Life in Common

@arthursmid.bsky.social

3026 Followers 12691 Following

Writer and illustrator in Portland, Oregon Open for commissions and illustration projects: arthursmid.com

Book cover of Fruit of the Sixties: The Founding of the Oregon Country Fair, by Suzi Prozanski
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has just received a report of her Prosperity Council, a group dominated by wealthy business people. The Council, perhaps unsurprisingly, has said the route to prosperity depends largely on enacting a series of tax breaks for wealthy households and big businesses. It’s heartening that in a message released to coincide with the latest annual increase in the state’s minimum wage, Governor Kotek reiterated her long-standing support for Oregon’s strong minimum wage law. It has had, and continues to have a measurable effect on the Oregon labor market, boosting wages for those at the lower end of the labor market. The lowest paid ten percent of Oregon workers (the bottom decile), earn about a dollar and a half (about ten percent) more per hour than the average bottom decile worker in the United States. Oregon has a higher minimum wage than most other states For more than a decade, Oregon has had one of the highest minimum wages in the nation. While the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2010, Oregon has been raising its wage. The state’s minimum wage is now $15.05 (and is set even higher in the Portland Metro area ($16.30).
To date, Hillsboro has given hundreds of millions of public dollars to subsidize data centers, resulting in higher water and energy bills, teacher lay-offs, school closures, and serious threats to pave over watersheds and local farms. A new estimate from Dirk Knudsen, editor of the Hillsboro Herald, indicates that Hillsboro has given an estimated $71.0 million–$75.5 million annually in real property taxes on active data center building shells and an additional $46.3 million–$49.4 million per year in tangible personal property taxes being systematically abated. In total, citywide tax giveaways amount to $117.3 million–$124.9 million annually. "As a farmer in unincorporated Washington County, the decision of the City to sign rolling Enterprise Zone agreements that extend for decades is extremely concerning,” said local farmer and plaintiff Jacob Roloff. “I have no electoral say in those representatives, and yet their choices will affect the funding for schools that my son will soon attend, as well as other county services. As I understand it, none of this lines up with the original intent of the program, and it directly affects me without representation."
A woman in a bat costume, drawing by Arthur Smid.
Towards a Post-Social Media Studies Petter Törnberg University of Amsterdam Richard Rogers University of Amsterdam Abstract For two decades, “social media” has been the master lens through which scholars have understood digital communication—an era defined by user-generated content, networked publics, and participatory culture. That era is drawing to a close. This paper argues that three interrelated dynamics are dissolving the social media paradigm: an algorithmic shift from social-graph-based to interest-based recommendation, which is remaking the active “user” into a passive “viewer”; the generative AI revolution, which is replacing user-generated content with synthetic media and decoupling platforms from any dependence on human participation; and an exodus from public platforms toward private, closed spaces. Together, these dynamics are giving rise to three distinct post-social formations: algorith- mically governed broadcasting platforms, semi-private spheres and micro-communities, and AI-mediated communication as a new media form in its own right. Understanding this transformation demands a fundamental reorientation of the field—new conceptual tools that move beyond networked publics and participatory culture, new methods suited to synthetic and ephemeral media environments, and renewed attention to the political stakes of communication systems that no longer require human participation.
Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter's Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T. by C. D. B. Bryan
Pencil drawing of human figures dancing. Made by Arthur Smid, 2003.
Woman places a lit candle on her altar and meditates.
Drawing of a man in winter outside a small house, chopping wood.
The Theme of the Week Funnies: Seven panel comic strip, 1. fishing bobber moves on the surface of the water, 2. a man tugs at the line from the shore, his little dog barking, looking out at the bobber, 3. the little dog jumps in the water, man yells "Jimbo!", 4. a crocodile swims under the fishing line, 5. man with knife wades into the water, 6. underwater crocodile wrestling, the man knifes the animal, a ribbon of blood in the water, 7. the previous six panels are color, this last panel is in black and white to suggest a photograph: the man with his small dog under his arm stands beside the crocodile hung by its mouth from a tree.
Black and white illustration of a hoary bat drawn by Arthur Smid. The bat hanging upside down from a branch, wings folded, mouth open, it looks up and toward the viewer.
Study of the face of a hoary bat, drawing by Arthur Smid.
Studies from photos of bats, three illustrations by Arthur Smid.
2026 winner: Habitat Conservation: Brown Pelican (California) by Ryan Kniss of Johnstown, PA
Black and white illustrations of hoary bat by Arthur Smid.
Black and white illustration of a Townsend's chipmunk on the forest floor. Drawing by Arthur Smid made using Clip Studio Paint and Intuos 4.
Townsend's chipmunk in a shrub, collecting berries, a black and white illustration made by Arthur Smid.
Study of the Townsend's chipmunk, drawing from photographs.
