"placid blues ..."

3'h x 3'w - section 1 of 3, 2009.

"words of prey ..."

7'h x 6'w, acrylic paint on wood, 2009.

“birds of omen ...

words of prey ...

speaking with winged words:

hostile world - this is not my dream ...” ph’09

i’ve always been interested in the mechanics of flight - lift, drop, pivot, glide - like dancing in air - defying gravity - something western cultures aspire to ...

the summertime antics of birds around my studio never cease to amaze me - their endless display of dexterity - the incomprehensible speed of hummingbirds and barn swallows - the grace of otherwise awkward turkey buzzards in flight - and the cunning accuracy of hawks, owls, and eagles - they all seem to operate on a different frequency ... more articulate and accelerated ...

their efforts in flight are inaudible and usually barely noticed, but closer examination reveals some pretty astounding acrobatics applied against a full range of atmospheric and weather conditions - just one more example of the evolving perfection of nature ...

take-offs and landings are always interesting, even in airplanes ...

but particularly with birds of prey - navigating the thermals on meal reconnaissance; gliding through altitude adjustments, agile dives, attack and retrieval ...

with amazing accuracy, their finger-like feathers seem to grasp at air currents as they pull out of bulleted descents upon their prey ...

i see that image often - that momentary ‘landing’ - in the clearings around my studio, but also in reoccurring dreams since childhood of some shadowy, vague archetype ...

it made its way into a few paintings over the years - not through conscious intent, but as a recognizable element within an otherwise abstract field ... and i'm always somewhat alarmed by its appearance ...

'dream time',1986.

throughout the making of this painting i was avoiding preconceptions while still allowing some of my more recent and re-emerging interests to filter through; the kaleidoscopic summer changes in the northeast, sumi-e drawings, twombly’s calligraphy, growth patterns of plants, trees - neurological similarities - the possibilities of grey - the monotony of ignorance - metallics, iridescence, color interference - things not always appearing as they are - string theories, circumstance, causality - the timelessness of beautiful music and homer’s odyssey - what his birds of omen predicted - a line from a chili pepper’s song: “with the birds i share this lonely view” - our diminishing resources: natural and cultural - the passing of so many legendary ‘creatives’ over recent years - the shifting in consciousness toward an apparently unthinking culture, albeit emotional and controllable - fueled by a lack of facts or credible information - mob mentality - woodstock ...

and, the power of words ...

"the last painting ..."

7'h x 8'w, acrylic paint on wood, 2008 - 2009 ...

i started this piece in january 2008, during the culmination of a series of personal disasters ...

partly as a diversion from tumultuous events, and also a source of meditative focus to help bring meaning and direction to circumstances ...

the act of painting has always led me through the ‘dark wood’ of my life, probably because i spend most of my time in prayer and meditation throughout the process - usually many hours a day - every day ...

in this piece, i was desperately looking for answers like few times before in my life and career - aesthetics were the least of my concerns - the painting simply becomes a medium through which other information is delivered or sustained - there is no right, wrong, pretty, ugly, or pertinent - it simply is ...

i always imbue the surfaces of my paintings with textures, marks, notations, etc., as a way of establishing its spirit or identity - but here i was working with more automatism than usual - receptive to what the painting would deliver rather than what i would bring to it - the early layers resulted in a cacophony of seemingly indecipherable data ...

in retrospect, i now see it as a purge or mescaline field of symbols, textures, and patterns - a field of apparent meaninglessness or culmination of encoded experience - who knows how the mind works - at least a touchstone for other inquiry ... the ensuing developments read like an excerpt from borges’ encounter with the ‘aleph’ - simultaneity contextualized ...

the first clear thought to repeatedly arise from all this was: “nothing says ‘fact’ like something written in blood” - so what is the fact, what are the facts, and with what facts do i concern myself - and ‘what’s blood got to do with it’ ...

