Gypsy Sign of the Times

I knew I had been away a long time. Upon my return, I figured I had to bring my A-game. The piece I present today fits the bill, folks. It has the feel of a good ol' Nonphilter, nansensu piece. Also, this gem sports a couple well-thought innovations I am mighty satisfied with.

The cabinet door came first in the process. Of course, there was little inspiration to draw from it, as the style is about as simple as they come. While I often get ideas from the shape of the wood or the detail of the molding, I had to look elsewhere this time.

Ultimately, the spark came from some alley gold I had salvaged a couple years back: a lens from a discarded projection television. The idea to use it as a crystal ball came as a pleasant surprise, out of the fog that is my brand of brainstorming, and I could see the 25-cent detail there, too.

So that was my jumping off point. I fished around in my various bags and bins of hardware, looking for a way to secure the lens to the wood. The brass tabs I settled on for the bottom worked well for the bottom, looking like they could be feet on a simple base holding up a crystal ball. However, the lens was a bit shaky and needed something more to hold it in place.

I could see that positioning two screws along the upper edge of the lens was going to be the least obtrusive solution. They would provide the 'grip' I needed to keep the glass from popping off the wood, but they were also going to wreck the feeling that this was a crystal ball, and not simply a curved piece of glass secured at four points.

When I stepped back and considered the entire composition, I could see hands beside the 'ball', like the hands of a fortune teller preparing to see the secrets revealed. And, though these hands were going to be painted directly to the background, just as the eyes would be, I realized they did not have to be.

As if summoned from the crystal ball, I saw the glorious solution. The hands would be cut from scrap Masonite. Each hand would be made up of two pieces, 2 digits and 3 digits respectively. while the thumb and forefinger would be mounted directly to the background, the remaining three could be positioned above the lens. This would hide the screw heads and provide a nifty way to show depth.  

How is that for using my head! I may be easily amused, but I can tell you this idea is a tiny triumph I can hang my hat on. I mean, I chuckle when I see it! its that good!

The 'sign within a sign' is not as unexpected, at least in terms of what you might see in art I make. Again, its that nansensu style.  I have a thing for chains, too. You see, I have bags of links that were part of a windfall bestowed upon me when the relative of a friend was closing their trophy shop. There was a lot of items collected, but the links seem to have been the most useful so far. Connecting them into a proper chain is no trouble, and the chains proved perfect for securing the 'Jade Oracle' sign.

While the majority of the sign received a bit of 'roughing up', with sandpaper and scrapers, the 'Jade Oracle' sign called for a different approach. First, I saw in my mind the handcrafted signs from long ago, with their words carved into the wood.

It needed to appear old, so  I decided to give it a touch of the 'cracked paint' look. Its a look that can easily be overdone, so I tried giving it just enough crack-age to compliment the aging on the rest of the piece.   

Finally, I gave it bit of scumbling, using a lot of water and a few earthy shades of paint. This helped achieve an even older, and dirtier appearance. After all, the sign says 25-cent readings are available. The last time anything was 25-cents was a long, long time ago.

Facebook 3x5 Challenge: Day 5

1.) Warhol on Welfare

I was not exactly on welfare when I made this, but I was on disability. I was living meagerly, going to school full time. I lived in a cabin that was roughly 10' x 20'. It was RUS-TIC. The walls were a singly layer of redwood, with no insulation. There was also no refrigerator, so all my food was non-perishable. As a result, I ate a great deal of Cup of Noodles instant ramen.

The piece I am showing here was a class assignment from that period of my life. I do not recall the specific instructions, though I remember my inspiration. At some point, I had begun stapling the ramen packaging to the wooden walls of the cabin. It was an impressive pattern spreading uniformly across the wall. It was this makeshift wallpaper which gave me the idea for the Warhol riffing. The final piece was about 4' square. Sadly, it was destroyed in a friend's house when a leaking roof gave it a bath it would never recover from.

2.)Superman is a cut-up
My older brother first suggested I try something like this. That is, make a picture using the cut-up pieces of other pictures. It sounds simple enough, and I would have deemed this a complete success, but for one thing: the glue did not hold.

After butchering a few Superman comics in order to make this image, and countless hours mounting it all to a piece of black poster board, the glue ended up failing a week later, and the pieces fell off like dead skin. I think it was cheap rubber cement, I can not recall. It did not get remade. Thankfully I have the photo!

3.) Gone Fishin'
The short period of time I spent working at the film studio was fruitful due to the hours spent on the airbrush. Learning while being paid is the best. For about a year and a half I airbrushed props 5 days a week.Here is a picture of my table with a school of spawning air fish I painted.

Facebook 3x5 Challenge: Day 4

I apologize to my enormous fan base. Both of you have surely been waiting for this post. I was out of town a couple times recently. Those days when I was home were busy days, leaving little time for blogging, I'm afraid. Finally, we can continue with Day 4 of the Facebook 3x5 Challenge.

