The Songbird that Aspired to be Shin Hanga.

The Myerlys' now have the official Panda record with this being their fourth commission.It was painted as a birthday gift for their friend Emily. The only direction that I was given here was the word "song". Not very specific.

They told me that Emily recently graduated from college with a music degree in voice.

Naturally, my original idea was to do something opera inspired. I thought of popular operas that I love, Puccini's Turandot, Verdi's Aida, Janacek's House of the Dead. But these are all so tragic (almost to the point of absurdity). "Here is a ridiculously dramatic painting of two lovers slowly suffocating in a tomb, Happy Birthday!". I felt this was not the proper direction.

I google imaged the word "song". I was most interested in the picture of a song bird which came up between a photo 90's shock rocker Marilyn Manson and a photo of a group of cheerleaders. The bird seemed to fit the best. I liked how bright yellow it was. It could be corny but with the right colors I figured I could work through it.

I started this painting in a completely different direction from where it ended. Originally, our bird was in a city, with an old apartment building and telephone poles in the background. But it looked akward and didn't seem to be about songs at all. I painted a piece of paper blue and covered the building with it and asked Theo, my five year old son, if it looked better with or without the background. He told me that when it is all blue it looks like the bird is singing. but when there are buildings, it looks like it is screaming. So I made it blue.

In the last couple of paintings I've introduced phalo blue to my pallet. Usually, I'm pretty minimal with colors. I use ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, some kind of pale yellow, and white and mix all the secondary colors from there. Why do I need to waste my money on green and browns when I can just mix them up? Well, early on in this project I added a burnt umber (for the Flemish Feast) and stopped mixing my own blacks and now have this goofy extra blue, which can be beautiful, but takes over a painting easily. Here it is mixed with ultra marine to tone it down.

With the taking away of the background, I realized the way to go was faux Japanese. I consulted one of my favorite art books which is about the Shin Hanga, the new Japanese print movement of the early 20th century that combined traditional printmaking techniques with a Western influence. I stole some my composition and the sky from it.

Originally, this post was going to be called Nichola Tesla is Singing in his Grave because in the first draft of this entry, I marveled at how antiquated telephone poles and electric wires seem and how that great electrical scientist would be in disbelief to find out that they are still in in 2009. But I painted over the poles and wires so it doesn't make much sense now...

Thank you, Myers and Emily.

Axis: Bold as ... Something.

Leon Mott is back! If you've read previous posts, you will see that I've made paintings for both his girlfriend and for his mother. This is the third in the trilogy. It was made as a birthday gift for his dad. (Leon is quickly becoming one of the world's great patrons of lil' art).
He originally gave me some info about his dad, he is a psychologist at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC and a Sufi, and told me to go with it. Then he changed his mind to go with a more personal request.
The 1967 Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold As Love is a favorite of Leon's father. Leon recalls his dad giving him a copy when he was twelve years old. Leon referred to this masterpiece of psychedelic experimental rock as the soundtrack to his relationship with his father. It's a very unusual soundtrack. (The strangest part may be the dubbed in interview on the first track in which we hear Jimi abruptly leave in a UFO).
The other guidance he gave me was a link to the Martin Guitars website. Leon's father's first meaniingful guitar was a Martin D-18.
So, I decided to do a variation of the Axis: Bold As Love cover art. The cover has a faux Hindu painting of a vishnu-like Hendrix amongst a pantheon of gods. Instead of the many armed Jimi Hendrix on the cover, I made a a many necked Martin. I kept the color scheme the same because I didn't want to lose that late 60's rock poster feel.
I was careful when painting the guitar. Leon is a craftsman who makes and repairs guitars and knows their anatomy inside out. I'm sure mine is riddled with weirdness...but it looked alright to me.
One funny thing I realized, again, is that when I paint inanimate objects, they come out looking organic. I'm not very good with straight lines. When I make a building, it usually looks like it just sprouted from the ground. I've decided to go with it rather then fight it. It's more interesting.
Beth decided that she is going to paint her own version of this one. She has never painted anything before in her life. Her painting has all the same elements but they are arranged in the way she thinks I should have painted it. (Plus hands holding lit zippos). When she finishes it, I will post it here.

Thank You, again, Leon! I hope you have a large family.

Oh, and today is my birthday...and my favorite present so far is the flu.

St. Augustine and a Jackass.

