J.B. Sommerset

You might have noticed that things are changing on the site. It's been a long while since I had the time to do any updates. I think now is that time. I am settled in the new digs, I am at one with the wild-life, and I have some time to catch up on a couple of things. Like I said, it's been a super long time since I updated anything on the site. Truth is, there's been a significant uptake in traffic and the old format is outdated and not working the way it used to. So here's the rundown of what will be happening over the next couple of months. 1) First, the site is going to get reworked. Not completely redone, just reworked for now. Google has migrated it's domains to Squarespace and we might be moving to that platform, not sure yet. I need to see how flexible it is and if it offers something that will make this process easier. 2) My gallery will be updated and old pictures will be removed, and new ones will be added. Also the stores that I sell my art through will b...

I must admit, I hate words like "influencer" and "content creator", especially with regard to the interwebs . The interwebs has changed so much in the arts, least of all is the dignity of true artists. It takes away from the actual title and what it means to be an author, artist, or musician. As an example, when you are a writer, it's pretty clear what you do- you write. When you are an artist, it's also pretty clear what you do- you create art. A musician creates music and a sculpture makes... well you get the idea.  Ad nauseam!   I do not associate " influencer " or "content creator" with   any specific talent or creative outlet, other than marketing themselves as such and convincing people to believe that's what they are. That being said, I also acknowledge that whether I want it to change or not, the arts are changing; a rebranding if you will. And as much as I hate the terms used, that is the future for a while.  I read a lot of ...

I wanted to share a little piece of the next chapter of the book of Sommerset. I have mentioned that I am moving back to the woods, I have also said that I am currently trying to finish building a house- it's pretty easy to put the clues together and figure out what is going on. I am building a home in the country. No, I don't mean big pickup trucks, cattle, and 40 acres of pasture with barns and fields. No, what I mean is remote, on a mountainside, and surrounded by forest.  This will be my forest stronghold where I will work on my art, my writing, and my web presence via satellite technologies (As much as I do not like some of this world's billionaires, I must succumb to some of the products they create- this time there was no way around it). So expect me to keep posting and updating. I will have a studio there, for both videography and sound. Hopefully, the youtube channel will gain some traction and I can post more and more of my art. Also maybe so collaborations, we wi...

It's been a long time since I put some info out there about where I am going and what I am doing. Well this time around, I am doing a lot... Wait a second, last time I was doing a lot, I am always doing a lot.  In this case, there are a number of updates I need to go over. The first is really neat. I am currently working on a hardback copy of Patchwork Indigo , It should be posted within three days, provided the proofs meet the requirements- so fingers crossed on that one. If it turns out nice, I will follow up with all my other books.  There's no way around it, the site is dated and I need a fresh new look, but digging around in the butt-crack of time to find some spare change... well let's just say, all I found was some lint. So it's on my to-do list as item number two. I have been working diligently to update all my art and find a new platform to host all of this. It's going okay, but there are things I want my site to do that don't come with most of the serv...

One of my favorite shows back in my twenties was a show some of you might have heard about. In fact, a number of you might have envied the hosts for the jobs they had. That show was " MythBusters " , one of my all-time favorites. I went into a post-explosion withdrawal when the show ended. For a while, I left it as dead. All the hosts were dead. All the experiments and curiosities were over. And no one was testing urban legends anymore. Times were dark. I didn't think about it much and just moved on with life. Then a few years ago I discovered that Adam Savage (one of the hosts) had a Youtube channel. I started following him and enjoying the content- he created a lot of strange and really awesome things. Jamie Hyneman  (the other host) was also doing his own thing too, although I have really kept up with him. At the same time, I became aware of an author named Mary Roach who has her own esoteric interests. Her work is great, but it's a different kind of literature. ...

Just a quick update since I have been so sporadic about updating the "NEWS" page. It's been few and far between the updates. The last one was almost 4 months apart from the previous post, which tells me I don't need a news page and that all news and updates will be posted here on the feed to make things simpler.  So some news for the site. First off, I am still considering changing platforms and making a special gallery page for the art I post. The current one is too simplistic and outdated.  Secondly, I plan to add a new section on the site for ongoing works where I will post the before editing and the after editing for some of my current content, meaning that I might post a paragraph in rough, rewrite, and final with the mark up for anyone out there looking to see how I do it.  Lastly, I plan to find new platforms for my stores and consolidate them into one place. I like the services I have used, but I noticed that the end products were not the quality I wanted them...

So I did another art.  This one stares into your soul, and not in a good way. It turned out better than I thought but also a lot worse than I thought. Recently I have been demonizing politicians, and a while ago, I posted several of the ones I have already done. Then I tried coloring them with " Krita ," one of my favorite art programs. I liked the results, and it was easier than I thought it would be. If you are in the market for a free art program (available on Mac OS, Win, and Linux), I highly recommend downloading and getting to know it... biblically- if you know what I mean.   Check it out... Cheers, and keep on creating.