The Logos

Today I am taking a folder from the file cabinet marked 'Logos'. Officially, I only worked a few years in the graphic design field. Unofficially, I have never really left that line of work behind, when you consider the art that I make is often defined by the use of type and advertising-esque compositions.

I still pick up occasional projects that require a logo or t-shirt design, or even laying a brochure or mailer. Honestly, I was trained well and I have great skill in that arena. There is a small number of people, who know my history and abilities, that still come to me for design work. The infrequency is comfortable and very rewarding. Simply put, I enjoy graphic design when it is on my terms. When it becomes 'production art', I enjoy it far less, and that is what caused me to learn a different trade.

1.) The first Logo is that of Solid Rock Engineering. The company was looking to incorporate a feeling of patriotism within a simple logo. I do not remember a great deal of time going by before the choice was made. For me, the right side of the star following the shape of the R is perhaps the greatest element of all the logos I have created.

The one thing I did not design was the middle 'stripe' in the E. My design had all 3 stripes ending equally. That seems so minor, I know, but that is how I think when I get down with logos, dig?

2.) The second logo was for a folk music act out of Idyllwild known as faultline. If you read the video posts I made a couple days ago, this is the band that was used in the staircase video. They used it for the CD cover, and I recall getting a t-shirt with the art on it. I am not sure how much life the logo had. I know it does not show up anywhere online that I could find.

In any case, I am pleased with it. The picture I show here is pretty crappy, but you get the idea. The seismograph resembles a turntable, and it has an unintentional retro feel to it that I think is really groovy.

3.) The third is not really a logo, but something I assembled for my neighbor. Charlie is stuck in the heavy metal era of decades past. One day, while I was looking at the Ozzy logo, I saw how the 'O' could easily be a 'C'. That lead me to browse all of the classic logos, studying the typefaces, and tracing select letters in Illustrator. In the end I had assembled a font, A to Z, using heavy metal and rock band logos. From there, it was a simple matter to put together Charlie's name. He loved it, of course, and it still hangs on his living room wall to this day.

Facebook 3x5 Challenge: Day 3

The Boards

There have been few more memorable pieces than the skateboards and surfboards. I was raised in San Diego, and I spent my teen years, in the 1980s, riding a skateboard every moment I could. Much of the time when I was not riding one, I was drawing on one. At first, I would do the art on the bottom, until I realized that doing the art on the grip tape went a long way towards preserving the image.

I can not recall how many boards I have done, but it is safe to say dozens+. I think 2010 was that last to roll off the line. Pictured here, it was my son's skateboard. As I am known to do, I mocked a corporate logo. In this case, I butchered the Sega logo, creating the anagram of my son's name: Sage.

A year later, I hooked up with Solid Surfboards for a project. They had a customer who wanted 2 boards, each with art that resembled the grain and color of his Gibson(?) guitar. Shown here are the top of one board, and the bottom of the other. I had hoped to continue doing side-work for them, but they hired someone to paint full time, which was not a job I could take.

The other surfboard features the classic Dr. Eye image. This one goes back 11 years. My beloved nephew, Robert, asked if I could create the art for a board he was having made. He gave me free reign, which was nice.

Thats a toe with a valve stem you see there. You see, my brother, Doug Provins, would sometimes call my nephew Roberto, which was easily changed to Rubber Toe. And that, as they say, is that.

Facebook 3x5 Challenge: Day 2

Day 2, 3x5 Challenge

Todays triad will be a video set.

The first video is an art piece I made for the first show I was a part of. Thanks to Visual SD for that opportunity. It is titled 'Inside the Box Outside'. The inane act of tossing one's shoes onto electrical wires was my inspiration, though my piece depicted the opposite.

The box was a surplus military ammo box painted sky blue with some faint clouds painted inside. A discarded running shoe was bisected on the band saw and mounted as shown. The telephone poles I made by hand from scrap wood.

What you can not see, but can hear in the video, is the 'urban sounds' I compiled for the experience. The looping collection of neighborhood audio clips was piped through tiny speakers hidden in each shoe and connected to a tiny .mp3 player hidden in an altoids tin attached to the side of the box.

The second video shows my attempt at an animated walk-cycle. I used a character I had created back in Junior High, a beatnik I called Dr. Eye. I did not have any reason, other than curiosity, for attempting this, and the only program I had to animate this was Windows Movie Maker. Despite the lack of knowledge and software, I successfully animated an old friend, and that is very satisfying.

For some strange reason, I am unable to add this video in the same manner I have added the other two. I guess we will have to use the good old link instead.

View second video HERE.

The third video is a vague record of some steps I took in creating a beautiful staircase back in 2008. It was the largest project of its type I have ever done, before or since. I took too much time and charged too little money, but the results were gratifying. Luckily, I have a patient wife, Tae Provins, who, incidentally, put in her share of hours helping me sand all the wood. Good times.

