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Arthur Mole’s Living Photos

May 28, 2018 by redtreetimes

I am replaying a post today that I ran for Memorial Day back in 2010 that featured the living photographs of Arthur Mole. I have added a few more images to the original post. Enjoy and have a good Memorial Day.

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Arthur Mole Photo- Marine Corps Insignia

On this Memorial Day, I thought I would show some patriotic images photographed in the first part of the 20th century by Arthur Mole. Mole made a name for himself at the time by assembling large groups of people in formations and photographing them from a specially constructed 80-foot tower. He started at church conventions and later did the same for a number of universities but was probably best known for his symbols of the US and its military.

Needing large groups for his intricate compositions, military bases seemed like the perfect place to find massed groups of people to use as the paints on his palette. For instance, the Marine Corps insignia shown here was shot at Paris Island and took 100 officers and 5000 troops in order to fill out all the details in the composition.

Athur Mole Photo- Shield of the United States

It took quite a few more people to fill out the upper details in his compositions in order to maintain perspective from the perch where he shot as these areas were considerably larger in size than the than those nearer the camera. Take this US Shield shot in Battle Creek, Michigan as an example. It took 30,000 troops to complete this but the bulk of these troops were used in the area above the first row of stars.

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The varying shades were achieved by having the troops wear different clothes, obviously. For the light areas, they simply wore t-shirts and for the dark areas they wore their uniforms. In the shield photo, those in the dark areas also wore their hats to make the tone more uniform on film. No shining faces breaking up the dark shades.

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Arthur Mole Living Photograph- Liberty Bell

These are pretty amazing photos when you consider that they were taken in world long before Photoshop or any type of computer generation. It must have taken a tremendous amount of planning and effort to pull off these shoots, from the building of the tower to the precise placement of each soldier. For that alone they deserve a tip of the hat.

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And on this Memorial Day, the sight of troops who sacrificed in some way for our country standing side-by-side to create the symbols that embody our nation is a  fine way to remember them outside of the battles they fought and the great sacrifices they made.

Arthur Mole Living Photograph – Star Detail

Arthur Mole Living Photograph American Flag

Arthur Mole Living Photograph- Statue of Liberty

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To the Siren’s Song

May 27, 2018 by redtreetimes

Well, I made delivery yesterday to the Principle Gallery of the paintings for my show, Haven. This exhibit opens Friday, June 1 at the Alexandria gallery with a reception that runs from 6:30 until 9 PM.

I guess I should say that it feels good to have the work in place but that wouldn’t be completely honest. While there is satisfaction in the simple completion of a large task I know from past experience that I will do little more than worry for the next several days. And the fact that this is my nineteenth solo show at the Principle Gallery and that I feel this may be among the most cohesive and strong group of work of these shows does absolutely nothing to stem the worry I feel.

In fact, this good feeling about the work, sensing that this work is as true to whatever vision and voice I possess, that makes me worry more than ever. To have it not connect with others, to have it feel distant and obscure on the wall, would have me questioning my own judgement about what I do. While I know that to base anything on the results of one show is foolish, it still makes a mark and creates a wound that makes you a little less willing to fully show yourself for fear of opening that wound again.

But hopefully this worry is baseless. For now, I will live with my worry and the belief that the work in this show ranks among the best that I have done. Time, as is always the case, will tell.

One of the paintings in the show is shown at the top. It is titled To the Siren’s Song and is 16″ by 20″ on canvas. It’s a piece I already miss having in the studio, one that constantly pulled my eye toward it in the months leading up to the show. The painting itself became a kind of siren to me and there is a perceptible void in its absence. For me, there is a blending of colors and forms,  of representation and abstraction, that I find compelling.

But that’s just me.

For this Sunday morning music I have chosen a song that I think fits into the blend of this painting. It is from the late singer/songwriter Tim Buckley who passed away at the all too early age of 28 back in 1975. Most of you are more likely to know the work of his son, Jeff Buckley, who also tragically died an early death at age 30 back in 1997. But Tim Buckley was as highly regarded in his time and his work has played a large influence on may other artists. This song is one of his better known and has been covered by a number of artists over the past half century. Fittingly for this painting, it is titled Song of the Siren. This video is from The Monkees TV show in 1968.

