Panda Licking on a Light Bulb

He can't keep a beat... but who cares...

2012-01-13T12:21:00.002-06:00

I received this painting request from Katie, who won the gift certificate I donated to a silent auction benefiting the City of Lakes Community Land Trust. Katie's request was simple, she wanted a painting of a "baby brown bear banging on pots and pans with a wooden spoon" for her nearly two year old son, Asher, who they call their "little bear".
So, I followed directions with one change. I gave the bear two spoons to make him look more intentionally musical rather than banging wildly. I decided to place the bear in a natural setting as if he just stumbled upon this cookware which could have been left behind by some clumsy campers or maybe fell off of some flashy traveling salesman's rickety cart.
Let's go with the latter and say that the travelling salesman also has a tiny dog that dances and does tricks to attract crowds when the duo stops in small villages as they wind their way through the countryside selling their wares. Stranger things have happened. Right?

Here's a story:

This young brown bear is hungry and it's mother is away. Wandering around, the bear stumbles onto a road where there is a parked wagon and man wearing an orange suit studded with metal bottle caps and tiny tin mirrors. He is playing a clarinet and has tambourines tied to his knees. On his shoulder is is a dancing Pomeranian dog wearing a tiny costume which is reminiscent of something a Bulgarian Gypsy might have worn 100 years ago.
An audience has gathered around this scene and they are enormously enthusiastic about the salesman's routine. There is a great deal of cheering and people are waving money in the air over their heads.
The young bear begins watching and is so curious that he forgets his hunger and runs in closer. The audience sees the bear and cheers thinking that he is part of the show. No one flinches as the baby bear slips in behind the salesman, picking up pots and pans and wooden spoons. When the bear starts banging out an awkward beat, the salesman stops, turns around, and almost poops his pants. (The dog actually does poop... right on the salesman's silky orange shoulder.)
As quickly as he can, the salesman takes his shaking dog and hops in his wagon to gets out of there ASAP, leaving some of his wares behind without regret. The audience, following suit, also panic (though they are uncertain why). The crowd quickly disperses in a mad rush to get back to their home villages.
The bear doesn't seem to care and just sits by himself, beating his pots and pans until late into the night. A sliver of the moon rises and he is still banging away in the dark. He can't quite keep a steady beat but who cares, he's having fun... and he's a bear... who's going to tell him?

Thank you, Katie and family! I hope you like the painting.

Lil' Charlie! Even cuter in his sweater...

2012-01-09T10:26:00.001-06:00

This painting was commissioned by Nick Garbis as a Christmas present for his wife Sarah. It is a painting of her much loved lil' buddy, Charlie, who was her present last year.
Charlie is one of those dogs that is ridiculously cute. So cute, I almost didn't want to paint this dog, afraid that some of the cuteness might get away in the time it takes to go from eyes to my hand.

I've painted plenty of dogs for this blog so this should have been a piece of cake and it was, until I decided to make things hard for myself. I had a week and a half to paint this and did so in a few hours well before delivery time. The painting I made was very simple and charming. I used very simple lines and the color was minimal but to the point. I showed this first painting to my very honest wife, Beth, and she liked it. Her only criticism was that there should be more of a sparkle in his eyes. I agreed and the night before delivery I dipped my brush in white to do so... and then decided to touch up a few other things...

I filled in a little more color here and there and defined the body a little more... and the next thing I knew I had gone too far. The charm was gone. The looseness that the painting originally had was destroyed. The inaccuracies that came from simple lines, now made solid, just felt like clumsy proportions which I was feverishly trying to fix.

On these small paintings, the layers of paint get thick and lumpy very fast making clear detail almost impossible. I used so much paint that the lower part of the painting's surface became the Pintos Mountains and my tiny brush was a disoriented pilgrim looking for salvation. Things went wrong... really wrong and I was supposed to deliver this in a few hours morning.

I contacted Nick early the next morning and asked if we could meet later in the day.Then took out a new board and started over. I figured if I did it once I could do it a second time. This painting, which you see above, came together fast. But I made some changes this time. I decided to have the dog wear his sweater (for maximum cuteness) and made the painting more "complete". Couldn't rely on this simple line stuff in a pinch. And very quickly, it turned out well. Probably more satisfying than the first.

I have a couple of new paintings that will be up soon. Today I'll complete a "baby brown bear playing pots and pans with wooden spoons". It is one of those paintings that I've been sitting on for a while. Bound to happen when I'm not given a deadline. So, moral of the story is, if you commission a painting, always give my a deadline for both of our sakes. If nothing else, just arbitrarily say "Groundhogs Day" or "Fourth of July" or whatever. It works better that way!

-John

Byzantine Jesus; Not the Grinning Blond Beau-Hunk.

2011-12-06T11:31:00.002-06:00

This painting was made for Mark Scandrette. Mark's request to me was simple, one word, "Jesus". Not surprising since Mark is an author and speaker who focuses on spirituality and social justice.

Being Greek Orthodox, my approach to this was obvious. Byzantine. In the Eastern Orthodox Church there are very specific traditions in portraying holy images that developed in the Byzantine World and still practiced by iconographers today. I don't think there is another form of Christianity in which visual art as important as the Orthodox. (Well, Coptics... but... same thing really.)

Catholics seem to like Renaissance realism with a large dose of drama. Christ's face filled with excruciating passion in theatrical lighting.

Many protestant groups seem to be more comfortable with a blond cartyoonish-friendly-grinning-beau-hunk-next-door version of Jesus. A kind of Santa Claus-like figure.

The Orthodox portray Christ as a meditative figure. The images are very stylized to suggest a realm that is not physical. In many ways this is very similar to how 20th century expressionist painters created emotional content in art.

I am not a trained iconographer but I do understand the basics of the visual language used in the Eastern Orthodox Church. So, I did my best. This painting humbly emulates the style. Flattened perspectives, articulated clothing, illuminated face. In one hand Christ holds the bible, with the other he is giving a blessing.

Anyway, Thank you Mark!

Working on a new painting for the Panda right now... and it involves another bear... but no light bulb...

-John

Eli is here...

2011-11-28T10:24:00.000-06:00

Here is the completed painting of Linda Sue Anderson's dog, Eli, who recently passed away.

You would think that making this painting would be simple, but it wasn't. The image above represents my 3rd attempt at this painting. I was going to post the other two incomplete paintings, but to be quite honest... I'm too embarrassed. They were not good. At all.

Linda asked me to paint Eli at the back door, waiting for her to come home. I did a small ink drawing which I posted here months ago and it turned out well. It was charming and simple. Unfortunatley, when I moved forward to make the full painting something went wrong. I wanted to add too many details and it became grotesquely literal. I felt that I had to make a specific room and an obvious door. Since I'm working in such a small scale, the dog had to be tiny. It's miniture face gave no room to convey emotion. The original painting accidently became an alert dog standing in front of a door in someones kitchen. (For whatever reason I imaged the backdoor to be in the kitchen). Eli looked like a guard dog, not an loving pet waiting for the arrival his owner.I also tried to use "kitchen colors" for the room which were just distracting and nausiating in this context.

A week ago, I came back to this deciding to use only the picture of Eli that Linda had sent me (though I made him look younger. That's always a compiment, even to dogs.). It was just his face. I painted it with an ambiguous background so there would be no distractions. I then added a very thin white coating of acylic and matte medium over the top to make the image softer and to make it feel more like a memory. The blue wash on the left suggests the door or a passage to somewhere else.

I hope you like this Linda! Thank You!

-John

A Random Email to the Panda.

2011-08-18T14:58:00.001-05:00

Here is my favorite email to come to the Panda so far. I have no explaination for this!

Dear Customer Service

Am Rev.David Pxxxx and i will like to place an order regarding Bulbs and Lamps from your company,so i will like you to quote me on the types and prices for the ones you have available in stock so that i can give you the quantities i will like to order.
And again,i will like to know the types of Credit Cards you accept as a form of payment.
Yours Faithfully

Rev.David Pxxxx

In other news... I've been on a bit of a hiatus working on other projects BUT am finally finishing Linda Sue's painting and just started the next one for Mark Scandrette... So, check back soon!

Waiting at the door...

2011-05-24T13:49:00.002-05:00

Rough preliminary ink drawing

Our friend Linda Sue Anderson has requested another painting. This one is in memory of her well loved dog, Eli, who suddenly became ill a few weeks ago and needed to be put to sleep. Linda asked for a painting of Eli waiting for her at the back door when she gets home.

Linda Sue, I feel your pain.A couple of years ago I had the heart breaking experience of having our family cat put to sleep.

Jimmy was a huge, black Maine Coon that we got from a no kill shelter for my son Theo who was 5years old at the time.
Originally from Ohio, Jimmy was found in the yard of a state supreme court judge (we did some research). After that, the big Maine Coon was moved from one shelter to another crossing several states over the two years of his short life. When we got him in Minnesota he had the name Jimmy but, according to his info, he previously went by "Jail Bird". The ID photo that came with his paper work showed this giant cat behind the bars of a tiny metal cage.
After getting him, my family made a big deal that Jimmy had finally found a permanent home. We all loved him, especially Theo. He was friendly and liked to be pet and brushed. He liked water and would sometimes jump in the tub when someone was taking a bath.
However, after about 3 months, Jimmy suddenly stopped eating and drinking. We brought him to a vet who was, unfortunately, not very helpful. I force fed him 3 times a day, like they told me to, but after a week he just got skinnier and weaker. His heart beat was hard and fast. We had to have him put to sleep. I went in with him to provide comfort and cried my eyes out. My wife, Beth, stayed with Theo trying to occupy him. Even though we all knew what was going on, it was devastating when I came out with an empty cat carrier. I think we were all hoping for some kind of miracle.

Anyway, I've got a rough preliminary drawing above. I'm going to do my best to make this a nice tribute to a loved pet.

Red Dragon And The Phoenix Fly Off To Meet Victory Or Destruction!

2011-05-03T18:46:00.001-05:00

Here is the finished painting for Oliver! The heroic Red Dragon and his Phoenix side-kick are on their way to right some kind of wrong or,tear up some village or... maybe a little of both.

This painting was fun to make but coming up with a composition that worked was tricky. The problem with using the same format for all paintings (as I always do here) is that it limits possibilities. In this case having two figures, one long and winding and the other with it's wings spread, is not a good match for a long thin surface. But, Panda Licking on a Light Bulb is all about this kind of challenge. I placed the Phoenix further in the distance and made the dragon the focal point and it works.

But the question is, where are these creatures flying off to? Let's turn this into a choose your own adventure.

a) They are rushing to save a beautiful Chinese Princess from horrid maniacal creatures.
b) They are rushing off to capture a beautiful Chinese Princess for horrid maniacal reasons.
c) Taco Bell

You Decide.

Thank you Laura and Oliver!

A Rough Red Dragon and Sketchy Phoenix

2011-04-15T10:26:00.002-05:00

"Chinese" Dragon Sketch

Laura Dyer asked me to make painting for her son Oliver. After much consultation, Oliver decided he wanted a "Red Chinese dragon with gold pointy scales with a long tail and a phoenix flying above the dragon." Laura added that "Asian influences in style are welcome."

To start, I did a few very quick drawings with sumi ink on paper to get a feel for this. The dragon is fun to make. I have a strong sense of what it should be. The long, winding, snake-like Chinese dragons are physically ambiguous and expressive. I particularly love the forlorn eyes that usually have. I looked at several Chinese Dragon ink drawings and pieced together a few my own.

Phoenix Spitting Fire

The Phoenix is less obvious to me. I know it needs to be a bird rising from the ashes of a burned kingdom with flames shooting from it. BUT I think the drawings I made are a little too sparrow-like. For the painting I'll have to go more bad-ass. I think a Phoenix is supposed to be more like an eagle (not like a bird you throw pieces of scone to at a sidewalk cafe. Right?) However, the Chinese Phoenix looks more like a chicken.
Most importantly, I haven't yet figured out a composition for this painting. I've just worked on the two figures separately. Even though Oliver, like many young boys, may not be very concerned about composition, he'll know if it's off. It's a gut thing, just makes you feel weird when it's not right.

Rough Dragon, not very defined or graceful, but the lines ar.e working.

I'll dive in and make the painting this coming week.
Laura and Oliver, feel free to send me any comments you have. Don't worry, I cannot be offended. I've heard it all.

Check back... I'll post the final painting very soon!

Hula Dancer Performing for Dogs!

2011-02-03T21:28:00.002-06:00

Here is the final painting for Heidi. "A painting of a traditional hula dancer dancing for a group of dogs". I think I got all the elements here. And I think it turned out lovely.

As you can see I've made some changes. I changed the dancer's pose to create a better sense of motion. I also fixed her proportions.
Initially, her arms were too long and shoulders to low and her coconut bikini landed in an awkward place. I find that people will be fairly forgiving with unusual proportions on figures... as long as it doesn't involve boobs. If you mess those up, everyone becomes Sigmund Freud.

So, What's the story behind this painting? I don't know.
A dancer in training practicing at an upscale Hawaiian dog park? Could be.
A Hula Dancer who added throwing raw steaks into the audience as a way to promote her show? Less likely, but why not?
I guess it's up to you!

Thank you, Heidi! Dropping it in the mail today!

Starting the Hula

2011-02-01T10:48:00.000-06:00

So, I started the painting last night and it's coming along fast!

I feel like this one is painting itself. It's turning out to be half tourist painting, half dogs-playing-cards novelty.

Appropriate, as far as I'm concerned. I do think the tall thin format is working here. It actually adds a little pretty to the goofy.

The colors here all suggest themselves, it's a tried and true scheme.

But I do think I need to reference some dog photos. They are still a little awkward.

I'll be done and posting the final by the end of the week...

Before the Dogs Hula...

2011-01-31T15:04:00.000-06:00

This is a preliminary sketch of a painting for Heidi, who won a Panda Gift Certificate at the Bridge for Youth fundraiser last fall. The Bridge is a youth shelter in South Minneapolis and Panda Licking on a Light Bulb has contributed to their silent auction for the past couple of years. (Here is a link to last year's winner...)

Heidi's request was just a single sentence. "I'd like a painting of a traditional hula dancer dancing for a group of dogs."
I can do that. But I'm not sure exactly why she wants this painting. I assume it is meant to be just plain funny and I'm going that way with it... but could it be a social commentary? Right? And why did I automatically assume she wanted a female hula dancer. There are certainly Big Hunky Polynesian Dude Hula Dancers as well.

Interesting thoughts... but I think this is on the right track. If I'm off, please tell me, Heidi!

The Deviled Egg Has Successfully Lassoed the Horse!

2011-01-27T11:10:00.000-06:00

Here is my final painting for Deviled Egg Lassoing a Horse. This one was tricky in deciding how realistic I should go here. I'm making a painting so it should be a full painting not just a cartoon. BUT, for a painting it is a slightly unusual subject matter. You have to really be illustrative and clear as to what is happening. No one is going to just say, "Oh, yeah, deviled egg and horse".
I must admit, I like Beth's quick line drawing better than my final product. In many ways it makes more sense for something this goofy to exist in that form. However, I was obligated to make a painting here. So why not take the subject seriously. It is set it in a typical romanticized Western background. I wanted the painting to seem earnest.
I did put a goofy smile on the horse's mouth to add the "they are pals just goofing around" narrative that Beth had requested.

But here's an alternate, more action filled narrative...

The Deviled Egg was hired on to capture the runaway horses of a wealthy Texas Oil Baron. The Oil Baron took a big chance on hiring a Deviled Egg to do this important job, but he liked the cut of the egg's jib. In this scenario, we would see the Egg really sweating to prove his worth. He would realize he was representing his entire race. Can he do it???

... but instead they are just having a fine time in the sun. Nothing wrong with that!
So it is what it must be. Deviled Egg. Horse. Lasso.

My next painting request is a hula dancer... dancing with dogs. I'll post the drawing within the week...

I found this on my desk...

2011-01-19T15:46:00.000-06:00

Beth's Deviled Egg Drawing

2011-01-07T11:32:00.000-06:00

Beth wasn't too excited about my preliminary sketch for her painting request, Deviled Egg Lassoing a Horse, so, she took matters into her own hands and did her own drawing. That's my Beth!

