POP Religion

POP Religion

 

 

The series "POP Religion" came about in a natural flowing process .  Artistic, intuitive research into myth and spirituality over a time period of several years (I may even say, several decades, or a lifetime), has inspired me to create this series.  Led by my Muse I witnessed the evolution of a cohesive/confused concept that has kept me painting, creating with enthusiasm.  It has been a revolution in my mind expressed and communicated with paintings. The images display a     sincere/ironic vibe.

 

POP Religion, the concept, in 25 words or less:

This series is artistic research into the human need to believe in something, anything. It is a quirky personal pantheon of reverent/irreverent images.  POP Religion believes in Gods, Goddesses, Celebrities,  Royalty, Art, and QUESTioning.
 

These writers on myth theory have influenced my thought processes;  Joseph Campbell,  Sir James Frazier, and Carl Jung. 

 

Cardinal Woman

Acrylic on canvas,  20"x16", 2014

 

Digital painting, 23M flat file, 2023

 

Hey yall, we are not going to live forever.  In the words of Gauguin, "Where did we come from.  Why are we here.  Where are we going?"  You wont find any answers here, just some confounded meandering.  

 

Saint Louis Cathedral

acrylic on canvas, 36"x48", 2006

This painting, was created seven years ago.  It was made at a time when I was exploring the textures of acrylic impasto. I am using it now to introduce POP Religion

Holy Ghosts hover in the alcoves of a woozy church.  Maybe, it is better not to enter.  Are you brave? I don't know, it is all so confusing.  This is not a real church it is a painting.  POP Religion is not a real religion, or is it?   Is it a hoax, a joke or a concept? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Belushi Bacchus

oil and acrylic on canvas,  36"x48", 2012

 

Bacchus is the god of Mardi Gras.  He reigns over hedonistic abandon.  Woohoo, he is the party god.   His revelers act out impulses beyond the borders of  social constraint. 

Bacchus, (Dionysus to the Greeks), is the protector of those who do not fit into conventional society. He symbolizes chaos and danger, the escape from human reason. Bacchus worshipers seek  a place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His is a freedom, mystery religion.

 



Prometheus in his Sean Connery Incarnation

Acrylic on canvas,  48"x36", 2014

 

Digital painting and Epson print, 17M flat, 2013



details

 

 

Prometheus brought fire to humans when they were shivering and ignorant cavemen. The big honcho of Elysian Fields, Zeus, CEO of the heavens, wanted to keep fire, (a metaphor for intelligence) for himself alone. Prometheus stole fire from Zeus, so he was punished with eternal suffering.  This Promethean savior of humankind was chained to a rock, an eagle attacked and ate his liver everyday.  Overnight his liver grew back, only to be eaten again.

Recently Prometheus has been reincarnated  as Sean Connery.  After enduring the sadistic punishments of Zeus, this is like a vacation incarnation for him.  He enjoys being 007 and a movie star. 



 

Marilyn Aphrodite

acrylic on canvas, 24"x24", 6/2013

 



Marilyn Monroe is the reincarnation of the Greco-Roman goddess Aphrodite/Venus. She celebrates the sensuous symphony of physicality.  Marilyn has captured popular imagination since 1952, in my opinion  that qualifies her for goddess status.

Oprah Cleopatra

digital print

detail

 

 

Breaking news!!! Hot flash!!!

It has been discovered that Oprah is the reincarnation of Cleopatra!

Cleo had grown bored of everlasting languid lounging on the loveseat in LalaLand.   So she reinvented, reimagined and reincarnated herself as the Queen of Television.

 

This important event has been verified by Archie Long, an archeologist in Egypt who is an old and dear paramour of Oprah's.  Upon close examination of the famous Cleopatra Odalisque Statue of Giza, he found a gluteal area tattoo with phallic symbolism.  He was surprised and excited to find the unusual ink that matches the exact tattoo and placement he fondly remembers stroking on Oprah's caramel skin.  The tattoos match perfectly, it can not be a coincidence.  They prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the TV Queen was previously the Egyptian Pharaoh Queen.  

Tune in to award winning program TELL IT LIKE IT IS, tonight on the Irreverent Channel.  Clark Kent presents an in depth interview with the renowned archeologist Archie Long.  This amazing, ground breaking discovery will change your life.  Don't miss it. Tonight, channel 9393. 

John Lennon Jesus

Digital painting and Epson print, 22M flat, 2013

Love one another.  All you need is love.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Give peace a chance.

Mary, Queen of All

  mixed media on canvas, 24"x18", 2010

 

 

 

details

 

 

 

Mary, Queen of All

 

 

This vibrant picture speaks of compassionate love.  A collage of  pictures of a variety of women form the familiar Mary image.  Janis Joplin appears in the heart center.  Compassionate goddesses are worshiped historically world wide.  These forgiving, supportive myths speak to a deep need for the enveloping arms of perfect motherly love. 

 

The artistic process for this picture started with my collection of original digital female figure paintings, created over several years.  The layout was plotted digitally and  puzzle like sections were printed and cut out using archival Epson ink and paper. The cut out collage elements were then embedded into layers of acrylic paint.  Golden brand acrylics were used to create a pearly glowing halo. 

 

 

 

 

Baby God Crying

oil, acrylic on canvas, 36"x48', 2013

 

 

Artist have continually mined the rich vein of the artist giants that came before.  In this painting I "mash-up" a thirteenth century Mary picture with a realistic Jesus, throwing a tantrum.

