I Wish I Was A Sci-Fi Writer

I put links off to the right of what I think are interesting articles on art and science. The 'invisibility' articles I find fascinating because it ties into thoughts about being energy - which I refer to in my 'Curious Color' e-book. This latest link on 'invisibility' really intrigues me - as it gives some insight into the nature of fear: --- if the thing you fear most, can't see you, will you still be afraid? If all fear, and all conflict, is ultimately internal - will cloaking yourself work? But here's the sci-fi story I'd love to write - Scientists finally perfect the cloaking tool and the military takes this technology and applies it - contractors sell it to all the conflicting contries to perpetuate war - all of these countries happily apply their new technology thinking it will give them another leg up in the cycle of endless conflict - but what we don't realize is the cloaking tool only works in the visible spectrum - 400 to 700nm - but instantly makes us a beacon to a much more aggressive alien race - over the millenium, we have adapted to seeing and being seen in the 400 to 700 nm spectrum because it protects us from this - 'other' race. As soon as we employ the cloaking device, we become a target from the far reaches of the galaxy - a sort of 'War of the Worlds' if you will. Anyone want to build on that story ? :)

Outside The Realm

I love painting.  I love art.  I love life.  Life itself is a vessel - it holds every emotion we hold dear, even the bitter tough ones of struggle.  Please don't forget that struggle itself, is a beautiful, passionate, life affirming emotion.  But I digress - the point of this particular post is to discuss being 'outside the realm'.  When I speak about that, I am talking about digital or even traditional film based SLR cameras.  They are wonderful tools to create an approximation of an image - but they are sooooo incredibly removed from what the eye/brain does that it is really kind of amusing.  Really.  I mean, the only reason an image from a digital camera looks 'ok' is because of the amazing things the mind does with visual data.  Did you know that light falls off at the square of the distance?  What, you might ask, does that mean?  OK, fair enough - if you are two feet from a light source, the energy is four times less (2 to the second  power) - if you are four feet from a light source, the energy is 16 times less (four to the second power) - if you are 8 feet from a light source the energy is 64 times less (8 to the second power) - hmmm, a fun term - ok, you're in a water slide (well, this is an 'inverse' example) and it drops off very quickly, you gain speed rapidly - at an accelerated pace - that is how quickly light is dropping off - but you look at a wall or a scene and you don't 'see' this drop off - what is happening?  The mind is compensating - light energy is in fact dropping off but not in perception, the mind knows this and creates an 'inverse gradient' - because it 'knows' the color of a wall is all one -a camera does not know this - that is why the photographer struggles with 'even' illumination - but a painter knows this.  There are other, crazier things regarding color.  In my e-book on Curious Color I mention that one color can appear another - in fact, grey can 'appear' yellow or blue or any other color - and an artist captures this but a camera does not - because it is 'Outside The Realm'. 

The Dreaded No's

How many times a day do you think about what I call the 'little no's' and build the 'can't, shouldn't, couldn't, won't wall' between yourself and something positive that you've always wanted to do or be? I've been studying 'positive visualization' for quite a while now and one of the things that I think I'm beginning to understand most is it's not the great big things like completing a marathon or winning an oscar or getting into an important museum that you think, no never, not me, not good enough - it's the tiny, daily things. One of the lines I love from Guy Finley is - 'plant a fear seed and you grow a fear tree' - well, I like to think of that in terms of little 'no's' we tell ourselves almost regularly. Plant little no's to little things and great big no's will grow to the great big dreams we all have. What does my piece 'Dream Structure 2' shown here have to do with that? (leaves, fifty coat and calk showing at TAWA's Inside / Out along with Source of All Limits). Well, I dreamed about sitting under a tree and looking up at the branches and what I saw were the leaves crystalized like they were caught in ice. They were beautiful and I thought I should make that - but then I thought, no, nobody will get it, it's silly, why bother. The next thing I had to do was learn how to 'fix' the leaves, so then I researched that and I had to get glycerin and going to the store I thought, no, this is silly. Then I had to get the leaves - it was fall and the leaves were perfect - if I waited any longer they would be dried and shriveled and not their beautiful color - but I was very busy and thought, no I shouldn't take time away from other things - but then I decided to make it fun and my children and I ran out to gather leaves - Ever notice how the smaller the child, the less they build the 'no, shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't' wall? The sheer joy of collecting leaves for no other reason than loving life. So then I had the leaves - and so on, right up to the very last minute of thinking I shouldn't try to get it into the show - this is what I try and practice, not listening to what I think of as the 'little' no's. Let them pass, and then do it anyway. Do you have 'little no's' - like, I shouldn't comment on this post because... fill in the blanks - or I shouldn't try that ... fill in the blank because I'm too old or too young or too this or too that? I'd love to here what happens when you give this little gift to yourself of not listening to the little no's.


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Source of All Limits

I recently finished this sculpture.  It is clay and wire.  This will be on display at the Trenton City Museum in Cadwalader Park (8/2/08 through 9/14/08).  I'm always moved when I have works in that particular museum, mostly because when I was three and four I played in the park there.  At that time, it was not the beautifully restored museum it is today - but it was still an impressive house surrounded by a park which was designed by the same person who designed Central Park - Frederick Olmsted.  I think about it, it took me about twenty years to go from playing in Cadwalader Park to showing in the museum there.  Now, when I was going to grad school in NYC, I played in Central Park as well - and it's getting to be about the same amount of time so I figure I'm just about due for the museums surrounding Central Park.  Are there 'thoughts' you find 'self-limiting'?  I'm interested to know what happens the moment you realize they are self-created.