Beth' s Drawing

I have to admit that it is much better than mine. However, the horse does look a little like a fox with a mane.

It turns out she wanted the horse and the egg to be friends. I initially thought the Deviled Egg Cowboy was earnestly trying to wrangle a wild runaway horse. ...but this makes more sense....(?)

I honestly do love the way Beth draws. I sometimes ask her to do drawings for my other blog, The Id Detangler, and they are always great.
About a year and a half ago, Beth had some ideas about a painting I was making for repeat Panda participant Leon Mott. She thought I should add hands holding lighters in the air (like a monster ballad was playing) in the foreground. For some reason I disagreed. Beth thought she should make her own version of the painting. I gave her a piece of wood, just like I use, and handed over my paints. Beth drew it quickly and confidently and then painted for about 20 minutes and stopped. The break hasn't ended yet. I think she realized painting is harder than it looks. (But she told me painting is boring. I do kind of agree...)

Anyway, I will be taking Beth's drawing strongly into consideration while I make this painting... We'll see what happens!

Devilled Egg Lassos a Horse!!!

2011-01-06T13:40:00.000-06:00

As is tradition here, I asked Beth to make a request for the Panda Licking on a Light Bulb's two year birthday. Last year she gave me Panda Hugging on a Strawberry, but it was a difficult decision for her. She had a hard time chosing between that and Deviled Egg Lassoing a Horse. So this year the chose was obvious. The Deviled Egg wins!!!

A life-like rendering of Deviled Egg Lassoing Horse

You may ask yourself, "What is the story behind this?". The answer is simple, no story. It is what it is. Just love it for what it is, Deviled Egg Lassoing Horse, and don't ask many questions!
Above is a preliminary drawing. I think with this one, the simpler the better. ...but it should be an action shot to show off the Deviled Egg's wrangling skills.

Stay tuned for the finished painting...

The Panda Comes Out of Hibernation!

2011-01-04T12:00:00.005-06:00

Original Panda Painting

If you haven't noticed, this blog has been sleeping for the past two months. Why??? I decided I needed a break to work on some other projects and rethink what I'm doing here. Believe it or not, this is a very time consuming project... (and it's certainly not making me wealthy). But I love doing it! So, I've decided to turn the crank on the Paint-on-Demand machine again and see what comes down the conveyor belt to me.

You may ask, "WTF has John been doing with his time away???" My response would be, "Don't use that kind of language with me, I've got some other projects!" I've been making some new large paintings for my Signals series. Been writing the monthly exhibition reviews for mplsart.com (the best visual arts calendar in Minneapolis, where I live). I've also (inexplicably) started a second blog where I interpret the dreams of readers. Really. It's called the Id Detangler.
(I just checked it's stats, and it seems that the Id Detangler has become very popular in Germany this month. I don't have a clue why.)

Detail from Signals painting I'm currently working on

I will be slowly changing the look of Panda Licking on a Light Bulb and updating some features over the next few weeks. It is going to get some special love and attention from me...

Under-used Panda logo designed by Nick Kouzes

Later this week, I will be to post my two year anniversary painting. This will, again, be painted from a request by my lovely wife, Beth. Last year she chose Panda Hugging on a Strawberry. And of course, the first year her request was Panda Licking on a Light Bulb! (Hence the name of the blog). After that, I have a couple of other requests which have been patiently waiting. ... and I will tackle some tiny paintings which I have promised as gifts...

Panda Hugging on a Strawberry

But, as I said, I'll be putting in more time here over the next few weeks, so this would be a good time to send me the request you've had buried in the back of your head. Dig it out and send it. Paintings are still only $70 each (a fraction of what I usually sell my work for). And I'll paint anything. Anything! I haven't turned down a request yet!

The Amish are Here with their Big Dogs and Scary Tiny Trains....

2010-10-28T12:33:00.040-05:00

Here is the final painting for Linda. It is a present for her husband Tim's brother Richard on his birthday. (That makes him a brother in-law). I finally got the story for this one.
Here is what Linda sent me:

So now I will tell you – the Amish man IS Tim’s brother Richard – who is not Amish but LOOKS so Amish that we often get odd looks from people when we are out in public and he’s getting out of the driver’s seat of a car, etc. I can see them thinking “No buggy?”

He loves dogs – all kinds, all sizes, but when I first knew him he had bloodhounds and coon hounds – big dogs. And he and Tim love to work on model railroads…neither of them have much time for the hobby anymore but Richard’s attic is completely devoted to an entire model town & railroad…I know they would both spend all day up there if they could.

The look of this piece was inspired by those weird, awkwardly abstracted early American Paintings. I'm talking about those odd, stiff, 18th century paintings that are lush and subtly disproportionate in a jarring way. For whatever reason, the people in these always look uncomfortable and something questionable is always brewing in the skies behind them.

Like this.

...or this
and I love this one

In many ways, the Amish early American history. They are very devoted to a specific time and place. I've never saw (and can't find any images of) Amish art, but I would imagine there work would look something like the paintings linked above. Actually, I don't know if the Amish are allowed to make fine art. They may be all quilts and baskets all the time. But quality quilts and baskets!
(Leave a comment if you know anything about this).

Thank You, again Linda.... and Happy Early Birthday Richard!... every early...(I don't think it is until January...)

Before it gets all Amish up in here...

2010-10-13T20:39:00.002-05:00

These are a couple of preliminary drawings for my next Panda painting. Here are the elements I was given by our returning friend Linda :

An Amish man (with a long grey beard)

2 dogs of any kind (not toy dogs, dogs with heft)

A model railroad or at least an engine with a couple of cars.

I don't know the story... but I think I will wait 'til I finished to find out. If I was meant to know, Linda would have told me.

One thing I know is that I need to be careful here to make the man look distinctly Amish. The first time I started drawing him, he looked too Hasidic. The beard, the hat, the dark jacket. I erased the mustache before I put the ink down and "Bam!", obviously Amish! Also, after a little research, vests and plaid shirts help create the Amish style. This makes it less Warsaw 1860 and more Pennsylvania 1860. And rural is key.

I'm not sure which of these drawings I like better. The 2nd certainly is looser, but I kind of into the odd formality and the man's rigid stance in the top drawing.
Just to be very clear here, these sketches are not finished pieces. I make them only to play with the composition before I dive into a final piece. They're a time saver. When I don't make them, I usually end up doing a ridiculous amount of repainting or adding weird elements just to keep a visual balance.(As opposed to the other weird elements I add.)

I'm not sure which way I'll go with this... but I am open to suggestions. That's what the comment box below is for. Or leave your remarks on the Panda Facebook Page.

Paul and Marbles Dream...

2010-09-30T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here is the final painting for Paul Garbis. As you can see, Paul and his buddy Marbles are drifting off to sleep. As reality fades, images of the friends favorite things slowly materialize...

Paul is biking across an open field with Marbles riding on the handlebars. It is a bright, sunny day with no wind at all. The boys are very pleased and surprised to stumble upon a brand new electric oven sitting in the middle of the field. This is perfect because they are both hungry for cake and Paul is a good baker.

Paul scavenges though the field and finds some wheat stalks, sugar cane and the pods from a baking soda plant. He harvests them and refines these ingredients in a make shift mill that Marbles had ingeniously patched together from an old tuna can, an ancient sparkly white stone, and a broken black comb. Some spit is added to lubricate the parts.

The refined dry ingredients are mixed together. A blue egg is dropped to them by a friendly sparrow flying over head and a lost woolly goat allows them to squeeze some milk.

Upon opening the oven, Marbles finds a cake pan, frosting and blue birthday candles.

Since there is nothing to plug the oven into, it is only logical that Paul and Marbles have to create electricity themselves. The friends each hold one prong of the oven's plug and run around in circles flapping their arms and dragging their feet to get static going. They can't stop until the oven reaches 400 degrees. It is exhausting.

Paul is so tired by the time the cake is done, he falls to the ground to rest. Marbles frosts the cake, lights the candles and sings "Happy Birthday". Then, Marbles cuts the cake and gives Paul the biggest piece. It is delicious!

The friends stretch out on the ground and laugh and eat the cake as they watch the clouds slowly move across the sky...

Ssssshhhhhh......... Let's not interrupt this dream.

Preliminary Sketches Before Baking...

2010-09-09T13:11:00.000-05:00

Paul and Marbles Dream.

Here are a couple of preliminary ink drawings for a painting commissioned by Nick and Sarah Garbis as a birthday present for their son Paul. The drawings are of Paul surrounded by some of his favorite things.

Here is the list I was sent to work from:
Most important......in order: Marbles, book(s), cake (Paul bakes solo now), bike, Paul, piano.


Quality time with an enormous stuffed panda bear.

And here is "Marbles":

Marbles

As you can see, I got everything in but the piano which, in my defense, was ranked least important. Five out of six is not bad.

In my mind, the top sketch of Paul and Marbles collectively dreaming of a cake is the stronger of the two. It has a soft, ethereal feel. Plus, the cake and candles suggest a birthday. (But maybe I'll replace the oven with a piano. ...and use bright colors.)

I'll post the painting as soon as it's completed, probably early next week.
... and I promise, I'll resist the urge to have Marbles "licking on a light bulb" ...even if Beth pushes it!

Cornell University... and no one loses a limb!

2010-09-03T16:24:00.005-05:00

This is a gift for Avery from her mother, Jaime Johnson, who is very proud of her daughter's achievements and entrance into Cornell University this fall.

Here is part of what Jaime wrote me:

My oldest daughter recently graduated from high school. This was a child born in considerable adversity. I was young, single, and completely uneasy about raising a baby. Her birth really sent me into a tailspin and I considered adoption, but then ultimately stepped to the plate and embraced what was before me.

I set aside many dreams and goals and maybe, in a sense, placed them on her. Money was tight and life could get lonely, but she excelled beyond my wildest dreams! Who knew I would have an AP Scholar, a National Merit finalist, et al.?

Jaime also told me that her daughter loves the Big Red Cornell thing (the school's bear mascot)! I placed a bear on the lawn in front of Myron Taylor Hall at Cornell's Law School. This could be a fear inducing scene but it didn't go that way. The bear is not tearing anything limb from limb or attacking any other Ivy League school students. He wonders at peace.
A blood-lust painting may be more popular... but I thought this was more to the point. Could be intimidating and scary, but it doesn't have to be. Just like college. Right?

In the sky, I added an landing airplane to commemorate Avery's arrival to this beautiful school.
I love watching airplanes. Every time I see a plane, I can't help but get a little dreamy in the head. I think about where it is going and who is on it. (I live on a flight path, so, you can imagine how time consuming this is). This is the first time I've had a chance I've had to use a plane in a Panda painting without it seeming gratuitous. (Or is it?).

Anyway, thank you Jaime for the opportunity to paint for you and Congrats to Avery!!!

...owls emerge from no where...

2010-08-13T07:44:00.000-05:00

Sometimes when I'm feeling a little stuck on a painting, I'll start making another on the side, something that doesn't matter just to loosen up. I started this one right before I completed the paintings for Emma Berg. Owls were one of the themes that I tried to fit into her paintings but it never worked. They push their way in and take over a space.

I put this painting away not knowing what I was going to do with it. I thought I might paint over it. Yesterday, I decided to finish it before starting my next tiny painting.
So here it is! It was commissioned by no one!
...But I put it up because I like it.

Beth told me I should paint Emma's face on the center owl. I considered it ... but thought that it sounded funnier that it would look. It would either come off too cute or too disturbing. Children's book or genetic engineering gone wrong!?

I initially had a dark blue sky as the background but thought the owls were getting lost in the dark. I then painted it flat yellow, liked the graphic quality, but thought it all looked to knit-pickily finished. So, I sanded off the top layer and outlined the owls with a Chinese brush and black ink. It's more alive now.

So what am I going to do with this painting? ...I'll give it to Emma. It's really a companion to what she commissioned. We'll call it a late birthday present.

I'm working on two new paintings starting today... going to light a fire under myself to get them done quickly!
...but I never skimp.
I have a short line of paintings waiting but would love add more to the line up. So, email me with you commission at: panda@johnmegas.com
Love to hear from you!

Kate, Emma and Jahna, part 2

2010-07-29T15:03:00.002-05:00

Here is painting number two of these three lovely ladies commissioned by Emma and given to Kate and Jahna as birthday presents. It's similar to the last, but this time it's night and it appears that the moth infestation has chased away the birds.

Let me tell you what I know about Jahna and Kate. Jahna Peloquin is a freelance fashion writer and stylist. Kate Iverson is the editor for L'etoile magazine and arts editor for Secrets of the City. I've never met either of them, but look forward to it.

I started these two paintings with different background colors, the first one yellow and this one dark blue. On this painting I put the lights in on top of the dark. This is a technique usually reserved for iconographers and trippy black velvet artists. I did some sanding, used some black ink. When I was done, I wiped a cloth covered with phalo blue over the image to darken it and a give it a liquidy quality. (...and, yes, I made up the word liquidy but you know what I mean, right? ...Merriam-Webster can sue me if they need to.)

It was hard to get a good image of this painting because it is very dark. When I adjusted the colors on this digital image it always pulled out too much yellow when the blue was right. So too much yellow it is... and the softness gets lost here.

My intention with both paintings was to make them expressive rather than photographic. I thought it would be disappointing if I took the out and didn't make them literally representational of the subjects. Tricky stuff to make tiny... but all painting is tricky.

As I mentioned earlier, I will be writing a regular monthly review about artists exhibiting in the Minneapolis area for www.mplsart.com . The first will be up in mid-August. It will be similar to my writing here but about other artists. It's going to be fun!

...and check back here next week. I have another painting up my sleeve...

Emma, Kate and Jahna... part 1

2010-07-26T15:17:00.002-05:00

This is the first of two paintings commissioned by Emma Berg who is a fashion designer, curator, and founder of the best visual arts calender in the Minneapolis area mplsart.com. (I will begin writing monthly reviews for mplsart starting in August... but more about that later).

I've known Emma for many years but not very well. We often will end up at the same openings and we usually just wave to one another. She is always so fashionable... it's a little intimidating. I do try to look good and current but it doesn't always work for me. My look ends up being more like a Eastern European who still thinks Leif Garrett is cool. But that can be hot! Right?

Emma asked for two portraits of her and her close friends Kate and Jahna as birthday presents for them. When I asked Emma about her friends, her first response was that they all like to be in control. I wasn't sure what to make of this. (Another arm wrestling painting?) I asked if she wanted an actual portrait or if she had something less literal in mind. It was up to me...

It's tricky to paint people small. Details have to be sparse and accurate. If you are one millimeter off on an eyebrow or mouth, a face goes from cutely smiling to crazed with rabies. It's also tricky to paint people you've never met. You can look at as many photographs of a person as you want and never really understand what they look like. Photographs play tricks and two pictures of the same person can look very different. Ask anyone who does online dating.

My first concern was to make a reasonable resemblance of the three ladies, and I instinctively worked the rest out from there. I decided not to go too refined with the figures, but leave them slightly rough. I didn't want to over paint and make it feel stagnant and inactive.

I also decided to add the flying animal motifs to give the paintings another poetic layer.
(In retrospect, I think this was subconsciously under the influence of my friend Scott West's newest paintings which all have people with animals. (He recently did a fantastic painting of my son Theo with an owl). So, consider this a form of flattery, Scott.)

This post is a cliff hanger. I'll put up the second painting, which is darker and softer, later this week with more chitchat. And we'll talk about Jahna and Kate.

... feel free to leave comments and go to the Panda Facebook page for more updates...

Goodbye Moldy Pallet... Hello New Paintings!

2010-07-08T14:52:00.001-05:00

It's time to start fresh for a couple of tiny new paintings. I've taken about a month away from the Panda to work on some larger paintings in my Signals series, but now I am beginning two new commissions which will be variations on the same subject matter.They will be a two portraits of three friends. I'm excited to be starting this today!

