They promise to cure all diseases, and usher in an Age of Abundance.

So far what we’ve got is a bunch of crappy videos and excruciatingly awful images, generated by the theft of artwork from actual, you know, living artists.

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Fun Art—Plucky Parachutists

“Come Together” , paper mache, 15’ x 2’ x 15’

It started small — literally. In 2015, I had a gallery show of my paper mache art at the Inez Greenberg Gallery, located inside Bloomington (Minnesota) City Hall, and one of the pieces I displayed was a fun sculpture called “All Fall Down.” About 36 inches in diameter. It consisted of five skydivers, mid-fall, all holding hands in a perfect circle. It hung from the ceiling.

The city manager happened to see it and thought a large, near-life-size version would look good hanging in a building’s atrium. Next thing I knew, I had a contract and a year to complete it.

Naturally, I waited six months before I even started thinking about how I’d pull it off.

The Method

For figures that big, I figured the old-fashioned paper-strips-dipped-in-glue method was the way to go; it’s both light and strong. My plan: build one body, then use it as a template for all the rest. Make the first figure, let it dry, wrap it in Saran wrap, apply another layer on top, let that dry, cut it in half, peel off the outer shell, and glue the halves back together as a mold. Efficient — but it meant all the bodies ended up the same size and shape. On the small piece I could vary each figure’s build to match its character. At this scale, I lost that.

The armature for the original figure was crumpled newspaper held together with masking tape, built up gradually into a rough human form with arms outstretched. Paper mache at this size gets sloppy fast — picture a large bowl of Elmer’s wood glue slurry, paper strips dipped in and slapped onto the form. The bigger the figure, the worse the problem: I’d apply glue strips to the top and try to work my way around, and everything would slide and drip before it set.

The Sex Swing

I complained to my wife that I had no way to work all sides of the figure without flipping it and ruining what I’d already done. She joked that I should put it on a sex swing.

I laughed — and then realized she was right.

I had a stack of foam ‘pool noodles’ lying around (left over from another crazy project), so I quickly rigged up a hammock out of them and hung it from the rafters in my basement. Now I could rotate the figure freely, adjust its position, work every angle without losing earlier layers. It looked deeply strange — spread-eagle bodies hanging from the rafters of my basement. Strange enough that when a repairman came down to check the water heater, he had to be warned in advance that there might be something odd down there in my “dungeon.”

Finishing the Figures

One by one, the figures took shape. Once the bodies were built, I sculpted individual faces for each and painted them after drying. I was still bothered that they were all built off the same mold — same body, same proportions — but by then, time was running out and there was no going back to vary the sizes.

I made a couple of trips to haul the finished figures to City Hall, laying them out on the floor just below where they’d eventually hang. Luckily my size guesstimate was correct.

Finally the appointed day for the installers arrived. I watched them hoist the figures skyward and lock them into place. One figure was placed on its own, to suggest that the parachutist circle was indeed ‘coming together’…. a nice motto for our citizens.

“Come Together” was installed at the Bloomington Center for the Arts in 2015, about a year after my Cartoonival exhibition that June and July.

Where They Landed

I’m happy with how they turned out, and I try not to second-guess what I could’ve/should’ve done differently. People seem to genuinely enjoy them. Kids especially love the parachute guys. I’ve heard that when school groups come through, the art, music, or theater kids will sometimes lie on the floor in a circle right beneath them. And one Halloween, a group of government center employees dressed up as the parachute guys — which might be the single most flattering thing that’s ever happened to one of my pieces.

Now if only the staff would dust them off now and then.

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Now’s the time to pull that ripcord and subscribe!

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Reminder—September 1 we announce the winner of this month’s giveaway sculpture, “Rhino and Friends”. All paid subscribers are automatically entered in the contest. I’m giving these to express my deep appreciation for everyone’s generous support. I’m humbled and energized by the level of enthusiasm for my cartoons.

I’m only here because you are.

The dumbest trade war in history.

Could you expect anything less?

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Fun Art—Axolotls!