Have a good Sunday.

 

 

 

Posted in Biographical, Favorite Things, Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, Television, Video | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Light and Wisdom

May 25, 2018 by redtreetimes

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“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”

― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

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This morning, I am finally coming to the end of preparations for my show at the Principle Gallery that opens a week from today, next Friday, June 1. Finishing touches this morning and loading for delivery later in the day. This point in the process generally brings a sense of relief even though there still is much ahead before I can fully relax.

I have had a few chances to finally look at this group of work as a whole and can say that I am truly excited to see it hanging in the gallery. I may have buried myself more in this body of work than any group in quite some time, maybe as a way of seeking sanctuary from the problems of the outer world. Perhaps the title of this show, Haven, was self-fulfilling.

I didn’t concern myself with trying to meet the expectations of others, didn’t worry about including work that might be directed towards anyone besides myself. I concentrated only on color and form and textures and mood. The colors are deep and dark. The forms have an organic simplicity. The textures create their own narratives beneath the picture plane. All of this comes together to create a sense of mood within these paintings that I think may be more consistent and palpable than any show of mine in some time.

In short, I think it’s a very strong show.

The painting at the top, Light and Wisdom, is one painting from the show. I think this piece, a 16″ by 20″ canvas, is emblematic of this show’s feel and look, possessing all of the qualities I listed above.

I love the lines below it from T.S. Eliot, feeling that they express so well what I see in this painting. Life often feels like a constant search for some vague object– knowledge, wisdom, love, experience, etc.– that will make us somehow whole. Yet, as is often the case, we only reach wholeness within ourselves, in that place where the journey began. Maybe that is why I chose this painting for this bit of verse from Eliot– it has a sense of wholeness that has been ultimately fulfilled by realizing that the answer was in itself.

The answer, it seems, is always at hand.

 

 

Posted in Painting, Poetry, Recent Paintings | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Oh, The Places You’ll Go!: Budapest

May 24, 2018 by redtreetimes

I am always interested in seeing new places where my work can be found. It’s hung in US embassies in Nepal, Uganda and Kuwait. It’s appeared in magazines in Denmark, a calendar in Spain, a video in Korea along with a number of other spots around the world. It’s gratifying to see if only that it means the work translates well, reaching well beyond my little spot here in my studio tucked in the woods.

The latest sighting comes from Budapest in Hungary. My work was featured at a place there, not too far from the Danube River, called Jól Festesz, which loosely translates to, according to Google, as Where are you going to be. I am sure something is lost in the translation.

Jól Festesz is either a business or an arts organization that holds classes where an instructor leads a group of aspiring artists in painting a selected work or art, allowing the students to leave with a finished copy of their own making. This started in December of 2017 and the work of mine shown above was the subject of their very first event.

I checked out their site on Facebook and came across several photos from the event. I will tell you that they were painted in a much different manner than the original but I was pleased at how well the students captured the overall image. Their instructor obviously did a great job. Take a look below to judge for yourself.

It made me smile to think that there are some bits of my work, if only in the form of a copy made in an art class, floating around in homes around Budapest. Hope those folks are enjoying their own red trees.

Élvez! That means enjoy, if I am using the term correctly.

 

Posted in Favorite Things, Neat Stuff | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

Nature’s Heart

May 23, 2018 by redtreetimes

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Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

—John Muir

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I wish I had a bit more time this morning to write about this smaller painting, a 10″ by 20″ canvas that takes it title, Nature’s Heart,  from the words above from the fabled naturalist John Muir. There has been a recent assault on many of the protections given to our environment and we can’t afford to idly stand by while this happens.

We need clean air, clean water and clean soil to continue as a species. Just as important, we need those pristine places where we can wash our spirits clean, as Muir said.

I see this piece as a plea for everyone to take a position as caretakers of the world in which they aim to prosper.

Take an active stand. Listen and speak up.