As I've written before, I use a Sta Wet pallet to extend the time my paint stays usable.With it's strange spongy technology, the pallet makes my paint stay wet (or Sta Wet) for what appears to be an eternity. But there are drawbacks. The pallet surface feels suspiciously like damp Twinkies and the paint becomes furry after about 2 weeks. Then you have to either feed it or throw it away. This one I was was using while it was moldy... and it still worked fine... but it's gross.

For the last year and a half I've been studying which color molds first and certainly burnt umber always wins! This is followed by alizarin crimson and then ultramarine blue. Mars black hold strong to the end.

So here is my new pallet all set up and ready to go:

You can see the tiny boards prepared to the side of it. The size ratio between pallet and painting is ridiculous! But that's how I roll...

I'll post my progress very soon.

Shakespeare and Vonnegut Finally Arm Wrestle.

2010-06-04T16:09:00.000-05:00

Greg Bauhof asked for a painting of Kurt Vonnegut and William Shakespeare arm wrestling with Albert Einstein as the referee. Here is the final painting.
Strangely enough, when I was researching the three figures here, I found some historical accuracy to this scene.

Here's the story:
The year is 1969 and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is spending his summer heading a writer's workshop at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. He is riding the success of his recently released Slaughter House Five and things are going great. He had become a much sought after celebrity.
One morning, Vonnegut gets a call from the then young director Robert Altman inquiring about the possibility of turning his novel The Sirens of Titan into a film. Vonnegut is skeptical but agrees to meet him. Vonnegut inexplicably suggests that they meet Monday, July 4th at the Baroque Music Festival held in the commons of the University.
It is important to note that Kurt Vonnegut was a very tall man and to remember that in those days, the people of Iowa were eight inches shorter than the national average. All of the doorways in the faculty housing where Vonnegut was staying were very low, causing frequent bangings. He had visited the emergency room three times in his first month due to head injuries.
On the day of his meeting with Altman, Vonnegut chose to wear roller skates in an attempt to intimidate the director with his physical agility. However, this made him a dangerous 4" taller than usual. Being very cognisant of this fact, Vonnegut carefully ducked under every ridiculously low entry way. But how careful can one be the first time on roller skates when fireworks are going off in the distance?
Similarly, Altman tried to impress the author. However, being notoriously bad with history, Robert Altman decided to dress as William Shakespeare to pay tribute to the Baroque era that he assumed Vonnegut loved. Young Altman was a dead ringer. It was confusing and ridiculous to see Altman as Shakespeare prancing across campus humming Bach Cantatas. Robert Altman was only 5'1" so he didn't need to duck.
(I forgot to mention that Albert Einstein was co-teaching the writer's workshop. Einstein notoriously liked to stick his nose in everyone elses business where it didn't belong.)
The main roads on the University campus were blocked off for the festival and all traffic was rerouted to the roller stating path. All traffic!

I'm not going to bore you with the obvious conclusion to this scenario. I think we all know where this is going...

...still arm wresting....

2010-05-28T19:24:00.000-05:00

I decided to take some pictures while working on this tiny painting.

If you missed my last post, this is a painting request from Greg Bauhof who asked for Kurt Vonnegut and William Shakespeare arm wrestling with Einstein as the referee. And here is where I am so far. As you can see in the second picture, I'm getting close. Everything is in place, I just need to refine it. I'll darken the background and pull some more light out in the foreground. Mixing in a little gloss medium will help here.

As for the figures, Einstein needs to be fleshed out more, Shakespeare is still looking a little drunk and incomplete, but I think Vonnegut is a good resemblance. I tried to give him that "already defeated and waiting for doomsday" look that he is famous for. However, his wrestling arm is at a weird angle and maybe too short... but I kind of like the awkwardness. I might choose not to fix it. It's not ridiculous and adds a tension... maybe?

It you look closely, you will see that the colors in the second image are warmer than the first. This is because I did a light wash of yellow over the surface of the painting to warm it up. Then I went back in and painted over it.
I'll work over the weekend and post the completed Arm Wrestling painting Monday.

Preparing for William Shakespeare and Kurt Vonnegut to Arm Wrestle...

2010-05-24T13:38:00.002-05:00

Here is a preliminary ink sketch for a painting request from Greg Bauhof. Greg asked for a painting of William Shakespeare and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr arm wrestling... with Einstein as the referee. I'm probably one of the few people on Earth who would respond to this with a simple "sure". After doing this project for more than a year now, I feel like I've been around the unusual request block more than a few times.

I'm approaching this painting as a novelty piece, like dogs playing cards or Teddy Roosevelt Goat Charging up San Juan Hill ... or a Panda Licking on a Light Bulb. I have no problem making novelty pieces (obviously). There's nothing wrong with getting pleasure from something absurd. But as a challenge, I still try to put some kind of beauty into them, add an extra layer.

As you can see, I haven't figured out the background yet. Greg suggested blackness with light coming from a single hanging light source. I may go that way. It would certainly add a baroque sense of drama. That kind of theatrical lighting worked for Caravaggio on more than one occasion. (Not to mention numerous panthers on velvet.)

I also feel like I need to come up with a narrative for this... and I don't buy the arm wrestling in the after life thing. Too easy. There must be a historical context that would make sense here. I'll have to put my "revisionist historian" cap on and investigate.

... and I'll post the painting with the story in the next few days...

Orin's Dream...

2010-04-23T21:18:00.002-05:00

Here is the finished painting of Orin Scandrett's dream. Orin sent me the description of the powerful dream he had on the evening of his first of chemotherapy treatment.

This was a very special painting for me to make. I love the subject matter. It was also a very tricky painting to make because it's all about capturing someone else's experience. (Not to mention it has six animals in it that I have never painted before). Fortunately, I feel Orin and I have a similar attitude and approach toward life and this dream really resonated with me. I let his dream absorb into the pores of my skin and run around in the marrow of my bones for a while. This wasn't hard but when it came to making the painting I had to shake my hands really hard to force it out of my fingers. ...and I'm happy with the result.

The flat gold background here was Beth's idea. It was a last minute thing. I used a gold block printing ink that was left over a project years ago. (And it smelled toxic!) The painting was almost complete when I added this. I rolled it out with a brayer on the wood to make it completely flat and then wiped off with a wet rag the areas that had the animals and repainted the edges. I think this flat gold makes the painting. It acknowledges the spiritual. Like the gold leaf in Byzantine work. (With the Lion, it seems kind of Ethiopian).

Anyway, I'm copying the description of Orin's dream here in case you missed it in the earlier post:

I dreamed I was out in the middle of an open prairie (not like MN prairie but more like Africa…maybe the word would be Savanna.)
Standing in a circle around me were large animals…twice as big as life. In front of me on my right was a Lion, standing next to the lion was a rhinoceros with a white horn, next in the circle was a large bird (ostrich family…Emu?)… on my left next to the Lion was a brown bear, next in the circle a gorilla, next in the circle some kind of baboon like animal. I was surrounded by a complete circle of other animals but I can’t visually recall each of them right now.
In front of me behind the Lion was a beautiful bronze colored sunset arching across the horizon. The sun was not visible. It had already set. The animals were high-lighted and shadowed in browns and bronzes against the rays shining over the horizon.
Standing in the midst of this circle I felt about two feet tall.
Then, the Lion stepped forward and bowed his head. I reached out and touched his head. I will never forget the feeling of that moment. Then the Lion stepped back into the circle, turned around, and walked slowly off into the sunset. Next the rhinoceros stepped forward and bowed his head. I touched him. He stepped back into the circle, turned around and walked off into the sunset. This took place with each animal around the circle ending with the huge brown bear.
When they all had left, I spoke: “Wow all of God’s creatures care for me and are here to help me.” Then, a warm wonderful feeling flowed from my head down to my feet.
I woke.

Thank you for this experience, Orin. ... and Happy 80th Birthday!!! I wouldn't be surprised if you lived for 80 more.

I recommend reading Orin's book Lost Souls and Mad Saints about his years working people with severe mental illnesses and reconciling that with spirituality. It's an intense read. Available here:
Lost Souls and Mad Saints

Trip Through Gooseberry.

2010-04-19T10:47:00.002-05:00

Jael Lang commissioned me to make a painting for her husband John for their anniversary which they celebrated yesterday. (...so it's now safe to post this today). I was happy to oblige. I’ve been friends with John Lang for over 20 years. We grew up together in North Minneapolis (....and for some reason both moved out of that area). I was even the best man at their wedding.

Jael asked for a painting about makng the journey through life with someone you love. She told me a story about a camping trip they took to Gooseberry Falls State Park on the North shore of Lake Superior, shortly before they were married.

They were hiking and decided to wander off of the main path on to what turned out to be an over grown deer trail. This lead to Gooseberry River. They jumped from rock to rock to the middle of the river.There they sat. It was beautiful and peaceful... and fun.

In this painting I decided to catch them in the action of making their way out to the rock. Here they are helping one another. I wanted to acknowledge how maintaining a good relationship is active rather than passive.

I’ve been married for almost nine years and sometimes it is work. I have to be very conscious of what I do. (Like most people, I can easily turn into a jackass). Anyway, work is good... keeps you happy and healthy...

I have never been to Gooseberry Falls State Park before so I took Jael's suggestion and referenced pictures online. Of course it's beautiful. Much of the Gooseberry River has rocky banks and the water appears to move rapidly and mist and spray.

I intentionally made the water bluer than it appears in the photographs I referenced. In these pictures it's greenish brown. It is probably from silt on the bottom and from reflecting the color of the thick wooded areas around it. But I made the water blue with little yellow sun reflections. This seemed more appropriate to the content.

No one wants a painting about their relationship to be poop brown. Right?

In other news...

I am still working on Orin’s painting but will finish it this week and will post it on Friday. Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions on the Panda Facebook Page. Upon consulting with him, Orin decided to go with seeing the animals from his point of view rather than seeing the human figure. This makes more since to me too.

Anyway, Thank You John and Jael for your friendship and for asking me to paint for you.

Preparing for a Dream....

2010-04-07T12:17:00.006-05:00

This is a quick ink and watercolor sketch made as a study for a painting commissioned by Orin Scandrett. Orin has recently been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and has been receiving a series of Chemo treatments. He says that his prognosis is good with an 80% chance of remission and 50% chance of a cureOn the night of his first treatment, Orin had a "wonderful and powerful" dream. He asked me to paint it for him.

Here is Orin's dream in his own words:

"I dreamed I was out in the middle of an open prairie (not like MN prairie but more like Africa…maybe the word would be Savanna.)

Standing in a circle around me were large animals…twice as big as life. In front of me on my right was a Lion, standing next to the lion was a rhinoceros with a white horn, next in the circle was a large bird (ostrich family…Emu?)… on my left next to the Lion was a brown bear, next in the circle a gorilla, next in the circle some kind of baboon like animal. I was surrounded by a complete circle of other animals but I can’t visually recall each of them right now.

In front of me behind the Lion was a beautiful bronze colored sunset arching across the horizon. The sun was not visible. It had already set. The animals were high-lighted and shadowed in browns and bronzes against the rays shining over the horizon.

Standing in the midst of this circle I felt about two feet tall.

Then, the Lion stepped forward and bowed his head. I reached out and touched his head. I will never forget the feeling of that moment. Then the Lion stepped back into the circle, turned around, and walked slowly off into the sunset. Next the rhinoceros stepped forward and bowed his head. I touched him. He stepped back into the circle, turned around and walked off into the sunset. This took place with each animal around the circle ending with the huge brown bear.

When they all had left, I spoke: “Wow all of God’s creatures care for me and are here to help me.” Then, a warm wonderful feeling flowed from my head down to my feet."

I feel honored to be trusted with such an important dream.
The little watercolor painting above was made to generate ideas for composition and color. I'm going to run this by Orin and hopefully he will be able to give me some feedback about changes that can be made for the finished product.

Here is what I think I need to do:

Bring the horizon line lower.
Put the animals in the correct order according to his dream.
Work through the colors to get a consist scheme of browns and golds.
Look at reference pictures of the animals to make them more accurate.
...and look at picture of African prairies.

I also question of whether or not the human figure should be in this painting. Since it was Orin's dream, he probably didn't actually see himself in it. Should this painting be what Orin saw with his eyes rather than from the prospective of someone looking on?

With all of this said, I'm going to consult Orin. The finished product may end up very different from what I have here, and I am completely fine with that.

Magic Garden... without the Prozac...

2010-04-05T09:36:00.004-05:00

This one is a commission from Leon and Steph for their friends Sean and Laura on their wedding. Steph told me that Sean is a guitarist and an "audio geek" and Laura is a horticulturalist who loves gardening. Maybe a "plant-guitar hybrid" she first suggested.
Later Leon had a full plan for me. They wanted a magic garden of music.

My first thought was over-the-top psychedelic color drenched Prozac happy garden. ...but after talking more with Leon, I realized a less drug induced scene would suit the couple better.

Leon specifically asked for music notes. This is tough. It's hard to mix something even kind of realistic with graphic elements. This usually feels awkward... or like advertising. So, I tried to sneak the notes in as if they were physical entities in this garden. I thought of them as being like birds.

Originally, I also put a I put some G-Clef bugs on the red flowers in front. I painted them yellow and black like bees. I thought this was a cute. I showed this to Beth and she couldn't figure out what they were. They were so tiny. I covered them up and decided, once again, that some things just sound like a good idea...

In Other News:
Here is a link to the Haiku Bandit Society blog where someone wrote a haiku inspired by my fiddlehead fern painting. (You have to scroll down to the March 31 entry to read it.) This marks two haikus this year that have been written inspired by my work here. How many people can boast that? ....really... ... ?

Anyway:
Many thanks to Leon and Steph and many years to Laura and Sean!

Spring is here...kind of...

2010-03-22T09:41:00.008-05:00

It's although it is barely above freezing where I live, the snow is almost completely gone. It feels like spring.

This painting is made for Alison in Massachusetts who was kind enough to buy a Panda gift certificate that I donated to a silent auction at my son's school. It's a long travel for a silent auction.

Alison asked for a painting that would remind here that winter will eventually be over. Then she added, "I've also been drawn to fiddlehead ferns lately. Random, I know!".

Not random at all. The fiddlehead is a great symbol for spring. It's new growth, new life. (and you can eat it).

I painted most of the fiddlehead with a Chinese brush. One with long, skinny, wiry bristles. (I'm sure it has a name but... I don't know it). This is one of the brushes I bought in San Francisco at an art supply store in China Town. It was in 2001 and I was on my honeymoon happy and throwing my money around. I didn't use them for a couple of years but now this brush is a favorite. It doesn't seem to wear out. (your not supposed to use the same brush for a decade).

I set up this painting with sumi ink (new) and that is most of the black here. I has a beautiful rich tone. ...however it will rub off of gessoed wood with a wet rag. I'll do a layer of gloss medium on top to stop that from happening... and to make it nice and shiny. I like my work to be relatively indestructible.I'm of the "wood will rot before the pigment goes away" mentality.

Sometimes, I still get into arguments with myself about how much I should define in an object when painting. You would think that after making so many paintings (over 40 on this blog alone) I would have it down to a science... but I'm obviously not a scientist. Every new painting as a challenge. I question how I treat each one. This probably facilitates constant artistic growth.... but from a business standpoint I'm a nightmare.

Anyway... Thank you, Allison! I'll mail the painting once it's dry and water resistant.

In Other News: I've been rebuilding my personal website. Recently I've added many images (more than doubled) and divided them into galleries by subject matter. I've also added some brief texts talking about each gallery. I think this will make the site more enjoyable to look at. I'll keep adding things as I make them.

Soon there will also be a store where you can purchase some of the work on that site with ease. So check it out at :

http://www.johnmegas.com/

...and here is a link to some fiddlehead fern recipes... including cream of fiddlehead soup. If you try any of them, leave a comment...

Fiddlehead Recipes

Beloved...and some cup cakes...

2010-02-16T20:57:00.008-06:00

I made this painting last December but have been waiting to post it. Linda, who is a regular reader of this blog, commissioned it as a gift for her friend A's birthday. ...But the birthday wasn't til today ...so I've been sitting on it as not to ruin surprise. It's been living on the corner of my painting table and I have been making small changes here and there over the past 2 month's while working on other things.