  

 

 

 

Mary and Krishna

oil, acrylic on canvas, 36"x48", 2013

 

 

Yashoda and Jesus

oil, acrylic on canvas, 36"x48", 2013

 

"Mary and Krishna" and "Yashoda and Jesus", are companion paintings, titled together as "Switched at Birth".    These paintings illustrate the similarities in religions world wide. Birth of a savior stories contain universal elements.  They teach us that people everywhere seek the sweetness of protection and compassion.   

 

For more info about these pictures and the similarities of Jesus and Krishna myths, see my blog entry for June, entitled, "Mary and Krishna, Yashoda and Jesus".

 



 

  

 

 

 

Jagger Devil

acrylic on canvas, 24"x24", 7/2013

 

The devil is a convenient repository for all that is judged as negatives.  He is the basement closet where badness is locked up.  With a devil thought concept evil is nicely organized into one hated mind space. With a devil for scapegoat humans can imagine that negativity is isolated from their everyday existence. No pantheon is complete without a dumping spot for evil.

 





Bleeding Jesus

acrylic on board, 16"x20", 2011

 

The Christian myth of Jesus fulfills a chasm of human needs.  Here is a god that can save us from ourselves.  Humans are driven more by primitive emotions than by reason.  Emotion trumps reason.  Human behavior is frequently self defeating and socially counterproductive.  Jesus suffered for our sins.  He offers redemption.  I don't know about you, but I need to be saved from a lot of my stupid mistakes, my past actions.  Redemption myths offer hope that we may be "more better" in the future. Hope that our regrets may be washed away with blood and we will be sin free, white as snow.  Well, it is nice to think so, except for all the blood, which is gory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Source of Water

Acrylic on canvas, 24"x18", 2008

 

 

 

 

The metaphor images of woman/water has historically reoccurred in art. Vemeer painted "Woman with a Water Jug, in 1660.  In 1856 Ingres painted woman as a spring, bringing forth water, he was inspired by an earlier painter.  Woman and water as the source and spark of life, weaves through art history as a iconic thread of human existence.

 

  Water is more necessary for life than food.  A person can live for weeks without food, without water he may survive at most a few days.  We are at least 80% water.  Before entering this earth through the woman birth canal we float in a watery womb. 

 

Water reflects light.  It is also transparent, revealing another layer, a fluid realm beneath the surface.

 

The pairing of woman and water celebrates the amazing fertility of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Phoenix Flying

Digital painting and Epson print, 21M flat, 2013

 

The mythical Phoenix bird is the original come-back-kid.  She lives and soars for 1000 years.  At the end of the millennium she crashes and burns.  The Phoenix dies by fire every 1000 years, then she rises from the ashes, reborn, to live and soar another 1000 years.  This myth fulfills our need to be reassured that we can rise from the ashes of our stupidity (personal stupidity and racial stupidity) and finally get our shit together.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 Gidget, Gadget and Gizmo

Digital painting, Epson print, 18M flat, 2013

 

This is just a funny little picture at the end

 

 



 

 A few notes:

 

This blog entry was updated September, 2014

  

These writers on myth theory have had influence on my thought processes;  Joseph Campbell,  Sir James Frazier, and Carl Jung. 

 

Many visual references have contributed to this series,  too many to name.

 

My posts are unedited, any misconduct is my error, mine alone. 

 

I rely on Wikipedia for reference.

 

Yashoda and Jesus



Mary and Krishna

Oil on canvas, 48"x36", 2012

 

 

 

Antenna Gallery, Mixed Messages

 

These two paintings will be in the Press Street's Antenna Gallery, Mixed Messages exhibition.  Opening Saturday June 7, 5pm to 9pm.  On view through July 1.  Gallery hours 12 noon to 5 pm, Monday through Sunday. Call 504-298-3161 before arrival. Address:  3718 Saint Claude Avenue, New Orleans, La.  Hope to see you there!

 

SWITCHED AT BIRTH is a pair of paintings,

MARY WITH KRISHNA and YASHODA WITH JESUS

 

These two paintings are from the series, "POP Religion".  POP Religion explores the myths that humans live by with irreverence/reverence and with humor.

 

In this pair of paintings the babies are switched between the two mothers.  The Caucasian mother holds the blue skinned baby, and the blue Indian mother holds the pink baby.  The Christian Mother Mary is holding the Hindu Baby God Krishna.  The Hindu nurture Mother Yashoda is holding the Christian Baby God Jesus.

 

The inspiration for these pictures is the similarities between the births, myths and teachings of Krishna and Jesus.  Similarities between Christianity and Hinduism. 

 

Both Krishna and Jesus were divinely conceived, brought to earth via miraculous insemination.  God planted holy sperm seeds in the human mothers' wombs. 

 

Krishna was born in a prison, Jesus was born in a barn (manger means a feeder for livestock).  So they were both born in lowly, unlikely places.

 

Both Krishna and Jesus were hybrid human and immortal Gods.

 

As Gods incarnate in human bodies, both were the chosen Saviors of flawed and suffering humans.  Both Gods were dedicated to saving humans from themselves.

 

Both Krishna and Jesus were humble and lead simple ascetic lives.  Both associated with downtrodden people.

 

Both healed the sick and raised the dead.

 

Both taught tolerance, mercy and kindness;  compassionate love.