The song, Hickory Wind, was used because A.) the group performing the song were customers who had previously hired me to do some graphic design work, B.) the staircase was made from hickory, and C.) I am incredibly clever.

The Facebook 3x5 Challenge: Day 1

I was invited on Facebook to join in the "3x5 Challenge". There are no posted guidelines that I can find, but I have gathered that the event is as follows:

Someone nominated/ challenged me to participate> I accepted the challenge>  Once per day I must post 3 images of my art, new or old, and reference the Challenge> I must challenge an artist not already participating to do so> I must repeat this for 5 days.

I know what you are thinking- pyramid scheme. I thought so, too. But, the story checks out. It is, if anything, a good way to get art out there for more people to see. My approach is going to be a retrospective collection of my art through the years and across many mediums. It will be as enlightening as it is tedious, I promise.

So, for the next 5 blog posts, I will be pasting directly from my Facebook page.

________________________________________________________

I Day 1, 3x5 Challenge

Challenger: Bd Dombrowsky

Not aware of any guidelines, so I will be posting images from all 23 corners of the room of my life in the art realm. Day one has a threesome of editorial cartoons from way back when I was barely old enough to buy beer.

My first job out of art school was as a graphic artist in a real live newspaper art department. The industry had just taken its first steps in the brave new world of computer-aided publishing. We built our ads on the computer, but all the page layouts were wax, cut and paste. Ads with color often required hand-cut overlays. The experience was unforgettable. I dare say, in my opinion, the old 'caveman' production methods were more rewarding: Chemicals for developing half-tones... using an exacto knife for hours at a time, each day... a cigarette-friendly breakroom... I am laughing as I type this, but, that was back when graphic design was dangerous! Ancient history...

For extra loot, I took on editorial cartoons for 2 newspapers. Even my cartoons here show their age when you consider the 'zip-tone' used for shaded areas. If zip-tone was not available, I would utilize the memories of all those old Fat Freddy comics, and shade the cartoon Gilbert Shelton-style.
The cartoons were always meant to accompany a specific editorial, and rarely did they deal with subjects I gave a hoot about.

the mudslinging toon is timeless subject matter for an editorial cartoon.

The kid being stalked... uhhh, I don't know. Maybe they did a groundbreaking editorial on the dangers of walking to school.

The CalTrans/ Heroin metaphor is priceless, and completely "what the hell...?".
So, day one completed. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I.
EDIT: This one will be an international draft pick. Ms. Jessica Uzuki Cheverie, hailing from New Brunswick, I invite you to join the 3x5 challenge.

Frankenbench Lives!!!

Way back in 2011, when this blog still had stars in its eyes, before the weight of the world had crushed its bloggy spirit, I discussed a bench I was making. Go ahead and click the link if you do not know about the mythic bench. I likened it to Bigfoot because, while others had heard about the bench for a long time, no one had ever actually seen it. When I published that addition to my blog back in 2011, I was positive that the bench would be completed in the following weeks.

And I was right.

Ladies and gentlemen, just 161 short weeks later, I give you.... the bench.

To recap, the bench started its life as a discarded chair. The alley treasure did not have cushions, but the wood was sturdy and it showed potential. What I saw was a bench trapped in a chair's body. So, I replaceded all of the crossmembers with wider pieces of lumber. What is original is just the sides, including the legs and armrests.

The tops of the back legs had previously had some sort of wood ornamentation. I think they were simple spheres. Once the decision was made to give the bench the Tijuana color treatment, I figured carved skulls would be a better fit. The screws in the eyes, you will notice, are phillips-head in one, and slotted in the other. There is a reason for this, but I will take that secret to the grave. (Or, I will reveal it in my tell-all life story sometime down the road.)

I am very pleased with the way the bench turned out. I like the colors. My wife made a lovely set of cushions for it, despite my disappointing choice of fabric. My favorite touch, though, is the dice. The legs had the square shape there already. Somehow I hit upon the idea of changing them to look like dice. I could have simply painted the dots on with black paint, but a forstner bit and a drill were the real ticket to making a mediocre design element a stellar design element.

I realized that the back of the bench may not be seen much, depending upon where it finally finds a home, but I was not satisfied with simply painting it. This iconic Day of the Dead image was simple to reproduce and adds the jazz I felt was needed.

I hope to sell the bench for $500. I have not tested the market yet, as it was officially finished just a couple hours ago. Like most of my artistic endeavors, this bench will go great in a handful of homes, but will not look good in most. It will be up to the cosmos to see that one of the few people who want this monster are lucky enough to actually see it. I am not worried. I have a good feeling about this one.

Swingnaut, part deux

For those of you paying attention, I posted some art a ways back that I co-created with the brilliant Wes Smith. The subject was a mash-up of images I had absorbed from all manner of media- TV, magazines, movies, etc.- pertaining to the atomic era of the 1960s. Specifically, I saw the 60's defined as astronauts, adult beverages, cigarettes, and lounges.

