Monkey Cowboy

Monkey Cowboy

Show down in the French Quarter. Lucky Dog is about to get a free ride to Boot Hill.


I Am Confused, is that a Problem?

I have been using the question, "I am confused, is that a problem?" as a personal 'catch phrase' when I meander and twine with the internet.

Before I read a certain book, I didnt really know what the phrase meant, because I was, you know, confused.

The saying does express something that I feel about life, art and personal philosophy. I do not intend for the phrase to have a negative interpretation. It sounds negative, but I saw it as somehow positive.

Confusion is generally seen as a state of mind to be avoided at all cost. Even delusions are preferable to confusion. When we dont understand things, we invent explanations. NOT KNOWING is usually experienced as an uncomfortable state of mind.

In the movie, "Empire of the Sun", a doctor yells at the protagonist, "Stop thinking so much. You think too much." Eureka. Hmm, is that my problem? Maybe, I think too much.

I thought, Maybe, I will read some philosophy, maybe that will help with the confusion.

Soon, the book, "A Parliament of Minds", came my way. I bought it for twenty five cents at the Franklinton Public Library. They sell donated books, when there is no more room for books on the shelves. I love coincidences.

Printed in 2000, by the State University of New York Press, it is a book of relatively current philosophical thinking.

So I read it. And now I will quote from it.

This statement comes from David Rothenberg, associate professor of philosophy at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Philosophy doesn't make you settled, you know. In that sense it's different than meditation; it makes you more and more confused and through that confusion you can be much more alive and sort of wonder about the world. You know, wonder is the best thing philosophy has to offer. You have to wonder about this amazing planet, this amazing place where we are, and not get bored and not think there are too easy answers. Just keep asking, keep exploring.

Rothenberg expressed what I had sensed in my muddled, thinking brain. The concept has been there, in my cranium vault, it took Rothenberg to give me the words.

I had thought and thought, going in circles, back tracking, jumping forward, interweaving and tangling, untangling, and retangling.

Eventually, I arrived at an acceptance, even a celebration, of not knowing. I embraced mystery.

John Wayne Moses

John Wayne Moses
The Persistence of Worship Art Series

Through the ages humankind has venerated deities, celebrities, and rulers. There are historical streams of worshipful entities who display similar characteristics. The characteristics stay the same, but the entities change. I have been working on a series that explores the persistence of character streams that people worship.

After doing a Bacchus image of decadence. And painting images of Mary, representing compassion. And a Venus Sex Goddess image. Something was missing. I had done all "soft" libertarian images. My cosmogony needed balance.

I thought to balance things with this John Wayne, Moses, Sky God image. A disciplinarian would add needed weight to this art series. All that yin needed some yang. This image stream of masculine rulers, goes all the way back through Zeus to the Etruscan Sky God, Tinia. I associate this worship stream with rules, law and discipline.

Moses handed down the law. John Wayne was an alpha 'good guy' character who tromped the 'bad guys'. I associate Sky Gods with authoritarianism. Rule breakers are punished.

I will refrain from writing about how my father experiences relate to this subject. OK, I will just say, that Daddy Dearest liked John Wayne. Also, Father handed down strict law and meted out lots of punishment.

But, hey, you guys, you alpha males, hey! A few laws and some bit of discipline go a long way. You guys are control freaks. Hey! loosen up! Lets dont have any more rules and laws than are necessary for keeping people from hurting each other.

Apologies to Michelangelo for borrowing his Moses statue. I hope that he is not turning over in his grave, when he sees what I did with his beautiful art.

Silver Creek Garden Notes

It is getting warm to hot here. Temperatures in the 80's. The amaryllis that Lois gave me is blooming, red with creamy stripes. I take as much time as I can outside while the weather is beautiful. Mornings are perfect, in the 70's. I have a new raised vegetable bed with good soil that I have planted. Bunching onions, edge the bed. If you manage bunching onions well, you never have to buy them, or even plant them again. They are very low maintenance. Also planted peppers, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, basil and parsley. The bed is only about 48 sq ft. I plant everything on top of each other. Most of the property here floods once or twice a year. In addition most of the property is shady with forest. There isnt much room for a sunny bed.