 

There are many similarities in their lives, leading some scholars to theorize that the two myths stemmed from the one same story, and the differences in the myths are explained by their word of mouth retelling over time and traveling over a geographical area.

 

Other scholars, like Carl Jung postulate that the many similarities in not just these two myths but in many myths worldwide and over historical centuries is a result of an oversoul or spiritual connection between all humans everywhere and for all times.

 

Another factor in the similarities of world wide myths is the universality of the human dilemma.  In the words of artist Gauguin, "Where did we come from?  Why are we here?  Where are we going?"  We cant stand not knowing.

 

POP Religion is influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell, Sir James Frazier, Carl Jung and by historical visual depictions of world wide myths.  The seriousness of these influences is balanced by humor.  Because if we cant laugh at ourselves, then we are really in trouble.

 

 

Note:  the "Yashoda and Jesus" picture here is the digital image that I used as preliminary study for the canvas painting.  The painting is different, the figures are similar but the background of the canvas picture is of clouds. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

To See Beyond the Dogma

Digital painting, created 2/21/13

 

 

To See an Angel

detail of To See Beyond the Dogma

 

 

detail

 

 

To See Beyond the Dogma was created, according to my files, on 2/21/13.  I have been painting in the studio, so do not have a new digital image to post at this time.  This image was created about 14 months past and illustrates, especially by the title, my enduring concern with religion and spiritualty. 

 

After a childhood of physical abuse in the name of THE LORD, I had a plethora of hungry issues.  I foraged in the hills and the valleys, in the cities and the wilderness, grazing on food for my soul.  I have been a Methodist, and a, I forgot what you call it, an extreme form of Christian, oh yea, a Fundamentalist.  I have been an agnostic, an atheist, and a pantheist.  A freethinker and a Buddhist and a New Ager. If I had only stopped at agnostic, my brain would not be as overstuffed as a Kardashian Kloset.  A vague, freeform pantheism best satisfies my spiritual hunger.   

 

I have had "spells"  of mystical states since childhood.  I don't know why some people, like me, are inflamed with a spiritual itch, and other people think that the whole searching endeavor is ridiculous.  I am resigned to being confused in my verbal mind, but fairly content in my soul.  It is more than words.  It is the occasional experience of ecstatic states that convinces me there is more to life than concrete reality.

 

And, you know, I try to be kind and loving.

 

A few weeks ago Second Son and Grandgirl and I were in the feed and seed store shopping for parts for the wood burning stove.  I said to Son, within earshot of Grandgirl, "We brought you here to sell you".  Grandgirl thought that this was funny (funny points for Gramma).  I thought that it was very funny because it was so daring.  Son was not pleased.  I need to apologize.  Later, I felt ashamed, and resolved to edit my speech better.  I resolved to be kinder. 

 

I was reading, "Anna Karenina" by Tolstoy.  Near the end of the one thousand pages, Levin, (the character that Tolstoy most identified with), had a spiritual epiphany and decided that after all the philosophical catastrophe could be easily solved with simple kindness.  He resolved to be more kind.  Shortly after that he was riding in his buggy and berated his servant driver over an insignificant incident. 

 

The next time I saw my son I ganged up with his wife to gently pick on him.  This won me much needed points with Daughter in Law, but Son was annoyed.  This kindness practice takes practice.  I will keep trying. 

 

The angel in this picture was downloaded and worked in Photoshop.  She is a vintage ceramic piece.  I salute the people who designed and created her, whoever they are.  Her eyes are rolled back in her head, eyes rolling back can signal a mystical trance. 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 



Mary Ascending

Digital Painting

 

 

Hey Y'all,

 

 

I haven't been posting lately because it is the busy season for obfuscating and extrapolating.  I downloaded a daffodil and damaged my Dingbat.  After an indecent week of intensive introspection, I am glad to report that Dingbat has recovered to a previous level of deliberate denial. You know, it is just one glitch after another.  Giggling seems to help with a gaggle of glitches.  I have also been having trouble with incurable incompetent alliteration, if anyone knows a cure for this please leave a comment. 

 

 

 

 

Here's hoping that all your glitches don't constipate your gizzard,

 

 

Janet

Sandra Blair, A Time Warp Portrait

 

Sandra Blair, A Time Warp Portrait

 



A few weeks ago Sandra posted an 80's photo of herself on Face Book. The wide shouldered dress reminded me of pictures of my mother from the forties.  Sandra and I FB chatted.  I quipped that with Photoshop, I could put my mother's 40's hairdo on Sandra.  She said, "Oh, do it, that would be so cool!"  I thought about doing the px for a few days, because I knew, that once started, it would be a time commitment to complete.  Soon, I knew that I wanted to do the portrait. 

 

Why do art??  There are many answers to this question.  One of the most compelling is curiosity to see how the picture will develop.  There are surprises involved in working a picture.  A hundred small decisions, color, line, texture, and composition decisions add up to something that has never been seen before.  If the inspiration is viable then the time spent crafting an image is rewarded with a beautiful NEW creation. 

 

Sandra Blair was organizer and the sizzling Queen of Krewe of Clones for about seven years in the 80's. Krewe of Clones was a large and popular artist Mardi Gras marching parade connected with the Contemporary Arts Center.

 According to my understanding, the Crewe of Rex (the oldest Crewe) was established to parody the royalty of Europe.  Krewe of Clones was established to spoof Crewe of Rex. And now, Crewe de Vieux has inherited the out of control satire mantle of Krewe of Clones.