Linda gave me some information about A and told me to take it from there. She sounds like a fun and busy person. The thing Linda stressed most here was to involve swing dancing with a round skirt in motion. Linda also gave me the word "beloved" to express her feeling toward her friend. When I pushed her for more... she added cupcakes.

The cupcakes on the shoes was Beth's idea. She pulled that out of nowhere and made a crude drawing of it. I wish I could find that drawing. (I used the acupuncture needle brush for the tiny cupcakes).

I like this painting and am impressed because I don't think it looks like I painted it. The mother of one of Theo's friends came to our house a couple of months ago and saw my painting set up. She asked "Do you paint?", and then saw this painting in the corner and said, "oh, your wife paints". She thought this must have been painted by a woman. What a compliment! "I pulled it off", I thought. I made a decent painting of a skirt and shoes.

Before posting this, I emailed Linda and asked her if there was anything she wanted me to write (or not write) here as I do before posting some one's painting. She is the first person to actually give me something. I usually get "whatever you want". Than I go on about phrenology or Teddy Roosevelt.

Here is what she said:
I think I would say that I didn't know how you would capture such a will-o-the-wisp person in a painting...but you did...the joyousness of it is the key.

Thank You Linda!
...and Happy Birthday A!!!

...still struggling...

2010-02-15T10:23:00.001-06:00

I've painted and repainted my niece's portrait many times now. I can't get it. In a small painting slump... so I'm going to move on and do one more painting and then go back. I think I just need to find a new way to approach this... But I'll get it.
I've been more industrious working on some larger landscape paintings. Landscape is something new for me and I'm very excited about it. These pieces all involve power lines and antennae and the clutter that makes our lifestyles possible. All of this working on principles that feel like harnessed magic. These paintings are ambiguously narrative in nature.
I'll post them on my website (www.johnmegas.com) when I update and revamp it. Soon...

Pretend with me and ...

2010-01-31T10:36:00.003-06:00

You will have to just pretend that I drew something beautiful and interesting and funny above as a preliminary sketch for the next blog painting. This new one is for my teenage niece, Julia, who wanted me to do a painting of her smiling in a blue shirt. I did a few sketches of this but they all turned out bad. Really bad. Too embarrassing to post.
(Take a moment and imagine those, too).

The sketches that I made of her looked like something that a junior high or high school kid would draw in their notebook, desperately grasping at drawing something recognizable rather than thinking of a whole. I was feverish and heavy handed, trying to make a sweet resemblance. Sometimes very sympathetic to whoever I'm painting for. In this case I think I transported myself back to high school.

It's many ways it's odd that I've started to post preliminary sketches, since I have been doing fewer and fewer of these recently. After about 40 paintings here, I've become more comfortable with just starting and working it out on the board. My skills have sharpened. The real reason for making these preliminary posts is to have a chance to talk about a painting before I've started it. While I'm still a little lost. ...and I always ask for comments or suggestions...

I started this painting this morning and am already nearly finished. It's now coming easy for me. (kind of).

I'll post the Julia painting later this week...

Cleaning An Entire World's Worth of Carpet...

2010-01-20T09:48:00.010-06:00

Allen owns and operates his own one man Service Master franchise. He wanted me to portray him cleaning the many, many miles of carpeting he has traveled over the years. He speculates that it is probably equal to the circumference of the Earth. Joan is a talented pianist. All she asked for was a musical reference. Together they are my in laws (Beth's parents) and this is there Christmas present.

I truly turned this one into an an exercise in miniature painting. So much subject matter in such a small space. I maybe should have tried to simplify it but instead I made it more complicated. Joan said I could just put in a few musical note to represent her here but instead I placed Joan on a satellite serenading all of the heavens. It seemed more interesting to me.

This was a difficult painting. The subject matter here is so unusual that I felt every element had to be ridiculously clear. The carpet cleaning wand has to really look like a cleaning wand to put across that he is sucking up dirt from the stratosphere of the Earth... as if it were a carpet. Your mind doesn't just automatically go there and fill in details.

But, the color on this painting presented the most problems for me. I wanted to keep a consistent, limited color scheme but with such tiny piece I found that objects began to blend in with one another. It turned into a matter of really pushing the values and making the images very symbolic and not natural. (If you haven't noticed, the scale of human to Earth size is also slightly off.) The the fact that the entire back is space suggested a very dark background that I eventually lightened up some. (Though this would have been a great candidate for black velvet...).

This was a hard one. But I don't ask for easy, that would make this project dull. And I'm pleased with the result.

Thank You, Allen and Joan!

In other news... The Hellenic Voice interviewed me about the Panda Licking on a Light Bulb yesterday and they will run an article about me and the blog either late January or early February. I'll give more information when I get it...

...in the meantime, I have a line up of paintings so I'd better get crackin'...

A Preliminary Cleaning Sketch...

2010-01-08T12:30:00.005-06:00

This Christmas, instead of shopping, I decided to give some of my family members paintings. I handed them a Panda Licking on a Light Bulb Gift Certificate. I wasn't sure how this would go over... but it seemed get a good reaction after explanation. To my surprise, everyone had an idea for their painting almost immediately.

This one is for my in laws, Allen and Joan Scandrette. Beth's parents.

Allen is a carpet cleaner and owns a Service Master franchise. ... but the entire franchise is them. He does all the cleaning himself and Joan takes care of the business end. Allen likes to tell people that over the past three decades he thinks he has cleaned enough carpet to go around the entire world once.

After thinking about it, I bet he's right. Working five days a week over thirty years. And walking backwards the whole way with that cleaning wand in front of him. (No wonder here's in better shape then I am).

Imagine an entire world covered in carpet and you have to walk the whole way with your back to where you're going. Over oceans, up mountains, down gorges... you get it. All carpeted. Everything you've just passed getting dirty again. You're walking backwards so you see it all happening. You yell, "be careful with that milk shake...take off your shoes...pick up that leaky pen... keep the cat in the bathroom!"....and so on and so on. A kind of blue collar Sisyphus myth... but lucrative.

..anyway, Allen described to me the image of he and his wand cleaning across the entire Earth as it hangs in the heavens. I think this is a great! Joan is a very talented pianist and wants to have music involved in this. Cleaning to her piano? I haven't figured that part out yet...

Above is a preliminary drawing. I don't know how close I will follow it. Feel free to leave a comment here with any idea you may have to help. I'll consider all comments and run them but the Scandrettes.

The finished painting will be posted next week.

By the way, the Gift Certificates are still available. $53. It's a great gift for anyone. Anyone!

Panda Hugging on a Strawberry.

2010-01-07T09:01:00.014-06:00

Happy Anniversary! Today marks one year with the Panda! Even thought he Panda sometimes gets difficult and crabby and often smells wrong, it has been a good year.

It seemed fitting to ask Beth to give me the one year request. She is the genius who insisted on the original Panda Licking on a Light Bulb painting. I talked about it in the first post Why is the Panda Licking on a Light Bulb? one year ago. But there is a part of the story that I didn't include there. She actually threw out another painting idea before Panda Licking on a Light Bulb which was Panda Hugging on a Giant Strawberry. I had forgotten about this (somehow) until she reminded me here. Now this too has been fulfilled (making dreams come true ?)... in the requested style of Calef Brown (... kind of).

One of the most interesting things about Calef Brown's work (beyond the flat stylized shapes, exaggerated proportions and improbable colors) is his unusual use of line. While the objects are almost never outlined, their interior features are often exclusively defined by simple lines. Strangely, those lines are often the same color as the background. This makes this confusing... in a good way. Brown's painting are seemingly simple but incredibly tricky... and funnier than hell.

I finished this painting late last night. I thought I was finished earlier in the day but then I took it out and looked at it, again. To my horror, I saw that I made his arms and legs waaaayyyy too loooooooong. It was a ring-tailed lemur hugging on a giant strawberry. Exaggeration is one thing but animal metamorphosis is another.

I kind of love this goofy painting. It's a great start to a new year.

Thank you everyone for reading and participating in this project over the last year. Tell your friends about the blog. They might like it. The more the merrier. ..and leave comments. ...always good to here from you.

...and Thank You, again, Beth. I love, love, love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Study in Panda Strawberry.

2010-01-06T10:31:00.007-06:00

Here is the preliminary sketch I made for Beth's request. Since the Panda Licking on a Light Bulb painting was her idea, I let her pick the subject for the official one year anniversary painting. She chose the subject of Panda Hugging on a Giant Strawberry. This won out over her other idea which was Deviled Egg Lassoing a Horse.(Someone might want to request that one because I have some great ideas(....really)). However, she asked for this to be painted in the style of artist and illustrator Calef Brown who she and Theo saw at the Walker Art Center last weekend. No problem.
I'm working on it right now and will post it tomorrow for the blogs official one year anniversary post. (everything here is official).
This coming year, I'm going to start posting preliminary sketches here and talking about the commissions before I actually start painting. I'm doing this to create an even greater openness about the process and give more insight into the finished products. This will also give readers a chance to comment on the direction I'm going in before I finish each painting. ...and I will consider all comments.
A nice byproduct of this is that I will be posting more often. Two times per commission. This added post will let me stretch out and be more off the cuff.
Anyway, It's been a great year! Be sure to check tomorrow for the finished Panda Hugging a Giant Strawberry painting.
..and while this one is almost finished, feel free to leave any comments in the final hours of my painting process... I will look...

Butterfly Garden.

2009-12-26T23:06:00.009-06:00

This is a commission from Hunter Gullickson as a Christmas present for his wife Sarah. I've worked with these two for nearly a decade and like both of them very much. It was an honor to make this painting.

Hunter asked for a painting of a butterfly garden. They recently planted a butterfly garden in their yard as a memorial to their son Alasdair who they lost at birth earlier this year. Instead of trying to forget, Hunter and Sarah decided to actively remember and celebrate their sons short life. Hunter told me that they are hanging a stocking this Christmas for Alasdair, and in it would be things for the garden.

This was an intimidating painting for me to start because of the seriousness of the subject matter. I didn't want it to seem trivial. I knew it would have to be a colorful and lush. I was handed me the image of the butterfly, the rebirth of the caterpillar as something infinitely more beautiful. Hunter used the word "celebration". I guess when it came down to it, it was all right there.

This is the type of painting that is the most rewarding for me. When I started this project, nearly a year ago, I expected that most of my requests would be flippant goofiness or challenges to my abilities. I've had a couple of those and they've been fun but I've been pleasantly surprised by how heartfelt and personal many of the requests on this blog have been. People have been very open. I've made many friendships painting here.

Hunter and Sarah do have a healthy and handsome 3 year old son named Simon. Hunter came to our house to pick up the painting and Simon and Theo had a chance to play. Simon's a really good kid. They should be very proud.

Thank You Hunter and Sarah!

And god bless Alasdair. May his memory be eternal.

...the Panda's one year anniversary will be this January 7th. Beth is giving me a new request which will be posted that day. Her last one was, of course, a Panda Licking on a Light Bulb...

Ice Fishing...

2009-12-25T23:42:00.000-06:00

This painting is for Bill Anderson as a gift from his wife Judy for Christmas. I've been sitting on it for a week not to spoil the surprise. Now here it is. The subject I was given ice fishing. What can I say?

I've been ice fishing once in my life. It was when I was in my early 20's. My friend Keith, a high school buddy, and I went winter camping with our friend and ex-high school English teacher Art Froehle. Froehle is a real character and we've kept in touch after all these years.
We stayed in a tiny cabin in the woods and it was really cold that weekend, almost beyond imagination. Cold even by January in Minnesota standards. I remember painfully walking across the frozen lake to the ice fishing house with a bunch of gear. The wind was biting us to pieces and I felt that it would never end and we would never be warm. It felt like hours, and when I think of it, I imagine a version of me still out there in an eternity of cold. Inside the little house was a fire, so it was warmer. Warm enough so that I didn't worry about it being a fire on ice over a frozen lake. Froehle for some reason left Keith and I in there by ourselves to fish (maybe it wasn't big enough for three?) while he would cross country ski around the lake. I'm not certain if we were ice fishing in a "correct" way. Neither of us had any idea of what we were doing. We just sat there holding our poles.
After one a few hours, one of us actually caught a fish ... but it got away... back down the hole somehow. I was secretly relieved because I didn't know what to do with it. It was like a giant active muscular slime tube. Do you let it flop around on the ice?
...But all and all, I have fond memories of this trip.

When I made this painting I thought about what someone would enjoy about ice fishing. It wasn't hard. Sitting outside on a lake in the morning by yourself, how beautiful and peaceful.
Beth suggested I do a painting of the inside of one of the crowded little houses. I thought that would only be interesting to people who didn't ice fish. The outdoors is what an ice fisherman would be interested in.
When I asked Judy about it, she said that Bill usually sits outside on a bucket. That seems like they to do it to me.

Thank you Bill and Judy!
and
Thank You Art Froehle for the memorable camping trip all of those years ago...

When a panda offers you a gift certificate...

2009-11-25T09:19:00.028-06:00

This is the first holiday season for the Panda...and I'm not sure what to expect. I'm geared up and I'm fast and can handle several paintings in the next few weeks. ...but if you want painting by Christmas ... or Hanukkah or New Years or even Ground Hogs Day order soon. Right now I can do it. I'll give you a timeline if you order.

However, in keeping with the sometimes lazy spirit of the season, I am also offering the option of a Panda Licking on a Light Bulb Gift Certificate. Really. It's easy as can be. You'll barely have to think. You can be hands off and let the recipient choose the subject matter of their choice or you can take this opportunity to spend quality time with that special someone, plotting out the painting together, filling it with all of your tiny hopes and dreams. ...or whatever...

The Gift Certificate is the same price as a painting, $53 US, which covers everything, including my blood sweat and tears and 1st class shipping. I'm putting an expiration date of January 7, 2011 on them because that will be the Panda's two year anniverary. I've committed to keeping this blog going at least until then. And if they can't decide on a painting in a year, someone should probably put a stop to it. Right?

The lucky recipient of the gift certificate will be mailed a handsome card featuring the inspiring new paint-by-number Panda Licking on a Light Bulb logo (as seen above) by artist and designer Nikolas Kouzes. Inside the card will be an official gift certificate and a short explanation of this blog with the info on how use it. On each certificate is a secret code (practically unbreakable and devised by me while in a very lucid state of mind) which will be quoted for online redemption along with their request. The rules will be the same as always. It's one certificate for one painting. Any subject regardless of complexity. Always 3.5" x 5.5" acrylic on wood.

To order a gift Certificate just click on the Buy Now button on the right hand sid of the screen.

To order a painting email me at:
panda@johnmegas.com
You will then be sent a secure invoice through PayPal and I will contact you with any questions.

I will be posting a new Painting this week...

An olive tree's Orthodox dream...

2009-11-20T09:49:00.008-06:00

Here is a variation on the olive tree painting I made earlier this week. This is a second painting reworking the request from Mary Antonakos on the subject of our friend Diane Katsiaficas. I am very pleased with the original, but when I was writing the blog post for it, I thought of a different approach.
What we have here is essentially the same painting as An olive tree's dream... which I posted earlier this week. It has the same subject matter, the same composition, same basic colors (I didn't even clean my palate), I just decided to force a byzantine style onto it.

One of the things that Diane and I have in common is that we both love, and are heavily influenced by, Byzantine art. Why not reference this?

Here,I imitated elements from paintings of the Eastern Orthodox World that spanned more than 1,500 years. Almost all Byzantine work is about figure, so this is unusual. I poured through several books of Byzantine art studying the sparse backgrounds. (Something I loved doing). Beth was unimpressed by the original birds I put in the sky, so tonight she paged though hundreds of images to find better birds for me to reference. She was right so I changed them. (But turned down her suggestion of adding the ominous black bird that looks over St. John the Theologian's shoulder as he writes Revelations on Patmos).

The actual painting of this came very easily to me. This is a style that I love but have never attempted to adhere to strictly. Very fun for a me (believe it or not)!

One thing this blog does is give me plenty of painting exercise. It 's keeping my art muscles fit. (... where ever they may live).

Since this painting has no owner, I'm going to send it to Diane Katsiaficas. There is nothing better than sending someone unsolicited art. Right?

