This one got a little weird, but it’s sort of striking. https://www.artpal.com/joeldhirst/?i=319328-21
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Reflections On My Last 5 Years
“Pretty soon my five years in the Senate will be coming to an end. On a trip to Mexico, the U.S. Ambassador was introducing the Senator and said, “Everything of any significance to the life of our nation goes through the eye of the needle of the Senate. So, it’s my honor to say we have a Senator in the house.” That was the moment when I think I first realized who the Senators really are — they are the guardians of our republic. Caretakers…” Read the rest here.
Tuareg Woman
The Tuareg are deep desert Berbers, who live in the Sahara. They have been there since pre-history, probably from days when the Sahara was green and lush. They believe that they are the original Egyptians who built the pyramids, pushed out by the Arabs to first build their Garamantian empire and then take refuge in the desert. They are matriarchal; the men are veiled. The tomb of Tin Hinan, their great queen, from the 400s, was “found” by the French in Algeria. She united the clans into the first great Tuareg kingdom. Their language is Afro-Asiatic, (the mother of six language groups, including the Semitic) and might even be the original. Their alphabet is ancient Phoenician. https://www.artpal.com/joeldhirst?i=319328-36
I also wrote a novel about the Tuareg and the 2012 civil war (which has since restarted). If you buy the painting, I’ll throw in a signed copy of the novel:
Haunted
Be honest sometimes you feel like this. You can purchase it here, if you want: https://www.artpal.com/joeldhirst/?i=319328-41
Sankore Place, Timbuktu
The center of Timbuktu is a flat sandy area called Sankore Place, under the Sankore Mosque which used to host the famous Sankore University 700 years ago. There, 20,000 people came from all over the Muslim world to study using the Socratic method. They have an epic library, 500,000 manuscripts from philosophers and medicine and astronomy to cooking and religious books. It is said that once a famous Islamic scholar came to Timbuktu to teach, but couldn’t pass the entrance exam to be a teacher and had to go to Fez in Morocco for four years of remedial studies before being allowed to return.
Timbuktu is now again besieged by jihadis, as it has been off and on for centuries. It is a perilous place to go, and very, very poor. But if you have your histories and your stories, you are never totally destitute.
You can buy it here, if you want: https://www.artpal.com/joeldhirst
I’m Back — Sort Of…
OK, some thoughts on a Sunday morning in Spring: here goes. I’m returning this site to public viewing. Mostly as another place for people to find my novels, books, and paintings, or to give updates. I took all my previous posts and pushed them to drafts, for now — save my two most viral (found below): The Suicide of Venezuela and There Once Was a Dream That Was Rome: because Venezuela’s suicide continues in its 3rd iteration and our dream of Rome goes on. Some day I may republish my other stuff, or not: I wanted something fresh. I don’t plan to write much; I don’t really have a lot else to say. If my words were going to change the world, after 15+ years of writing, they would have.
I did finish my memoirs. They aren’t published yet, but they will be eventually (I’ve started looking for a publisher, if you have any ideas or are interested message me). I’ve titled them “Uneven Roads”. They are my stories about epic battles against foes in the dark places mired in misery, hic sunt dracones. About my motivations. About what it was like to work at the height of the American world order, and why it failed.
I am still painting a lot, the colors bring me great joy. You can see them on the paintings page. You can buy them on the artpal link — if you want one but can’t afford it message me and we’ll work something out. Same with books. Those, I think, are my lasting works. When everything returns to dust and people have forgotten my name, somebody will stumble across a colorful old painting at a swap meet or a novel about West Africa or Armenia in an old used bookstore, thick with dust, and will think to themselves, “I wonder who did this?” And that will have to be enough.
Paintings White I’ve Been Away
I am taking a break from writing. I’ve been focusing on painting; the world is drowning in words. I want to see if some colors can make anything any better. My last painting was one of Chicago, trying to capture the Wells Street Canyon. Since then, I have gone silent. But here they are, for posterity:
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More Paintings While I Was Away
Still not writing much. But here’s some paintings:
Maria Corina Machado Live
Last time I saw MCM was in Rosario, Argentina during a Freedom Foundation event with Nobel Prize winning novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. Who would have thought MCM would go on to win her own prize. It was very nice to see her again, congratulate her for her award and give her the painting I painted for her, for encouragement, while she was in exile. She uses it a backdrop now for events and interviews — it hangs in the place where her golden Nobel medal should, which is both an honor and sad at the same time.
Joel D. Hirst's Blog 