Be nature’s heart…

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This painting, Nature’s Heart, is part of Haven, my solo show at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria that opens next Friday, June 1.

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Lyonel Feininger

May 22, 2018 by redtreetimes

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Each individual work serves as an expression of our most personal state of mind at that particular moment and of the inescapable, imperative need for release by means of an appropriate act of creation: in the rhythm, form, colour and mood of a picture.

–Lyonel Feininger
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Busy today but wanted to share some work and a video from a painter, Lyonel Feininger (1871-1956),  whose work I believe has not received the attention I believe it deserves. For an artist who had a painting sell for $23 million at auction, it seems kind of absurd that his name is not more well known. I like his works for the very things he speaks of in the quote above– their rhythm, form, color and mood. Take a look.

Posted in Favorite Things, Quote | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

Hope Rising

May 21, 2018 by redtreetimes

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“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” 

― G.K. Chesterton

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This is a new painting from my upcoming solo show, Haven, at the Principle Gallery. It’s 12″ by 24″ on canvas and is titled Hope Rising.

There are a number of pieces from this show that lean towards darker and deeper hues than much of my other work.  Generally, when these colors have appeared in the past it was the result of being in what I perceived to be perilous times.

Such is the case with this work for it feels as though we live in a time of dragons.

But as Chesterton points out, the lesson to be gleaned from the fairy tales is that while we may live among dragons, they are not invincible. They are always defeated by forces of goodness and righteousness.

I get that feeling of hopefulness from this painting. It feels like a quiet moment when the fear brought on my the dark of night is alleviated by the reflected light of the moon that announces that there is a new day soon arriving.

The dragons can be held at bay and the darkness will only be a temporary condition if we hold tight to what is true and right.

The light of truth ultimately overcomes the false light offered by the dragon’s fire.

And that is not only in fairy tales.

Posted in Current Events, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Stand By Me

May 20, 2018 by redtreetimes

Let me issue this disclaimer right off the top: I have little to no interest in the private lives of the British Royal Family. While I do admire the steadiness, stamina and steely strength of the Queen, the antics of her extended family does little for me.

That being said, I found myself in the studio yesterday morning with the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on the television. I was doing some photo-editing so I left it on, listening and periodically taking a look.

Nobody does pomp and pageantry like the Brits and I have to admit, it was a pretty impressive spectacle with a perfect day and a fairy tale setting. To sum up: I was glad I watched a bit of it.

I found it to be a lovely break from what is taking place in this country. It was nice to see an American represented to the world that did not embody the Ugly American posture that has been embraced here as of late. Markle seemed the embodiment of those positive American qualities that have made us a leader around the world: diversity, openness, kindness and a forward looking youthful vigor.

Unfortunately, these are qualities that don’t leap to mind when thinking of this nation’s leadership or much of the countryitself at this particular moment.

So, it was nice to be reminded of what we are at our core and to see it be warmly embraced. Like I said, a nice break from the new normal here.

There were a lot of highlights but the photo at the top catches my favorite moment as I saw it on the television. As the bride came to entrance of the chapel, she paused and a fanfare of horns announced her. The scene showed the brides face along with that of one of the two twin pages who were carrying her gown’s train. As the horns blasted his face broke into a huge grin showing his missing front teeth. That show of innocent youthful glee just made my day.

Other highlights: The sermon from American Bishop Michael Curry was also powerfully positive and energetic, pleading for a future based on love and compassion. Again, qualities that seem to be now lacking. The young Britiish Cellist  Sheku Kanneh-Mason displayed an elegant virtuosity.

My favorite was from the London-based Kingdom Choir who performed a delicate and powerful version of the pop/ R n’ B classic Stand By Me, written and originally performed by the late Ben E. King. It was a brilliant selection as it is a song filled with symbolism. It is at its heart a great love song. Yet it also is a wider call for unity and strength in the face of adversity. The beautiful simplicity of the lyrics say it all:

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
Or the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won’t cry, I won’t cry
No I won’t shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So, for this Sunday morning music let’s listen to the Kingdom Choir’s performance. I have also added another version of the song produced by Playing For Change. It is a charitable organization that records street and native performers around the world with proceeds going to build music and art schools around the globe. This is a great version of the song.