However misguided my imagination was, that is what I saw in my head. The resulting art, which was painted on an amoebic piece of wood, was a delightful astronaut that made me smile when I saw it. I guess I could not leave well enough alone. I decided to give the old guy a little more life by creating him as a wall sculpture. (note to self... find out if 'wall sculpture' is actual terminology in use, and see if it describes what we are talking about.)

This hep cat is roughly 2.5 feet tall from top to bottom. I used mdf fiberboard for the majority of it, carving into it with scooped chisels I picked up in Japan. The bartop is a slab of oak. The stool was particularly trying because the legs broke a couple times, They were just too brittle for my heavy monkey hands. They survived the third fix, and I was able to hang it.

I am pleased with the way in which the hands were carved out to hold the martini (thin plastic) and the cigarette (wooden dowel.) I should have taken a close-up photo of the cigarette. I took an especially long time on it and am very pleased with the realism, which includes an ember that, if you squint, looks like it is really lit.

The ultimate compliment, for me, is that it sold. I hope the person who bought it has a softer touch, and was able to get it safely hung without upsetting the barstool. 

The ghost of Feldon J. Pinkle

The latest in a 'series' of rustic signage has the circus theme once again. The event this time is known far and wide as Barnyard Follies. It is a delightful show run by the legendary Feldon J. Pinkle. At 10-cents per ticket, the tents are going to fill up fast, so come early!

Acrylic on wood

approx 18" x 24"

The panel itself was part of a dresser someone had tossed in the alley near my house. For those new to the blog, my neighborhood is a series of streets crossing one another at right angles, with alleys running between each pair of roads. The collective consciousness of most of the half-wits who populate this part of San Diego is that discarded furniture should be placed anywhere in the alley because, magically, it will eventually disappear. The majority of this refuse is unsuitable for repair, and tend to remain for quite awhile. Before the debris gets hauled away, I look for the wooden desks and such which have panels I can use.

The idea that came to me first was the Harmonica-playing goat. I had recently listened to a Stephen King audio-book, The Regulators. Somewhere midst the thousands of sentences was a brief mention of a goat named 'Dirty Face'. It was completely random and was not an important piece of the story, but it struck a chord with me. So that got the juices going.

Feldon J. Pinkle is not a real person. The name is something I remember from around 1990. At the time I worked in the graphics department of a small bi-weekly newspaper. The artists around me were brilliant. They were skilled artists and production grunts, as well as unsung heroes of the comedy stage. In particular, the brilliant staff artist, M.P. Opriska, was a constant source of wit. He first mentioned Feldon J. Pinkle in, I believe, an editorial cartoon. The name was clearly memorable to me, and was given new life in my art.

The idea for 'Barnyard Follies' came from that era as well. The production manager, Mike Reilly, had served in the navy before joining us at the paper. He had a never-ending cache of tales from the ships he served on. One story, told with clear disgust in his voice, involved him visiting a fellow sailors quarters only to find a group of sailors watching an adult film wherein the women actresses are loving some farm animals very much. Mike did not stick around to see who was cast in the film, but he did learn that the title was 'Barnyard Follies'. So, I pulled the thought from my filing cabinet brain and used it here.

The rest was stream-of-consciousness. I figured 10-cents was probably the going rate for such a show sometime in the past. And, since there was a lot of imitation in circus acts of yore, I thought it would be funny to mention Dirty Face was merely the 2nd best act of its kind. This allows us to imagine just how good the BEST harmonica-playing goat must have been.

Stymie Has a Posse

OTAY

20" x 36" Acrylic on wood

"Hey, wait a minute! Thats not Stymie! Thats Buckwheat!"

"No way, man! Thats Eddie Murphy AS Buckwheat."

...and Buckwheat is a close acquaintance of Stymie, and therefore a member of his 'posse'. If, finally, all this talk of posses seems rather out of place in relation a portrait of 'Buh-weet', you may be the lucky one. For the rest of us, the onslaught of Obey-brand everything came out of nowhere and everywhere concurrently, ensuring none who were aware of it could ever forget it. Obey and it's mascot, Andre, were ubiquitous before becoming ubiquitous, dig? Is any of this getting through to you?

Enough BS. Lets talk about the riff.

I conjured up this take on Shepherd Fairy's (sic?) cash cow years ago. It always seemed worthy of creating, I just never found the right surface. As I have stated before, the surface generally gives me some kind of idea for what should be put down on it. This panel from a cherry desk called on me to, at long last, paint Buckwheat.

For those of you who read my details, I will let you in on a secret idea which may forever go undone, but is no less nansensu than 'Otay': Picture a high-contrast image of a hasidic Jew... suns rays eminating from behind... you know where I am going with this... at the bottom: OiVey.

Yeah. I am pretty sure that one will go undone. 

Paranoia, the destroy-yuh!

