I am writing it down: Today is day #2 of Heroes Week at the NDD!
Irish Proverb
What makes a hero?
Is it the one who faces physical violence or danger? Indeed, those are the first we think of when the word ‘hero’ comes up. But perhaps heroes aren’t just those who are the victims of violence. Perhaps they are also those who are the victims of intellectual and creative oppression and persecution. Perhaps they are both.
One of the most well-known examples is Galileo, who proposed that the earth revolved around the sun. He was under house arrest for the rest of his life and his academic career was ruined due to the church’s opposition to his discovery. In spite of this he continued to produce scholarly material that moved science forward. He is today commonly understood to be one of the founders of modern science. It took the Catholic Church 350 years to say they made ‘errors’ in their judgment of Galileo.
Question of the Day:
Who are some other examples of intellectuals, scholars and artists who have been persecuted and oppressed only to have their work become creatively important to the world?
My post last week about Coco Larrain had a great response (you can read it by taking a look at the ‘recent posts’ list over there on the right). Even though the word wasn’t used, a theme emerged about her being a hero, which I believe she is. But how and why is she, or anyone, a hero? That got me to thinking and I decided to investigate the idea a bit.
Here is day #1 of Heroes Week at the NDD.
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I love this quote. It rang so clear when I first read it. I suppose some heroes aren’t cornered. They seek out danger, they train for danger, and they respond as trained when the danger appears before them. Firefighters, police, rescue teams, front line soldiers all train for it and yes, they are heroes. But even then, with all their training, they must at some point face that tight spot and respond.
Most acts of heroism, those done by those not specifically trained, occur when there is no choice. One must either act heroically or something very bad is going to happen or is already happening.
I read recently about the very sad loss of a family in a tornado that hit Woodward, Oklahoma. The father was found with his 2 small daughters tucked beneath him. They all died but that didn’t mean his act was not heroic. It just means it wasn’t successful.
Another example that comes to mind are the passengers on Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001. Cornered on a jet by terrorists aiming for the US Capitol, they became heroes by fighting back and succeeding in thwarting their plans, at the cost of their own lives.
Give your fellow readers some of examples that you know of – those who were backed into a corner and responded heroically.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who has had to learn many times he is not one.
Quote by Jim Belushi, 1954- not dead yet, American actor
Are you wondering why I am combining two series, ‘Artists I Love’ and the current ‘Breast Week’? Coco is the reason. She was the inspiration for Breast Week because she just recently had a mastectomy as a result of her second bout with breast cancer. Her first was 15 years ago. She also happens to be a life-long artist.
Coco – 1972 High School Yearbook
A Long Time Ago
Coco went to school with me starting when I was about 13 until high school graduation 6 + years later. She was one of a handful of people in school who were designated, like I was, as ‘the artist’. Turns out, now that so many of us are reconnected via social media, we realize our school (Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut) produced a prodigious amount of amazing artists, but back then some already had shown such talent that there was no doubt they were and always would be an artist. Coco was at the top of that list.
Alas, as often happens after high school, I lost track of most everyone, including Coco. I moved back to California where I was born and it made keeping connected pretty hard. It was long before social media and unless you called or wrote a letter it wasn’t going to happen.
Cape Cod
Fast forward many decades and my family is going on vacation to Cape Cod and Boston. I post a note on Facebook letting my friends on the east coast know that I am coming their way and ask them who I may know on the Cape. Coco’s name comes up. I connect with her after 30+ years and find, no surprise, that she is still a practicing artist.
Linda, Caitlin and I made it to Cape Cod and I was able to visit Coco in the summer of ’09. It was the first time I had seen her since we graduated from high school. She was busy with some commissioned paintings and contemplating a kitchen demolition and remodel. It was great to see her and her fantastic place.
Coco’s backyard
Coco – 2009
Coco’s Art
I also found that she had breast cancer more than a decade earlier and that she painted a series of self-portraits during that time.
Inner Child Prays – Self-portrait
Coco’s self-portraits – displayed in her home
The paintings are powerful in color and emotion, but diverse in feeling and depth. It’s like seeing someone they way they see themselves, a rare gift we don’t often get to experience. She does what the best artist’s do: she exposes herself with emotional courage.
Coco at Her Opening – Photo by Steven Specht
She also has done amazing work in landscapes, portraits, and collages. Here is a selection.
Landscapes
Above All Else – 2007
Kehoe’s Dune – 2007
Kehoe’s Dune – close up – note the hint of a home behind the dunes
The Painted Whale
Coco Larrain – Painted Whale – 2005
Painted Whale – in progress
Drawings and Paintings
Coco Larrain – Ishmael’s Wisdom
Woman with Red Gloves
Collages
Cat and Bird Games – collage
Moth and Apple – collage
Cancer
When I visited Coco found out she had breast cancer again. She faced it with the same incredible endurance and creativity she faced it last time. She embarked on a portrait series of her self once again. This time she is enlisting the help of a very talented photographer, Julia Cumes, to document her journey.
Coco Before Surgery – Photograph by Julia Cumes
Coco fought bravely but eventually succumb to the disease in July of 2021.
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To see more ‘Artists I Love’ use the drop down menu at the top of the page
With all due modesty, it is day #3 of Breast Week!
