This is one of the sketches I did of the Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant camp pre-raid — actually just 12 or so hours pre-raid. I’m trying to put together a show of occupy art at the Oakland and SF camps with the generous support and aid of SomArts and other galleries in Oakland. Stay tuned for more details there, and if you or someone you know has been creating art around occupations here (best if it’s easily displayed — drawings, paintings, prints, photos, etc) please get in touch.

A lot has changed in the last week. If you need to catch up, I suggest following me on Twitter, or reading one of these various interviews and articles.

My Spot.Us piece now has full funding, thanks to all who contributed. At least now that things are a little calmer, I can return to drawing. I was originally planning to run the first part on Monday, but I need some time to restructure and rework this thing before it gets going. I appreciate your patience. And hey, you can still contribute to the fund if you’re interested in buying original art — there are art incentives at $20 (field sketch), $50 (small watercolor) and $100 (large watercolor) levels. Thanks!

I’ve been working on this piece about Occupy Oakland since October 10, and it’s finally coming together — it will be a five-part series for Oakland Local and Truthout. From the pitch:

Could Occupy Oakland be a model for this movement — and how does it work?

From the General Assembly to the food lines to the self-policing. Since the camp at Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza first coalesced on October 10, it has grown rapidly to fill the plaza; and just as quickly, demonstrators have worked to create an infrastructure that turns this protest into a commune that welcomes a broad range of residents with a functional kitchen, library, media center, childrens space and their own camp security.

Occupy Oakland has not been without its incidents and backlash over cleanliness and mainstream media access. But as authorities are cracking down on occupation demonstrators across the country — and even just across the Bay in San Francisco –Oakland presents another option. So what does that look like?

Please pass along this Spot.Us pitch to anyone you think might be interested. I haven’t done the crowd-funding thing in a while and it always makes me itch. I think this is a worthy project, though, and I’ve definitely been putting in the hours. And hey, big spenders can get original art!

I was excited to wake up this morning to my piece “Appropriart!” — on Boing Boing! Back in August I researched, wrote and drew this piece for the Grantmakers in the Arts reader (with production help from the awesome Yolanda Hippensteele at the Media Democracy Fund). It’s nice to see it now has an online home — click through for the full thing.

I’ve spent a bit of time this week at Occupy Oakland, and I’m putting together a painted piece over the next few days, so stay tuned for that too.