Invited to submit art for a show with a paranoia/ mind control/ art of suggestion theme, I gave it my all. Drawing on 18 years (+/-) of listening to Art Bell's Coast to Coast radio show, I hit upon three ideas in no time at all. While I do not buy into conspiracies by and large, the discussions somehow fascinate and entertain me. So, lets take a look at what I produced...

      The Bohemian Club Sign      

I based this sign on others I have seen online. It does not match any one sign exactly, aside from the content of the words. The logo is a replica of the logo used by the club. Some of you may not be familiar with the Bohemian club and will be unsure of the reason it was subject matter for this art show. Hopefully you can get the jist from this verbage I copied from Wikipedia:

The Bohemian Club is a private club; only active members of the Club (known as "Bohos" or "Grovers"^[12]) and their guests may visit the Grove. These guests have been known to include politicians and notable figures from countries outside the U.S.^[2] Particularly during the midsummer encampment, the number of guests is strictly limited due to the small size of the facilities. Nevertheless, up to 2,900 members and guests have been reported as attending some of the annual encampments.^{[citation needed]}

The membership list has included every Republican Party and some Democratic Party U.S. presidents since 1923, many cabinet officials, directors and CEOs of large corporations including major financial institutions. Major military contractors, oil companies, banks (including the Federal Reserve), utilities (including nuclear power) and national media (broadcast and print) have high-ranking officials as club members or guests.

Basically, there are some major players known to be members in this club of the elite. Anytime you have people of power meeting in secrecy, you have the makings of a good ol' conspiracy. 

      Mayan Prophecy      

The idea behind this was to create a block which could pass for a section of wall removed from a Mayan temple, or the like. The majority of the 14" x 12" piece is the styrofoam core, with only a 3/4" layer of cement over that. My thought was that it would be light enough to hang on a wall. In truth, the piece probably weighs 10 pounds. Not quite the lightweight wall-hanging I had in mind. Still, it will look good in our garden.

The alleged Mayan prophecies regarding 2012 were the source of this idea. I used my own design for the head gear, basing it off of actual images found in books. Yes, that is a Starbucks cup in his hand. Sure, they did not have Starbucks in their time but, remember, this depicts a prophetic look into makind's future. Are we doomed to the fate of this pie-eyed indian? Does his mouth hang agape because he is witnessing an atomic bomb? Or, has he suddenly realized that he has spent too much on his grande mocha?

The Illuminati Nightlight

My favorite piece of the three is the Illuminati Nightlight. I will even go as far to say that it is one of the greatest pieces I have ever made. It turned out as I had hoped it would, though I had some doubt as to whether I could make it happen. 

The subject matter, of course, is the symbol from the back of a 1-dollar bill. Many conspiracy theorists claim it is a Masonic symbol, pointing to various aspects of it's design. My take on it consists of mahogany sides topped with a crystal pyramid I ordered off of Amazon.

I must give due credit to Mr. Eric Williams at Future Antiques. It was with his help that I was able to cut the compound miters necessary for the angle of the 'bricks' to match those on the crystal pyramid. I can say with some certainty that I would have been hard-pressed to get the accuracy his knowledge provided me were I to be left to my own devices.

Finally, I want to discuss the light coming from beneath the pyramids base. As I was working on mounting the light fixture inside the piece, I noticed that raising the base slightly from the tabletop caused a really cool glowing 'halo' around the bottom. As a result, I ended up mounting tiny rubber feet to the inner walls. That was a really cool addition to an already exceptional piece. 

I almost didn't recognize you.

It has not been that long since I started making art for 'the masses'. I figure the real start was around 2006, when I moved into the place where I still reside. Tae, the lovely woman who would become my wife, was due to visit my house for the first time and the place was painfully sparse. I did not have any dining room furniture to speak of. My living room consisted of about 16 feet worth of workbench space and a tall, narrow shelving unit which housed a rinky-dink TV and a couple gaming consoles. I had no bed. I think I had a hand-me-down dresser... Most striking, I had nothing on any of the apartment walls.

What, I thought, could I do to make my apartment more presentable? Furniture, I knew, would cost money. Being impoverished, I decided homemade art was the solution. Some sort of painting was going to be the key in my drive to gussy up the pad as the date of my guest's arrival loomed. So, what to paint?

A samurai! Of course! Japanese girl... Japanese subject matter... It would be a cinch. I thought. Wrongly. Not having delved into Japanese art much further than some anime and 1 or 2 Kurosawa films, my memories from which to draw inspiration from were, surprisingly, more barren than my house. My solution was to do a painting based upon one I had seen in a book. While the original would certainly look far superior to what I ended up with, the final piece was indeed pleasing.

I painted it on a 2' x 4' scrap of cabinet-grade birch plywood that I scored on a construction site. Armed with acrylics and a circular saw, I did a valiant job of creating a statement of my capabilities with this one project. Having this hanging opposite the door as you entered the apartment made my home far more welcoming. It hangs in our living room to this day.

