Not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. Oh, I don’t mind the falling back part of “Spring Forward, Fall Back.” Anything that seems to give me another hour sounds like a good idea. But to suddenly be erasing that hour at one appointed time in the spring puts this morning person on edge.
Oh, I know it’s a small thing, that it is only the appearance of losing or gaining time relative to a clock and that I will probably waste well over an hour today alone. I can’t dispute that. Maybe it’s that this image of losing time is a reminder of our short time here. I am at an age where I have crossed that line where I see time as a finite and quickly dwindling resource as opposed to those days in my youth where time seemed to be a vast and infinite ocean of never-ending moments.
Time seems to matter a bit more now.
I thought for the Sunday morning music selection this week that I would stick with this theme of time. To that end , here’s the 1967 classic Time Has Come Today from the Chambers Brothers. It is real symbol of the feeling of that time and maybe any time where there is a call to action. Plus it just has a great sound. I don’t know if it was produced by The Bruce Dickinson but it has plenty of cowbell for all of you out there who need more cowbell.
I came upon this lovely animated film on Brain Pickingsthis morning. It’s titled Iterations and is produced by hitRECord, a global creative community and mulitmedia production company formed a decade ago by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt. You might remember him as the teen Tommy on the sitcom Third Rock From the Sun but he has matured into a very fine actor and director with an eye for challenging material. His work at hitRECord falls into that category.
It’s a sweet film that concerns its self with self transformation, a theme that is visited often here on this blog. The idea that each phase, each new iteration, of our life is an experiment and that it is under constant recalibration appeals to me.
Change is a part of who we are. At least, I know it is part of who I am. For a while, I came to view it as a weakness, this need for constant change. I mistakenly thought that finding a state of being static was the answer. This little film reminds me that it is not.
Below is a description of the film along with the names of the many artists involved in its making from Gordon-Levitt and below the video are the lyrics to the tune. Hope you’ll enjoy.
“….are very pleased to present ITERATIONS — a short musical film to come out of our collaboration regarding ‘The Road.’ The road can represent many things including escapism, change, and personal growth. And, while many people may identify the themes of ‘The Road’ with artists like Jack Kerouac and others of the beat generation, the story told in ITERATIONS is a slightly different interpretation. Based on ‘The Journey of Jeanine’ by hitRECord artist, SophieRumi (Hungary) and developed in collaboration with mirtle (Cyprus), ITERATIONS tells the coming of age story of a girl’s sometimes difficult and sometimes reluctant path to adulthood. Jeanine has a guide (Wolfred the wolf) and gets help and support along her journey, but in the end must set off on her own path. The piece is set to Metaphorest’s (Scotland) wonderful song, ITERATIONS and orchestrated by Robo_J (USA). The eye-popping animation is provided by the incredibly talented artist, fajigajiga (Canada). The worldwide community of hitRECord artists provided additional illustrations and instrumentation.”
Have you seen my old self? I think I must have lost her I wonder if I cost her Her life?
Have you seen my second self? She seems to grow younger More delicate than ever But never better
I’m an experiment Each trial is a test Constant recalibration
I am recycled cells I learn to like myself more with each iteration
Where is my restore point? I found an old sore point All disjointed My file corrupted
Where is my replacement part? I need another new heart The other one’s beat was Interrupted
I am recycled cells I learn to like myself more with each iteration
I’m an experiment Each trial is a test Constant recalibration
This quote came from Hermann Hesse‘s most famous book, Steppenwolf. A great book but my favorite Hesse book is Demian, which I have referenced here a couple of times in the past. It was a book that I read at a time when I was at a crossroads in my life and it was very influential in my heading in the direction which led to this point. I think this quote very much jibes with my perception of the world portrayed in my work, that being that it is a real entity, a real place.
It has as much substance as the outer world to me. It has depth and layers. It has breath and light. It has emotion and its truth comes the fact that it is a precise portrayal of itself– not a replication of the outer world.
It just is.
That may sound nutty or perhaps egotistical to some. I get that. But without this belief in the reality of this inner world, the validity of the work to myself comes undone. It fades to nothingness and certainly doesn’t move across to others. It loses all meaning for everyone, myself included, without this certainty in its being real.
I’m going to stop at this point. I may have said too much already. That is, too much for the outer world. In here, in my world, it sounds right…
Erik Johansson is a Swedish photographer working out of Berlin who has made quite a name for himself by taking the ordinary moment and inserting a twist in its perception through a very skilled manipulation of the photos, creating a new and surreal reality. Johansson can look upon a very mundane scene and see all sorts of other potentials. In his manipulated reality there are row boats plowing through fields, a driver is faced with with a giant chrome ball that blocks his way and a biker comes upon a road that is cut like a piece of paper, its ends splayed high in the air above him. Real life houses appear like those from an MC Escher drawing. And that is just a small sample.