This is a mysterious commission that comes from a woman in Minneapolis. She commissioned it as a gift for Fr. George David Byers, a Catholic Priest in Lourdes, France. She asked for the gift to be anonymous, and I respect that. I enjoy a certain element of mystery.
The only direction I was given with this request was the link to the popular blog that Fr. George keeps. It's called "bloggingLOURDES". She also told me that he refers to himself as a "jackass". This concerned me. I imagined that he may be some kind of "wacky" priest, with theological subtleties of an 80's prop comic. Father Gallagher. But thankfully that is not the the case.
The donkey-thing comes from a quote from the popular 4th century pillar of the Western Church, St. Augustine,"You are a jackass, but you carry Christ". This is good with me. When it comes down to it, we are all really jackasses, right? Certainly, I'll admit to being as assy as they come. (Ask the people who have to live with me.)
On his blog, Fr. George is very open and well spoken. Do I agree with everything he says? No. I'm not Catholic. I do think he is a good writer and respect that he's not afraid to speak his mind. And I am honored to make him a painting.
This painting came very hard to me. It took forever. It is painted over my completed first attempt. This first work was awkward on many levels. I tried to put a bunch of "Catholic-looking" stuff in it to make it interesting. Doves shooting lasers from their beaks and the like. The colors were dark and the proportions off. It looked like a baroque nightmare. Now, I kind of regret not keeping it for novelty and laughs. My donkey came out far better in this one anyway.
Thank you, mysterious-patron-lady and I hope you like it, Fr. George.

This blogger has also been send a couple of gift recently from readers. The Myerly Family kindly send me a small tripod last week. (They must have gotten tired of seeing my slightly out of focus pictures). And about a month ago, Rowan Keenan sent me this cute cat picture that she drew for me. If I ever need help with this project ...
Thank You, everyone.
see bloggingLourdes:
http://immaculataconceptio.wordpress.com/

Silly? What is it.

This is a third Myerly request. This painting was made for their dear friend, Maria Smith, as a birthday gift. I was given only one word to guide me, "silly".

What do you do with that?

I decided to research the origin of the word. I was happy to find this awesome etymology site: http://www.etymonline.com/.

It seems that the word "silly" has gone through some significant and odd changes over the past thousand years or so. Previous to the 13th century, the word held the meaning "blessed" or "pious". It later evolved into "harmless" (c. 1280), "feeble-minded" (16th century), and "stunned, as by a blow" (late 1800's). Now it just means "silly".

"Silly Putty" was copyrighted in 1949.

I decided to go down the "feeble-minded" path (as usual). The term "feeble-minded" made me think of those crazy old Phrenology charts. Phrenology, for those who don't know their 19th century pseudo-sciences, was a study in which a person's entire head was measured to determine many different traits, such as their intellegence and the strenghth of their character. The thought (as far as I understand it) was to show which parts of the brain were the most developed by how big the corresponding part of the head is. (Did they realize that we have skulls?) The charts labeled parts of the brain with words like, "benevolence", "hope", "self-esteem", and "immorality". This all seems funny in retrospect until you find out that this was taken quite seriously and used to study the differences between races and ethnic groups. Nazi stuff.

In searching for information, I was surprised to come across a website for an organization that still believes in the benefits of the study of phrenology. Strangely, it seems to take a self-help angle. Now, this is "silly". I would link it here but it creeps me out a little. And you never know what people will believe...

Anyway, in my painting, all of the attributes boil down to just being "squirrely". Nothing wrong with that.

Here is a link to Maria Smith's very personal blog: http://www.mariamou68.com/

An Irish Dancer.

This is part two of the Myerly Family request: Irish Dance. This one is for Sophia Myerly who is very much loves traditional Irish dance and studies at the Rince Na Chroi school in St. Paul, MN.

Unfortunately, don't know much about anything Irish. However, years ago, I used to frequent Kieren's Irish Pub where I would often order chips with curry and a Guinness after getting off work (which sounds delicious right now). Sometimes I would stay late with friends and listen to the Irish bands that played there. I also saw a great number of Celtic knot work tattoos in the early nineties and have always liked the Pogues, but somehow I feel these things don't give me a true understanding of Ireland.

She sent me a link to the Rince Na Chroi website and I checked out several galleries of photos of dance performances. I was immediately impressed with how amazing every one's hair is. (Then I got suspicious and googled "Irish Dance Wigs". That explained it.) The effects of hair bouncing up and haloing the head is quite stunning. It made for an interesting visual image. Because of the nature of Irish dance, in photographs, the performers appear to be standing still, levitating while their hair is going crazy. I consulted some You Tube videos to understand exactly what was going on in those pictures. It looks like magic.

