::: steve's notebook :::

Title: 'presence'

2026

“presence”

Tokue does not claim beans are sentient.

She is saying something subtler:

The beans are not conscious.

Yet they deserve attentiveness.

Relationship arises through listening.

In Japanese aesthetic and Buddhist thought, the world is not divided strictly into alive vs not alive — everything participates in existence.

So presence is not about minds.

It is about belonging to the same world.

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa.

Sentience asks:
Can it feel me?

Presence asks:
Can I feel it?

Crocker Art Museum

Art Auction Preview Party

View art & bid: https://bid.crockerart.org/

2026

BNSA Auction

Titile: A Moment

2026

Auction Bid Site:

https://bid.crockerart.org/auctions

Paris Collage Collective

Week 21 (May 18 - 24 2026)

Title: "cucumber mask'

2026

Paris Collage Collective Image Inspiration:

Title: Brown and black leaf in close-up photography

By Omid Armin

Unsplash

Website:

https://pariscollagecollective.com/

Instagram:

#pariscollageclub

World Collage Day

May 9th

2026

I received three pieces from my printer & framer this week. Starting at the bottom left corner, this one is heading to the Blue Line Arts for the Members show. Next to it, I've three venues that need art, and I'm still figuring out which one this will work best for. The upper right corner just dropped off at the Crocker Art Museum for their fundraiser/auction Big Names Small Art today. And the bottom right corner I'm busy working on a digital collage for the Paris Collage Collective, which is due in late August. Sorry about the mess in my studio -- it's just how I work! My studio-mate tells visitors that's what my brain looks like ... and so it goes :-)

2026