CThru.com Presents Tony Ward

Blackberry Self Portrait

Posted By Ed Simmons

Pride. Swallow It

That’s what its there for. I spent the morning, and some of my afternoon, standing in the welfare line. Thank you Senators, for your job well done! A lot of men like me, standing in those lines are not broken men, just angry men. I heard a lot of rude statements about illegal immigrants. Our Government got a lot of people scared of the Sewer Gators, I know illegal immigration is not our problem, we are a Nation of immigrants. What we need, what we want right now, is work! Its important to say, the people working in this welfare office, are wonderful people, they get it. They know the people they’re seeing these days, are only the effect, the cause, a dysfunctional Congress! It takes more than talk, to make something happen. Where have all those shovel ready jobs gone anyhow, its ugly out on the streets out here in LA. Not much going on, nothing much will get going on, until the banksters cut loose with some cash. Why in the hell would they, they make so much more money moving it around markets, they’re still playing both sides of the fence, for them. This is a thing of beauty, the perfect storm!

40% of this Country’s GNP is all about nothing, they aren’t producing product, they just continue the poor business practices that got us into this mess in the first place. WE THE PEOPLE, bailed them out once, don’t be fooled, all this crap is still going on! We need to clean house in this Country, I’m not talking about the immigrants. Who I’m speaking of, are the bastards, and the bastardetts, wasting space in the Congressional Hallways of Washington. I remember hearing more than once, first we’ll kill all the lawyers, we desperately need a cross section of the fabric of America, occupying the seats of Congress, people in touch with the Citizens they represent, the Common People of America, taxi cab drivers, carpenters, janitors, and cooks, our labor force and librarians, our fishermen and our farmers, people not beholden to the corporate scum! In their quest for unbridled profits, these corporations have sabotaged our once Great Nation, just think about this situation for a minute, tent cities, sprouting up, all across our Country.

I’m sure Congress would truly feel shame, if only they cleaned their Capitol Office windows. You know, this assumption I make, hinges on believing they have a conscience, with all we’ve witnessed through these troubled times, we all know they don’t! Christ, all I hear from them, is more tax cuts for the rich, I’m not the sharpest tack in the pack but I know, with the tax base eroded as it is today, any solution other than an increase in tax, is insane.

If I could just get a job, I would be more than happy paying double the tax, I know, I’d be bitching and moaning, in lock step with everyone else. However, as a result of these misdirected polices, firemen, police men, and our teachers in our communities now are loosing their jobs! These are the jobs that grow our society, the professionals that keep our communities safe! So I am going to reread the Secret again this weekend. I’m wearing out the pages in this book. I’m just a little worried the pages may turn to dust before this awful economy turns around! Here is the hope I can believe in, the November Elections are coming and all these clowns in Congress who’s seats are up for election will leave!

Artwork By Mikel Elam

Posted By Mikel Elam

I am getting sick and tired of the blatant attempt to undermine Barack Obama’s intelligence and leadership abilities. Basically he walked into a problem created by the previous administration. Everyone now expects him to solve every problem within one and a half years. I think it’s unfair and I know many will not be able to understand this next statement. Some of it is racially motivated. Probably coming from many who don’t think they are racist. It’s like the comment ,”I am not a racist, some of my best friends are black or latino etc, and yet these “friends” really aren’t so much in their lives.
The art represents Obama in a box. The box is getting smaller and smaller trying to squeeze the life out of him. People are taking shots at him. In this case it’s the splatter from paint balls.(I hope nothing worse ever happens) They take shots at him like comparing him to Hitler and calling him a communist, socialist……the list goes on.

Invisible One

So many forget he is a black and white president and he represents the face of real America in the 21st century. Not the confederate flag waving, wishing it would go back to the old days of whites getting to sit and Blacks standing in the back of the bus mentality.
Yes this country is in financial trouble. I am in financial trouble. So in fact I represent someone who should be angry with the status quo. However I recognize where the problems started and no one seems to be holding that person and their administration accountable for past actions.
Its an unfair practice. A selfish act of aggression without thought. Again this reminds me of the times when a person of color opened their mouth only to have a gun placed there to shut them up. Make them disappear.

Invisible Two

Recently I created a series of portraits .Men of color from around the world. I have entitled the series “Invisible” based somewhat on Ralph Ellison’s great novel,”The Invisible Man” who writes about living in a society where we co-exist with others who want us to stay away unless they need us for servitude.
Obama is a reminder to everyone we are not going back to the days of the settling fathers. And thankfully he is very visible.