Have a good Sunday…


Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments »

Sacred Awe

May 18, 2018 by redtreetimes

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I felt deep within me that the highest point a man can attain is not Knowledge or Virtue or Goodness or Victory but something even greater, more heroic and more despairing: Sacred Awe!

—Nikos Kazantzakis

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I was all set to write something this morning about stupidity. I noticed that a post I wrote a year ago, On Stupidity, has been getting a large number of views lately. It is about the danger of stupidity, about how even the very highly educated can be stupid, especially in highly charged times when they can fall prey to social and political movements. This coincided with recent thoughts I have been having about how we have devalued intelligence and reason in this nation in recent times, to a point of vilifying the cerebral and elevating moronic behavior.

I was deflated by the whole thing and decided I needed to focus on something other than that, something that dealt with something far more uplifting. I came across the words above from author Nikos Kazantzakis from his book Zorba the Greek. It’s part of a scene where the narrator, a young, bookish Greek man is asked by Zorba, a raw and raucous peasant, to explain the meaning of the stars and the universe that they are sitting beneath. The narrator tries unsuccessfully to put this idea of  Sacred Awe into a form that Zorba will understand. While he doesn’t understand the given explanation, Zorba does recognize the depth of the mystery that he senses in that night sky.

That brings me to this painting, a 36″ by 36″ canvas that I am calling Sacred Awe. It is part of my solo show, Haven, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, opening June 1.

This piece has been hanging in the studio for several months now and I have spent a fair amount of time in the space of this painting. Like Zorba, it is a painting that begs for an answer to the mystery of the stars and the constellations that swirl above. Yet all that is given in response is a sense of awe and nothing more.

And nothing more is needed.

Sacred Awe elevates the mind, stimulates the senses and is the beginning of all art and poetry. In it we connect to a mystic continuum that sees us as small as particles of dust and as large as the great waves of light that pass through the vastness of space.

It is all and it is nothing.

There’s a great meditative  and mysterious quality in this painting, at least for me. It both pleases and puzzles me.

A fitting response to sacred awe.

Posted in Current Events, Quote, Recent Paintings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Instrument- Eyvind Earle

May 17, 2018 by redtreetimes

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Then very slowly I go to slightly lighter colors until little by little, the forms begin to take shape and I start to see what is happening. Since I never plan in advance, I simply let myself be led by instinct, taste and intuition. And it is in this manner that I find myself creating visions that I have never before imagined. And little by little certain color effects develop that excite me and I find the painting itself leading me on and I become only an instrument of a greater, wiser force…or being…or intelligence than I myself am.

–Eyvind Earle

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I wasn’t going to post anything as my time is very short this morning. But I took a minute and pulled down a book from my shelf and gave it a quick look. It was one of a beautiful two book set of the works and writings of Eyvind Earle, the late artist/illustrator who is best known as one of the lead artists for several of the early animated classics from Walt Disney.

There’s much I am drawn to in the graphic works from Earle– the colors and the rhythm of his landscapes, for example. But today I came across the short piece of writing above that I had somehow overlooked before that gave me some insight into my attraction.

As he described his process, I was struck by how similarly we describe how we work such as not planning anything in advance, working from light to dark colors and following the excitement of certain colors until the work seems to be taken out of our hands.

Until we become instruments.

I have described the process and the final creation as being beyond me, the whole of the piece being more than the sum of of all the parts I call myself. I have also described the sense of purpose I feel from these pieces, how I feel connected to something greater. I can’t ever recollect using that term, instrument, before.

It sounds a little presumptuous but it does align with what I have described in the past. And to see that Eyvind Earle felt much the same way about his work  is comforting, especially on those mornings when I feel far removed from anything close to a greater force. Just knowing that the work might take me to that point where I transform into an instrument for something beyond myself makes the day seem easier to begin.

Posted in Favorite Things, Quote, Technique/History | Tagged , | 5 Comments »

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