Thank You Mary Antonakos for starting this ball of wax.

...and thank you to whichever part of my obsessiveness it may have been that made me explore this again.

An olive tree's dream...

2009-11-17T11:01:00.033-06:00

This painting is a request from Mary Antonakos. I've recently had the pleasure of meeting Mary at the National Hellenic Museum where she is one of the curators of Neolaia/Pathos, an exhibition of "young" Greek artists in which I currently have work. When I met Mary at the opening, I instantly liked her and we've kept in touch since through the magic of Facebook.

The subject of Mary's request for me is our mutual friend, the wonderful artist, Diane Katsiaficas. (Diane is the other curator of Neolaia). Mary asked for a of portrait of Diane and Greece. But not a literal "portrait".

I met Diane Katsiaficas a few years ago when I was in school at the University of Minnesota where she has been a professor for years. Both being Greek, we had an obvious connection. (If you haven't figured it out yet, everyone in this story is Greek). Diane Katsiaficas is a ridiculously talented artist and she smiles a lot. That's hard to beat. But when preparing for this painting I realized that I don't know Diane very well.

Since they are close friends, I asked Mary to send me some stories about Diane. Mary talked about visiting Diane's house on the sea near Athens and how Diane cares for the land and the house with her own hands. Mary made the suggestion of a painting that is light and airy using olive trees and birds.

I looked at Diane's website again for inspiration. The image on the home page is an olive tree. I knew I had to use a tree. I liked the idea of flying birds. We are talking about Greece here, so blue has to be the dominate color, right? There you have it.

My painting isn't completely light and airy. I remembered a work of Diane's that I saw a couple of years ago about the terrible forest fires that have recently plagued Greece. I wanted to reference this. (Every Greek I know has some kind of forest fire burning in them, for good or otherwise).

I originally had a full fledged inferno burning in the background but I decided to go back and tame it to a yellow glow. I didn't want this to be a literal burning landscape. I wanted it to feel more dream-like and subtle. I watered down some of the colors on the surface and sanded areas to keep everything from being too well defined.

The way things came out with the yellow halo, it almost looks as if the tree is thinking about the birds. They might only be the tree's dream. Roots and wings.

In retrospect, I maybe should have approached this painting differently. Diane and I both very much love Byzantine painting. I could have made visual references to that... but I can explore that later...

Thank You Mary Antonakos, this has truly been a joy. .

..and hello, Diane!

Here are some links to check out:

Diane's website: http://www.dianekatsiaficas.com/

and

I Space : http://www.ispace.uiuc.edu/ (Mary Antonakos is the gallery director here).

Organized?

2009-10-29T11:39:00.017-05:00

This is a typical Myerly request. One word with no elaboration. I was chatting with Becky Myerly the other day and complaining about disorganized people making my life difficult. (Though I think I may be one of them.) Out of no where Becky took out her checkbook and told me to make her a painting from the word "organize". As always, I'm up for this kind of thing.

This is the fifth painting I've made here for the Myerly family. I met Becky and her daughter Sophia the day after I wrote the first post of the Panda. I was so focused on the blog that I couldn't shut up about it. Fortunately, they were interested.

I've been reading a lot of kids science books to Theo. We recently read Magic School Bus Goes to The Bees (or something like that). In not so many words, it told us that bees are organizational robots. The only way they are able to survive is by dividing up their work and relying on one another. I think we read something similar to this in The Magic School Bus Kicks it with Ants (or something to that effect), but ants aren't as attractive, so bees it is.

I actually made this painting twice. I painted it, was unhappy with it, gessoed over it, and then painted it again with the same subject matter. Why? ...I thought it would look better the second time. Does it? I don't know.

I'm not certain that this painting is as much about organization as it is about obsessiveness. Maybe I sometimes confuse these two things. It would explain a lot.

While I was drawing out the bees for the second time, I couldn't help but think about those 4H bug boards, where they place the Latin names under the stick pinned carcasses in neat rows. Very organized. Different bugs classified by similarities hanging with their own kind. Organization relies on classification and classification effects the way we think about things. If I were to go to the 4H building at the Minnesota State Fair to study a preteen's board of local bee species and find a cicada on it labeled "North American Green Bee", I would make different assumptions about what a cicada is. But a cicada is not a bee?... depending on the criteria for classification. Right? They certainly have things in common.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that being organized is walking a fine line between rigid thinking, crazy thinking and...well, being organized. Perhaps someday I will be able to walk on that line correctly.

Thank You Becky Myerly!

A Swan in San Francisco.

2009-10-19T08:21:00.013-05:00

This is a new commission from Leon Mott who is back with request for a close friend of the family, Lynn Hart. Lynn lives in the Bay area and loves San Francisco. She is very also proud of her Finnish heritage. This is what I was given.
Different people have different approaches in how they give me a painting request. Some people tell me a story, some give a detailed description, some just offer me a word a single word and ask me to take it from there. I usually like to get the patron to brainstorm with me so we can collaboratively come up with an idea, but not everyone is open to that.
Leon approach, on all four paintings we've done together on this blog, is to tell me about the person the painting is intended for, and let me go from there. This time, however, he came up with the idea of painting the San Francisco skyline with blue and white, the colors of the Finland. I liked this but wanted one more image to really peg the Finnish reference. After some Google Image searches, I found out that the swan was a the National bird of Finland. I realized that a flying swan was roughly in the shape of a cross, the symbol on the Finnish flag. Everything from here fell easily into place. ...But I wanted it to be a little subtle, not too graphic, more naturalistic. I think it does the trick.

I've had some revelations over the past couple of weeks. I've been working on a proposal to try to get an artist fellowship. One of the things I needed to do was write a narrative about my work. I cut and pasted together pieces from the many artist statements I've written over the past five years and tried to make something cohesive out of my old ideas. On the second page of it I mention this blog/project and quickly dismiss it.
The people who I asked to review this ugly first draft called me on it. I've certainly spent a lot of time on this project over the past year. (This is my 31st painting for the Panda since January!). Beth, my wife, read it and her response was, " why do you treat the blog like the ugly step sister?".
Time to rethink this?
I've been relooking at what I do here and have decided maybe there is more to it than I thought. Previously, this was a fun little project to engage people. Now, I'm seeing a strange complexity to the whole thing that wasn't completely consciously intended. I'm also seeing more connections between this and my "personal" work.
When the awesome writer, Karen Lillis, kindly set up the FaceBook page for the Panda, she asked if I wanted any of my other work in the "pictures" section. I told her "no" and that the works live in two different universes. She thought this was funny (probably thought I was funny). I think I was a little delusional. I was thinking very rigidly in my strict separation.
I do think this project does need to remain as separate body of work and keep it's rules and focus the same for it to remain interesting, however, it should be separate but equal. Right?
The Panda is now almost half of what I talk about on that narrative and I'm working out and artist statement for this project alone. ...but I'm not changing it.

Thank You, Leon, for your triumphant return to the blog.

Here is a link to my new website...of my "other" work: http://www.johnmegas.com/

...and read The Second Elizabeth by Karen Lillis. http://www.myspace.com/eyescorpion

A Green Rabbit that Speaks Bird.

2009-09-29T12:15:00.008-05:00

Molly Fox obviously spends some time in a different world. She she sent me some vital information about that world and asked me to paint something from it.
Here is part of her long request:

There is a hamster who is the founder of the (scholarly research) institute. There's a chipmunk who's his right hand man, he's the administrator and tech guy. There is a green rabbit who speaks bird. They are cute but serious.

This is a lot of characters. I figured I'd better narrow it down because I didn't want to go super miniature. The rabbit speaking bird was intriguing. Somehow translating bird language is part of the research? I don't know, but that seemed the direction to go. It implies an action.
My first reaction was that it would look like children's book. Maybe Frog and Toadish. But, why do all crazy stories have to be geared toward children? I thought it would be more interesting do some pleasing designy thing with this. However, when I made the bird, I instinctively went a little expressionistic and I didn't want to turn back. I landed somewhere strange.
The rabbit is very detailed, the bird cruder, visible sound waves, a stylized yellow sky. Maybe kind of a mess, but I think there is a charm to it. I like the outcome but I feel I should know better.

So far, I've made about thirty paintings for people through this blog and, as far as I know, everyone has been happy with what I've done. ...But this can only go on forever, right? Someone is bound to be upset about the painting I make them. I'm bound to get something wrong or interpret subject matter in a way that they find objectionable. I guess that is just the risk you take. I'll be sure to post any mean comments I may get in the future. (Hopefully not from Molly).

Thank you, Molly! I hope this brings some new inspiration to the mythology you've been creating. ...or at least ...you like it.

It Could Have Been A Seven Toed Cat.

2009-09-21T07:58:00.009-05:00

Several months ago I donated a Panda Gift Certificate to a silent auction benefiting The Bridge for Youth, a shelter for homeless and runaway youth, located in South Minneapolis. Jeremie Holmes was kind enough to support this organization and purchased the certificate.

Here is his request:

Jeremie and his partner vacationed in Key West this last May and wanted something to remind them of their trip. He gave me some words as a guide "smiles, sunsets, love, adventure..." and so on. Nothing very specific.

I've never been to Key West. I started my process by looking up pictures and information about the island. I was instantly grabbed by an article about Earnest Hemingway's inbred cats whose descendants live on his former Key West estate. There are about 50 of them. Many have six or seven toes on each paw. There is a special legal protection extended to them. Really. ...but this wasn't what I was asked to paint.

I quickly found it hard to create a memory for a trip that I wasn't on. If I went too literal, I would get things wrong. Record memories as they weren't. I thought it would be better to make something vague that might provoke memory. Create a mood that may relate to a trip to Key West.

I found some aerial views of the island online that I liked and decided to print them to study. The color ink cartridge on my printer was low, so, they came out kind of washed out and with strange colors. This looked like memory to me.

After painting a very blurry, soft organic island shape, I decided to add lines to suggest buildings and roads. Bustling Key West shouldn't look desolate, right?

I spent a very long time on this painting, working very instinctively, not thinking to much in a logical way, just feeling my way through it.

...I just realized the image looks a little like a single celled organism. I don't know why, but this seems appropriate.

Speaking of trips, last weekend my family and I went to Chicago for the opening of Neolaia/Pathos: new.youth.passion. at the National Hellenic Museum. (I have three paintings in this show.) It was a great experience and the show is very well done...and, more importantly, interesting. The exhibition is running through January 9th, 2010. If you find yourself in the Chicago area, stop by. I love the Hellenic Museum!

Thank you to Curators Diane Katsiaficas and Mary Antonakos.

...and Thank You Jeremie Holmes for this opportunity to paint for you ... and for your support of The Bridge.

Radioactive Blood.

2009-08-29T15:32:00.022-05:00

Niki F wanted a painting for her boyfriend, Gil, as a birthday present... but she wasn't sure what. On her request, I met with her to brainstorm.
Niki told me that her boyfriend is from Minneapolis, likes Grain Belt Premium Beer and Jamison, and rides his bike everywhere. Then she slipped in that he would really like Spiderman to be in the painting, but then she dismissed it. She probably thought that I wouldn't do it. I sensed this was important to him, so, Spiderman needed be present in some way.
I went home and thought about it extensively over the next few days. I was stumped. I decided to post it as a challenge on the Panda Facebook Page. While I got some good and creepy responses, I used Molly Fox's idea of having a scene with the WebSlinger on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge by the historic Grain Belt Beer sign. This painting is completely Minneapolis.
Spiderman was problematic for me because I don't know anything about him beyond the cheaply made 1970's cartoon. Is he tough, listen Bud, he's got radioactive blood. That kind of thing. I could make many mistakes (which I may have).
I didn't want to paint something that looked like the cover of a comic because...well...what would be the point? Why wouldn't you just hang up the cover of a comic book? I can't paint Spiderman as well as the guy who draws the comic.
I went with the postcard gone wrong theme instead. It called for a lot of little detail. By the end I felt like I was painting the head of a pin. Pushed my new painting glasses to their limit.
I used my tiny 0000 sized paint brush (as immortalized in Catharina Jarl's Haiku) extensively on this painting. (Also, like the Haiku, this painting features the Mississippi River).
This is really a complicated subject matter to make small scale. The proportions are a little weird. Spiderman is giant next to the bridge...but really...who cares? It helps the narrative.

This painting marks the end of my summer break from the blog. Theo will start school again next week. It's cooling down. Autumn will soon place it's chubby fingers on our heads one more time.
I will go back to posting at least one painting a week.

Thank You, Niki and Happy Birthday, Gil!

Waiting for the School Bus... John's Request.

2009-07-30T10:44:00.022-05:00

This piece was made for me from my request by artist Cara Lynn Kleid. It was part of a trade. I made her the bonsai painting I posted here last month and she made this awesome piece for me. Here was the request I emailed her:

I wake up at 5:30 every morning to get my son, Theo, ready for kindergarten. I usually let my wife, Beth, sleep because she works longer days than me.

I live in Minneapolis where the days are very short and cold in the winter. Theo catches his bus at 6:40 am. Half of the year it is still pitch black at this time. In January, we walk to the bus stop and it's usually dead quiet, and looks like night, the stars and the moon are out. It's often well below zero and snow may be piled waist high next to the sidewalks. No one is out. Sometimes we are so cold, we jump around. Sometimes we look at the sky and talk about how far away and big things are.

Sometimes it's unbearable to be out there so tired and frozen. But it is also beautiful.

I told Cara to take any part of this narrative or all of it and do with it as she will. It turns out she told the entire story and completely captured the feeling of it. The rush to get out to the bus stop, the calm of waiting, the haziness of cold early morning, it's all there. If you look at the image closely, you will see that the location of each of my family members is labeled.

The lines of the bus are so simple and confident and loose...it's really hard to draw like that. Plain and simple, her work is really impressive... and she makes it look so easy. Damn you, Cara!

Cara requested that I send the painting I made to her father, Joe, in Florida who raises bonsais. I was pleased when she forwarded me some pictures he had taken of it with his trees.

Thank You, Cara!

As always, check out Cara's website:

http://www.caralynnkleid.com/

Motorcycle Sappho!

2009-07-22T20:34:00.041-05:00

Yeah, you saw it ... and now you're going to have to deal with it. Motorcycle Sappho!

Stephanie Huss commissioned this painting for her close friends Beth and Allison as a gift for their commitment ceremony this coming weekend. Steph requested a larger piece than the usual tiny panda size and I agreed to it. (I like Steph, and I can do what I want!). This painting is an enormous 10"x12". It dwarfs everything else on this blog.

Steph didn't have anything specific in mind. She ran some basic information about her friends by me and then asked if I knew of any women in ancient mythology that ruled the world together. I didn't, but mentioned the ancient Greek poet Sappho who ruled the poetry world from the island of Lesvos (from which the word "lesbian" was derived. Etymology!).

Sappho was a respected and popular figure in the ancient world whose work traveled well outside of the Hellenic world. Very little is known about Sappho and what we have is greatly debated. At one time, Nine volumes of her poetry circulated but now only one complete poem exists, everything else is just fragments. (However, I can watch the complete first season of "Charles in Charge" on Hulu...preservation...). Many of here works are love poems to other women.
I bought a board and was going to do an ancient Greekish looking portrait but that seemed to random. I thought it needed some kind of fresh context. I knew I didn't want it to look like the lurid grotesquely-romantic paintings of Sappho that were popular in Western Europe in the 19th century. Half-naked women leaning against each other lounging by the sea.
I showed the original ancient source pictures I was going to use to Beth (Megas, my wife...two Beth's in this story...) because I know she never pulls any punches with me (even when I'd prefer it). Beth was unimpressed. She burst out with "Sappho should be riding a motorcycle". It was the worst idea I had ever heard. ...but it was kind of awesome... maybe?
I wrote our friend Karen Lillis in Pittsburgh and ran it by her. I thought she would be a good judge on the awesome/yuck factor of this one. She was excited about it. I called Steph and she gave me a big thumbs up. Motorcycle Sappho it is.
I changed the basic style and color scheme of this painting more times than I can remember. I originally approached it with the idea of an ancient artifact... but that seemed too gimmicky. At one point it was more graphic and Sappho looked suspiciously like a cartoon Nia Vardalos. There were scorpions and a cobra for a while. It also went through a darker German Expressionist phase. I lightened it up and made it much less angular and we got what we have now. I like this. I didn't want it to be too ridiculously serious or too much of a novelty piece.
If the couple are not satisfied with it, they can scrape off a couple layers, they are bound to find something they like underneath.