What the heck is an axolotl? Until two years ago, I had never heard of the little buggers. These are strange little amphibian salamanders first found in the highland streams of Mexico. And for some reason they’ve became extremely popular among kids ages 6 to 12. One of them being my grandson.

So of course I made him some. A lot of them, actually. His dad attached them all over his bedroom walls, which isn’t creepy at all because they’re cute as can be.

Now I see them everywhere. Books, t-shirts, backpacks, stationery, animated characters. They’re having their moment, which is good because they’re an endangered species. Save the axolotls!

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Slither on down to the subscribe button, and do an axolotl dance on it.

One week until this fellow gets a new home. All paid subscribers are eligible. Winner will be announced September 1.

Thanks for taking a look at my art. I’m only here because you are.

Natalie Harp, Trump’s 35-year-old “executive and special assistant“, has become his human printer, social-media stenographer and full-time enabler—feeding him flattering articles, taking dictation and helping manage the late-night Truth Social sewage pipe. Reports say she has extraordinary control over what reaches him and what goes out under his name. That feed has included conspiracy theories, vicious personal attacks and, in February, a racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. The White House initially blamed a staff error; Trump later acknowledged approving the post while claiming he hadn’t watched the offensive ending. In other words, Harp appears to have landed one of Washington’s strangest jobs: making sure every presidential impulse has immediate access to the “Post” button.

The Dept of Homeland Security has a new toy for their creepy ICE crew. Up to 20 million dollars may be budgeted for new torture “shock gloves”. They supposedly leave no marks. Or evidence, if misused.

Is there any atrocity this crowd is unwilling to embrace?

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Fun Art—Freddy’s Kitty Cat

“Fat Freddy’s Cat”, air dry clay, 5” x 8” x 6”

The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers were three gloriously disreputable hippies devoted to getting high, avoiding work, dodging cops and surviving their own terrible decisions.

Gilbert Shelton created them in the late 1960s, and they became underground-comics royalty—filthy, political, anarchic, and very funny, with Fat Freddy’s Cat often threatening to steal the whole show.

I generally don’t like drawing or sculpting other artists’ characters. Whenever I visited classrooms, kids would inevitably ask me to draw Spider-Man, SpongeBob SquarePants, or some Pokémon character I’d never heard of. I always preferred making up my own.

But here’s an exception. When I was in college, there was a lovely coed I was trying very hard to impress…. We were both Freak Brothers fans, and she was especially fond of one of the characters. So naturally, I made her a little sculpture out of air-dry clay.

More than 50 years later, the sculpture is a little worse for wear—paws snapped off, nose broken, several major sessions with Elmer’s glue.

But it served its purpose; she married me.

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Get your freak on, man, and subscribe!

We’re more than halfway through the month, barreling toward our September 1 sculpture giveaway. This time the prize is “Rhino and Friends”. Wouldn’t you love this adorable rhinoceros on your shelf?

As usual, the winner will be chosen from the list of paid subscribers to The Art of Sack. If that’s you, you’re automatically entered.

Thanks for moseying on down. I’m only here because you are.

Three or four weeks, he promised, for Iran. Unconditional surrender.

Is anyone surprised?

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Fun Art—A Lotta Giraffe

“Baby Giraffe, pastel, 96” x 36”

My one and only pastel drawing. I was always kind of intimidated by pastel. Too messy for my smudgy nature. So of course I had to go to extremes and buy a big roll of drawing paper for my first attempt. Then I realized I’d have to draw this on the floor, so it was messy AND uncomfortable.

I showed this in a gallery. Unsurprisingly it went unsold—who’d even have wallspace for something like this? So it’s rolled up and tucked in a corner of my basement, probably never to be displayed again.

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Thank you for checking in. I’m only here because you are.

Smile, you’re on Candid Camera! Except the camera belongs to Flock Safety, it’s mounted on a pole, it reads your license plate, logs when and where you drove by, and may share that information with law enforcement agencies you’ve never heard of. Welcome to the age of “public safety,” where hi-tech nanny-cams follow your every move. Flock calls it crime-fighting technology. I call it a neighborhood watch program where the neighborhood is watching you. The old Candid Camera show at least had the decency to tell you afterward that you were on TV.