 

 What a wonderful decade the eighties were for me and mine.  We, an excitable pack of good friends and family, hot children in the city, were the "Hemorrhoid Marching Klub", creating costumes and mobile "sculptures" for the parade!  Why?, you may ask, as many other baffled people have questioned, did you call it "Hemorrhoid  Marching Klub?  The answer is simple, "Because hemorrhoids are disgusting".  Yes, that was the decade when I learned how to avoid "good taste".  When I graduated from being hemmed in by appropriate behavior rules, a bigger world opened to my consciousness.  This gave my art the freedom of a rebel, made me a committed nonconformist supported by a band of unruly misfits.   

 

I am sorry Mother, and I apologize to my loving Aunts,  you taught me well, but I had to escape the prison of being a good girl.  Decades have passed, if you, careful teachers and role models, are still turning over in your grave, then you must be very dizzy.  But, I imagine that you are looking down from above, lounging on a cloud, wearing elegant angelic palazzo pajamas, flipping through the channels of your descendants (the saints and the sinners) reality shows.  I imagine that you "get it" now, that you understand why I needed to explore outward from the strictures of good breeding.

 

Sandra Blair, as Queen of Clones, was chief guide to the outer limits of wicked bad taste. Costumed as an over the top drag queen, she broke every rule in Miss Manners' stuffy book. She created her own blow your mind costumes.  Crafty woman, that Sandra.  

 

Somehow it is ironic that I would mate my mother's 'every hair in place' do with the face of the Queen of Divine Bad Taste.  Now, this is art, mashing up seemingly antagonistic elements.  And, this, is another good reason to make art.  Sometimes creating helps me to reconcile antagonistic elements of my life.  Better than therapy.  Better than chocolate.  Almost better than sex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandra Blair in the Eighties

Isnt she beautiful?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Angelina Jolie, Queen of the Night

 

 

Angelina Jolie

Queen of the Night

Happy Mardi Gras!

Belushi Bacchus

Oil on canvas, 36"x48", 2013



 

 

Jagger Devil

Acrylic on canvas, 36"x48", 2013

 

 

Happy Mardi Gras!!!



Katherine Hepburn Endures

 

Katherine Hepburn Endures

Epson inkjet print, recently completed

 

 

Katherine Hepburn's beautiful profile and stratostar cheekbones, digitally painted from a publicity portrait.  The background is a checkerboard perspective which references op art.  Using a continuous, mirrored pattern not only gives depth to the picture but also expands outward from the central vanishing point.  The pattern goes in and also expands outward, a trick for the eye, it replicates the movement of breath. 

 

Her celebrity face is transparent, uniting her with the vibrating checkerboard, so that we see her ethereal and eternally breathing.  An everlasting goddess. 

 

Katherine Hepburn made many movies and won four Oscars, a record for most Oscars ever won, that is still intact.  Her mother, a suffragette, raised her to be strong and independent, which imbued her life with unique, independent personality characteristics. She lived to be 93 years old and wrote her own life script until the end.

 

She was in the first film that I ever saw, when I was an impressionable, porous six years old.  The African Queen, with Kate playing a feisty missionary navigating a dangerous African river in a rickety boat, during WWII, with hunky Humphrey Bogart, has stayed with me all my life, humming a theme song in the background of my mind. 

 

 Katherine Hepburn's strength and independence align her with the Greek Goddess Diana. Maybe, she was a human incarnation of the mighty huntress Diana? 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Tube Head, DiVince/Digital

Tube Head

Da Vinci Goes Digital Series

 

This is a skull sprouting old TV vacuum tubes.  The inspirations was a very fine sketch of a skull by Da Vinci.  The background is a redesign of vintage French wall paper.  Hope that you enjoy it!

 

John Lennon, More Popular Than Jesus

 

 

 

John Lennon, More Popular Than Jesus

Pop Religion Series

 

In 1966 John Lennon stated to the press that he was "More popular than Jesus".  The quote ignited a press and public feeding frenzy. 

 

People and groups rapidly chose sides.  Christians castigated him for the sacrilege they perceived. Ministers, screaming from the pulpit latched onto the statement to prove that Rock and Roll was an instrument of the devil.  Religious commentators, foaming at the mouth, declared the event as a sign of the impending apocalypse. Perky teeny boppers,  bristling arrogantly with righteous indignation, made bonfires of their Beatles albums while being filmed for national television.  It was an altogether exciting public event.

 

I think that younger people who were not present at that time may wonder what all the clamor was about.  Back in the day religion did not have a sense of humor.  (I am not sure that there has been much change in this attitude?) Religion was deadly serious.  The consequences of breaking the strict commandments meant serious punishment after death.  For John, a mere human, to infer that he was in the same class as the god Jesus was shocking sacrilege.

 

 

In this picture John Lennon is an avatar of Jesus. 

 

There are similarities between John and Jesus. Similarities in their teachings and in their life.  Both were impossibly idealistic.  Just because ideals are impossible does not preclude believing in them.  We need guiding stars,  simple and sweet works.  Alice Wonderland believes in three impossible things before breakfast. 

 

John sang "Imagine all the people living life in peace". 

