Word of the day : xylography : the art of making engravings on wood, especially for printing

More about xylography, folks.  It's the oldest form of relief printmaking techniques.  It originated in China, later making its way to Europe, even influencing Gutenberg.  It is similar to rubber stamping.  A xylogapher cuts and carves wood away from the pieces that of the design that will not be inked.  The parts that aren't carved, the parts that stick up, will form the print.
(Does that make sense?) 

Yep, Etta James died today in Riverside, California at the age of 73.  The singer had suffered from leukemia complications.  A blues and soul legend, James had a career spanning from the late 1950s to the present; James' last album was released in November of 2011 and featured covers of, among others, Guns N' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle" and King Floyd's sex-starved, slinky "Groove Me."  The artist, whose biggest hits came on Chicago's Chess label (if you ever a get a chance, it's worth checking out Beyonce's triumphant portrayal of her in 2008's wonderful Cadillac Records) in the early 1960s, toured consistently until the end of her life.  Rolling Stone rated the singer #22 on the list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.  Everyone likes "At Last" but my favorite James song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmexOmLyuVU
I used to own a few James albums: her triumphant 1961 album, At Last (with the great title track and the equally stirring "A Sunday Kind of Love") and an album of recent vintage, 2002's Let's Roll, with the churning, demonstrative "The Blues is My Business" (and "Business is Good!).  Outstanding career.

If you want to know my Oscar picks, go back to this post: http://wwwconsideringcjf.blogspot.com/2011/12/word-of-day-conversazione-meeting-for.html
I'm sticking with them, except for the following:
Gary Oldman instead of Ryan Gosling in the Best Actor category.
Melissa McCarthy will nab that fifth spot from Janet McTeer in the Best Supporting Actress category.

It's hard to imagine that Oldman, one of Brad Pitt's inspirations/favorite actors, has never been nominated for an Oscar, despite triumphant performances as Sid Vicious, Lee Harvey Oswald, Dracula, Beethoven, playwright Joe Orton, Rosencrantz, and all those inspired villains - in The Contender, The Professional, etc.  Strange.  I don't think Oldman gives two damns, though, so I won't be feel bad if Gosling or someone slips in.  

Interesting article on William Nicholson in ArtNews: http://www.artnews.com/2012/01/17/command-performance/.  Did you know that Nicholson was a top-tier illustrator, too?  He worked on dozens of children's books, including, most notably...