Study of the Townsend's chipmunk, drawing from photographs.
Study of the Townsend's chipmunk, drawing from photographs.
Study of the Townsend's chipmunk, drawing from photographs.
Study of the Townsend's chipmunk, drawing from photographs.
Study of the Townsend's chipmunk, drawing from photographs.
Drawing from photographs of Townsend's chipmunk.
Illustration of a Townsend's chipmunk on the forest floor. Drawn by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint and an Intuos 4.
Black and white illustration of anthropomorphic chipmunks based on the movie poster for Cold War (by Paweł Pawlikowski) drawn by Arthur Smid.
Townsend's chipmunk in a shrub, collecting berries, an illustration made by Arthur Smid.
Illustration of a Townsend's chipmunk on the forest floor made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint.
Townsend's chipmunk in a shrub, collecting berries, a black and white illustration made by Arthur Smid.
Black and white illustration of a Townsend's chipmunk on the forest floor--drawn by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint.
The good guy / bad guy myth
Luke Skywalker vs Darth Vader image. Text: Who invented bad guys?
Portrait photography: Charles E. Burchfield (1893-1967) American Born: Ashtabula, Ohio, United States of America
"Let my studio be hallowed by large adventurous thoughts; and a feeling of security and isolation from the banalities of life; by dreams, and bold imaginings." Charles Burchfield, November 17, 1933 A permanent evocation of Charles E. Burchfield’s Gardenville Studio was designed in 1998 to capture how it looked during the artist’s last years. In the museum, it is positioned adjacent to the galleries that are dedicated to his artwork in order to provide insight into his private working environment and process. Visitors are able to see inspirational objects, such as his stuffed snowy owl and samples of birch bark, situated within the modest front room lined with plywood shelves where he stored thousands of studies. As well, they can learn about the unorthodox techniques that Burchfield used to create his own style which diverged dramatically from traditional watercolor painting methods. For example, he preferred to work on an upright easel, building up layers more like an oil painter. Objects on view include generous donations made by Joan Albarella, Mrs. John Albarella, The Charles E. Burchfield Foundation, Peggy Richter Haug, Hyatt’s All Things Creative, Edna M. Lindemann, David Pratt, Hank Sontag and Horsefeathers Architectural Antiques, Harriet and Mortimer Spiller, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. Takats, Harold F. Truppner, Edward J. Wozniak, and an anonymous donor.
Anthropomorphic American pika gathering grain, after The Gleaners, an oil painting by Jean-François Millet. Illustration by Arthur Smid.
Anthropomorphic American pika gathering grain, after The Gleaners, an oil painting by Jean-François Millet. Illustration by Arthur Smid.
Pencil drawing of an anthropomorphic American pika picking flowers, a drawing made by Arthur Smid.
Anthropomorphic American pika picking flowers. Ink drawing over pencils by Arthur Smid.
Drawing of an American pika made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint and looking at a photo on a separate monitor.
Picture of a very small American pika next to a pile of grasses and flowers it collected, 62 pounds of food for the winter!
American pika collecting vegetation for their haypile, a store of food to sustain them through the winter. Illustration by Arthur Smid.
American pika collecting vegetation for their haypile, a store of food to sustain them through the winter. Illustration by Arthur Smid.
American pika collecting vegetation for their haypile, a store of food to sustain them through the winter. Drawing by Arthur Smid.
Half of the poster featuring beetles that live in Oregon.
American pika collecting vegetation for their haypile, a store of food to sustain them through the winter. Drawing by Arthur Smid.
American pika collecting vegetation for their haypile, a store of food to sustain them through the winter. Drawing by Arthur Smid.
Drawings of American pika, a study of the animal made by looking at photographs and using Clip Studio Paint, by Arthur Smid.
North American porcupine on its hind legs seated at the base of a pine tree in the forest at the end of winter, a drawing made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint.
American pika illustrations made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint and reference photos open in a separate monitor.
American Pika, a small, herbivorous mammal of the family Ochotonidae, closely realted to rabbits and hares. Illustrations made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint and reference photos open in a separate monitor.
MARIE WATT + CANNUPA HANSKA LUGER WOLF SCULPTURE
Cover of a book by Irad Malkin & Josine Block, titled Drawing Lots: From Egalitarianism to Democracy in Ancient Greece
Porcupine in a tree at night. Illustration made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint.
Anthropomorphic porcupine standing under two trees at sunset. Illustration made by Arthur Smid.
Anthropomorphic porcupine with a guitar. Illustration made by Arthur Smid.
Anthropomorphic porcupine reading a book at a picnic table in a park. Illustration made with Clip Studio Paint by Arthur Smid.
Anthropomorphic porcupine, a professor standing before a chalk board with a book held open in his hands. Made by Arthur Smid using Clip Studio Paint.
Anthropomorphic porcupine reading a book at a picnic table in a park. Illustration made with Clip Studio Paint by Arthur Smid.
Anthropomorphic porcupine skating on ice. Drawing made with Clip Studio Paint by Arthur Smid.