Contempt, Scent of Green Papaya, Repo Man, Four Days in September, Eve's Bayou, The Bad Lieutenant, Coen Brothers films, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Malena, Central Station, Paris Texas, Me You Them, 'Round Midnight, Breathless, Jaws, Open City, Mama Roma, Un Chien Andalou.
News or Netflix... that's about it.
Denise Levertov, Czeslaw Milosz, Raymond Carver. Tim NcNulty, Tess Gallagher, Joy Harjo and Gary Snyder are in my current stack too. Cormac McCarthy. Garcia Marquez. Carlos Fuentes. Octavio Paz. Sandra Cisneros. Chekhov.