 

 Jesus said, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

 

Both Jesus and John were martyred.  Both were murdered in the prime of life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is what Wikipedia says about the event:

              

History of The Beatles
The Quarrymen In Hamburg At The Cavern Club Decca audition Beatlemania in the United Kingdom North American releases In the United States 1966 More popular than Jesus Studio years In India Break-up Reunions Line-ups Religious beliefs Timeline
v t e

"More popular than Jesus" was a controversial remark made by musician John Lennon of the Beatles in 1966. Lennon said that Christianity was in decline and that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ. When the quote appeared in the American teen magazine Datebook, angry reactions flared up from Christian communities in August 1966. Lennon had originally made the remark in March 1966 during interviews with Maureen Cleave on the lifestyles of the four individual Beatles. When Lennon's words were first published, in the London Evening Standard in the United Kingdom, they had provoked no public reaction.

When Datebook quoted Lennon's comments five months later, vociferous protests broke out in the southern United States. The Beatles' records were publicly burned, press conferences were cancelled and threats were made.

 

IMAGINE

Lyrics to John Lennon's song

 

Imagine there is no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

 

Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

 

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You, you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one

 

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

 

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You, you may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one


Hey you! Thanks for stopping by.  I gotta go now.  I think that my brain programming is wearing off.  Gonna go watch the tube now.  My favorite new programs are:  "Fear and Loathing"  and "Moan and Whine."  I also like Lena Dunham's new show,  "Mastering Manipulation".

 

Art Show on a Table,2

 

Art Show on a Table, 2

 

 

 

 Art Show on a Table

 

 

Mary by de Bayou

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Art Show on a Table

 

 

 

 

Art Show on a Table

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dancer in Opal

 

Dancer in Opal

Ink jet print, 24M, 12/2013

Dancer in Opal is an illustration of a transcendental state.  I have had experiences like this since I was a child.  Once I saw a burning bush.  My father, sisters and I were walking in our woods.  A young pine tree zapped me with a full view of its iridescent shimmering aura.  Abruptly, my father whacked my butt, once, sharply,  to pull me out of the "episode".  Evidently going into spontaneous trance states is inappropriate.

 

 

 

 Dancer in Opal Head

 

 

 

On Art Methods

Art has been a joy for me since childhood.  I loved finger paints, and remember being aware of colors early.  Over the years (I am 69) I have made art almost continuously.  Oil and acrylic painting and drawing were enduring loves. 

 

I started doing Photoshop in about 1999.  A neighbor gave me a bootlegged copy.  I was hooked immediately.  Over the course of teaching my self Photoshop I saw that my painting skills transferred to digital painting relatively easily.  Both mediums employ brushes, translucence/opacity, line, volume, color, texture and other creative tools.  Both mediums have advantages. 

 

In Photoshop you can take a finished version of a picture, duplicate it and use it again in a new way.  And make prints of both versions.  Maybe you saw the "Opalescent" picture in the last blog entry, that digital picture evolved into this ecstatic picture.  I drew a silhouette of the dancer, the silhouette was filled with the "Opalescent" cutout.  I may soon use a print of this px as a plan for an oil on canvas.  Or I might adapt the dancer for collaging.  So art evolves and stays interesting.

Digital art has been around for a few decades now.  It is taking time to be a recognized as suitable for fine art.  Just as photography took time to be recognized as a legitimate artistic expression.

I have been rejected for shows because I collaged original digital cutouts into acrylic paintings.  I like the tiny detail obtained with digital prints.  Smaller detail than I am willing to paint with a "real" brush. 



 The current David Hockney, exhibit of digital paintings, at de Young Museum, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calf, USA, is a signal that the best digital art is being recognized as fine art.  Hockney has been at the top of the art food chain since the 1960's..  He is called a living master of oil painting.


Tis the season!  Have a loving and joyful holiday seasoned with sweetness. 







No Rules!

Opalescent

Digital painting, 24M, 12/2013

Why do I love making art?

NO RULES!

The canvas is like a small piece of real estate, it is a concrete part of the world.  The canvas is a neighborhood and a series of canvasses can make a city.  Or, a vision of Heaven. (I  avoid Hell.  Why go there?)  (Yes, I reserve the right to contradict myself.)  I can watch the bloom of an imaginary Elysian Fields unfold.  I can, me, by myself, unrestricted by the plans of others, I can populate that empty space of matter with a comic/serious personal pantheon or any other preposterous images concocted by my muse.  Haha, how fun is that?

The canvas allows me to translate the ephemeral landscape of mind, of personal imagination, into concrete reality.  This is a place where I can replace the monkey mind radio with entrancing colors, and occupy myself with the craft of making marks.  My head gets quieter.

 Freedom on a small flat surface, freedom to make a tiny bit of material wiggle in anyway that I can wrangle. 

When I face a white stretched canvas,  I have a space that is not constrained by rules.  There are guidelines.  Yes.  Composition guidelines.  Color harmony theories.  Appropriate imagery is expected, but not mandatory.  All of these guidelines may be broken.  In fact, an artist can make a career of consciously ignoring any of these guidelines and expectations.  In fact, whole artistic movements have centered on breaking the norm.

The best art is subversive.

Creating something totally new on canvas, I am constrained by the limits inherent in the paint.  Paint can do amazing things, but there are limits.  And, I must work primarily within the limits of my skills, but there is also, the challenge of expanding skills.


Making art is the only place where I find unrestricted freedom.

 

Rule Rules, Rules

OK, you get it, I don't like rules.  I have been surprised to find that some people do like rules.  They are relieved to know the correct way to behave.  This discovery gave me food for thought.

