We’re off to Kauai for a week of champagne wishes and caviar dreams. Econo style of course which would involve shaking up a Coors to make it bubbly, and umm…I have no clue what a substitute for caviar is. I will have an art show at A. Ell Design on the 28th while I’m there. If you happen to be in that remote part of the world on that date, come by and say hi. Aloha, and happy turkey day.
Here’s another one hopefully on it’s way to Kauai for my upcoming show. UPS thought that one of my boxes contained hazardous materials (it doesn’t) and I will be sorting that mess out today. The weird thing is, one package made it to the location and one didn’t. Same boxes with relatively the same content. WTF!
This is part of a piece of driftwood I found on a remote section of a beach near my house. I routed out part of it and painted some pretty back in. I love the aesthetic relationship between old and new. Lately, I’m getting more excited about these abstract paintings than my representational ones. So maybe that’s a sign of direction for me.
One aspect of my art that is a bit different than some is that my thought process is backward. I create art with little pre-thought and planning, then when it’s done I ask myself why I created that. I think it creates a venerability in my art where you can see my screw-ups and processes more transparently. So much art and design is about creating this perfect flawless thing to present to the world. Sometimes it lacks empathy for humanities imperfect nature. UPS is a perfect example of this. OOOWWW, you like how I worked that back in? BAM!
Here’s another small painting I just finished for my upcoming show on Kauai. If you pay attention to my blog or website you will notice I’ve painted this composition before. I don’t normally paint something twice, but I made an exception on this.
Just to remind everyone that up until December 18, 2009 if you spend over $50 on my website you can receive $10 off your purchase if you enter: Cha-Ching in the coupon code area.
Here’s a quick new painting I’ll be taking to Kauai for a show this month. To me its more of a color sketch than a formal painting. What’s the difference you ask? I don’t know, it’s just how I feel about it. The painting is on an old stool that was falling apart. So it seems appropriate for the subject matter to be of surfers sitting around waiting and socializing. I called it Planting Roots as it seems important for us ocean lovers to daily absorb salt water into our pores.
Chuck Jones is easily my favorite animator/director. His body of work has inspired me probably since I was a baby. I appreciate many other animators, but I return to his cartoons again and again.
His adaptation of The Dot and the Line amazes me. Here he’s taking the most rudimentary of elements and gives them life and personality. He does this by making the line thick and thin to show distress, having the line crowd the ball in an ineffective pursuit, or in the end discovering new aspects of himself and refinements by forming new shapes that are more meaningful and lasting than the scwiggle’s (not sure how to spell that) instant gratifications. All this communicated by basically a line, a circle, and a scwiggle.
I wonder if the Dot and Line got married and reproduced. Their offspring could have been Adobe Illustrator and Corel DRAW. The timeline seems to fit alright. Think about it.
I love skimboarding. For me it usually takes place in the summer time when the sand on the beaches has built up and there isn’t much swell. The waves that there are floats over the outer bars without breaking and focuses on the shorey. Those times seem to be when I get the most out of it. However, the guys on this movie preview can handle all kinds of diverse conditions. Having a soundtrack that you can conquer a nation to probably helps sky-rocket their ability as well. I’m jealous. I wish I could do a fraction of what they do. It would help me a bit if I purchased an updated skimboard, but I still wouldn’t rip. Mine is an old Victoria skimboard made for me in 1988 when I was shorter and weighed 5 lbs. Needless to say it’s seen better days. Being a somewhat poor artist, buying a new one hasn’t been a high priority. I’ve been riding it long enough for the 80’s graphics on it to come back in style.
Here’s a photo I took on friday. The surf was big and mean looking. I love running around snapping photos when this occurs.
Here’s a painting I recently finished. It was kind of an exercise in simplicity for me. My mind always has so much going on that my painting can get…mmm…complicated. Prints of my new pieces will be available on my website in a few weeks.
O.k., why not. I’m doing another Mike Patton project blog post for my Halloween week. This time it’s Fantomas off the album Suspended Animation. This is also one of my favorite albums. When I play it for people, I’m always surprised when they like it. Usually the albums I like that are on the unconventional side, I can’t get people to listen to. The way they blend cartoon sound-bytes together with their music is amazing. If you know the album, you will be amazed with this performance, because it is really close to the studio version.
I thought it would be good to post something from Trevor Dunn’s website in the Q and A section regarding Fantomas:
YOUR QUESTION:
Name: jake
Comments: trevor, your work with mr.bungle is kickass and that first album has some of my all time favorite bass lines but what the @#$% is up with fantomas’ first album? i trusted you and mike patton and dave lombardo (of whom i am a huge fan) but i bought that album and felt genuine rage towards you, i still idolize every note you play but come on man that is just so stupid i cant take it, its #*%^$& noise man, and i never use that term to describe music
MY ANSWER:
Believe it or not, every single note on that Fantomas album, and in fact, all Fantomas albums is pre-determined and rehearsed. The wood-shedding for that first one was some of the most rigorous and intense rehearsing I have ever gone through in my life. I’m glad that you felt rage because that a good feeling to have. But I think you should have more of an open mind towards music and, to be honest, towards noise which is a beautiful thing in and of itself. I can understand that you don’t get it, or that it’s out of your scope of normal or comprehensible, but you should watch your mouth when you call something stupid when it actually took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to produce. You’re entitled to your opinion and I don’t expect you to like everything that I do but that record is no less important or artistic than anything else I have ever done.
