Sometimes, it seems change is the only constant. This time, we must announce changes to the club's management structure. First, we say goodbye to . For well over a year, he has been the primary steward and driving force behind this club's existence. Without him, it is seems likely the Surreal Arts Club would have died a long time ago. Never one to pull his punches, James talks about his reasons, and about his new club, in his personal journal. We also say goodbye to . He has reached a point where he can no longer dedicate time and energy to the club. These are real losses, but the club will drive on.

will take the lead in running the club, and will continue to help as his circumstances permit. We also have the pleasure of welcoming our newest co-mod, . She is a talented photomanipulator with a strong affinity for Surreal art. She says, "I am very happy to be here, many many thanks to HomeBass for inviting me on board. I'm really excited to be working along side her, Gromyko as well. This is a great club, and I will contribute all I have to help keep things this way''. We are confident that she will help keep the club running smoothly.

The Surreal Arts Staff

I am pleased to report that our affiliate The Exquisite Corpse run by outstanding artist Deborah Valentine will continue. Deborah announced this in the latest journal entry for her club. She has decided to take our lead and bring on a co-moderator, the highly talented Sally Hunter . This is wonderful news. The works in The Exquisite Corpse's galleries are top quality, and many of her members are also members of our club. Thank you to any club members who took the time and effort to offer some encouragement. Best wishes to our friends at The Exquisite Corpse.

As the headline says, the 200 works have been removed. We want to have a dynamic, evolving showcase of fine surreal art, and we will continue this process as we continue to encourage new submissions. We want to know your thoughts on this, but the decision to remove these works is final.

and

Up to now, has retained the right to accept or reject join requests for himself. Now, any of the co-mods can accept or reject join requests from prospective members. If a rejected person wants an appeal, that goes to and he has the last word.

Recently, created a new CSS journal. The old one was lost when our subscription lapsed. If any of you, our members and audience, wants to do something nice for the club, a 1 month subscription makes a wonderful gift.

Thanks as always for your support.

Here we are striving to be a leaner, more hardcore Surreal Arts Club, but take our word for it: We despise writing rejection notes! Yet, those little notes are the price for trying to have standards. In the the DA galleries, it's a free-for-all. Anyone can call anything Surreal and post it with no submissions requirements. We are a club. We want to feature your work,
but we have standards. We reject work that doesn't measure up. So, it seems only fair to help you, our members, get more work posted in the club gallery.

First, we're people and our decisions are subjective. There is no perfectly objective, disconnected method for choosing what to post in the gallery. We want to be impressed. Show us your best work! The work that excites us is the same work that inspires you. We use our training, experience, and aesthetic taste to choose the work we want to put in the club gallery. We consider each work carefully, and ask questions. When does an
abstract design become surreal? When does it become psychedelic? Are psychological overtones enough to make the work seem dreamlike? Does it seem the unconscious or the irrational are at work in the piece? Do we want to put the piece in the club gallery? The last part is the most important.

We want to post your work, but we want your best, most imaginative, most surreal work. Imagination is your most powerful asset. We seek work that reflects action of the unconscious and the subconscious. We desire work that includes visual paradoxes as a means to recall the dream state, work that includes deliberate perceptual transformations, works in which the image is not always what it seems at first glance. We welcome weird work. Mundane images will be rejected, even if they're beautifully made. Inventive design works in your favor, too. The world of dreams is not made of stable triangles or perfectly symmetrical compositions with the main point of interest plopped in the middle of the picture.

We hope this helps and welcome your input. We look forward to new submissions and thank all of you for your continued interest in our club.

Sincerely,
The Surreal Arts Club Co-Mods