In Lieu of Flowers

I was reading obits recently and I saw the phrase 'in lieu of flowers' and it got me to thinking.  I've seen children's parties as well, where we've been instructed not to bring gifts for the child but rather bring a gift to give away to someone unknown - and I was wondering what it would be like to be a child whose parents instructed friends not to give a gift, grow into an adult who was too busy to be given a gift, and then to pass away and have their loved ones instruct not to give flowers in memory of.  How many times do we miss showing someone they matter?  Is 'giving' to the people closest to you an expression of love?  What is it about abundance that makes us uncomfortable? Can we give flowers and make a donation?  Even in little moments throughout the day - when we can 'give' by making a sweet comment or gesture.  I often wonder how many times we miss telling someone they did something wonderful - because we think someone else will.  I'm interested to know how people handle 'in lieu of'.

Black Gold (Continued)

Continuing the discussion regarding Black Gold, Texas Tea - what I thought about when making that painting was that war isn't so much about the actual raw material - like gold or oil - but the internal fear of loss of control associated with these raw materials.  The raw material, for me, became a human 'emotion' detector of sorts.  If a natural resource makes one think immediately of limitation, then not having it would inspire fear.  And internal fear, would lead to external conflict.  All conflict is at root, internal and can only be resolved through internal examination and reflection.  I went on to make several other paintings along this line - 'Yellow Cake', 'Never Enough' and ' My Father's Kingdom'

I just registered my site at Technorati Profile

Am I Emerging?

So, this is a continuation of thought on the piece described earlier in 'Sketching and Driving' - which one should never do by the way - Anyway - I love working with fifty-coat - even though it is pretty obnoxious to work with.  It comes in a two part mix, and you mix the A and B components of the resin - then you pour it over whatever you want and it seals it in.  What I love about it in particular is how much it reminds me of my favorite artist Vermeer.  See, he was a master at understanding layers - every layer intentional and translucent and light passed through it, bounced on the layer underneath and came back.  I like using masking tape, and other common items, in creating works of art - and pushing them to their limit.  When Vermeer was alive, he'd go down to the local apothecary (drug store) and get the latest resin and pigment and do something amazing with it.  What do you love about the old masters?  Are there any 'new' masters you love?

Sketching & Driving - Continued

So I spent more time thinking about the piece today - I think a lot about my work before doing it.  Sometimes I think that I almost 'think' them into existence.  One of the considerations for this particular work is that it is three panels, 2' x 4' each - and they will be plywood panels probably 5/8" thick and I have to wonder if they will warp, so I imagine making some nice oak strips to 'cradle' the panel with.  I'm always trying to figure out how to make things sturdy without being too heavy.  When I made the first frame for Family Unit Circa 1970, it was made out of oak and weighed a ton because it contained nine separate canvases in one single frame - Yikes!  Then, in the middle of the night, Peter fell out in the middle of the Ellarslie Museum in Trenton, setting off the alarm and bringing in the curator who was none to happy.  But I digress - Do you ever come up really close to a work and try to figure out how it was made? That is one thing I love to do with artwork - maybe one day I'll tell the story of how close I got to 'Portrait of an Old Man in Red' by Rembrandt when I was in the Hermitage museum in what was once Lenningrad. What's the closest you've gotten to a work of art (without touching it of course! :)

One Shouldn't Sketch & Drive

This next piece will be my first 'blog' piece - that is, I am going to attempt to share the process from beginning to end. This process, as a I imagine it at this point, is fairly typical of the way I work, the big question is, will it take a week, or a year, or two years to finish? That, I don't know - No matter how many 'self help' tapes I listen to, I haven't quite mastered the art of regular, methodical 'work' - maybe because it's too much like work? Maybe because I'm scared of the end result? You know, you are always a different person at the end of a work of art, than you were at the beginning - and don't we all, to some degree or another, fear change? But I digress - so, here is a little sketch. On the right side of this image is the front part of the piece of paper, it was on the floor of my car and, as you can see, it is a gas receipt. Napoleon Hill is famous for saying 'start where you stand, and the tools you need will come your way.' And, of course, as usual, he's right - there was a pen jammed in-between the car seats, you know, way down in so you have to keep reaching and just when you think you've got it, the light turns green - and, well, this is important to the story - the idea I had in my head was an image, it came to me at the previous light - and I saw it in its' entirety - three panels, each 2'x4' stacked one on the other - so, it would end up 12' high by 2' wide - a towering column. Each panel is to be done in the same manner as 'Dream Structure I: Version 2' - as a taping embedded in 50 coat. So, it was very important that I found a gas receipt because that looks to me like the correct proportions of the final item - On the left of this image is the back of the gas receipt, the clean white part of the paper that was perfect to begin my 'sketch' - the little squiggle on the bottom is the figure, and the little swirls reaching upward towards the top, is the figure rising, lifting, twisting through the 'dream structure' - the questions that begin to bubble in my head are, can I create the twisting figures in a convincing way, with masking tape - will the transparencies play and how many different color tapes will I use? Can I create a figure within figures and create this dramatic sense of movement upwards - my working title 'Am I Emerging' ?

Black Gold, Texas Tea

This painting was dreamed up in the parking lot of Home Depot. I was listening to the radio about the Iraq war and it struck me, the obvious, yes indeed - it's all about oil. The little song from the Beverly Hillbillies played in my head and grand thoughts of creating a Barnett Newman or better yet, a Malevich. I've always been drawn to Ellsworth Kelly as well - but they were all creating 'abstractions' - and I wanted to make something very simple, very obvious - a direct perception - not a piece of abstraction. But something strange happened in the process. Do you know of strange and simple works that haunt your memories?