Soon, We Will All Be Real...

I imagine this to be the last page of a children's book. Or the second to the last page. This is where the Man-Fairy turns Pup-Pup and White Monkey into being real "lovies". The last page would have them frolicking in a field of clover with a shy fawn and friendly but grumbly badger.

A couple of months ago I donated a gift certificate for this blog to my five year old son's elementary school fundraiser. Just last week I heard back from Ellie Feldman who was the lucky one who won it. (She probably thought she was bidding on the spa basket).
Ellie wanted a painting of her two sons', Ethan and Toby's, "lovies". She provided me with plenty of pictures and I took it from there. I painted them in front of a blue background, but then decided I needed some kind of context. Something to build a story from is more satisfying. So, I went with the Pinocchio-Velveteen Rabbit toys longing to be real scenario. There is a sweet sadness to this that still, as an adult, gets to me.

Beth drew her own suggestion for this painting. As you can see, her idea was to have the "lovies" patiently waiting for a table at the Red Lobster. While I loved this idea, and considered it for a little while, it seemed just too random. I could imagine the Feldman Family's confused looks as they opened the envelope. But who knows, maybe the Red Lobster is special for them. I doubt it (though it is a fine establishment).

On a similar topic, someone was kind enough to start a fan page on Facebook for this blog. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to post some of the preliminary drawings that I (and Beth) have done for these paintings on it. Some I actually think are more interesting than the paintings and some display moments of really bad judgement on my part. I'll let you decide which is which. Check it out...you don't want to miss that...right???
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Panda-Licking-on-a-Lightbulb-A-Paint-on-Demand-Blog/82222555038?ref=ts

Thank You, Feldman Family, for supporting the school and giving me an excuse to paint "lovies"!

The Dragonfly In The Ether.

Lately, I have been meeting my friend Nick Kouzes for coffee once a week before work. We meet at the Spyhouse on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. We started doing this with the excuse of discussing my making a painting for him. Kouzes also makes art and works as an art director for a marketing company. I told him I would make him a painting in return for him helping me design a card for myself. (I'm not so good at that kind of thing). He agreed so we, in theory, are discussing that as well. Instead, however, conversation usually digresses into swapping stories about the Greek characters that we know in the community.

Kouzes asked me to do a painting that visually addressed the connection between analytical thinking and creativity. We discussed this some (in between speculating on Costa's wresting career in the old country). I told him that when I paint, I go through phases of just letting it fall out of me and then going back and measuring and balancing everything. I'm usually very analytical at the start, with a very specific plan, but I then I ruin that plan, and go back and fix things in a different (hopefully better) way. I'm part scientist, part chimpanzee.

We talked about ways to visually represent this; different quadrants of the surface representing different kinds of thinking through different kinds of mark making That kind of thing.

However, I chose to approach this painting like a poem. It turned out to be the Dragonfly in the Ether. This idea did not come from my analytical mind. I looked there but all I got was over used symbolism. So, I coughed the dragonfly up from my gut.

As you can see, I used a different wood then usual. A few weeks ago, I visited Leon Mott ("Axis Bold As ... Something", among other commissions) to see the guitars that he makes and rebuilds. He kindly gave me a piece of padukah and suggested that I experimented with using it for a painting. I thought it would work for this one. It was a thin piece, so I made a back frame to hang it from instead of the simple hangin' hole I usually drill in back.

I also broke my own "acrylic paint only" rule and used india ink for all the black to get a different effect. I opted not to put down any gesso at all. I sanded down parts after I painted to make the background less defined, more hazy.

I don't know if any of this worked, but I feel I need to start moving it and doing some things differently. I don't want to make the same painting over and over, again. I don't want to end up at booth at the mall drawing funny pictures of Barbara Streisand and Jamie Foxx. But this is "Paint-on-Demand", so maybe that's where I should be.

I've had some questions as to why I haven't posted Beth's "Axis Bold as..." painting yet. Well, she hasn't finished it. She told me that she thinks painting is boring. (She has a point). If Beth doesn't finish soon, I'll post the unfinished version on that entry. It has a rattle snake in it.

Efharisto poli, Nick. ... And thanks for the wood Leon.

Donovan Imagines Himself Made Holy At His First Communion.

Pattijo Verdeja commissioned this as a gift for her son Donovan on the occasion of his first communion. She wanted me to paint something having to do with how a child might relate to this experience. I agreed but had no idea where to begin.

I know very little about Catholicism, so, I decided to seek advice. I contacted Fr. George Byers, in Lourdes, France and asked if he had anything that would help me. A few weeks back, I made a made a painting for Fr. George (see St. Augustine and the Jackass) that was commissioned by a devout woman in Minneapolis who loves his blog bloggingLOURDES. After seeing that painting, Fr. George immediately contacted me to tell me how much he liked it. I found him to be a kind and interesting man and, half kidding, asked if I could consult him for future paintings that involved Catholicism. "Of course", he said. He really came through for me here.

I emailed and asked Fr. George to write a couple of sentences about his first communion. Instead he suggested a painting along with reference images. He did the work for me, so I went with it. He suggested an image of the boy from the waist up with crossed hands and a glow around him as seen on images of the Guadeloupe. (I thought that his suggestion to reference the Guadeloupe was amazing, I didn't tell him that the family was Mexican. Of all the Catholic images to pick). He also suggested the image of the Eucharist glowing within him. These were great ideas. And since they came from a Catholic priest, obviously appropriate for their church. I added the dove and lily on top for good measure.

I think painting children is very hard. They often end up looking like small adults. Children have odd proportions that I have troubles wrapping my mind around. Big heads, narrow shoulders, short arms. I don't know how much this actually looks like Donovan, but I think it's close enough to understand that it is a symbol for him. Many times, even photographs don't "look" like the person. Look at Facebook pictures. You'd think all of your friends were models.

I would like to wish Donovan the best on his first communion. I hope it is a beautiful and spiritually rich experience.

And of course my greetings and thanks to Fr. George for his collaboration. (I may call on you again).

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/