In Other News :
I've recently received an image of the piece artist Cara Lynn Kleid made from my request (see "Bonsai!") and I will post that within the week. It's beautiful and kind of wacky! My favorite combination.

Thank you, Stephanie, and my best to Beth and Allison. I wish you many happy years!

A Haiku From Sweden And A Dream Of Kurosawa.

2009-07-02T19:20:00.015-05:00

This Painting is for Catharina Jarl who lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Catharina is a writer with a very impressive past who currently runs a Haiku Blog called Swedeheart: Haiku from Sweden. The haikus she writes are awesome...and I love the fact that a Swedish haiku blog exists.
Catharina stumbled across the Panda when she was searching for information about Rowan Trees (see The Lucky Tree From Which The Devil Hanged His Mother?). She left some very kind comments on my last post and I replied to her with the suggestion that we make a trade. A haiku for a painting. The haiku she wrote for/about me is being published on her blog at the same time as I post this. Click over and read it.

http://www.swedehearthaiku.blogspot.com/

I'm crazy about it... and I'm glad that she chose to write about her process.

As for her request, Catharina sent me a YouTube link to Sunshine Through the Rain, the first segment in Akira Kurosawa's film Dreams.

In this dream a boy wanders into the woods during a sunny rainstorm, despite his mother's warnings, and witnesses a fox's wedding procession. As you may imagine, the foxes are none too happy...

I decided to represent the narrative of this story but to change the look and approach. I wanted to depart from the traditional Japanese costumes and human "foxes" of the film. Very early on I thought about the Matisse painting "Boy with a Butterfly Net" that I have saw many times over the years at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (which I live less than a mile from). This, along with that Max Beckman painting of a crowd of people and a guy in a top hat, which I don't know the name of, where like ghosts haunting an almost subconscious part of my soul the entire time I was painting.

I also immediatley knew I wanted the strongest colors to include phalo blue (which I made the greens from) and burnt umber. Together, they felt like the appropriate dream colors to me. Lately, I've liked to set paintings up using india ink with a long skinny Chinese ink brush. Just making the lines of everything first. I did that here and ended up misusing that ink brush with acrylic paint for almost everything here. It felt right. I need to be careful. I've been using too many art supplies the way they were intended. Can make for boring stuff if you're not careful.

Be sure to read the haiku on Catharina's blog and ...

if you are a member of the Swedish speaking world check out her other blog:

http://www.bokstavlarna.blogspot.com/

Unfortunately, I don't read Swedish so I have no idea what it's about.

Thank You, Catharina! This has been fun.

Bonsai!

2009-06-15T15:51:00.006-05:00

I'm excited about this painting. It was made on request for artist Cara Lynn Kleid who currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA. I was recently "introduced" to her by the always awesome, Karen Lillis (see Existential German Kitten...), via email a couple of weeks ago.

I've been taking painting requests for about 5 months now and this is my 25th painting for this blog. Often people tell me they want a painting but can't come up with anything. I'm always a little taken aback by this.

"Just pick something, where's the problem?"

Cara Lynn Kleid suggested we do a trade. She gives me a request and I give her one. I was immediately thrilled. I absolutely love her work. ...but then I realized that I would have to come up with something for her to make. I suddenly got it... and I had to sleep on it.

Cara's request for me was a bonsai tree. She told me her father recently had a life change and now spends much of his time raising bonsai trees, doing yoga and riding around on his motorcycle.

I love the weird dwarfish, tangley proportions and bends of bonsais. They look like full size trees but off. Wrong...

This has turned out to be one of my favorite paintings that I've made for this blog. And it fell out of my hands very easily. All of the black here is Sumi and India ink. It's painted right on the gesso which is layered with blue paint. I sanded down to the blue and layered again. The green and brown is watered down acrylics.

The painting came so easily and instinctively, I don't know what else to say.

When I receive the piece that Cara is making for me, I will post it and talk about my request then...

Be sure to check out Cara's work at:

http://www.caralynnkleid.com/ and

http://www.somevelvetmornings.blogspot.com/

Thank You, Cara.

A Scientific Icon.

2009-05-31T21:51:00.017-05:00

This request comes from actor, writer, and visual artist, Steve Sweere. Steve asked me to make a painting of Charles Darwin in the style of a Russian Icon. I did that...kind of.
I was thinking about the icon of King Solomon gesturing toward a tiny church suspended in mid-air. In his icon, Solomon is pointing to his truth. He is upholding the Church. In my painting, Darwin gestures toward some half-evolved prehistoric aquatic animals eating one another. This is the carnal truth this version of Darwin is upholding.
I stole this unusual fish-chomping image from the cover of a Penguin Classics edition of Darwin's Origin of Species. The painting on the cover actually shows a much larger scene which includes a short necked dinosaur biting the head off of a long necked dinosaur. Talk about a perfect visual representation of natural selection. I guess we now know why we have no more long necked dinosaurs.
Anyway, I think the style I used for Darwin ended up more Byzantine Slavic than it did Russian. The grotesque aquatic animals are more 19th century Victorian clip art. I did, however, incongruously paint the background red because that translates to "Russian" ... right?
Well, the painting is what it is and I'm happy with it.

Here is my narrative:
Imagine a 19th century Russian monk iconographer who is largely untalented and obsessed with Western scientific thought. He decides he must make a painting of Darwin in an outdated and foreign style. All of his friends in the monastery are confused but try to be encouraging. They hang his odd "science icon" in a corner of their living quarters where no one spends much time. It's by the closet, just above where they keep the hats. One day the Czar comes for a surprise visit and all of the monks are filled with excitement ... but the mood becomes a little uneasy when he notices this icon ...
I'll let you image the rest.

Thank you, Steve!

Soon, We Will All Be Real...

2009-05-25T20:58:00.026-05:00

I imagine this to be the last page of a children's book. Or the second to the last page. This is where the Man-Fairy turns Pup-Pup and White Monkey into being real "lovies". The last page would have them frolicking in a field of clover with a shy fawn and friendly but grumbly badger.

A couple of months ago I donated a gift certificate for this blog to my five year old son's elementary school fundraiser. Just last week I heard back from Ellie Feldman who was the lucky one who won it. (She probably thought she was bidding on the spa basket).
Ellie wanted a painting of her two sons', Ethan and Toby's, "lovies". She provided me with plenty of pictures and I took it from there. I painted them in front of a blue background, but then decided I needed some kind of context. Something to build a story from is more satisfying. So, I went with the Pinocchio-Velveteen Rabbit toys longing to be real scenario. There is a sweet sadness to this that still, as an adult, gets to me.

Beth drew her own suggestion for this painting. As you can see, her idea was to have the "lovies" patiently waiting for a table at the Red Lobster. While I loved this idea, and considered it for a little while, it seemed just too random. I could imagine the Feldman Family's confused looks as they opened the envelope. But who knows, maybe the Red Lobster is special for them. I doubt it (though it is a fine establishment).

On a similar topic, someone was kind enough to start a fan page on Facebook for this blog. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to post some of the preliminary drawings that I (and Beth) have done for these paintings on it. Some I actually think are more interesting than the paintings and some display moments of really bad judgement on my part. I'll let you decide which is which. Check it out...you don't want to miss that...right???
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Panda-Licking-on-a-Lightbulb-A-Paint-on-Demand-Blog/82222555038?ref=ts

Thank You, Feldman Family, for supporting the school and giving me an excuse to paint "lovies"!

The Dragonfly In The Ether.

2009-05-11T19:49:00.017-05:00

Lately, I have been meeting my friend Nick Kouzes for coffee once a week before work. We meet at the Spyhouse on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. We started doing this with the excuse of discussing my making a painting for him. Kouzes also makes art and works as an art director for a marketing company. I told him I would make him a painting in return for him helping me design a card for myself. (I'm not so good at that kind of thing). He agreed so we, in theory, are discussing that as well. Instead, however, conversation usually digresses into swapping stories about the Greek characters that we know in the community.

Kouzes asked me to do a painting that visually addressed the connection between analytical thinking and creativity. We discussed this some (in between speculating on Costa's wresting career in the old country). I told him that when I paint, I go through phases of just letting it fall out of me and then going back and measuring and balancing everything. I'm usually very analytical at the start, with a very specific plan, but I then I ruin that plan, and go back and fix things in a different (hopefully better) way. I'm part scientist, part chimpanzee.

We talked about ways to visually represent this; different quadrants of the surface representing different kinds of thinking through different kinds of mark making That kind of thing.

However, I chose to approach this painting like a poem. It turned out to be the Dragonfly in the Ether. This idea did not come from my analytical mind. I looked there but all I got was over used symbolism. So, I coughed the dragonfly up from my gut.

As you can see, I used a different wood then usual. A few weeks ago, I visited Leon Mott ("Axis Bold As ... Something", among other commissions) to see the guitars that he makes and rebuilds. He kindly gave me a piece of padukah and suggested that I experimented with using it for a painting. I thought it would work for this one. It was a thin piece, so I made a back frame to hang it from instead of the simple hangin' hole I usually drill in back.

I also broke my own "acrylic paint only" rule and used india ink for all the black to get a different effect. I opted not to put down any gesso at all. I sanded down parts after I painted to make the background less defined, more hazy.

I don't know if any of this worked, but I feel I need to start moving it and doing some things differently. I don't want to make the same painting over and over, again. I don't want to end up at booth at the mall drawing funny pictures of Barbara Streisand and Jamie Foxx. But this is "Paint-on-Demand", so maybe that's where I should be.

I've had some questions as to why I haven't posted Beth's "Axis Bold as..." painting yet. Well, she hasn't finished it. She told me that she thinks painting is boring. (She has a point). If Beth doesn't finish soon, I'll post the unfinished version on that entry. It has a rattle snake in it.

Efharisto poli, Nick. ... And thanks for the wood Leon.

Donovan Imagines Himself Made Holy At His First Communion.

2009-05-01T09:22:00.004-05:00

Pattijo Verdeja commissioned this as a gift for her son Donovan on the occasion of his first communion. She wanted me to paint something having to do with how a child might relate to this experience. I agreed but had no idea where to begin.

I know very little about Catholicism, so, I decided to seek advice. I contacted Fr. George Byers, in Lourdes, France and asked if he had anything that would help me. A few weeks back, I made a made a painting for Fr. George (see St. Augustine and the Jackass) that was commissioned by a devout woman in Minneapolis who loves his blog bloggingLOURDES. After seeing that painting, Fr. George immediately contacted me to tell me how much he liked it. I found him to be a kind and interesting man and, half kidding, asked if I could consult him for future paintings that involved Catholicism. "Of course", he said. He really came through for me here.

I emailed and asked Fr. George to write a couple of sentences about his first communion. Instead he suggested a painting along with reference images. He did the work for me, so I went with it. He suggested an image of the boy from the waist up with crossed hands and a glow around him as seen on images of the Guadeloupe. (I thought that his suggestion to reference the Guadeloupe was amazing, I didn't tell him that the family was Mexican. Of all the Catholic images to pick). He also suggested the image of the Eucharist glowing within him. These were great ideas. And since they came from a Catholic priest, obviously appropriate for their church. I added the dove and lily on top for good measure.

I think painting children is very hard. They often end up looking like small adults. Children have odd proportions that I have troubles wrapping my mind around. Big heads, narrow shoulders, short arms. I don't know how much this actually looks like Donovan, but I think it's close enough to understand that it is a symbol for him. Many times, even photographs don't "look" like the person. Look at Facebook pictures. You'd think all of your friends were models.

I would like to wish Donovan the best on his first communion. I hope it is a beautiful and spiritually rich experience.

And of course my greetings and thanks to Fr. George for his collaboration. (I may call on you again).

The Songbird that Aspired to be Shin Hanga.

2009-04-22T12:28:00.013-05:00

The Myerlys' now have the official Panda record with this being their fourth commission.It was painted as a birthday gift for their friend Emily. The only direction that I was given here was the word "song". Not very specific.

They told me that Emily recently graduated from college with a music degree in voice.

Naturally, my original idea was to do something opera inspired. I thought of popular operas that I love, Puccini's Turandot, Verdi's Aida, Janacek's House of the Dead. But these are all so tragic (almost to the point of absurdity). "Here is a ridiculously dramatic painting of two lovers slowly suffocating in a tomb, Happy Birthday!". I felt this was not the proper direction.

I google imaged the word "song". I was most interested in the picture of a song bird which came up between a photo 90's shock rocker Marilyn Manson and a photo of a group of cheerleaders. The bird seemed to fit the best. I liked how bright yellow it was. It could be corny but with the right colors I figured I could work through it.

I started this painting in a completely different direction from where it ended. Originally, our bird was in a city, with an old apartment building and telephone poles in the background. But it looked akward and didn't seem to be about songs at all. I painted a piece of paper blue and covered the building with it and asked Theo, my five year old son, if it looked better with or without the background. He told me that when it is all blue it looks like the bird is singing. but when there are buildings, it looks like it is screaming. So I made it blue.

In the last couple of paintings I've introduced phalo blue to my pallet. Usually, I'm pretty minimal with colors. I use ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, some kind of pale yellow, and white and mix all the secondary colors from there. Why do I need to waste my money on green and browns when I can just mix them up? Well, early on in this project I added a burnt umber (for the Flemish Feast) and stopped mixing my own blacks and now have this goofy extra blue, which can be beautiful, but takes over a painting easily. Here it is mixed with ultra marine to tone it down.

With the taking away of the background, I realized the way to go was faux Japanese. I consulted one of my favorite art books which is about the Shin Hanga, the new Japanese print movement of the early 20th century that combined traditional printmaking techniques with a Western influence. I stole some my composition and the sky from it.

Originally, this post was going to be called Nichola Tesla is Singing in his Grave because in the first draft of this entry, I marveled at how antiquated telephone poles and electric wires seem and how that great electrical scientist would be in disbelief to find out that they are still in in 2009. But I painted over the poles and wires so it doesn't make much sense now...

Thank you, Myers and Emily.

Axis: Bold as ... Something.

2009-04-15T10:37:00.010-05:00

Leon Mott is back! If you've read previous posts, you will see that I've made paintings for both his girlfriend and for his mother. This is the third in the trilogy. It was made as a birthday gift for his dad. (Leon is quickly becoming one of the world's great patrons of lil' art).
He originally gave me some info about his dad, he is a psychologist at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC and a Sufi, and told me to go with it. Then he changed his mind to go with a more personal request.
The 1967 Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold As Love is a favorite of Leon's father. Leon recalls his dad giving him a copy when he was twelve years old. Leon referred to this masterpiece of psychedelic experimental rock as the soundtrack to his relationship with his father. It's a very unusual soundtrack. (The strangest part may be the dubbed in interview on the first track in which we hear Jimi abruptly leave in a UFO).
The other guidance he gave me was a link to the Martin Guitars website. Leon's father's first meaniingful guitar was a Martin D-18.
So, I decided to do a variation of the Axis: Bold As Love cover art. The cover has a faux Hindu painting of a vishnu-like Hendrix amongst a pantheon of gods. Instead of the many armed Jimi Hendrix on the cover, I made a a many necked Martin. I kept the color scheme the same because I didn't want to lose that late 60's rock poster feel.
I was careful when painting the guitar. Leon is a craftsman who makes and repairs guitars and knows their anatomy inside out. I'm sure mine is riddled with weirdness...but it looked alright to me.
One funny thing I realized, again, is that when I paint inanimate objects, they come out looking organic. I'm not very good with straight lines. When I make a building, it usually looks like it just sprouted from the ground. I've decided to go with it rather then fight it. It's more interesting.
Beth decided that she is going to paint her own version of this one. She has never painted anything before in her life. Her painting has all the same elements but they are arranged in the way she thinks I should have painted it. (Plus hands holding lit zippos). When she finishes it, I will post it here.

