Saturday, February 18, 2012

Sat, Feb. 18, 2012

OK, here's a one-off piece. 10" x 8" and done entirely with gold leaf.
 I've been reading a book about the French artist Odilon Redon and this piece came as a result of that (unintentionally). Redon painted and drew numerous one-eyed creatures - and the green glass blob that is partially covered with gold leaf reminds me of an eye looking out of the surface.
 Over the last 2+ years, numerous paintings of mine have exhibited subtle influences of other artists, without any overt intention of doing so. But it makes sense, since we're all part of the same continuum; the ineffable wave of creativity that moves across the Universe. How's THAT for waxing poetic?

Click on photo for larger size.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Fri, Feb. 17, 2012

Here is my "DJ table" at the studio. It's messy in there right now! Click on the image to see a blow up.  So, on the table is (L to R) a Digitech JamMan Stereo looper (#1), then a Digitech JamMan Stereo Delay looper (#2), and then another Stereo looper (#3). They are hooked up in series, from R to the L. The #1 looper is also hooked up to a separate delay unit and it has a line out to the amp you see in the photo, on the left - while Looper 3 goes out to a separate amp on the far right (not visible). This probably makes no sense to anyone except my pals in Reno.

 Being someone with virtually no electronic knowledge, it took me a LONG time to figure out how to set this all up so that it became functional! And logic doesn't seem to be fully compatible with electronics, from what I can tell.

This set up allows me to trigger various electronic sound files (which have been stored onto all 3 loopers) in interesting combinations/configurations. I can add delay - and the sounds can be reversed, stopped or started instantly. Theoretically, each looper can hold 198 sounds, although none of them contain that many now. There is no software/DAW to control anything; everything is done intuitively, "on the fly." Some amazingly weird soundscapes can be created in this manner and I have done this for hours at a time. Hours. An entire day at the studio can and has been spent making sounds at this table. Uff da.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Thurs, Feb. 16, 2012

Here is a new one that is not finished. The size is 10" x 30." It is difficult to depict the subtleties altho you can click on the image to see more detail. I'm really enjoying the straightforward-ness of using various color panels with small forms within. And these are very much informed by the sound experimentation that I've been conducting at the studio. Tomorrow I'll post a photo of the set up, for anyone who might be curious about what has been eating up so much time over the last 2 or 3 weeks. Creating sounds has been a major obsession and, consequently, the painting has been relegated to a distant second place. But today I painted more than made sound. The act of painting is very grounding and centering whereas sound production has taken me to the furthest reaches of outer and inner space...

Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday, Feb. 6, 2012

This one ("Tri-Plane(t) 002") is officially done as of today. It's 14" square and I like it. It is a gift to not have to labor over paintings but to have them produced rather directly - and without psychological strain.

As it stands, I intend to do a series of paintings that follow the same general format. It is the first painting done completely subservient to/resulting from all my sound experimentation in the studio (see previous post for more info on that).

Click on the image for more detail.