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Fun Art—Space Tourists

“Galaxy 76231900-H”, charcoal pencil on toned paper, 12” x 20”

Another pointless project. I was just in the mood to draw and had some nice toned paper. I decided on a series of astronauts on holiday having picnics, taking snapshots. Six images in all. Weird creatures and environments. These are the lone survivors; the other drawings got lost somewhere in my mess.

This is the first time anyone besides me has seen these. Why did I spend all that time making art that had no reason or destination?

Fish gotta swim.

“Galaxy 792-yumyum-B”, charcoal pencil on toned paper, 12” x 20”

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I’d be over the moon (or planetoid) if you’d subscribe. I’m only here because you are.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was better as a Fox News weekend anchor. And that isn’t saying much.

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Fun Art—Cannon Man

‘

“Ready…Aim…” , paper mache, 12” x 8” x 6”

A fun little daredevil. He seems pretty confident. At least HE never ran out of ammo.

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Use your drones, missiles, and cannon balls, and take aim at that subscribe button!

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Isn’t this wonderful? Sculpture winner Karen F sent it to show me how she's displaying her prize. It’s a Donald J Trump penitentiary!

I love it. Thanks Karen.

Thanks everyone so kindly with super groovy good vibes for checking out my stuff. I’m only here because you are.

Data centers are today’s version of the smokestack factory—minus the smoke. They consume staggering amounts of electricity and water, generate relatively few jobs, and leave nearby residents wondering why they traded open fields for a giant beige box full of somebody else’s selfies and AI generated homework.

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Fun Art—Mystery Bust

Take a look at this bust.

It looks like a high school art project.

That’s because it WAS a high school art project.

I made it in art class at Henry Sibley High School more than 50 years ago. It wasn’t supposed to be anybody in particular — just some random guy wearing a hat. Somewhere over the years the brim snapped off, which probably improved it.

The interesting thing isn’t the sculpture. It’s what happened to it.

After I finished it, I put it in the kiln room with all the other student work to be fired the next day. I couldn’t wait to see how it turned out. The next day it was gone.

Stolen. Misplaced. Swept into oblivion by an overzealous custodian? I never found out. I shrugged, made another project, and eventually forgot all about it.

Fast-forward about twenty years.

By then I’d already been drawing editorial cartoons at the Star Tribune for two decades. One afternoon the mailroom called and said there was a heavy package waiting for me.

I hauled the box upstairs, opened it, and there it was.

My ugly little sculpture.

Inside was a handwritten letter. The writer confessed that he had stolen the bust from the kiln room all those years earlier. He’d taken it home as a teenager, kept it for two decades, and finally decided his conscience had had enough. He apologized, packed it up, tracked me down through the newspaper, and mailed it back.

I was only halfway through reading the letter when I looked up and found two Star Tribune security guards standing in my office doorway. They politely informed me they needed the sculpture, the box, and the letter.

This was late 2001 or early 2002, in the tense months following the September 11 attacks. Everyone was on edge. Just weeks after 9/11, a British man named Richard Reid — the infamous “shoe bomber” — had tried to blow up an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes. Fortunately, passengers and the crew subdued him before he could succeed. He was later convicted and is serving a life sentence without parole. His failed attack led to the airport ritual we’ve all endured for years: taking off our shoes before going through security.

Apparently that heightened vigilance extended all the way to the Star Tribune mailroom.

The guards wanted to X-ray everything to make sure the mysterious package wasn’t hiding anything more dangerous than bad pottery.

Fair enough. The next day they returned the sculpture.eUnfortunately, they had thrown away the box.

And the letter.

Along with it went the sender’s name and return address.

I’ve looked through old Henry Sibley yearbooks more than once, trying to guess who might have taken it. Maybe it was someone from my art class.