It is an incredible combination of imaginative vision, skill and technology. You can see more of his work at his website by clicking here. There is also a wonderful blog on his site that gives a real inside look at his process, including a number of videos. Here at the bottom, there is one of these videos that shows in great depth the many layers of editing and manipulation that take place in composing his photo, Cut and Fold, shown at the top of this page. If you’ve ever used photo editing software such as Photoshop, you will appreciate his great skill.
If you don’t care how he came to his final product, it may take a way a bit of the mystery. Or not. I don’t know.
Anyway, it’s great fun so take a moment and let your mind wander into a different reality.
When I finished up in the studio yesterday, I was at this point in progress on a new painting. It is a 20″ by 60″ canvas that was started with only the thought that it would be curtained in by two layers of tree trunks on each side. The basic composition of the entire piece is laid in in an underpainting of red oxide and there are a numbers of layers of color in the sky, beginning to give shape to the tone of the painting.
It has definition and purpose now. A forseeable destiny.
This is one of my favorite stages of my process. The bones and form of the painting have been created, the decisions concerning composition made, and the painting begins to stir to life. There is a keen sense of sharpness to it at this point, as though the essence of its being has been boiled down and captured in this layer of red oxide paint.
Like a revealing of its soul.
The layers that will follow will give detail and nuance to round out its wholeness. It’s interesting to watch it go from this sharply defined revelation of self through the series of transformations brought on by each subsequent layer of color. There will be points when this sharpness will fade completely away, leaving the piece dull and flat–barely alive.
Sallow. Like a patient on a respirator.
At that point, I sometimes finding myself questioning my prior decisions and asking if the piece will ever come back to life. This comes near the end and, disheartening as it sometimes is, would be my least favorite part of the process if not the fact that I have the knowledge of and confidence in what will soon take place on the canvas.
The layers of color come quicker and consist of fewer strokes but each small move now seems to bring more and more of a change to the piece. The soul of the painting that once filled the canvas in the completed underpainting above now begins to reveal itself again in its fullest form.
Now, that being said, it what I hope happens. Sometimes it just doesn’t. But sometimes the soul of the piece is revealed so strongly at this point that it will not be denied.
And that’s what I believe will be the case with this piece. At least, that is the hope. We shall see…
If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path.
–Joseph Campbell
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I am running a little late this morning and have a long to-do list but still wanted to have something on the blog– I guess after six plus years of doing this it has become a habit. I came across this quote from Joseph Campbell and painting, Off the Mainline, from many years ago and thought it was sharing. Plus it’s just nice to see a landscape not covered in snow and ice. But Campbell’s words, as they often do, jibe well with my own views on our journey through this life.
We ultimately create ourselves and our paths and do have a choice in which direction they will take us. That’s a simple concept that is easy to overlook in the crush of life.
Hard to believe it’s March first. With the snow falling and the cold temperatures, it definitely looks to be following the old adage where it comes in like a lion. I am hoping the lamb is not too far away but this year, who knows? We might be saying the same thing for April.
Crazy world. Which brings me to this Sunday’s musical interlude. I’ve been doing this blog for about 6 1/2 years now (which is hard to believe, as well) and have played a lot of different music over that time. But for some unknown reason, the one and only Temptations have never made an appearance. How I could have waited so long is beyond me but I will fix it today.
For many folks, the music of the Temptations could well be the soundtrack of the 60’s and 70’s. Motown at its very best. If you grew up in that time frame, their music most likely was part of your life in some way. My Girl, Just My Imagination, Papa Was a Rolling Stone, Ain’t Too Proudto Beg, and on and on. I mean, come on!
So today, with another blast of winter weather confusing this corner of the world and the rest of the world in a constant state of chaos, I thought I’d share the tempting Temptations’ Ball of Confusion. If the world is indeed going to hell as some fear, at least let it go with a beat laid down by the Funk Brothers, Motown’s incredible band of musicians who performed the music on this and so many other immortal hits. Have a great Sunday!
He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with
the world. – Marcus Aurelius
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This is a new painting that is titled Streaming Peaceful, a 24″ by 36″ canvas that is part of a group of paintings that should be arriving today at the Just Looking Gallery in San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast of California. This very much a signature piece for my work in form and content, a deep landscape under a gradated sky with the Red Tree holding central focus.
But for me the central aspect of this piece is the placid feel that emanates from it. It has a rich and supple feel that I find brings immediate calm as soon as my eyes lock on to the image. Even at this moment as I write, there is an instant sensation as though I am releasing a deep breath when I shift my gaze upward on the screen to this painting.
