férias

04-26-13
collage, ink, pencil, watercolor

If you bicycle past the black flowers to the top of this hill, you may find a small lighthouse. It's locked up tight but you can lean your bicycle on one side and sit with your back against the other and watch the faraway ocean. The perfumed breezes sail in from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Even though you have brought a fine lunch, you will be hungry when you return to the city. You might look up your friends and stay up late eating and drinking. Your skin will feel windblown and tight. The night will be cool as you slip in between crisp sheets and see the lighthouse winking at you.

The Blue Hour

"Time to go"
ink, watercolor, acrylic. charcoal
April 20, 2013

It was so tempting! The lights in the sky beckoned. They danced and pointed the way. Bear ran his paws over the gunnels of his trusty bateau which bobbed in the reeds and sedges. It was a nice thought. But there were plenty of warm Summer nights ahead… maybe he'd take off some other time when he absolutely needed to view the blazing stars. He checked the painter and checked the knots, tramped out of the water, shook himself better and walked back to the house. Later. his eyes closed and all he could think about was… "dawn!"

Dragons & DNA

"Hellraiser"
April 13, 2013
ink, charcoal, crayon, digital

"Harvesting DNA"
April 13, 2013
charcoal, colored pencil, chalk, ink

Two dark pictures today. We all know that Hell is completely imaginary (and Heaven too for that matter). You will not find them on any reliable map (although this is sort of interesting). But, if Hell were a real place it would be habitat for the glorious creation that covers the entire Earth already. And I think that the denizens of Hell are mad as Hell and tired of the bad rap they get. And they may have a bone to pick with those who walk on two legs under the sun.

The second picture started out as this little cellular grid doodle a few weeks ago in another sketchbook. I revisited it this morning while the paint was drying on my little dragon painting (above). The cellular grid metastasized into a gooey DNA farm complete with the farmer hard at work bringing in the crops.

This is how I work: I doodle and work abstractly with crayons and ink and whatever is closest at hand. Inevitably, a space is created and it's usually some sort of landscape. In the absence of further personal intention or meaning, I add some sort of machine and one of the Pointy People and then I can say that I have redeemed a patch of worthless abstraction with the human presence. And maybe that's life in a nutshell. It could be …on certain days for sure.
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Today, I'm off to Egypt. I'll tickle Ramesses II and cuddle the ferocious Sekhmet (I'll bring kitty treats) and contemplate the union of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms. Later my party will visit Harlem and maybe Windsor Castle. Ahhhh… the life of a museum guide for me!

The Bear

04-04-13
colored pencil, ink

The bear is contained within an abstraction, a cage that contains and does not contain what the bear really is (even the bear doesn't know --and this is the point). Are the elves archers? Are they doctors? The arrogance of a surgically precise Eros! They might strike the abstraction --and miss Life. How will the bear escape this confinement? With rage or a lumbering boredom ("I've had enough of this!)?

Is the bear immune to Eros' darts? …And really, no: The bear IS Eros. And we the archers and our arrows, like gnats, swarm in parallel before the large animal who inexplicably dances before us unaware, lost in the pleasure of his divinity. And hopefully we are enchanted too despite our swarming and because of our dancing!

Bon dimanche et bonne journée!