So for the last twenty-plus years, this homely little bust has sat on a shelf in my studio, still carrying one unanswered question.

Who sent it back?

If you’re reading this, Mystery Thief, give me a call. All is forgiven. Then I can finally throw this ugly thing away.

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Please subscribe. And don’t wait 20 years to do it.

‘Sleepy Joe Biden”, he said.

Riiiiight.

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Fun Art—Colicky Kid

“waaaaaaaaah!!!”, 3D resin, 4” x 6” x 5“

Isn’t this guy a cutie? I thought someone might use this as a cake topper for a baby shower. It’s based on a pillow I designed years earlier:

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Hush, little baby, don’t say a word…just subscribe!

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Once again, thanks for stopping by. I’m only here because you are.

Big congratulations to our latest paid subscriber raffle winner Karen F of Waverly, Minnesota.

Karen has been notified of her win of this limited-edition, original resin sculpture of “FOTUS” (Felon Of The United States), and shipping arrangements have been made. This repulsive li’l criminal is hand-painted in his orange prison jumpsuit, complete with ball and chain.

We can dream, can’t we?

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There will be more Trump ‘ball and chain’ sculptures given away in the near future. But for September 1, the sculpture prize will be this adorable little 6-inch fella. A rhino and his birdie companions. Wouldn’t he look terrific on your desk or mantel?

As always, all paid subscribers are automatically entered in the drawing.

(Reminder to new paid subscribers…be sure to send your mailing address to Sackperks@gmail.com to receive your Donald Trump whoopee cushion and extremely schlocky commemorative Donald Trump coin. Political memorabilia at its finest.)

Can’t win fair and square? Cheat!

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Fun Art—the Lawman

“Saturday Night Saloon”, paper mache, 15” x 25” x 16”

Can’t recall if I’ve shown this one. It’s part of my Way-Too-Many-Cowboys series. This was my last paper mache piece before switching to 3d resin.

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Be a straight-shooter, and subscribe!

Reminder: Saturday is August 1, when the winner of this Felon Of The United States sculpture is announced. If you’re a paid subscriber you’re automatically entered in the raffle. Good luck, everyone!

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Thanks for stopping by to check out my wacky art. I’m only here because you are.

He’s such a tease!

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Fun Art—Warts ‘n’ All

“Warthog”, 3d resin, 8” x 6” x 5”

Isn’t this little guy a cutie? I always thought warthogs got a bad rap. I was happy with how this fella turned out until someone pointed out it looked like Pumbaa from Disney’s The Lion King. And yes, it does! No intention to copy; vI guess some images lodge in our brains and leak out uninvited.

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I’ll be in warthog heaven if you subscribe!

Reminder, it’s almost August 1st, which means another Sack sculpt giveaway. As per usual all paid subscribers are automatically entered.

The lucky winner takes home this disgusting little human warthog:

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by. I’m only here because you are!

RFK Jr. isn’t running the CDC so much as amputating it. Since taking over HHS he’s slashed nearly a quarter of the department’s workforce — CDC alone lost 2,400 jobs in the first wave, then over 1,000 more scientists and doctors in a Friday-night purge during the shutdown, wiping out whole leadership offices along the way.

Literally sickening.

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Fun Art—More Fun Than…

“Barrel ‘O’ Monkeys”, oil on panel, 14” x 18”

just some silliness from a day I felt like painting, but didn’t have a particular subject in mind.

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You know what’s MORE fun than a barrel of monkeys?… SUBSCRIBING!

Thank you for visiting. I’m only here because you are.

It’s a miracle we were able to defeat Hitler without hormone replacement therapy.

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Fun Art—Laughing Satyr

“satyr”, 3D resin, 6” x 9” x 5”

Christopher Nolan’s new film The Odyssey got me thinking about Greek mythology. Here’s my own take on one of its more mischievous characters—a laughing satyr.

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Reminder that August 1st will be another sculpt giveaway. It’s Trump-in-Chains—-a real crowd pleaser. As usual, all paid subscribers are automatically entered.

Thank you for stopping by. I’m only here because you are!

