The Landscape Zone

I zoned in to the background landscape today. I love doing landscapes. I think because they can just emerge out of nowhere. It's just natural for me to create random brushstrokes and be able to see hills and cliffs and valleys in it. I always feel like I'm in my zone when working on landscapes.

Here's the Full Piece at the moment

Happy January 7th Everyone

I'm writing this one early again. It's 2:22 am. 

It's windy and raining outside. I enjoy the rain not the wind.

I just got home from the show at the Hive.

It was a good show. a lot of people came. Great first show of the year. I saw a lot of familiar faces and met a lot of new ones.

The tarot card deck looks great. But on the freeway on my way home, I realized I left mine the gallery. So no picture.

I wanted to take pictures of the show too. But I just forgot. 

My friend Diane brought a box of  books for me to sell.  Good ones too. They included a few by Clive Barker and a book on Jack the Ripper. I sold all the Clive Barker ones.

I saw my friend Shane. He's having a rough time. He might lose his art studio this month. He's been struggling on the work and living situation fronts too. He said he feels like life is closing in on him. Shane's a fantastic artist, hard worker, kind. It sucks to see him in survival mode. 

Only one person asked me what my "story" was. Questions about my "story" or "can you explain your art," always make me feel like I'm about to battle the final boss in  a video game.

I have a hard time at shows to be honest. I either get too hyped up and talk too much. Or I get crabby and annoyed. Distracted. For this show especially I tried to just keep that in mind and try and correct for which ever version I felt myself becoming. I tried to just go with the flow and think "this is happening."

I met a guy who recognized my work from the internet. I think that's the first time that's happened. It made me feel awkward. But he was super cool. 

The guy is an analytical chemist and works for the archival department at the LA County Museum of Art. He's also a painter. I was super curious about the archivist stuff and chemistry stuff. But I got pulled into another conversation by a friend.

Jesse gave me an original painting at the Christmas party. I gave him a print. But that didn't seem like a proper thank you. So I brought an original to give him tonight.

I met a really cool artist named Jana. She's also going to be in the Cave show next month.  She became a resident at the Hive recently. We talked for hours about our approaches to art, the artists that we get inspiration from, music, how dumb social media is, Jung, Tom Waits, Dreams. A lot of the same stuff I talk about in my videos. Balancing improving your technical skills without losing the magic of painting, Spontaneity vs. form, all that stuff. 

A wonderful new friendship. 

A lady on the street gave me a typed up poem that she wrote, called Jump Higher. Here's an excerpt from Jump Higher by Marcia Moonstar:

"Jump, jump, jump, jump higher

 It is time to jump higher than the clouds, 

X out all your impossible dreams, 

X out your impossible castles in the sky, 

Jump Higher than the clouds..." 

We all went to Beilman's after the show. It's a bar down the street from the Hive. It's a ritual. A sacrament. 

I always get a burger and tots and a Diet Coke. 

Planet Terror was on the TV. 

A few of us wondered what the story behind tots was. We decided they came out of Operation Paper Clip. 

This old dude with a hat with a feather in it, a bunch of rings on his hand and a scarf came up to our table. He said "Look I'm on the wall next to the toilet." He showed us a picture of a poster  of the 80's glam metal band LA Guns from the bathroom. 

LA Guns has had different incarnations over the decades. I don't know if that was actually him in the poster. But his general vibe, age and style checked out.

The original LA Guns merged with a band called Hollywood Rose in the 80's and became Guns and Roses.

I thought about asking him what the Sunset Strip was like in the 80s. But he was at least 2 beers deeper than ideal for that kind of conversation.

When I went to the bathroom I looked at the poster. above the LA guns poster was a Black Sabbath poster, under it was a Megadeth, on the wall above the toilet was Metallica, Motley Crue and Van Halen.

I thought how most people want to be in Van Halen or think they’re on their way to being in Metallica. Destined for big things. World changing stuff.

But, if they’re really lucky, most people are in some incarnation of LA Guns. Drinking beer, eating tater tots and watching Planet Terror with friends at a bar after a Tarot card art show.

It also reminded me of a scene at the beginning of the movie Amadeus, where Salieri plays the priest a few of his songs and the priest doesn't recognize them. Then he plays Mozart and the priest get's all excited "I know that one!" 

Have Fun,

Goodnight Sweeties