Thank You, again, Leon! I hope you have a large family.

Oh, and today is my birthday...and my favorite present so far is the flu.

St. Augustine and a Jackass.

2009-04-07T17:05:00.009-05:00

This is a mysterious commission that comes from a woman in Minneapolis. She commissioned it as a gift for Fr. George David Byers, a Catholic Priest in Lourdes, France. She asked for the gift to be anonymous, and I respect that. I enjoy a certain element of mystery.
The only direction I was given with this request was the link to the popular blog that Fr. George keeps. It's called "bloggingLOURDES". She also told me that he refers to himself as a "jackass". This concerned me. I imagined that he may be some kind of "wacky" priest, with theological subtleties of an 80's prop comic. Father Gallagher. But thankfully that is not the the case.
The donkey-thing comes from a quote from the popular 4th century pillar of the Western Church, St. Augustine,"You are a jackass, but you carry Christ". This is good with me. When it comes down to it, we are all really jackasses, right? Certainly, I'll admit to being as assy as they come. (Ask the people who have to live with me.)
On his blog, Fr. George is very open and well spoken. Do I agree with everything he says? No. I'm not Catholic. I do think he is a good writer and respect that he's not afraid to speak his mind. And I am honored to make him a painting.
This painting came very hard to me. It took forever. It is painted over my completed first attempt. This first work was awkward on many levels. I tried to put a bunch of "Catholic-looking" stuff in it to make it interesting. Doves shooting lasers from their beaks and the like. The colors were dark and the proportions off. It looked like a baroque nightmare. Now, I kind of regret not keeping it for novelty and laughs. My donkey came out far better in this one anyway.
Thank you, mysterious-patron-lady and I hope you like it, Fr. George.

This blogger has also been send a couple of gift recently from readers. The Myerly Family kindly send me a small tripod last week. (They must have gotten tired of seeing my slightly out of focus pictures). And about a month ago, Rowan Keenan sent me this cute cat picture that she drew for me. If I ever need help with this project ...
Thank You, everyone.
see bloggingLourdes:
http://immaculataconceptio.wordpress.com/

Silly? What is it.

2009-04-07T11:49:00.016-05:00

This is a third Myerly request. This painting was made for their dear friend, Maria Smith, as a birthday gift. I was given only one word to guide me, "silly".

What do you do with that?

I decided to research the origin of the word. I was happy to find this awesome etymology site: http://www.etymonline.com/.

It seems that the word "silly" has gone through some significant and odd changes over the past thousand years or so. Previous to the 13th century, the word held the meaning "blessed" or "pious". It later evolved into "harmless" (c. 1280), "feeble-minded" (16th century), and "stunned, as by a blow" (late 1800's). Now it just means "silly".

"Silly Putty" was copyrighted in 1949.

I decided to go down the "feeble-minded" path (as usual). The term "feeble-minded" made me think of those crazy old Phrenology charts. Phrenology, for those who don't know their 19th century pseudo-sciences, was a study in which a person's entire head was measured to determine many different traits, such as their intellegence and the strenghth of their character. The thought (as far as I understand it) was to show which parts of the brain were the most developed by how big the corresponding part of the head is. (Did they realize that we have skulls?) The charts labeled parts of the brain with words like, "benevolence", "hope", "self-esteem", and "immorality". This all seems funny in retrospect until you find out that this was taken quite seriously and used to study the differences between races and ethnic groups. Nazi stuff.

In searching for information, I was surprised to come across a website for an organization that still believes in the benefits of the study of phrenology. Strangely, it seems to take a self-help angle. Now, this is "silly". I would link it here but it creeps me out a little. And you never know what people will believe...

Anyway, in my painting, all of the attributes boil down to just being "squirrely". Nothing wrong with that.

Here is a link to Maria Smith's very personal blog: http://www.mariamou68.com/

An Irish Dancer.

2009-03-27T08:28:00.008-05:00

This is part two of the Myerly Family request: Irish Dance. This one is for Sophia Myerly who is very much loves traditional Irish dance and studies at the Rince Na Chroi school in St. Paul, MN.

Unfortunately, don't know much about anything Irish. However, years ago, I used to frequent Kieren's Irish Pub where I would often order chips with curry and a Guinness after getting off work (which sounds delicious right now). Sometimes I would stay late with friends and listen to the Irish bands that played there. I also saw a great number of Celtic knot work tattoos in the early nineties and have always liked the Pogues, but somehow I feel these things don't give me a true understanding of Ireland.

She sent me a link to the Rince Na Chroi website and I checked out several galleries of photos of dance performances. I was immediately impressed with how amazing every one's hair is. (Then I got suspicious and googled "Irish Dance Wigs". That explained it.) The effects of hair bouncing up and haloing the head is quite stunning. It made for an interesting visual image. Because of the nature of Irish dance, in photographs, the performers appear to be standing still, levitating while their hair is going crazy. I consulted some You Tube videos to understand exactly what was going on in those pictures. It looks like magic.

I made this painting as a composite of several dancers. After trying more elaborate backgrounds, I decided to go simple and abstract. There is a tiny hair of mine stuck in the lumpy white of the background that I left. It was hard to get out and not very noticeable. So, if I ever get lost and someone needs a DNA sample of me to reunite me with my people...

As a side note, I've recently become aware that the subject matter of the paintings here seem to be changing. This is the third painting in a row with a human figure. Where have all the animals gone? I'm not sure if it is the requests or how I'm relating to them.

Check out:

http://www.rincenachroi.com/

Prayers Rise As Incense.

2009-03-20T15:13:00.008-05:00

Last January, I went to liturgy on the morning of my Name Day, January 7, for St. John the Forerunner, as I try to do every year. Afterwards, when I was about to leave, I was rounded up by some people I had never met to get coffee and koulourakia in the Fireside room. I had no where to go, so, I joined them. Usually, I'm pretty quiet about what I do and prefer to hear other people's stories but the day before I had just made the first post for this blog. And it was my special day. I was so excited, I couldn't stop blathering about myself and the blog. Luckily, they were interested (Or humored me).
This painting is for the Myerly Family,,who I am pleased to have met that day. They are members of St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church in Minneapolis, as am I, and are kind and observant Eastern Orthodox Christians who travel a very long way to go to church. God bless them.
They gave me a couple of requests last week and this is the first. Though on this one, I deviated some from their request.
Their request was one simple word, Eucharist. (or, rather, a complex word). No elaboration. I didn't really know what to do with it. I took it and meditated on it hoping I would be handed the beautiful gift of an idea. It didn't happen. I realized God was going to make me work for it, as always. Free will is problematic.
I went literal. I started this painting as a scene of an Orthodox Priest serving communion, but it wasn't working. Too static and the subject matter seemed so intimate. I felt wrong portraying this in a tiny format.
Half way through I changed it. Here, the Priest is censing the church, blessing the icons and the people and the church. The abundant incense rises like prayers. I can think of all kinds of ways that this applies to the eucharist, but I'll let leave that to be contemplated by whoever wants to. And maybe the connection isn't there.
I may have been a little off the mark for the subject of this piece, but I think this is a pretty good painting. I don't think this photograph does it justice. Some of the paintings here don't look as good on the blog as in real life. (It's hard to shoot small glossy paintings). However, there have been a couple of exceptions that I think look better as a digital image. When this happens I feel a little like I am cheating. But maybe all of this is in my mind.
It's hard to have a good perspective on what I'm doing; to detach myself from these paintings. Only after a couple of weeks looking back do I have a decent perspective. But not always. Sometimes, when I'm working on a piece and I have the luxury of time, I will hide it from myself for a week or two and try to see it again with new eyes before completing it. I often put paintings in front of a mirror when I'm working. To see the image reversed brings out what is really there as opposed to what my mind has come to believe I'm doing. Or turning them upside down might work.

Anyway, I thank the Myerlys, again. I wish them a beautiful and meaningful Lenten season.
Their second painting involves Irish dance. It will be up soon.

Shellae Doesn't Remember Her Dreams.

2009-03-13T08:24:00.009-05:00

I'm back to the blog after about two weeks of not making an entry. I've spent this time working and reworking some larger paintings for a couple of show possibilities. But, I'm pleased to be back blogging and I feel refreshed with a new perspective on what I'm doing here. I'm getting looser and channelling a weird tiny painting energy.

I've been sitting on this painting request for about two weeks, so I've had time to stew and revise in my brain. It is for my friend and coworker Shellae Mueller. She is very kind and has been spreading word around about this blog (maybe more then I have). She's a blog evangelist. So, I wanted to make her a painting.

Shellae couldn't think of anything for a long time, then finally one day she started talking about dreams and how she doesn't remember them. She is certain that she has them but they are always forgotten by morning. (The only exception is the occasional nightmare that sometimes involves a clown, but I was told, "No Clowns").

So with that, I am left with the project of painting a dreamless sleep. Easy, right?

I didn't want to use black or eerie images. I wanted something light, so, I decided use the wood for what it is and drill holes. It turns out, these are where her dreams are escaping. They lead to ether. Maybe when she gets this painting she will plug them with tiny things to try to stop this. I would suggest wet tissues.

Thank You, Shellae.

I have three more orders lined up and will be painting and posting quickly over the next couple of weeks so keep checking. Really.

A Tibetan Buddhist and her Border Collie.

2009-02-27T15:19:00.017-06:00

Leon Mott has come back for more. This time it's for a gift for his mother on her 60th birthday. I'm honored. The only information he gave me was that she loves her Border Collie and that she is a Tibetan Buddhist. He wanted me to run with that. I instantly thought that this was an awesome request, and a challenging one.
I spent a lot of time reading cliff notes versions of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and looking at pictures of Border Collies, which I guess are great herding dogs. My original idea was to have a Border Collie herding animals into nothingness to illustrate the transitory nature of the physical world. I began painting this on my tiny wood and quickly realized that this was not going to be effective in small scale. I needed something different. I emailed Leon and asked if his mom liked Tibetan art. He said "yes" and mentioned "thangkas", which is a type of Himalayan Buddhist iconography. I had never heard of them before, but after seeing a few images I was taken. I thought I could maybe borrow something here with the style. The symbolism was so dense in these paintings that I knew I had better keep my fingers away from it unless I really wanted to study (which I still may well do).
I was very unhappy with my initial painting so, even though I was nearly finished, I gessoed over it and started new. This is the first time I've done that in this project. I turned the block vertical and began again, this time using a flattened perspective and bright colors. I outlined almost every object in the painting and stole landscape elements from the thangka paintings. (Funny enough, I often use a flattened perspectives and dark outlines in my own work but with a Byzantine reference. It's strange I didn't jump on this first). I avoided using images of the Buddha or a Bodhisattva because I don't know what I'm doing with the religious part. I'm not Buddhist. It didn't seem sincere to me.
I'm not expecting anyone to look at this painting and think it was stolen from a Himalayan monastery, but I think some of the aesthetic is there.

Part of my reason for doing this project is to open myself up to working in ways that I wouldn't normally work and to expand the bag of ju-jus that I pull from. I don't want to get constipated. This painting was a great experience.
Thank You.

Birds Flying Quiet and Vague.

2009-02-23T19:52:00.022-06:00

My five year old son is often with me when I paint. His name is Themistocles, but usually he goes by "Theo" for short (though my father prefers the diminutive "Themistoclaki"). Sometimes Theo sits next to me and paints as well, but usually he works on something else. He always does a lot of gluing and cutting projects but lately he has favored stringing plastic beads that, when finished, he tries to sell for $53.
Theo often wants to keep the paintings I make for this blog. When it comes time to send them out, he sometimes pleads with me to give them to him instead. I've told him that I will make one for him when I have a little break. I didn't have a line up of orders this week so this seemed to be the time.
I asked him what he wanted and his immediate response was "birds flying".
About a week ago, the two of us went to pick up Beth, his mother (who I happen to be married to), from work. As we were waited for her in the car, we watched a huge flock of birds as they flew in circles above the buildings.
"I wish we were all birds", Theo said, "then you and Mama wouldn't have to go to work and I wouldn't have to go to school". Having the mind of a child, I was instantly sucked in and imagined us just flying around all day in bliss. It sounded beautiful.
When Beth got into the car and Theo repeated this, she reminded him that birds actually do work. They have to make nests and hustle for food. Sometimes the mothers have to leave their babies in the nest alone for long periods of time. Beth is obviously more sophisticated than I am. I agreed and pretended to turn it into a lesson for Theo.

I had a dream a couple of nights ago that that someone was ripping off this blog, making the same paintings that I have made and writing similar entries. It turned out to be Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. I got an order to do a painting of the Philadelphia skyline. Since I'd been there and had a feel for the city, I decided (for some reason) that it would be perfect to paint all of the buildings in yellow and brown. After I finished, I checked John Edwards' blog and he did the exact same thing! Jerk.

I wanted to make this bird painting quiet and vague like Theo's imagined bird life. I consulted him throughout the painting and he kept asking me to add more birds. So I did (within reason). Why not? On this painting he was the boss. He seems happy with it now.

In other news...
I've found out that it takes about two weeks for acrylic paint to start molding in a "Sta-Wet" pallet. Just a white fuzz. It's not revolting and doesn't smell but I think it would add a strange texture. Maybe there is a use for that.
So far I've received one drawing from the suggested "Bend in the Wire" drawing exercise. When I get a couple more, I'm going to find a place on the blog to post them. So, please start drawing and don't be too critical or shy. It'll be better that way.
This week I have an order I'm excited to paint. It involves a Border Collie and Tibetan Buddhism. Really. We'll see how it goes. It should be up by the weekend.

Existential German Kitten Earnestly Considering What It Means To Be Good.

2009-02-17T14:58:00.026-06:00

Karen Lillis is writer who currently lives in Pittsburgh, but from what I understand, she has lived almost everywhere. I've just read her recently published novel The Second Elizabeth which is a beautiful piece of writing. It reads like long, rhythmic prose poem and is incredibly introspective and a little hypnotizing.

Karen Lillis is also the person who gave me the term "Paint-on-Demand" which is what I'm using these days when describing this blog. I love it. It's to the point and ridiculous.

I wanted to make a painting for Karen. I emailed and suggested she close her eyes and think of what she wants to see and to not over think it. In about two minutes I got and email back that simply said, "Kitten being good".

Really?

That's not what I expected from an experimental writer. But it did make me think about how cute kittens are always depicted as being mischievous. Actually, cute everything. Mischievous is cute when it's not on your watch.

My Aunt Katina had a picture hanging in her kitchen of about a ten year old boy hiding in a doorway sneaking a cigarette. The boy had big eyes and it was painted in soft colors. This is one of the few things I remember about her apartment in Athens where my family visited her when I was a preteen. Kids smoking was cute in Greece in the 1980's. Cats destroying screen doors and and knocking over food is cute to Americans always.

So, how does a kitten be "good"? My only real answer was "use the litter box". By strange coincidence, my family adopted a large long haired cat this week (someone told me he is a Maine Coon?) and my greatest hope for him was that he knew where to put his poop. Luckily, he did.

I started this painting as a more straight forward cute cat picture with pastely colors and soft lines like the Greek smoking boy. It looked like something you might find in the bric-a-brack section of the Salvation Army that was made by Hallmark decades ago. Unhappy with that, I sabotaged it the next day and gave it a German Expressionist edge. I made it harsher with stronger colors and sharp unusual angles and took away some compositional elements to make the room emptier. In this version, the cat seems to be having some existential woes. Maybe he himself is contemplating what "being good" means.

Here is a link to where Karen Lillis' The Second Elizabeth can be found.

www.amazon.com/Second-Elizabeth-Karen-Lillis/dp/0978296214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233586675&sr=1-1
-or for more Lillis info-
www.myspace.com/eyescorpion

Bend in the Wire.

2009-02-13T11:42:00.017-06:00

Leon Mott gave me the vaguest request so far. This is what he gave me to go on:

My beautiful girlfriend's name is Steph. We have been living together for 10 years. She is a music teacher. Her band is called Grey Skies. I would very much love for you to work your lyrical magic with these very few and ill-defined semi-musical variables as the Guide.