I made this painting as a composite of several dancers. After trying more elaborate backgrounds, I decided to go simple and abstract. There is a tiny hair of mine stuck in the lumpy white of the background that I left. It was hard to get out and not very noticeable. So, if I ever get lost and someone needs a DNA sample of me to reunite me with my people...

As a side note, I've recently become aware that the subject matter of the paintings here seem to be changing. This is the third painting in a row with a human figure. Where have all the animals gone? I'm not sure if it is the requests or how I'm relating to them.

Check out:

http://www.rincenachroi.com/

Prayers Rise As Incense.

Last January, I went to liturgy on the morning of my Name Day, January 7, for St. John the Forerunner, as I try to do every year. Afterwards, when I was about to leave, I was rounded up by some people I had never met to get coffee and koulourakia in the Fireside room. I had no where to go, so, I joined them. Usually, I'm pretty quiet about what I do and prefer to hear other people's stories but the day before I had just made the first post for this blog. And it was my special day. I was so excited, I couldn't stop blathering about myself and the blog. Luckily, they were interested (Or humored me).
This painting is for the Myerly Family,,who I am pleased to have met that day. They are members of St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, as am I, and are kind and observant Eastern Orthodox Christians who travel a very long way to go to church. God bless them.
They gave me a couple of requests last week and this is the first. Though on this one, I deviated some from their request.
Their request was one simple word, Eucharist. (or, rather, a complex word). No elaboration. I didn't really know what to do with it. I took it and meditated on it hoping I would be handed the beautiful gift of an idea. It didn't happen. I realized God was going to make me work for it, as always. Free will is problematic.
I went literal. I started this painting as a scene of an Orthodox Priest serving communion, but it wasn't working. Too static and the subject matter seemed so intimate. I felt wrong portraying this in a tiny format.
Half way through I changed it. Here, the Priest is censing the church, blessing the icons and the people and the church. The abundant incense rises like prayers. I can think of all kinds of ways that this applies to the eucharist, but I'll let leave that to be contemplated by whoever wants to. And maybe the connection isn't there.
I may have been a little off the mark for the subject of this piece, but I think this is a pretty good painting. I don't think this photograph does it justice. Some of the paintings here don't look as good on the blog as in real life. (It's hard to shoot small glossy paintings). However, there have been a couple of exceptions that I think look better as a digital image. When this happens I feel a little like I am cheating. But maybe all of this is in my mind.
It's hard to have a good perspective on what I'm doing; to detach myself from these paintings. Only after a couple of weeks looking back do I have a decent perspective. But not always. Sometimes, when I'm working on a piece and I have the luxury of time, I will hide it from myself for a week or two and try to see it again with new eyes before completing it. I often put paintings in front of a mirror when I'm working. To see the image reversed brings out what is really there as opposed to what my mind has come to believe I'm doing. Or turning them upside down might work.

Anyway, I thank the Myerlys, again. I wish them a beautiful and meaningful Lenten season.
Their second painting involves Irish dance. It will be up soon.

Shellae Doesn't Remember Her Dreams.

I'm back to the blog after about two weeks of not making an entry. I've spent this time working and reworking some larger paintings for a couple of show possibilities. But, I'm pleased to be back blogging and I feel refreshed with a new perspective on what I'm doing here. I'm getting looser and channelling a weird tiny painting energy.

I've been sitting on this painting request for about two weeks, so I've had time to stew and revise in my brain. It is for my friend and coworker Shellae Mueller. She is very kind and has been spreading word around about this blog (maybe more then I have). She's a blog evangelist. So, I wanted to make her a painting.

Shellae couldn't think of anything for a long time, then finally one day she started talking about dreams and how she doesn't remember them. She is certain that she has them but they are always forgotten by morning. (The only exception is the occasional nightmare that sometimes involves a clown, but I was told, "No Clowns").

So with that, I am left with the project of painting a dreamless sleep. Easy, right?

I didn't want to use black or eerie images. I wanted something light, so, I decided use the wood for what it is and drill holes. It turns out, these are where her dreams are escaping. They lead to ether. Maybe when she gets this painting she will plug them with tiny things to try to stop this. I would suggest wet tissues.

Thank You, Shellae.

I have three more orders lined up and will be painting and posting quickly over the next couple of weeks so keep checking. Really.