And that sense of being near some sort of core of peacefulness is what I am looking for in my work, at least in my own personal relationship to it. I have maintained this quite a few times over the years here that my primary personal goal in painting is not in mere representation, not in pure design or technical prowess. No, what I want, my ultimate goal, is to simply move myself with the work to an inner point where I am finally calm and at peace with the world. For me, feeling that calming envelope surround me is all I truly seek in my work.
Everything else is secondary.
And this piece hits that mark– for me. I can’t speak for others. We all seek different things and have differing reactions to art. What others see or feel in this is their experience alone and that is as it should be.
The greatest happiness you can have is knowing that you do not necessarily require happiness.
–William Saroyan
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This quote from William Saroyan caught me off guard when I came across it, mainly because it captured in a few words the lesson I had finally gleaned from years of seeking this elusive beast called happiness. And a beast it was, a creature from mythology. I had made it into a thing that had special powers and was like the Abominable Snowman— rumored to exist but seldom seen.
I discovered over time that this was a mistake.
I was picturing happiness as a once in a life thing, some sort of peak moment, when it was, in fact, just a small part of our being human. The key in Saroyan’s short quote is the word knowing. Once we begin to know who and what we are and are not, the need for peak moments subsides as we understand that there is a sort of happiness in the smaller moments of simply being. It is not a gleeful, heart-pounding joy but a comfortable warm glow and an inner sense of satisfaction that often comes to you at what seems to be the most mundane of moments.
Stopping just now and looking out my studio window, for example. A light snow is falling almost in time to Paul Desmond’s sax that is mingling with Dave Brubeck’s piano and I sip my coffee. It is gray and almost gloomy but I feel this glow, this satisfaction in the moment. It is not happiness as most might define the word . It is just a moment of knowing that I exist in the world, that I am here to bear witness to the small wonders that take place around me in my small corner of the universe.
And that’s good enough.
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I chose the painting at the top, A Consideration of Grace from back in 2002, because there is something like the feeling I am describing today in it for me. Maybe it can be described as grace. I don’t know…
Our internet connection was down here for most of the day yesterday which was not really a surprise given the -19° on the thermometer. Cold enough to make today’s puny 1° reading look appealing. But because I didn’t have to focus on writing the blog I took the time to rearrange a couple of things in the studio, things that I often look at from my seat at the computer. On the large stone wall that holds the fireplace in my studio there are three half-round stone shelves that hold several wood carvings.
One is an inexpensive carving of Don Quixote that my sister gave me for Christmas when I was a kid and another is a beautiful carving of a crow from artist Don Sottile, a talented sculptor from my home Finger Lakes region. Then there are a few of my own carvings from the early 90’s, predating my first attempts at painting by a couple of years. They are not nearly as well executed as Mr. Sottile’s work but they mean a lot to me, if only as a reminder that they were keys to a door in my mind that I was desperately trying to open at that time, one that would eventually lead me here.
I thought I would take this opportunity to rerun a blog entry about these pieces from back in early 2009:
Immediately before I started painting in the mid-90’s, my form of expression was wood carving. It was unpolished and rough but it provided the vehicle that I needed to spark further creativity. Most were created with an inexpensive set of small chisels and scrap lumber, usually just pine boards leftover from projects.
Actually, the technique that is used in these carvings is linked very much to my earliest efforts at painting which consisted of a heavy layer of paint then removing the parts that didn’t belong leaving the desired image. This is a technique that I use to this very day.
The thing that I learned most from doing these pieces is that I wanted to emphasize expression over technique. By that I mean I did not want to focus so much on refining technique to obtain a very polished final product that the piece became more about craft and less about expression of emotion. By doing so I realized the pieces would retain my own identity and idiosyncrasies. It was my first real stab at creating a visual look and vocabulary of my own.
I also took the idea of the work having a tactile feel to it. The attraction of these for me was in holding them and feeling the wood and the weight of it in my hands. When I first started painting I worked primarily on paper and I got this same feeling from the cotton of the watercolor papers. It’s something that I also try to insert into my work today as well, through the use of texture and in the way I present the paintings.
When I look at these I’m not particularly impressed by them as art but I do appreciate them for the lessons they provided at a time when I needed guidance, lessons which I took to heart. To me they are touchstones to a certain part of my life and as such are important to my development as an artist.
Not a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. Oh, I don’t mind the falling back part of “Spring Forward, Fall Back.” Anything that seems to give me another hour sounds like a good idea. But to suddenly be erasing that hour at one appointed time in the spring puts this morning person on edge.
Redtree Times