Melissa Norbeck

Posted by Melissa Norbeck

Well, maybe we can just make a few changes. What is wrong with our country?
Quite a few things come to mind: two of them are health care and greed. The health care issue here in the US is ridiculous. Some people don¹t have problems with health care and health insurance, but many do. And so what if one man has insurance and can get his teeth cleaned every six months when the child down the street just died because she doesn¹t have health insurance or enough insurance. Why is health care the way it is? Greed, plain and simple.
The higher-ups care more about money and less about helping people. Sometimes I really feel things are so bad (war, health care, greed, violence, global warming, animal cruelty, etc… that the world just needs to end and start over.

I think it¹s amazing that we the people stand for as much as we do. Supposedly we live in a Democracy ­ NOT. We do have freedom of speech, but that can only get us so far. We do what we¹re told, and that¹s the way it is. I¹ve been saying for a long time how I feel we do not live in a Democracy, and, ironically enough, I just came across a new word: Plutonomy = an economy that is largely influenced by the wealthy; where things are divided into two parts: the wealthy and the rest of us. That is definitely America.

Pharmaceutical Research

It¹s a damn shame that people like teachers and cops -those who serve others and don¹t make much money as is- are taking pay freezes. When was the last time you heard of a CEO or someone who worked for a health insurance company or pharmaceutical company take a pay freeze?

R&D

America is the best country in the world but also the most corrupt. I wish
people worried about others not only themselves. To quote Michael Moore, I refuse to live in a country like this, and I¹m not leaving!

Zivile Pupinyte

Zivile Pupinyte, a self taught jewelry designer, was born and raised in Vilnius, Lithuania. Zivile Art jewelry collections are strictly hand made by Zivile Pupinyte and are one of a kind. Form, detail and different mediums are seen in her original and daring designs.

Pond Photos By Russell Underwood

Organic but not crunchy, sculptural but not weighty, asymmetrical but balanced – that is Zivile Art. It is for daring women who are not afraid to be noticed and aim for complete beauty.

The Purl Studios

‘Every piece of my work is a part of me. It is alive and will be until I am. It is wearable, live sculpture.’

Zivile Art

To learn more about Zivile Pupinyte’s work, log on to www.zivileart.com.

………It is with great pleasure that we introduce part 2, of the Zenfolio by Anthony Wood.

Image 15

Image 16

To learn more about Anthony Wood’s work, log on to www.anthonywood.zenfolio.com.

Jacobina

In our ongoing effort to promote student art we have recently been contacted by Jacobina de Rivera an inquisitive Art student from the public university in Queretaro, Mexico. Ms. Rivera has granted us permission to publish her recent correspondence with TW.

Posted by Jacobina de Rivera

Hi Mr. Ward!
My name is Jacobina de Rivera. I´m 19 years old, from México and I just fell in love with your work. It is just so clean, artistic and beautiful. I do not have enough words to describe the feelings that your work creates in me. I send you some amateur photographs, but I hope that one day you can come to México and, if you want to, I could model for you… it would be a pleasure for me…

I´m studying art at the public University here in Querétaro, México. This semester my teacher gave us some optional subjects and one of them was “porn studies” (or prostitutology) I really do not know which is the correct name of this subject in English, but we study all kinds of porn, and when it becomes Art. Yesterday, I took the class and we talked about your work… I had to search all about it on the web. I just fell in love with it… again… it is so artistic… every detail is perfect… I could spend all day watching your photos…

Portrait of Jacobina by Friend

By the way… I hope one day I can meet you and of course, model for you. Best greetings from a far far away utopia…..Regards!

Type O Negative Fan

Posted by Alejandra Guerrero

……….TW I didn’t tell you the OTHER part of why I took these pics, besides that I was feeling all pretty, the reality of things…. I was very sad that day because I woke up to find out that Peter Steele, singer of one of my fave bands, Type O Negative had died the night before of heart failure.

He Even Gave Me A Kiss

I’ve been a Type O Negative fan since I was 15 and I had a personal fascination for Pete, maybe it was because I found him so frightening that I thought he was sexy. He was tall, his long black hair, deep green eyes, kind of Vampire looking, very masculine and seeing photos of him in Playgirl magazine at the end of the 90s, he was proportional to his height, he was 6′7” ! He had been in my fantasies for a long time… I often Googled, looking for stuff on him.Better yet, I met him twice 10 years ago. The first time he even gave me a kiss! He was very nice and had this awesome dark sense of humor. I took some photos but they were ruined by accident processing the film. The ones with me… I thought then, I’ll see him again, take other ones, never did… 

RIP Pete, you are going to be very missed.

To learn more about Alejandra Guerrero’s work log on to www.Alt-Er-Ego.com.

Stick Figure Cartoon's

Posted by Victor Della Barba

……….I always wanted to do a cartoon strip but never could find a unique style. A few years ago I did a poster for an event with a crowd of stick figures. I thought I could develop it into something special. The challenge was to give “shape” and personality to stick figures and tell a quick, real storiy that really happened to me.

Stick 1

Stick 2

Stick 3

Stick 4