War? Ceasefire? No plan and a Cabinet full of yes-men. What could go wrong?

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Fun Art—Gallery Shows

One of the perks of having a full-time newspaper job was that I never had to depend on selling my artwork. I did the art fair circuit in my younger days, but galleries always seemed reserved for the “serious” artists.

Eventually I had accumulated enough goofy paintings and sculptures that I thought it would be fun to share them. Having my cartoons in the newspaper for a few decades probably helped open a few doors.

I was fortunate to exhibit at the Inez Greenberg Gallery in the Bloomington Civic Plaza, a terrific space. My first show, Cartoonival, featured my paintings, sculptures, and assorted oddities.

Over the years I had three exhibitions there—two solo shows and one shared show—plus several pieces in group exhibits.

Below are two short videos. The first is from Cartoonival in 2016. The second was filmed about a year ago..

The following video was created by my talented cartoonist buddy, Steve Artley on his iPhone. (check out his Substack too.)

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Sign my gallery, guest book, and subscribe.

Thank you for visiting my Substack. I’m only here because you are.

What a pathetic creature. Nothing more to say.

Senator Lindsey Graham, RIP.

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Fun Art—Wall-Hanger

“The Worrywart” , 3D resin, 7” x10” x 10”

Can’t recall what inspired this little fella. At the time I was working on a series of sculptures to hang on a wall, or from ceilings. I regret selling him at a gallery show.

I worry about him.

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I’m also worried that you forgot to subscribe.

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Thank you for visiting my Substack. I’m only here because you are.

With both Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell heading for the Big Exit, I dug through my archives to revisit a few favorites.

Senator Lindsey Graham:

Senator Mitch McConnell:

Graham Platner ended his Senate campaign after the weight of his own scandals became too much to ignore—a reminder that, once upon a time, personal conduct could still derail a political career. Compare that with Donald Trump, whose résumé includes felony convictions, civil liability for sexual abuse, repeated falsehoods, efforts to overturn an election, and a seemingly endless parade of ethical controversies, yet remains the dominant figure in his party. The contrast isn’t just about two politicians; it’s about how dramatically the standards of political accountability have shifted. What was once considered disqualifying has, for many, become just another Tuesday.

I liked Platner’s message. I hope Maine’s Democrats can find someone to carry it forward.

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Fun Art—You’re Surrounded!

“Reach Fer the Sky!”, oil on board, 14” x 18 “

“5Stick ‘em Up!”, oil on board, 8” x 12 “

Today’s theme seems to be “mustachioed guys giving up”. I thought this pair of cowboys in peril matched well with Mr. Platner’s plight.

These old paintings remind me how much fun it is to wander away from editorial cartoons once in a while.

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Drop your gun and reach fer the subscribe button—-nice and easy.

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Quick reminder:

If you’re a paid subscriber, be sure to send your mailing address info to sackperks@gmail.com. There’s a Trump whoopee cushion and very, very schlocky commemorative Trump coin I’m happy to send. And of course watch for the August 1 Sack sculpture giveaway.

Looking for a place to spend your massive Trump meme coin profits? Look no further!

All he wants is to win. He wanted to be the big hero. Instead, he’s become the laughingstock of the world—once again.

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Fun Art—Surreal Silliness

“Persistence of Forgetfulness”, oil on Masonite, 18” x 24”

My brief detour into surrealism.

I’ve always admired Salvador Dalí—not because he painted dreams, but because he gave himself permission to ignore the rules of reality. His melting clocks, impossible landscapes, and bizarre creatures weren’t puzzles to be solved so much as invitations to see the world differently. Dalí understood that art doesn’t have to explain itself to be powerful.

I sometimes think Dalí and Donald Trump would have gotten along. Both ignored rules, craved attention, nurtured oversized egos, and never missed a chance to turn notoriety into profit.

But only one of them was a genius.

Apparently these sketches and the above painting were my surrealist phase. It didn’t last long. I don’t remember why it started—or why it ended.

Weird, huh?

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