I am planting a hydrangea bush by the porch steps. So exciting. The blooms are stunning fresh and obtain a special fragile, faded look when dried.

Happy Spring,

Peace, Love and Art,

Janet

Zatay, Goddess of Art, Music, and Spring

Zatay, Goddess of Art, Music and Spring

Spring is popping here at Silver Creek. The huckleberry bloomed and has lots of tiny green berries. The wisteria is blooming. violets, Carolina allspice, snow drop, all are blooming. The trees have that beautiful spring yellow green. I want to garden. I had lettuce over the winter. The fig trees are hanging on. We are making a new veggie bed.

The last flooding of the creek broke down the beaver dam. The frogs sound like a bell symphony.

If you are having nice weather, I hope that you have time to enjoy it outdoors.

Angelina Jolie as Medusa

"Snake Mandala", by M. C. Escher

Angelina Jolie as Medusa

So, here is Angelina Jolie as Medusa. Medusa, with her writhing snake hair. This px popped into my TV monkey mind a few weeks ago as I was trying to fall asleep. While waiting for sleep, I watch the Art Chanel of my brain. Over the week, the px kept creeping into the screening room of my head. So, yes I thought, I will paint this.

But, I addressed my Muse, I do not understand the connection between Jolie and Medusa. You know that the picture should "hold together". It does not have to be rational, but it should have an irrational harmony. I like px's with somekinda meaning.

Also, I think that I should paint px that are full of light and love. Confucius say, "That which you give attention will increase." I want happiness to increase. Those snakes, they are not pleasant.

And, what, I said to my muse, is the connection between the movie star and the ancient Greek mythological woman? As usual, my Muse won this disagreement. As I painted the px, I began to see that there is a connection between Angelina and Medusa.

Angelina can vaporize bad women, evil men, robots, monsters and the living dead. BUT-- Medusa can turn anyone that looks at her into stone. Angelina, you may be bad, but Medusa is the baddest of the bad. So, I began to see the connection. Score one for the unconscious mind, or the collective unconsciousness, my muse, or what ever it is that provides the slide show of art that my mind exhibits.

Medusa, a Greek Goddess, or chthonic monster, (deities of the underworld) was, is, celebrated as a guardian and protectress. Kind of like Diana, the huntress, but more scarey. Kind of like Angelina but badder.

So, here we have women warriors. Protectors, Guardians. Kick ass females. These image help us to fight for a good life. Help us cut down, drop, any thing, or anybody, that would interfere with creating a Life of Peace, Love and Art. By bringing these images into our consciousness, we have role models for fighting for right.

To make this px I gleaned images from the web. I am omnivorously foraging the web for images that help me to express my quirky take on life. I downloaded a few images of Angelina, a few of Medusa, and about a dozen images of snakes. Two of the images illustrated hundreds of snakes all knotted together. The snakes freaked me out. Even tho I have killed snakes with a machete here in the Louisiana swamp, I downloaded so many snakes, that it was creepy. I put all the images together, via Photoshop, into what I think is a beautiful picture. I found the image by Escher towards the end of working on the px. It works beautifully as a sort of crown.

In the process of making the picture, I thought about accessing my inner protectress and guardian. I hope that you too, will find you inner warrior.

This is what Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell were talking about. Ancient myths that resonate with us, as we try to create a life, ancient times and now. The challenges of life as a human on Earth, remain the same. For all the change zooming at us at a zillion miles per hour, it is reassuring to remember that the basics never change.

Take a look at the Widipedia entry, "Medusa", to see the full story about this interesting chthonic
Goddess.

Peace, Love and Art,

Janet