from that point - two ‘sets’ of letters became distinctly obvious; one was that of a mantra i received in 1970 as part of my initiation to the practice of transcendental meditation - a word never written or spoken aloud - the other was a series of letters that seemed to be a word - at least phonetically recognizable and familiar in sound to words i heard my lithuanian grandmother speak - ‘iepov’ ...

closer examination revealed the origin from ancient greece to mean ‘temple’, ‘holy ground’, or ‘a place where God dwells’ ...

while randomly emphasizing combinations of letters the word ‘fatima’ began to emerge, spawning research in other areas; ideas of apparitions, sun-dogs, miracles, coincidence, prayer, meditation, devotion, mysteries, the aleph, etc.

the experience of this painting became a journey from ‘dark wood to white rose’ as dante suggests; through ideas, images, memories, conflicts, turmoil, and acceptance of a different order and understanding of realties - and humbling, in its’ clear recognition of what is - followed by a sincere attempt to achieve it ...

almost two years since it began, i still adjust a line or recognize something previously overlooked or misunderstood ... and i still don’t understand the maps and blueprints or lines they suggest ...

‘the last painting’, like few that preceded it and others that followed, has me engaged in a dialogue i’m more interested in continuing than controlling ...

it’s a journey - odyssey or exile - time will tell ...

dark wood to white rose ...

inspiration ...

process ...

results ...

been working on a series of 10 x 10's recently [among other things] which should explain [but not excuse] my blog absence ...

"dark wood to white rose" is another one of those fond allegories of journey and transformation that i recently completed and exhibited as a stage backdrop for Phil Glass' benefit concert for the 'new arts program' where i met phil 35 years ago prior to his premiere of "einstein on the beach" - a lot has happened in the ensuing journey - including his son Zach's foray into brazilian music [which i heard for the first time last night] - all of which was delightful ...

homeric paintings ...

breath of boreas [left], boreas + zephyrus [r.] ...



marriage of chloris [left], road from hades [r.] ...

i got an ipod about three months ago and became absolutely enchanted with the device -
loaded a few of my favorite things including all the recent work of a contemporary greek composer named eleni karaindrou ...
to compliment those hours of sublime music, i added homer's odyssey [13 hrs. of narration] - put the thing on 'shuffle' and started my '09 season of daily outdoor painting ...
the experience has been beautiful - uninterrupted, transcendent, pleasantly surprising, and modifying ...
the experience has led to a series of pieces that i'm not quite sure where they'll take me - but i'm thoroughly enjoying the journey ...

i was sad to hear of merce cunningham's passing - there's such a wealth of creative genius that seems to be slipping away along with the continuity of art making ...

unseen painting ...

"shadow dance" in progress ...

and their secret life when the lights go out ...

unpainting "flora" ...

detail of unpainting ...













a more global perspective ...
[9'h x 13'w]

"flora" blooming ...

been working on this one for nearly nine months ...
sunday morning it was all brought back to white,
with more than fifty choice layers beneath the surface ...
keith jarrett's "radiance" against an aural backdrop of twittering trees -
sunday and monday were perfect for baking paint - 'frozen moments'
lapis lazuli, azurite, pearlescence, siennas, and quin golds ...
























now comes the peeling, scraping, trimming, and sanding
to see what the last nine months has provided ...

blind faith, intuition, and experience ...

circumstance ...

"electric avenue" + "shadow dance"

















"rain - heavy at times" - an understatement ...
its beautiful - the ground is soaking it all up -
the plants and trees [and weeds] are getting stronger by the day -
so is my faith and healing heart ...
i heard a comment last night:
“when man plans, God laughs” ...

i used to think the rain raised challenges -
now its just another, somewhat different circumstance ...
i’ve always relied on certain temperatures for drying,
sun for baking, humidity for slowing things down ...
even water on a much smaller scale
for saturating surfaces to achieve specific results ...

so mostly, i organize materials and ideas
while interacting with other forces -
to document or freeze a moment, an event, or sequence of ...

[probably why amber fascinates me]