Some guidelines are necessary.  But, too many rules restrict us from reaching our full potential.  Rules can dampen the spirit, constrict the soul.

Common courtesy guidelines help with the flow of personal relationships.  Good manners are simply consideration for the other person. 
 
I/you must edit thoughts before they make it out of the mouth. Words can hurt.


Remember all the rules of school?

Sit in your desk. Sit still don't wiggle.  Don't talk.  Pay attention. No running in the hall.  Is the real function of school to mold behavior, put us in a straight jacket of appropriateness? We were trained to follow the rules.  Stop that or you will get detention. Are we molded to be compliant worker bees.  Go to the principles office!  NOW!  Shame!

This is something that I do not understand:  Why do so many children need medication to make them appropriate for school?  Wouldn't it be better if the school was appropriate for the children?  To expect an eight year old child to sit still for hours at a time, is unreasonable and inhibits the free blooming of the student.

 We must follow the rules of laws, of course. Some rules we need, to oil the gears, to keep us from stepping on each other.  But, must we also follow the superfluous, irrational laws.

There are procedural rules.  Like, the procedure for driving a car is strict.  No playing with the rules on that channel.

So some rules are necessary, but many just restrict personal freedom. 









Here are two articles about rule breaking art.  I was confused about the artist who made "Piss Christ".  I had him confused with Damien Hirst.  Hirst floats zebras and calves in tanks of formaldehyde.  I guess I was fundamentally confused, because in my mind urine and formaldehyde both have a disgust factor.  In my mind both zebras and the crucifix should receive some respect.  Or maybe not.  Just another tidbit for thought.  These artists took a sledge hammer to appropriate imagery. 

Rule Breaking Shock Tactics

Blasphemous’ art work is damaged

April 19, 2011

AN ARTWORK depicting a crucifix in a glass of urine, named Piss Christ, has been attacked by protesters at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon. New Yorker Andres Serrano’s photograph was attacked just hours after nearly 1,000 demonstrators gathered to protest over the “blasphemous display” outside the museum. Two people managed to force their way into the museum and attacked the Piss Christ with a hammer. Another photograph, showing a nun’s hands at prayer, was also attacked. No one was arrested but security camera pictures have been passed on to police. The Piss Christ was being shown as part of an exhibition titled I Believe in Miracles to mark the 10th anniversary of the Lambert collection in the former papal city. Catholic activists from the group Institut Civitas had called the protest about the exhibition and general secretary Alain Escada told La Provence newspaper: “We are living in times of Christianophobia. We demand that this work be withdrawn from the Lambert collection”. The abbot of Cacqueray said to the newspaper: “Imagine if Mohammed or Anne Frank had been bathed in urine. This secularism is done against Christ while installing Islam in France. We would be as well to rename secularism as Islamism.” The museum reopens today amid reports that staff have been sent death threats. It has the Piss Christ still in place so people can see the damage. Created in 1987, the photograph has been called the original “shock art” as it predated many of the more modern examples such as Marcus Harvey’s collage of Myra Hindley created from children’s handprints and Damien Hirst’s shark in formaldehyde.

Blasphemous’ art work is damaged

April 19, 2011

AN ARTWORK depicting a crucifix in a glass of urine, named Piss Christ, has been attacked by protesters at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Avignon. New Yorker Andres Serrano’s photograph was attacked just hours after nearly 1,000 demonstrators gathered to protest over the “blasphemous display” outside the museum. Two people managed to force their way into the museum and attacked the Piss Christ with a hammer. Another photograph, showing a nun’s hands at prayer, was also attacked. No one was arrested but security camera pictures have been passed on to police. The Piss Christ was being shown as part of an exhibition titled I Believe in Miracles to mark the 10th anniversary of the Lambert collection in the former papal city. Catholic activists from the group Institut Civitas had called the protest about the exhibition and general secretary Alain Escada told La Provence newspaper: “We are living in times of Christianophobia. We demand that this work be withdrawn from the Lambert collection”. The abbot of Cacqueray said to the newspaper: “Imagine if Mohammed or Anne Frank had been bathed in urine. This secularism is done against Christ while installing Islam in France. We would be as well to rename secularism as Islamism.” The museum reopens today amid reports that staff have been sent death threats. It has the Piss Christ still in place so people can see the damage. Created in 1987, the photograph has been called the original “shock art” as it predated many of the more modern examples such as Marcus Harvey’s collage of Myra Hindley created from children’s handprints and Damien Hirst’s shark in formaldehyde.         Damien Hirst, Reportedly Britain's Richest Living Artist from Wikipedia

   

Damien Hirst
Hirst in a still from the movie The Future of Art
Birth name	Damien Steven Hirst
Born	(1965-06-07) 7 June 1965 (age 48) Bristol, England, UK
Nationality	British
Field	Conceptual art, installation art, painting
	Damien Steven Hirst[1] (born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent[2] member of the group known as the Young British Artists (or YBAs), who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s.[3] He is internationally renowned,[4] and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist, with his wealth valued at £215m in the 2010 Sunday Times Rich List.[5][6]

Cardinal Woman

Cardinal Woman

Ink jet print, 12/2013

 

 

This recently completed painting speaks for itself,  I can't think of any words that would add anything to its beauty, except maybe "Death is the beauty of the rose". 

