Muted colors..

Today I worked with a large sheet of paper.....always a daunting task filled with danger.......I reworked this piece many times fearing I would repeat myself........trying to be open to new directions.

I think it is pretty successful.......using a foam brush in the last week or so has opened up the language of the prints a lot.  Prior to this I was mainly using a roller, sponge, and finger painting......which I think got a bit redundant.

Also I have been mixing color before applying it, which I was doing directly until recently.  I think the softer palate helps this piece and unifies the movement as there is no one dominant color to fix the eye in one place.

Action.......

So yesterday I turned 55.......lots of mixed feelings......lots of good wishes from my facebook friends, thank you all......

This has been a complicated year, and I am rethinking what my goals should or could realistically be.  My philosophy has been a laid back approach, but I think now I should be more proactive if anything is going to get done. 

55........

OK.....one day before turning 55.......looking back and forward.  I think I will settle into this mode of printing for a while, the roller idea seemed to play itself out for a bit.

This is a fairly large painting......first layer lay in......I think the left side looks a bit unbalanced, I will leave it alone for a couple of days to give it space.

second print today.........

Using a foam brush.

slightly different direction here.......I was looking for what to do next with the prints and picked up a 3" wide foam brush to mess around with..........the area within the circle was created using a roller in my traditional manor.

I think this is pretty exciting, a lot of new possibilities, and I am able to control the ink a bit better with the brush. 

Sunday, 9:15am.......

 

Four small images today.......struggling to find a new direction with the prints.

The two at top are heavily worked, many layers.  When they get this dense I usually chalk it up to experience and move on, but I thought I would try to resolve the problems as best as I could.  The top left image was "fixed up" with photoshop to add contrast as I am still not happy with it.

Forward!

 This print is from later in the day on May 23rd........

 Todays print.  2 layers on a full sheet of the Japanese paper.  I think the color harmony on this one works well.

This is a new canvas, it was sitting on the easel in the downstairs studio for a while,finally got started.  I always like the beginning of a piece, and sometimes think I should just leave it alone, but there always seems a part that seems undone......guess that is what propels me forward. 

By the way, there is a show called Girls on HBO which is really amazing, funny, sad, excellent writing........I highly recommend it to you to see......

Grow!

Tell the truth

Speak to power about its limited resources
Find a middle ground from which to stand on
To see all the others upon their hillsides
Reaching out to embrace the future

Revealing the complexities of common situations
To be the mirror of a decadent age
Impressed upon clairvoyants with significant rage
Like the fool who keeps the truth to himself

Under the rainbow, seeking shelter from the storm
Small ideas grow.

Irrational fear........

Irrational fear of opportunity.

Say you go to a diner and eat some food
Where does it say it has to be good?
Someone looks up and says, this is your day...........

By the edge of the land skys of crimson overhead
Breath of fire descending a spiral course of action
Reciprocate the advances cautiously

Taken from a place of shelter
Headed up by a master of nothing
A quick wit followed by the shadows of doubt

Creeping vines slowly choke the potential
Leaving only remorse to consider and embrace
Hell of a way to meet, shallow breath

Sand beneath shifts with the tide
I am born to the ocean, return to health
Followed by the children of the sea.

Oklahoma

In light of the horrible tornado in Oklahoma I guess the power of nature should never be underestimated. We live in a time where I think we have to consider what the future of humanity will look like if we do not deal with our own hubris.

This can manifest itself in so many different ways, from the most simple human interaction to events such as this......

Rest in deep grasses........

So the other day I did a piece I thought looked like a blastula...........this one looks like twins to me.......

Random Thought Poem

Definition of forerver
Sits like a pancake, one of a large stack
Facing the west, feeling the cool air
Impossible dream

Where contracts meet natural events
Suddenly I hear the tree branch crack
Sending down the decision from the judges bench
Covered in sweat and dispair

The waters return after months of doubt
Her sandy complexion and hazel eyes
Planes fall from the sky
Making an old man guilty for past transgressions

I suggest you run
Very fast and very far
Make yourself exhausted
Rest in deep grasses.........

10 days..........

May 19th..........10 days I will be 55..........I guess not a big deal.......but thinking a bit about how to best spend the last few years and conscious of the eventual decline.........I mean what kind of old man will I become if I make it that long........

Also thinking about all of the artists who work in obscurity........a grant here, a show there, but never yet finding that audience which establishes a career........I try to think of it as liberating, but have to be aware of the frustration that goes with not connecting with the elusive audience that would be transformed by the imagination of the creative voice.

And yet we artists go on.........driven by an inherent curiosity to comprehend our search for the unlimited vision ahead of ourselves..............

Power and Moneyball..............

So today I am thinking about what the value of art is...........I recently posted on Facebook about the great wealth of some contemporary artists and the market versus the poverty of most artists in the world

An artist I respect replied that the artist worked hard and deserved their wealth.  I cannot deny this, yet I wonder about my own ambitions and what kind of person I would become if I was a financial success.  I chose the word financial after trying "commercial" or social success as they did not seem right in this context.

Its kind of like thinking what I would do if I won the lottery.  Yesterday I was at a 7/11 and had the "what would you do if" conversation with the woman at the counter.  She would buy her mom a laundromat and herself her own 7/11.........I would create a legacy project for artists whose work would otherwise go unnoticed............

I never think money is the point.........it is the power associated with the money.........the power to control the world around us, to feel safe, to control others...........it is a dangerous game that easily can get out of control for sure.........

The Blastophere (Blastula)

Thought this looked a bit like a  Blastula..........two cells dividing at the center............

1:56

May16th...........1:56 AM

On a weird sleep schedule..........I have to be on a train to NYC at 7 am yet cannot sleep.......so I thought I would do today's print now...

May 15th........