This quote led to way more questions than answers for me.
I don’t think the author was talking about actual the female bosom. I believe it was originally meant symbolically, not literally. But I can see the meaning being expressed just as well, even better in some ways, when it is read as if referring to real breasts.
So, with that in mind, here is what I think it’s getting at: A woman being immodest about her breasts is lacking noble virtues, otherwise modesty would reside within her and she wouldn’t be flaunting them. Is that what you think it is basically saying?
Here’s the problem. How do we know when someone is being modest or immodest? Can 2 friends on vacation wearing very similar bikinis be different in that regard? Can one be modest and the other immodest with the exact same amount of flesh showing? How would we know the difference between them?
The quote suggests you would know the answer by the appearance of the ‘nobler virtues’ in the modest person. My question is, What are the nobler virtues?
And finally, the ultimate question in this regard:
Why do we think skin equals sin? Why is the exposing of skin seen as dirty? Obviously in breastfeeding a mother shows her breast. If she is in public she might cover her breast with a blanket. But it’s also possible that she might choose not to cover, maybe because the child gets fussy under the blanket, maybe because she likes to watch her child nurse, maybe she likes the feel of the open air. Whatever her reason and whatever her choice there will be someone who feels it’s wrong, dirty or rude for her to nurse in public, no matter what.
It’s Your Fault
This gets to the heart of a persistent idea. It’s the idea that the woman is to blame for the actions of the man. It usually boils down to one thing, she showed too much skin. Whose fault is it if a man reacts rudely, even violently to a woman showing ‘too much skin’? In this persistent idea it is the woman’s fault. Why? Because you can’t expect a man to be able to control himself in the face of that much skin showing.
Self-Control
I, as a man, am offended by this the same way a woman would (and should) be offended by a comment saying a woman can’t control her emotions so she can’t be trusted in important roles in public life. The same is true with the ‘skin’ argument for men. It is not the case that men can’t handle it. It is the case that when men SAY they can’t handle it they are using it as an excuse for their own bad behavior. They are rationalizing their inability to have some self-control by blaming it on others. It’s not the ‘other’ who is to blame. It is the man.
A number of friends of mine are currently battling Breast Cancer. Many more have battled it in the past. I will address the cancer side of breasts in my artwork soon but in the meanwhile it got me thinking not just about cancer but about breasts in general. I thought I would do a series investigating how we use the idea and the reality of breasts in our lives; corporate, individual, commercial, political, literary and emotional.
BREASTS IN POLITICS
I thought this quote was pretty funny. Good wordplay combined with a strong political statement. And it’s an understandably alluring idea; that the key to success in a political endeavor is to bring in people who have not been properly represented and who offer a different way of viewing issues than the powers who have been in control.
But the truth is having breasts isn’t a good reason to vote for someone because having breasts doesn’t stop people from being boobs. In my home state of Oklahoma we have a number of women in power, and, in my opinion, many of them are damaging women’s progress in the world, not furthering it. Fair representation matters, yes. But having breasts isn’t the deciding factor in good governance. What matters is ideas and execution of those ideas, whether one has breasts or not.
But I do agree the boobs have got to go!
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Claire Sargent, former candidate for US Senate from Arizona, 1992.
I am going to make it fit because it’s day #5 of Marriage Week!
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What do you pay attention to in your marriage, what you have in common or what you don’t? How do you fit the circle into the square? And yes, I know there is sexual innuendo, duh. Talk about that if you want but it ain’t all there is to talk about, right? RIGHT?
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Drawing and questions by Marty Coleman, who likes bright blue eyeshadow (but not on himself)
Quote by Leo Tolstoy, which I mispelled first as ‘Tolstory’ and thought that would be a funny take off on Toy Story, don’t you?
Philosophically speaking, it’s day #4 of Marriage Week!
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It can be interesting and fun to be a philosopher, but it’s more fun and can be very interesting to be happy. Choose wisely. If you already chose and ended up with a bad one, give us your philosophy in one sentence.
Well, if it ain’t the bloomin’ day #3 of Marriage Week at the NDD!
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The Defensive Marriage
I am in the middle of a conversation right now about a friend’s defensiveness on her blog and in her marriage. Here is Monica’s blog entry so you’ll know what I am talking about. I found the quote above as I typed out a response and it occurred to me that defensiveness only comes about when you perceive an enemy.
If you are defensive in your marriage you might be perceiving a real threat, like an abusive spouse, in which case you are smart to be in the defensive posture. But what if you aren’t perceiving a real threat, but are simply being defensive out of habit? Perhaps being defensive in the face of a false threat might cause your spouse to respond defensively as well. And then what happens? Then you are no longer on the same side and it’s very unlikely that your marriage will blossom sinces it’s a pretty hard task to love an enemy, real or imagined.
So, the solution is to be vulnerable and not defensive. But doesn’t that bring it’s own problems? When you are vulnerable, don’t you risk being taken advantage of, exploited, treated unfairly? Isn’t that a threat worth protecting against? Yes, it is. But you have to decide when that risk of exploitation is likely or unlikely and adjust to that reality, not just implement a learned behavior of defensiveness that is no longer an effective response to your current life.
You have to be on the same side if you want your love to blossom.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman, who is preaching to himself, as usual.