 

 

 

Pajama Friday at Barnes and Noble

 

I went to Barnes and Noble yesterday.  B+N is one of my favorite hangouts.  No matter what city I find myself in,  (haha, that makes it sound like I get around a bit, when in truth I have become something of a recluse) the comfy environment and the pleasure of scanning books while drinking coffee and eating a croissant draws me in. 
 

I browsed the books.  I thought about buying a philosophy by  Neitzsche but the jacket quip emphasized nihilism, a perspective that rejects all moral principles and holds the belief that all human endeavor is futile.  This was not for me, I have decided to hold only those beliefs that support happiness or promote compassionate love.  I would rather be happy than right. Especially since the pursuit of right beliefs has only left me confused by all the contradicting information.  

 

I found the book, "Depression for Dummies", and thought about reading it but then I thought, I can do depression all by myself, I do not need to read a how to book, I can do sinking into a mudhole of despair without any instructions. 

 

I can also pull myself out of the mud.  All it takes is a little denial of the facts of life.  Positive thinking works but since it is so difficult to frame the facts of death and injustice in a positive light without turning summersaults of irrationality, I just call it denial.

I saw a perky person wearing cartoon printed flannel pajamas standing between the paned glass doors and the magazine display, she was amusing.  Then I saw two other people wearing apparel appropriate for couch potato time.  I guess it was pajama Friday.  Very interesting.  A kid in a grey onesie checked me out.  I bought Dave the book, "Exceptional Chickens" and a jigsaw puzzle of a world map.

But wait, in this one blog, I posted a picture of youthful bloom/cold death.  I wrote, death, beauty, rose.  And, I wrote that I deny death.  I guess that you can see the problem here, confusion?

Bye now,  gotta go watch my favorite new TV channel,  it is called "Crock A Shit Chanel", have you seen it?  My fave program is called, "Composting for Doomsday".









 

 

 

 



Opal Dakini

Opal Dakini

Inkjet print created recently

 

 

Lets see, what should I write about this?  Well, it sure is a sexy picture.  This Tibetan Sky Dancer is full blooded, both ethereal and earthy.

 

Sex is essential, I believe that joy is our true and rightful goal.

 

Not porny sex. Not the mechanical production of sticky bodily fluids.  Not puritan sex.  No repression or guilt. Culturally we went from one extreme to another in the last half of the nineteenth century.  Prude sex to porn sex in fifty years or less.  Is it possible to be sane about sex?   

 

We create joy by  truly, softly and fiercely  connecting with another person. Letting down our guard, opening the gates to another being.  Shedding the carapace of ego and stroking a cascade of pleasure chemicals.  And don't forget to enjoy the afterglow.

 

Here we are, bound up in these flesh bodies, bound by social rules, bound and determined to come out on top. Constricted by the binding of sad little egos.  Our spirits bandaged with fear. 

 

Good love making, creating cocktails of pleasure juices to wash the body from inside out,  can loosen and even break the shackles constricting our being.

 

 

Ro Abreu Poetry

Here are two beautiful poems by my friend Ro Abreu.  She says it so well.

 

 

Tantra

I am holding out my hand to you.
I am the Earth…
I am your Goddess Lover
I am deep, and warm, and as fertile
as the longest of your full night dreams --
naked as the Moon,
blinding as the Sun,
more intoxicating than swallowing Stars.
If you touch me,
you will know what it means to be alive --
you will understand how the rhythm of your breath
is the axis upon which Eternity spins.
The fire of inspiration
waits, banked, to light our joining.

RCGA, 2010

 

 

Elixir

I have wanted you
like cool water
and you have been
that draught for me

You are a shiny thing
hidden in the bottom of the glass
that hypnotizes me
and makes me forget
where I am going

For a moment
I can imagine having you
I can indulge myself in the fantasy
before what is interrupts what might be

I have told myself again and again
to open up my fingers
even if the glass breaks
and yet, I keep drinking
because you are the elixir and the jewel
so satisfying, so beautiful

RCGA 2010

 

Here is the link to Ro Abreu's blog:

http://the-mystic-fool.blogspot.com/



Conspiracy of the Gods!! Prometheus Tells All!!, part two, Stealing Fire

 

Prometheus in his Sean Connery Incarnation

Archival Inkjet Print

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Conspiracy of the Gods

Prometheus Tells All

Part Two, (part one starts with post on September 30)

 



Prometheus Tells ALL!  Red Hot News!  As told to hot shot reporter Cherry Belle of the Natural Inquirer, for immediate release, all wires. 

Luxuriously ensconced at a dimly lit table, flipping my red curls gracefully, I mean with a nervous jitter, I stared at Prometheus and tried not to drool.  I pulled my video cam from my Ultra High End Bag.  My pen was topped with a pompom made from the tail feathers of hummingbirds.  I was nervous, but at least, I knew that I looked amazing. 

 Swishy was giving us entirely too much attention.  He was a fabulous fairy and I adored him, but I had work to do.   "Thank you, dahlin," I told the gaytor kindly, "we have everything that we need, our drinks and this snazzy little snack that you brought, now we have to work on the interview."

Prometheus sipped his Evian and began to tell his story in a hypnotic cadence.  I closed my eyes and I was there, I was then, back in the beginning of time.  I visioned it all, the strong hero, the sweet smell of fennel burning, the gut gobbling eagle. 

Prometheus Tells ALL!  Red Hot News!  As told to hot shot reporter Cherry Belle of the Natural Inquirer, for immediate release, all wires.