Another rather large piece...........30x40 inches........working this big gives more room to put stuff.........really tempting to overdo it.   I think there is a lot in this image.......I see ships in the orange and yellow field at top.  I see a figure through the center section........looks almost like a birth with the fetus now that I think of it.

Andromeda

Andromeda

Sitting on a park bench
Feeding memories, convulsed with fear
Subtle reactions to over the counter medications

A marble in a sea of dust
Scattered by a nonchalant hand
Recollections form galaxies so very far away

They embrace, as is always the case
With wonder and innocence
Aware of danger, determined to try

I sit here in my cavern of stars
Pointing out this and that constellation
Considering the enormity of it all...

First..........

What does it mean to be first?

She rattled off the most recent memories.  Shades of color across interdimensional configurations retaliating for imperial tendencies.


Can we save the planet?

Only the first and last can remember the middle.  Since it is your intention to enter a situation without preconceived notions, remember your limitations.
The future stares at you without the need to improvise potential scenarios.

For my third question, I would like to ask about silence.........

Dusk arrives too early, people are astounded, this is without precident they all say.  You can contemplate the meaning of this.  Is there a place beyond the meadow which is so beyond the rational mind that everything becomes simplified and apparent?  This is my question to you.............

three views of one image.........

Three views of the same image.......I find that there are different stories as the orientation of the piece changes.....I did have the idea of mounting the piece on a "lazy susan" on the wall, one would spin the image......actually that might be a pretty cool way to see the image.........now I have to try this for sure.

This image is the afterimage from the piece above.......I reworked the horizontal form and bled out the background color........I think they do relate in some way.........

Variations..........

This piece at the bottom was the first for today..........I used only the edge of a business card to make the forms. The others are variations of the color left on the plate after the first print.

The central piece was three layers.......trying to find a resolution to this one.

up to date

Two for this morning.....
















A friend of mine is doing an animal series.........thought I would give it a shot. 

This is the one on the easel currently........this recent work is stuff that is partially done in the studio and I have been picking up to finish before starting anything new.  I do have a large canvas in the second studio I will start this weekend.........

Finger painting again........

Three finger paintings today........these are smaller pieces........10x15 inches. 
Went to the Met Opera yesterday, really inspiring. To see work at such a level of perfection discipline and artistry is just what I needed to recommit to my practice.

2 Vases.

Two variations of a vase of flowers on a tabletop........these are prints, I used my fingers for most of the textures........

These are the 2 paintings I have been working on the past couple of days......this is the first layer of glaze on both....they are smaller works.......around 18inches square.

It is definitely interesting jumping from style to style even in the course of one day.  My only solution as to what to do with my so called career is to just keep making stuff......I guess until I run out of materials and money...........
Crazy way to live, no doubt.

Remember,,,,,,

Remember

Since we met last there are things I want to remember
About how we first met, about how the air smelled, about the touch of a tablecloth

So that I can lock in these memories
Sew them into the fabric of a moment

Surround them with love, hold fast these treasures
So I will always remember.....

Wishing for retrival
Standing on a precipice

A long time ago I was the future
Swaying in the broken promises so readily available

Immersed the seed of tomorrow rises through sheer conviction
Descended through collective effort to memories

Shattered by being unable to correct the errors
Holding onto the first thing we remember......

Radiation.......

Radiant Energy

Source of all identity
Like threads of fabric unravelling
Paralleled by the conviction to persevere

What source does the well spring from
That gives you what you need
Imperial knowledge surfaced through deep meditiation

Deep under the sea
Transformation into mutidimensional insecurity
Partial to infidelity and self reflection

Only to surface without form
Placated by decency,
Enveloped in the peace of subtle paternalistic convictions

Race to the shore
Find shelter
Radiant energy........

Untitled

I had an early start this morning and did not get to printing to just now.......after 9pm.  Working on the last sheet of the Japanese paper I had........

Again money is becoming a major worry.......this month seems like a disaster again!  I keep going on blindly with no plan to work out my issues, totally irresponsible and I am totally angry with myself.  Again I have the house being taken away over my head, and no idea how to make any money from the artwork.

Sorry this is boring, but I thought it would give context, dear reader, to what is going on here.  Loneliness, frustration, you name it........seems to me that the work would help me understand how to move forward, yet I seem totally without a way or purpose for these creations......

past 5000!

Wow........today I passed 5000 views on the blog!  Please dear viewers, post comments, say hello, let me know who you are!

parallel minds

So I have been going off on a riff today about how the conscious mind can be self destructive, even though its main purpose is to help in survival I think.

I was watching a video from a woman who felt that her public speaking engagement was a total disaster and listed her numerous insecurities.  She thought of how people perceived her, and went through every iteration of self analysis possible.  I have done this so many times I got what she was doing, and realized how difficult it is to unwind from this logical path.

So why does the mind need to do this?  Or is it a design flaw? 

I have found I manifest this when creating artwork as well.  Even though I have done this for years, the voice creeps in.......especially if I am creating in a public environment.  Is this a fear based (survivalist) reaction to threatening stimulus, therefore the paranoia is justified, just not understood?
What I mean is that we try to reconcile what we are feeling with what the environment is telling us on a subconscious level.

What would a society look like if there was a mutual search for transcendent ideals where many of these negative manifestations were eliminated through the intent of peaceful identification and dissolution through behavior modifications self imposed?

Before and After

 This is today's print.......I am working with a Japanese Gampi/wood pulp combination paper which is very bright white.  It seems to be a little sensitive to dry pigment, so I will watch for this while working. I used a lot of white ink in this one to make the palate more subtle........even adding a layer of white over the cobalt blue at the end.

Yesterday I laid in the color layer for this painting.........the left image was the original underpainting.  I am trying to preserve the original looseness of the first state throughout the painting process.....