It's been a long time since I posted an excerpt from my work. Last week I talked about a novel I wrote when I was a teenager. It got me thinking. I couldn't really remember much about it other than that I was highly inexperienced when I wrote it. Some parts of it were drafted when I was fifteen. It was finished, roughly, when I was seventeen, just before I graduated. When I graduated I re-read it. I remember how rough I thought it was. I put it down with plans to revisit it in a couple of months, maybe a year or two- tops.  I was really naive back then. Real life happened, and I never returned to it, so it sat there. Recently I have been thinking more and more about it. After my last post, I decided to fish it out of the literary locker where it has been chained in the dark. Maybe I've aged, or maybe I am as ugly as it is, but for some reason, I saw some beauty there, so I decided to post an excerpt here and see what happens.  I hope you all enjoy it; I decided not to leave...

Like many of you out there, you might have been interested in writing early in life but just never had the time to commit or get started on that novel. Well my friends, wine isn't good until it's aged. Some of the best stories are the ones that have matured, and only time ages a things in the right direction.  My writing career parallels this. I wrote my first novel when I was a teenager. I never did anything with that book, I just let it sit. Thank god! In retrospect, it was crap. The premise was great, the story was and still is original as far as I know, and the character development was also good. However, I didn't know how to write back then. I could loosely call it a "daytime television fan fiction" and that's giving the shite it's credit.  Any value was, to say the least, theoretical. It's still hiding in my desk in shame like a hunchback in the attic, hidden away, an abomination. I am so glad I made the decision to hold on to it. I think that k...

This week I decided to post one of my all time favorite authors. I've never posted any work from this author on my site- I don't know why either, he's one of the most prolific sciencefiction writers in history. After Asimov  there are very few science fiction writers who really make the cut. Most of the rest have been posted here; authors like Heinlein , Bradburry , Frank Herbet, and a very small handful of others.  But, there is one, who is more well know than even Asimov, not by name but by works. That author is Phillip K. Dick.   His is one of the most well-rounded writers in sciencefiction. I guarantee most of you have seen a movie adaptation of something he has written. Case in point, if you have seen " Total Recall ", " The Minority Report ", or "Blade Runner" , then you know his work.  With all that being said, I thought I would bring a short story here for a little bit of literary digestion. I hope you enjoy this one, it's called ...

So, with my posts, and time, growing thinner as we enter into the "decorative" seasons- yes I will be on rooftops setting up decorations soon... I thought I would schedule my blog time for early in the mornings and try and get some posts out before my house comes alive. Not all of these will be posted in the gallery because most of them are purposed elsewhere, but I will be posting them here on the site. This one is called "The House of Kerinth". I hope you enjoy it... Cheers, and keep on creating!

 Sometimes it's super hard to find the time to write or make art.  Over the last two months, my posts have thinned. As I have mentioned, I have a lot of projects up in the air right now—these projects are both personal and professional. One of the largest is the construction of my future home, even though the house is very modest. The construction part isn't the problem. It's the bureaucracy surrounding it. It's the permits, the land, and site prep. The county and country where I live has restricted certain types of houses, and also construction on certain types of land. Washington state has some badass energy requirements too (they really tripped us up). We're talking triple-pane windows and radiant floor heating to meet them. It's frustrating to jump through all these hoops so that I can have a nice little place in the country. Sometimes it feels like pissing in the wind- it will leave a bad taste in your mouth. However, I still want a place where I can write ...

I finally finished a new piece of artwork for the youtube channel. So, I am just going to leave this here for all of you! I hope you enjoy it! Cheers, and keep on creating! 

(photocredit  pradiptafelix  from reshot.com) With all that is happening in the world, (and all that isn't) I find myself time-starved. I am working on a few more projects than I would have liked- some of which I want to work on and some of which are in the realms of 'adulting'. Those things are what must get done despite how much I want to play. The good news is I got over a few humps this last month. If I listen hard enough I can hear two things; the faint cheering of a crowd somewhere, and the sound of the world's smallest violin playing. I am not sure which I deserve more. So, here are a couple of announcements for the upcoming months: Firstly, there is more art coming, and more youtube videos of said art being created. As soon as I can unpack my mic, some of it will have commentary and maybe some short stories, something I have wanted to do for a long time but never got around to.  Second, I am still working on my novels and will be posting some excerpts from them....

I love the cover of my last book "The Lost Pilgrim", but I always thought I could have drawn a more detailed picture for it. I went back to my old notebook and reworked the original image. I filmed it so all of you could enjoy it and see how my work gets done. Here is the video, and the finished image, I love how it turned out! Here is the video! And here is the image! Cheers, and keep on creating!

This one is something that shows up in my work from time to time, at least since I was fourteen or so. From time to time I draw it out and see if anything has changed in the way it looks in my head. There is a story behind it and someday soon I hope to write it down. This one will  not be in the gallery, it is going to be used somewhere else... Here's the video... Here's the picture... Cheers, and keep on creating!