Although the art was not created for public consumption, it was the spark that lit that flame. I was finally aware of painting and my ability to utilize it with effectiveness. There would still be a couple years before I would hang my art in a gallery for the first time, but it was not long afterwards that I created my first piece for someone who was not me. 

The shop shown above is located at 2843 University Avenue. Owned by Mr. Simon Wong, the space houses all manner of items from the far east. Statuettes, figurines, vases, swords, clothing, paintings... as I said, all manner of items. And, according to the rave reviews on Yelp, Kam Fung is the only place one need visit when making the move to create a feng shui living space. It was Simon who received the art I am eluding to.

Having enjoyed a casual, friendly relationship with one another for a couple years, I was happy to oblige when Simon asked me to paint something on a cabinet door he possessed. I took the wood home and, with Tae's help, stripped it of the existing paint and finish on the panel. Finally, with the prep work complete, it was time to be creative. Initially, I did not have any ideas about what I should paint.  Looking back, I believe that my habit of letting the 'canvas' dictate what shall be painted was likely born at this point. After staring at the door for a great deal of time, the image, in all its randomness, became clear in my mind. Although I did not know it, the creation given life on Simon's cabinet door had all the hallmarks of future artwork I would eventually produce.

Recently, I have been toying with the idea of using the term 'nansensu' (nonsense) as the name of my personal style. I think the sign shown here is a perfect example. The banner at the top advertises a shop that caters to soldiers (Bushi), offering discount clothing and supplies. Below the enormous setting sun, the wandering ronin gives testimony to some of the features that make this his one-stop trading post: They rent boats, they offer hot baths and, for customers who prefer it, this establishment accepts personal checks! It is an additional bonus to learn that such a market is open 7 days each week, 24 hours a day.

I ran into Simon out of the blue last weekend. Remembering the cabinet door, and wishing to see it after so many years, I inquired about it. I was delighted to learn it still hung in his house. I was further excited to hear he would bring it to his shop so that I could get the photo of it which, foolishly, I had failed to get back then. The icing on this already delicious cake is the fact that, today, he let me take it home for a few days. This will allow me to get a good photo, for sure. Also, the extended borrow-time will let me reconnect with a piece of my personal history. Nansensu jya nai..

Sweet Simplicity

'Bewarijuana'

(Click for trippy bigness)

I am not much of a pot smoker. I took a ride on the proud mary once upon a trip, but it makes me tired anymore. Worse yet, it makes me look very tired. In other words, I made a decision years ago that looking like I was 'high on something' was not the look I was going for and I put the peace pipe in mothballs. Despite my leap from the love train, I support anybody's decision to use responsibly.... unless it leads to sinister things....

In my 20's, I was turned on to the spoken word recordings of Jello Biafra. I was familiar with his wonderfully biting lyrics as long-time front man for the Bay Area punk band, the Dead Kennedys. His fifth speaking album, I Blow Minds For A Living, was released in 1991 and contained, among other things, an extensive history of marijuana and its road from useful vegetation to illegal narcotic. It was here that I first heard that, sometime in the 1930s, on the floor of the U.S. Senate, it was said that marijuana was known to cause people to 'listen to jazz'. True or not, it is hilarious. The idea has stuck with me and, 23 years later, I put the idea down as art.

The image shown is my computer rendition. Of note is the fact that this falls into the category of art which turned out exactly as I had envisioned it- the rarest of things, I am afraid. It will appear as an aged painting (acrylic on plywood, 2' x 2') in the very near future. At that time I will post a photo of the finished product. That is, unless I am too baked to remember.

Son of Man

My latest piece measures a paltry 5" x 18". It will not be used as contest bait, but does illustrate some very famous eyes. I invite the throng of viewers to throw a guess into the ring as to whose eyes served as the models.

The black is on two separate pieces of MDF, and the lime green is painted on a third. I cut and sanded a slight back-bevel on the black pieces so that, although they are mounted directly to the back piece, they appear to be 'floating' above it. I am happy with this simple piece. You can see it in my eyes.

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UPDATE:

Due to the overwhelming response, it will be more cost effective for Nonphilter, Inc. to simply post the answer to this puzzler in the form of a photo. Inputting all responses would have taken a team of monkeys with scissors and gluesticks, working around the clock, a minimum of a fortnight.

Free to be you, free to be me

I had a really groovy idea today. Well, it actually started with a groovy idea I had last night...

(click to inspect the embiggened image)

For those of you who have seen the as-yet-unsold Mona Lisa's Eyes painting I did, you will easily draw parallels between that one and the one I present today.

With Mona's Eyes, I painted using a halftone pattern. In making the piece above, I was attempting to get maximum contrast and minimal detail, while still ending up with a portrait that is largely recognizable. Whether or not I was successful is not easy to decide on my own. I already know who it is. So, while it looks like I nailed it, I can not be to sure. It is the untainted mind that I hope can decipher this largely unimportant riddle. That is where my groovy idea today comes into play.

