AI: ARTificial Inspiration

Philosophical question: What if, in the future, artists were able to own their own live models, which were artificial life forms?

The shots are for a piece I am doing for submission in the "Future" show at UAG (starts 11/7/08).

Latest Works

It has been a productive weekend. See paintings, with respective titles above them.

"End of the Shift"




"View from the Kitchen"




The following two are inspired by a book by a famous Vietnamese Buddhist monk and friend of Thomas Merton. The book is called, "Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers," based on a series of talks around Christmas.

The first is Jesus (in progress).



The next is Gautama (in progress).

Solitude

These past two days, and most of Friday as well and probably most of tomorrow, have been spent in solitude. In the confines of the cloister, with trips down to the girls' house to take care of the cats, with paintbrushes and canvases and a good amount of paint.

What has been accomplished:

* Completed a new Dulcinea de la Mancha painting (see below);

* Completed a small piece for a friend, of an Alaskan landscape;

* Completed a piece titled either "Antietam," or "Bifocals;"

* Am reading "The Hero of a Thousand Faces," by Joseph Campbell, which is quite interesting;

* Laid down some base coats on two pieces of wood purloined from the house which will be a part of a series of hero paintings...first will be Jesus, then will be Gautama (the Buddha), although I am not sure I will pull it off...the title will most likely be based on a book;

* Have texted a few folk here and there, just to stay in touch with the world; and

* Have done a bit of contemplating.

Oh, yeah...I did a little job hunting too.

All this, of course, has been done with a soundtrack of various rock and roll, folk or classical music, including: Bob Dylan, Jesus Christ Superstar, baroque harpsichord, the Velvet Underground, and even some old Billy Joel.

My reading list is updated to the left.

Later I will reward myself by going to my local pub, having a beer and a bourbon and enjoying the company of my favorite bartender (who owns a couple of paintings herself).

Not a bad couple of days indeed.

New Painting: Dulcinea de la Mancha

First there was this sketch, done at a bar, over a pint of Sierra Nevada on a warm Friday afternoon:



The next day, the painting emerged. Mostly acrylic, but Duclinea is done totally in guache.

The Show Last Night

Last night's show went well. For the first time, I actually hung around the Upstate Artists Guild longer than usual. Below is a picture of my "muse" and friend Rebecca and the painting of her. I cannot express enough gratitude for her patience in the process. For a first piece of a posed model, I think it went well. As we had limited time, I used photographs instead of sketching or painting directly, which was fortunate, because I changed pictures in the middle of the process.

What is neat about this painting is that I do not think I have seen a photo where the subject is NOT smiling. So, I intentionally had her not smile for this. And we got the sword in the picture.



Below is a picture of yours truly, back to the goatee look after 8 months of full beard. Best to get some sun on my face before the fall.

Completed Works

This is called "Breakfast," and could conceivably be an exterior scene from the American Primitive script.



This piece is called, "Hung Over," for hopefully obvious reasons. And yes, the black and white thing on the table, with his paw over his face, is a cat in a contorted sleeping position. The other day, I simply sketched my cat, Dr. Strangelove, while he napped and then created a setting around him. It's one of my favorites.

Work In Progress: "Hung Over."

Note: No animals were fed wine, bourbon or any other alcoholic substance, nor were they actually hung over during the making of this painting.