Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012

Much time and space has passed! How strange to now be living in Venice, FL after having spent some 44 years in Minneapolis. It is a whole new world, in almost every way. I'm now preparing a painting for an "abstract" show in Englewood - the first time I've painted since giving up the studio on Central Ave. The new painting space is a single room in the beautiful house of the McMurray (Stephanie's sister Melanie's family), also in Venice. It's nice to be painting again - very centering and validating. And so the journey begins anew. I think of the unnumbered Tarot card, "The Fool," where he is stepping off a cliff as a little dog jumps up to greet him. C'est moi.

Not such a good photo but it gives you an idea... Size is 30" x 36" The painting is still a work in progress - underway.

Weds, Mar. 14, 2012

This is adios, Minneapolis. I gave notice on my beautiful studio on Central Ave. and am in the process of cleaning it and moving out. Next stop is Florida. In the mean time, I continue to experiment with sound and direct you to click on the following link to experience one of my soundscapes:
Mann Hawks "SonicOpium" soundscape

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.

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.

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, 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.

Sun, Jan. 29, 2012

This is another small one (8" x 10"), titled "Inversion of Absolute Power." It has a lot to do with the current political tragicomedy being played out in the US and throughout the world. And it's hard to see, since it is so black. But that's how it's supposed to be. It started out upside down and went through many other changes before it turned into this.

 My interest in creating soundscapes has really taken over; the painting aspect of creativity is taking a backseat to sound creation. In a sense, sound is even more ethereal (has less of a material presence) than painted imagery. You could say that I'm becoming even more abstract than before.

I have a small table set up with two Digitech JamMan stereo loopers and two delay pedals - all of this run into small Crate amplifiers. And no guitars; all that is used to create sound are WAV files that have been stored in the JamMans. Infinite amusement that somehow is very much aligned with who I am and what needs to be happening now. Which is not to say that painting isn't happening - but...