I hereby offer the above painting as the prize in the first ever Nonphilter contest giveaway. The contest will work very simply: The first Nonphilter reader to correctly name the person whose eyes I have painted above, answering in the comments below, can have this for free. This was painted on a nice little piece of cherry. it measures approximately 6" tall x 21" wide and is 1/4" solid cherry. being that it is a thin piece of solid wood, this is certain to warp if exposed to drastic fluctuations in humidity, so don't hang it in your shower is what I am getting at.

I can not guess for sure how easy this will be for others to solve. I can actually think of someone other than the true subject that this resembles, so who knows what the public sees. Nevertheless, good luck.

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UPDATE:

Congratulations to Nick! he solved the mystery. It was indeed Sir John Lennon. (Was he knighted? I don't know for sure...) Nick has chosen to receive the piece rather than take the all-inclusive trip offered by Nonphilter International, LLC. I think that was a smart decision.

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GENERAL CONTESTING RULES

The following guidelines are completely bogus and are posted here simply to give the illusion that a major contest event is underway when, in reality, I would be lucky if anyone EVER reads this post long enough to realize that the painting above is a prize in a contest to begin with. Nonphilter, International LLC, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliated companies (collectively, the “Company”), will conduct its contests substantially as described in these general contesting rules, and by participating, each participant agrees as follows:

The Company may from time to time conduct contests concurrently and simultaneously on several affiliate blogs owned and not owned by the Company, and in various States, and the Company may add or remove participating stations or change call letters of any affiliate station at any time during a contest as announced on the affected blog.  For a list of participating blogs for each individual contest, please visit the affiliate blog website of this blog. 

1.             Prize(s).  The prize(s) that may be awarded to the eligible winner(s) are not transferable, redeemable for cash or exchangeable for any other prize.  All prizes must be redeemed from the blog within thirty (30) days of the contest end date unless otherwise stated in the contest’s official rules.  Certain prizes are date specific (i.e. concerts, trips) and the winner or winners must be available on the dates specified.  If a winner cannot be contacted or is disqualified for any reason, the Company reserves the right to determine an alternate winner or not to award that winner’s prize, in its sole discretion. 

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5.          Miscellaneous.  Void where prohibited.  Odds of winning depend upon the number of participants.  Each winner must submit proof of eligibility and sign the Company’s release form to claim the prize.  The Company may substitute prizes, amend the rules or discontinue the Contest at any time as announced on the blog.  The Company disclaims any responsibility to notify participants of any aspect related to the conduct of the Contest.  For a copy of the rules, or where required by law, a list of winners, visit the visit the blog website.  All entries become the property of the Company and will not be returned. 

6.          Compliance with Law.  The conduct of the Contest is governed by the applicable laws of the United States of America, which take precedence over any rule to the contrary herein.  The Company shall follow the applicable laws for conducting contests, including notice to the state attorney general or consumer affairs office, posting of a prize bond, furnishing lists of winners, running specific on-air disclaimers, providing specific written information about the Contest, etc. as required by local and state law. 

Spring Cleaning

I am constantly working on art in my spare time. I may not post much, due to my love affair with reclining comfortably on cushions while watching ANYTHING. But, I assure you, I am always going. going, going on the art. Foolishly, I have many great pieces that I forget to get photos of and, alack, they get sold and forgotten. Then there are the pieces which do get captured on camera, but lay neglected in dusty, digital folders within my computer's hard drive. But, not today! Today I bring you a collection of heretofore unshared creations produced during the spans I went A.W.O.L. in the recent past.


Meatmen

(Click to view big, Mack.)

This one is not particularly new. It is at least a couple years old. Somehow, I never shared it on my blog. I like it a bunch. It represents a good mix of the techniques I frequently employ, and is indicative of what passes for my personal style. I cannot explain my style well, but it is defined by, among other things: recycled wood, bastardization of corporate logos, and general peculiarity. I am confident there are people in town here that could see this and know it was my work. Probably not many, but a few. 

The wood used to create the 'canvas' for 'Meatmen' came from the scrap pieces produced when I made the plywood skull seen in  THIS POST  from 2011.

Madheros and Hellman's

This is the most recent creation, as of the typing of this post. It is painted on a panel of mahogany plywood that i scored from a new home construction job i was on in La Jolla. The superintendent told me the plywood was leftover from the material used for inset panels in the ceiling, and was up for grabs. I tooks a stack of about 9 pieces, 1/2" thick and random widths, but around 17" x 20" each. The thing that sucks is, there is a stack 4 feet high of pieces roughly 6' x 4' x 1/2", but I do not have a place to store it. dangit.

The cigarettes read 'Madhero'. As funny as it seems now, cigarettes were sold in candy form to children back in the day. I recall the names on 2 of the 'brands', which were near-exact copies of real tobacco products. one was Pell Mell (Pall Mall.) The other was Madhero (Marlboro.) The candy cigarettes were curiously reflective of real cigarettes in that they really did not taste 'good', but somehow they were addictive as hell and I could go through two packs a day, easy.