I emailed back asking if he wanted to clarify any of it and he said "no". I asked if he wanted Steph actually in the painting and he said "not necessarily".

This leaves things incredibly open. Obviously, music is a major theme in both of their lives. Leon told me he plays in a Dead Kennedys cover band (really, there is such a thing) called The Suede Denims and gives music lessons. So, it has to be musically inspired.

When visual artists try to express music, usually one of two things happen. Either they make a literal image of a performance or a it is bunch of swirling colors and floating cubes. I didn't care much for either of these options.

I decided to approach this like a game that my wife, Beth, and I used to play when people came over. Everyone would lie flat on their backs and close their eyes. I would drop the needle on one of my many old instrumental albums (it could be anything from Billy Strange "Plays the Hits" to Sun Ra and the Myth Science 2000 Arkestra) and we would let the sounds condense as images in our heads. Then, when ready, each of us would sit up and draw. When the song was over everyone presents what they have. (I guess it's not really a game because there is no winning).

Luckily, Leon provided me with a link to a page where I can stream some songs from Grey Skies. I put on headphones, picked a random song, laid down and closed my eyes. The first image that came was of inch worms limping across a branch. When the lyrics began, the worms and branch became an electrical wire. (It turns out the song I picked was called "Bend in the Wire"). The sky was, of course, grey. A bent wire means trouble, sparks. An airplane is flying by, but is it involved. I drew and used this as my preliminary sketch for the painting.

I painted the electrical mess from life. We have a similar scene outside of our bedroom window (minus the bending and sparks). I decided to edit out the apartment buildings and the YMCA across the alley to make it more sparse and dramatic.

I listened to the songs the whole time I painted and got to really like them.

Here is the link Leon gave me so you can listen for yourself:

www.myspace.com/greyskiesmpls

Please click on it and try this drawing exercise. If you do, email me an image of what you drew. I'd love to see it!

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo.

2009-02-09T09:32:00.011-06:00

Yes, the word "buffalo" written eight times with a period at the end really is a grammatically correct sentence. It seems the word "buffalo" can be used as many ways. Annie Kalow taught me this when she commission this tiny piece giving only the buffalo sentence and a Wikipedia link as a guide for the painting.

The sentence means something like a buffalo buffaloes(bullies) another buffalo in Buffalo. There is not a lot of occasion to use it in daily conversations.

I was excited and intimidated by the vagueness of this request. I got stuck for a little bit, which I can't do in this project. So, I just plowed through and approached it literally. Two buffaloes getting Buffalo with one another in front of the Buffalo, New York skyline. Only I decided to put them on a rooftop because it brings them closer to the recognizable tops of the buildings, and because I thought it was funny.

I finally changed my pallet (though all the paint was miraculously still wet)because things were getting too messy. I still had a lot of pink on it left over from the aquarium painting. It's nice to have a clean palate.

However, I had trouble keeping my lines clean because my trusty #2 round brush is getting raggedy from all of this tiny painting. I'll need to replace it. The smallest brush I've been using is a 0000. It looks like one fat hair. I originally bought it to make the needles on an acupuncture painting I did a couple of years ago. Now it comes in handy.

Here is more linguistic info about the buffalo phenomenon that Annie linked me to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo

My next commission has an even vaguer request. I'm preparing my brain and I'll post it on Friday.

The Lucky Tree from which the Devil Hanged his Mother?

2009-02-06T09:05:00.022-06:00

When Leann Keenan wrote and asked me to paint a rowan tree I immediately agreed but had no idea what that was. I turns out that the rowan tree is indigenous to Northern Europe and is particularly prevalent in the British Isles. It is said to possess mystic qualities in Finish and Celtic Traditions among others. In England, to according to Wikipedia (which I trust?), it was said to be "the tree from which devil hanged his mother". (I'm not sure how to process that one, never thought of Satan as having a mom). It seems that several cultures have the tradition of keeping the rowan tree around to drive away evil spirits.

Leann's daughter is named Rowan and I would imagine that she must have been named for the elements of goodness and protection that are attributed to the tree. I decided to make two trees, I thought it would be more interesting. One for Leann and one for her daughter. (Her husband can fend for himself.)

The Rowan tree is visually interesting in that it has a lot of poky branches with few leaves and berries that sit seem to sit mostly on the tips. When seeing photos, I immediately thought of painting in 19th century french pastoral style. I thought about Jean Francois Millet. I think the reference in my painting is there but I got a little angular.

Leann also suggested that I might put Celtic symbols on the painting but I chose not to do this for two reasons. One, is that I think the rowan tree is beautiful enough to strand on it's own. Two, is to avoid what I will call the "Deformed Man Toilet" factor. "Deformed Man Toilet" is a deplorable translation for "Handicap Accessible Restroom" that I saw in a book about bad English translations in China. There is a similar book about poorly translated Chinese tattoos on Americans. I didn't want to make this painting "happy lucky super cat wish tree" because of my ignorance.
Anyway, I'm quite certain that the protection is still there.

I've started using a new pallet that is made to keep acrylic paint wet for long periods of time. It is a shallow square container with a lid. In the container you place a big flat sponge and cover it with a piece of paper that you have to boil before using. Really. It's called the "Sta-Wet" pallet (no "Y"). It seems to work well but is kind of like storing paint on swamp bread. I'm using the same paint I set up a week ago! No mold yet.

Please leave a comment if you've had any experience with this strange product.

A Very Active Aquarium.

2009-01-31T18:25:00.022-06:00

This order comes from Susan Woehrle in Minneapolis. She requested a very active aquarium with fish, a diver, a crab, a castle, coral, and lots of bubbles; all very colorful. I was pleased to oblige. With this one I didn't show a lot of refined taste. As I was mixing the pink, I realized that I had never made the color before (for anything). When I got into this one it became a little addictive. I actually had troubles getting myself to stop painting. So many more things could be added. (Right now I'm regretting the absence of a sea horse, but I don't know where it would fit). I emailed Susan yesterday and asked her to tell me more about herself and aquariums, mostly out of my own curiosity. (Sometimes I pretend like there is a social science edge to this project). She mentioned the calming effects of watching fish. It can lower your blood pressure. She remembered a fish tank in the waiting room of her dentist's office when she was a kid that made the experience more palatable. Unfortunately, I don't know how soothing the painting I made is. The pink and orange gravel is a little crazy making. Does nothing good for my blood pressure.
For me, I think the calm comes from looking into a world that seems completely detached from ours. It puts things into perspective. The fish all have there own little watery concerns and seem oblivious to us in their quiet little microcosm. We are only existent to them during feeding time and then we must seem like rain.
The decorative divers and castles a add a strange literal narrative for us that the fish are oblivious to. However, I must be part fish because I don't completely understand the narrative either. I get that the divers are supposed to be fortune hunters that are scavenging for treasures from sunken boats, but what are we supposed to make of the castles. Do they suggest that are fish are swimming in some long lost sunken medieval Atlantis or that there is a kingdom of sea-monster-people underwater that are waring with our fiddler crabs for primacy? Anyway, aren't the fish sometimes trying to eat other enough of a narrative?
The castle I made was a composite of several I saw online on aquatic supply store websites. I do realize that mine looks something like a quaint Alpine Ski Lodge with minarets. I put the skull on front just to add some intrigue and some stairs in front to keep the legless mermaids out.
I hope you like it, Susan.

A T-shirt that says "Baby Electricity".

2009-01-28T08:39:00.012-06:00

Here is the request from Dawn Schot Klotzbach. Plain and simple, a T-shirt that says "Baby Electricity".

This story goes back years, to a nap from which Dawn woke herself up screaming and demanding "I want a T-shirt that says "Baby Electricity" on it". I don't think she completely remembers the dream that prompted this, but the speculations could be endless. Where to start. A power station with toddlers crawling fast in wheels? Want-to-be mothers aligning their fertility to the pulls of the magnetic fields of the Earth? Questionable scientists sneaking into nurseries with a Tesla Coil and giggles? But, the question is, why would any of these things be commemorated on a lousy T-shirt?

However you interpret it, here is the T-shirt I painted. I decided to make it old and crappy and well loved and probably a little smelly. It hangs on a nail that is pounded into void. Maybe it used to be Dawn's favorite party T-shirt but now she just sleeps in it, letting the baby electricity just seep in through her pores. I don't know, you'll have to ask her.

What are these Strange Monkey-Beasts?

2009-01-25T12:41:00.031-06:00

If you were to have told me, even two months ago, that I would paint cute pictures of cats and post them online I ... well here we are. It turns out to be part of this gig. Why not?

These tiny requests come as part of a family pack of three paintings ordered by Dawn Schot Klotzbach. Her son, Sander, who is 3 1/2 requested a cat jumping on a bed. Her daughter Ivy, who is 1 1/2, copied a little and asked for a kitty drinking from a milk bottle. Dawn's painting will be posted later but it involves a T-shirt and baby electricity. This is a lot of baby.

Getting a request to paint for some one's children is both flattering and slightly intimidating. For some reason, I feel like things made for kids need to be super magical. No one wants to be the guy who disappoints the kids. Right? But I'm pleased to do it.

When starting these, my first realization was that I had absolutely zero understanding of cat anatomy. Luckily, I find that there is no lack of cute cat pictures on the Internet to reference. (I might go as far as to say that the Internet is for looking at cute cat pictures). I've had pet cats before, but I obviously didn't pay any attention to them. When I really looked at these cat pictures, the animals looked alien to me. "What are these strange monkey-beasts?", I thought. I marvelled at how their legs seemed to bend the wrong way in the wrong places. But I slowly worked it out like a scientist. In the science of cute.

I approached these paintings with the intention of making something in the style of illustrations from a classic American storybook. (This is opposed to the wacky "Hang in There" poster style, or "lasagna and a nap" Garfield style). The cat drinking from a the antiquated milk bottle seemed to beg for images that harkin back to days of olde.

On the milk bottle painting, I sanded down the edges to suggest something ethereal. I know that kitties and the ethereal don't go hand in hand, but think of it as a child's dream kitten. He mischievously sneaks milk from the bottle that is about to tip. In reality, this scene is the start of a mess that would probably provoke some yelling and end with a crabby clean up. But here it is quaint. (My wife pointed out that this seems to takes place on the same table as the Tiny Flemish Feast. The kitten must have already eaten the lobster, and hazelnuts and drank all the wine. Thanks for the sharp observation, Beth.)

With the cat jumping on a bed painting, I tried to make a narrative. A little bit of a Good Night Moon thing, maybe. The cat flying in bed at the end of the day. Are cats nocturnal?
Anyway, I'll spare you anymore deep thoughts . These are cat paintings.

Keep watching, I have three more paintings to post this week!

Teddy Roosevelt's Sad Goat Charge Up San Juan Hill.

2009-01-16T08:17:00.001-06:00

This request comes from my long time friend Charles Russell. Charles has an interesting history with a string of unusual jobs including a couple of stints working as a park ranger in Alaska. Because of this, I wasn't too surprised when his request for a painting involved the "rough rider" and outdoorsy former President Theodore Roosevelt. He asked for a painting of Teddy Roosevelt "goat charging up San Juan Hill". I know Roosevelt became a hero in the Spanish-American war for leading his troops on a successful campaign that captured San Juan Hill and that this was some how important, but what does "goat charging" mean? When I wrote back and asked Charles he told me I could "run with it" and interpret it however I wanted. So here goes.

I chose to re imagine Teddy Roosevelt's later life. I imaged Roosevelt as a retired president who had become tired of his earlier adventures of big game hunting and boxing and the like and now prefered just kicking around his house, intermittently working on his incoherent memoirs which were never to be published. In my version, he lives on a large piece of land in some wooded area in the midwest. Stray animals sometimes wander onto his property. Mr. Roosevelt usually kills and eats these animals but sometimes, for whatever reason, one will tug at his strange little heart strings and he will take them in. His favorite of these "pets" is a rather large goat that he named Juan, in memory of his past glories in San Juan Hill. Later he is told by a local Mexican blacksmith that Juan is a male name and inappropriate for his female goat. Teddy Roosevelt has become even more stubborn with age and refuses to change the goat's name to the suggested "Juanita".

As time goes on, the former president becomes more and more attached to the goat and begins to insist that she is his son. He stops writing down his memoirs and begins only dictating them to Juan, who is told to store them in her memory "like priceless jewels".

Shortly before his death, Mr. Roosevelt decides to take Juan on a trip across North and South America with the intention of revisting important places from his past. Cuba is one of those places.

I think I'll let you re imagine the rest ....

Tiny Flemish Feast.

2009-01-12T13:52:00.004-06:00

I asked my friend Yuri Arajs for a request. Yuri is a minimalist painter/printmaker and a curator who lives in British Colombia. He asked me to make something that looks like those old Flemish paintings of a feast. Very decadent and unexpected from him. This is a tall order for a 3.5"x 5.5" painting, but why not. The old Belgian/Dutchy masters used food settings to show off their technical abilities, to wow us with the way they can show light bouncing off of the curves of a wine glass or the subtle sparkle of a droplet of water rolling down a grape. I knew I would have to dumb it down.

I did some quick research of Dutch and Flemish Baroque painters and decided that Jacob Van Es' style would be the best for me to rip off. It seemed to me that the trick was to cut every color with burnt umber and gloss medium. It kind of worked.
I choose food that I thought would be fun to paint rather than things that make sense. That's why it looks more like a lunch table with a very strange menu. But that is what you often see in these paintings. There are meals that consist of a bowl of grapes next to a bowl of olives with a freshly killed rabbit stretched out in front. The table is strewn with cracked hazelnuts and there is always plenty of wine served in ridiculous Rococo stemware.
I think I captured the proper mood here but maybe I should have done a few things differently. The lack of ominous shadows might be a little disappointing. I've also been told that the lobster looks a little too alive, like it could hop up and start hosting the feast. At any moment his flaccid claw might lift to snip off a piece of that terrible crusty bread for us, serving it up with a jerky, robotic thrust. What a party!

check out : http://www.yuriarajs.blogspot.com/

Why is the Panda Licking on a Light Bulb?

2009-01-06T08:38:00.000-06:00

If you tell someone that you are a painter, the first thing they are likely to do is ask what kind of paintings you make. Then you stumble with words trying to explain years worthy of ideas and theory in a few sentences. From their blank expression, you can usually tell that they are not listening and can't wait to tell you what they like and what you should be making. And this is fine.
I don't consider myself a self-centered snob but my work generally is very personal and sometimes contains references that might be bordering on the esoteric. However, I believe that the personal often addresses the universal and that many things can be understood at a gut level rather than intellectually. With that said, I always have the concern that I'm living far too much in my own head . I don't want to be just rubbing my nose in my own stinky armpit again and again. But, sometimes it's hard to know.
My wife has a treasury of art ideas that I don't use. They don't fit what I generally "do". About two years ago, we were in the car and I was bouncing around thoughts about what kind of piece I would make for a painting class I was taking. I think my bright idea had something to do with my then painful hernia. (I love medical themes). My wife just spouted out off of the top of her head, "You need to paint a panda licking on a light bulb". I thought this was a bad idea and tried to move on. She kept insisting that it was what I needed to do. Eventually it turned into an argument. I didn't paint the panda or the hernia.
Three weeks ago, at a loss for an inexpensive Christmas present, I remembered the panda and painted it for her. I did it in small scale (3.5"x5.5") not only to make it go fast but also because I like small pieces . It did go pretty quickly, materials didn't cost much, and I actually enjoyed making it and thought it turned out well.
This gave me the idea. I can remove myself from my own head for a while and just use my hands. I can take requests and custom make paintings for people, painting whatever they want, however they want, without restrictions on subject matter or content. As long as I work small scale, I can make a painting pretty quickly while keeping the quality high and charge at a low flat rate.
So, I'm doing it and am excited to see what people might want. Or think they want.
This blog is going to document my journey through this project. (If it were a social services program that somehow helped inner city youth I would call it "Project Panda Licking on a Light bulb" but it's not so I won't).
I will post an image of every painting I make along with commenting on the subject matter and the experience. Right now I am working on a small handful for friends to iron out the kinks before I really begin. The first will be posted soon.