 

Sean Connery's voice!  OMG!  That throbbing bass!

"I strolled along the seashore, glorious day, light played on storm clouds. Bare feet in the shallows.

I worried about the plight the of the people. They lived like animals.  Ate raw meat.  Shivered, exposed to the elements.  The mighty control freak god Zeus would not allow them to progress.  Some old grudge gnawed at his gut whenever humans were mentioned. I wanted to help humans rise up.  I needed a plan.

Zeus was against you people, Cherry Belle, you and yours, from the start.  He restricted you just to get even with me. He and I had been going around and around from time immortal. The last move had been mine, when I tricked him with the lamb bones wrapped in fat.  He was always trying to outsmart me or get revenge for imagined offenses. 

Let me tell you about Zeus, he rapes virgins, he steals, he kills.  He decrees harsh punishments for slight disrespect.

One may wish, all one wants to wish, for a loving, compassionate god, (like Buddha), but what we got is Zeus.  Selfish, egotistical.  It is all about him, all the time.  He decreed 'there shall be no other, gods before ME!'   He cannot see beyond his immortal nose.  Just try telling that asshole that everyone would live better if we all cooperated for the good of all, just try telling him that, good luck with that.  People have been turned into stone for less.

Zeus, well, Zeus,  I tell you, Cherry, that Zeus is one mean and power hungry God.  He wanted to keep you mortals ignorant, groveling in the dirt.  I saw that earthlings could be shining beings.  Zeus was preventing your potential of near deity super powers. Zeus stood in your way. He was jealous because you would be god like if you were given knowledge. He was fearfully motivated to protect his King of the Gods position. Beings from all the kingdoms, upper to lower have suffered from his petty jealousy.  I could see how beautifully and capable you are made. Zeus obstructed me at every turn, but I had checkmated him before and knew that I could do it again.

On the beach, I searched for a plan as I wadded in the shallows.  A bruised storm cloud moved in from the west.  The wind smelled of fish, like sex juices.  Positive ions charged the bracing air.  Overhead the sky stretched,  divided into highly contrasting colors, dark purple out to sea and sun kissed blue nearer shore.  Dramatic lighting reflected on a roiling ocean with white capped highlights.

I looked toward the dunes where sea oats danced with swan necks.  Was it a play of light? Or just a subtle tingle that caught my attention?  It was the size of the fennel, standing taller and broader than the other dune plants, that is what drew me to it. 

 The giant fennel stalk bowed to me and I snapped it smartly off from the root.  I could see inside the hollow tube stalk a soft, dry filling.  I knew that the inner substance would burn slowly, for a long time.  This was the tool that I needed to smuggle divine fire out of Olympus.  Now I had a plan. I zoomed back to the heavens in my flying object.

Since the Olympus parking lot was filled with many chariots of the gods, I did not attract attention when I parked. I entered the heavenly castle through the service entrance, and ascended the back stairs, my head held high, as if I had all the rights of the universe to be there.  I did have rights, I had the right to do the right thing. 

Zeus was passed out on his diamonds and gold throne.  Luckily for me, the King of the Gods had too much ambrosia intake, again.  He was snoring loudly, (it sounded like he was stripping his gears), so I was not concerned about awakening him with noise.  However, I did cat foot it to avoid alerting his attendants.

Zeus' lightening bolt, belching holy fire, was ensconced in the golden charger between the windows. When I touched the fennel stalk to the flame it sparked easily. Wrapped in my tevlar cape it was quickly smuggled out of the castle.  I walked casually down the stairs, past the cooks and maids, and out to my flying object.  So far, things were proceeding without a glitch.  So far.

A short, smooth ride in my bronze chariot, and I landed at the Earthling encampment, located in the area that is now Africa.  The humans were huddled together in a cave, naked, shivering and hungry.  They were little more than animals.  They deserved better than this miserable borderline existence.

They were well made beings, I made them, your progenitors, from clay, I sculpted you, myself.  Your high potential was obvious.  Physically, you are beautiful, intellectually you are more than able, emotionally you are a sphere of storms and sunny days.  Creatively you are capable of inventions that the universe has never seen before.  You are so close in being to the gods,  creatively you are superior to the gods.  All you needed was fire, enLIGHTenment.  The savior of humans, that is me, I knew that I could save you from a lowly existence. And here you are, thousands of years later, moving creatively into the unknown.

I taught you mortals how to use the fire for warmth and cooking and light.  With these tools earthlings were able to progress through their amazing history up to the present milieu where we now find ourselves,  in this hypnopompic lounge, with Swishy delighting in meeting our every need.

Zeus punished me with eternal torment.  Of course.  You know, he turns on his omniscient power, and he knows everything.  He watched me, after he came too, the next morning, with a pounding head, but still able to tune in, he watched me.  On rewind he saw it all.  How I had stolen his fire for the mortal human beings, to help them progress towards their amazing unknown potential.  OMG he was so pissed off.

 Human history could have worked out even better, (you know what your faults are), but that is another story. Revenge is a tempting rollercoaster,  an exciting but endless trap.  Try to avoid it.  I can see that now.  Zeus got even with earthlings, he unleashed Pandora on your race! Like I said, that is another story.

Me, I was chained to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains.  An eagle devoured my liver everyday. Everyday it grew back to be eaten again.  Oh yea! That Zeus, do it his way or go to hell!  I suffered hellish punishment for almost, for close to, eternity.





....continued... to part three.....