The smokes are balanced with the East Coast version of 'Best Foods' mayonnaise, Hellman's. I think the reason this was used is obvious, so I will not say any more about that.

The microphone-as-cranium makes an unexpected appearance in this piece. The last time we saw that was in THIS POST. Above the head we see low cards in a mediocre hand. While not a great hand, it is 2 pairs with an Ace kicker, making it a hand that is weak, but making a strong effort to shine. The kanji above translates to "Where there is a will, there is a way."

Overall, this deeply cryptic and coded image is sure to stump the most seasoned of sleuths and, to make it ultimately interesting, I vow to never confirm or deny any knowledge of the symbolic nature of this painting. All I can say is, it is me, but not me alone. Perhaps the sale of this one will be to the person most interested in solving the mystery. After all, having it at home would afford more chances to examine it. Frankly, I would hang it opposite the toilet if it were me.

Note: Aside from those mentioned above, I did not intentionally make any references in this painting to other known entities. Yet, I may have subconsciously given a shout-out to David Bowie's pants.

Real X-ray Specs!!

Pop-culture inspired, obviously. The kanji translates as 'X-ray.'

I loved comic books as a kid. Today, I still get great joy from flipping through comics published during my youth. I especially love the ads that promised everything I desired, such as X-Ray glasses. In those ads, a dork was either shown looking into his own hand or ogling a feminine silhouette. The implication was that the future was "finally here" and we would soon live as panty-obsessed geeks in a wonderous future, provided one spent $2 + shipping for the catalog.

It never happened. Interestingly, I think this piece also promises more than it delivers. Think about it.

Saito-san needs to chill.

The idea for this came from my appreciation for the kabuki face painting. Its hard to go wrong when you are working with red, white and black. The Nazis knew this, and now you know it.

I created the pattern on the green panel by making a stencil of 4 or 5 of the flower motifs, then sprayed with white paint as I moved the stencil down the board.

One of my favorite things here is the small flower-shaped pieces of hardware used to secure the two boards together. I received hundreds of these when I secured a bounty of items from a trophy store that was going out of business.

I pulled the words from a Japanese language phrase book. Because it will be hanging at Lestats coffee shop, I chose the phrase, "Mr. Saito does not drink coffee." As I see it, he looks as if you have asked one too many times.

OMGWTFLOLJK

This is basically ripped right out of the annals of Japanese 'ukiyo-e' art of yore. I am a big fan of the style which, as far as I know, is no more. the original ukiyo-e artists plied their trade using wood blocks, carving each color seperately and printing them one on top of another, as one might do for a multi-colored silkscreen print. The most famous of these, 'the great wave of Kanagawa', has been ripped off a jillion times. Actually, I may have done some thieving of my own. You'd have to go back through my blog entries to be sure. The joy imparted in this piece is that the geisha of 200 years ago appears to be on a cellphone. (a more likely prop in an actual ukiyo-e piece would have been a mirror.) I find the twist absolutely delicious and it beats the heck out of me how one of my best ideas ever took so long to sell. But, sell it did. Bless you nameless patron of the arts.

Big pack, too small

Andrew Estrada (formerly of Zepf Alt. Gallery) had commented to me about a pair of statues that he had seen at a gallery in Los Angeles. One was Biggie Smalls, the other Tupac. I will be the first to say that I do not have much knowledge of the recorded works of these two 'artists'. I do, however, recognize iconic imagery from popular culture. It was not difficult to see how two seperate works involving the slain figures would likely be desirable to a great many people.  Using my love for ultra-high contrast and excessive negative space, I created the pair on masonite, using black and white latex house paint.

Tupac looking down.

Biggie looking wistful.

I did not have a working car at the time. Still, getting the pieces hung was important. A space on the wall in 'my area' of Lestats had been vacant for too long, and I did not wish to lose the coveted location due to perceived apathy. Having only a bike at my disposal, transporting the large pieces required some ingenuity.

First, I wanted to protect the paint. I wrapped the pair in a blanket, being sure to seperate them by a layer of cloth. A smaller bundle containing another small painting was stacked upon that. Because the whole mess was too large to comfortably carry under my arm, I decided it would have to go on my back. As Lestat's is a few miles from here, comfortable straps were going to be crucial. Placing a lightweight backpack on the top of it all, I began to secure the pieces with carefully considered rope placement. While it does not look it, the final configuration took close to an hour.

I was not sure if the image on the left was easy to decipher, so I added the cheap-ass scribble on the right to clarify. You can imagine how this might want to swing side to side as I pedaled. I ended up needing to clamp a couple small pieces of wood onto the small rack behind the bike seat (not pictured) which served as a 'channel' into which the tail end of my packaged art could rest in and upon. It is safe to say I probably looked like quite the traveler.

I will not go so far as to say I will do anything for art. But, present me with a chance to look like a major dork and I am there.