difficulty (i always cry at weddings)

 

A general sense of disquiet and why-is-this-happening these days, a kind of confusion around a system that revolts against elitism, incompetence and malfeasance by electing even more bloated, degrading examples of elitism, incompetence and malfeasance. It’s full-on kleptocracy now. Add in some natural disasters and things start looking biblical. And very difficult to remember that just because destroying an existing social order for the sake of some imagined ideal (Greater Russia, Shining Path, Khmer Rouge, China Rising, Make America Great Again) is irrational, understanding that idea doesn’t keep people from doing it. You can stop making sense on that one; dissect the errors all you like but criminals and true believers aren’t much bothered by argument and theory. As I tell my Gen Z kid all the time, being right about the bus schedule doesn’t change the fact that you need to get to school. Feelings do not make the weather. Still, like a collage, you can reaarange how things fit, or how you see them. Of course, in the end, all you can do is make sense of your own life, which is often hard enough.

now now  

an original painting in mixed media  on bamboo panel   

9 x 12 inches  

ready to hang, with built-in notches in back  

a figurative, portrait work with strong collage elements   

a painting rich in texture and detail  perfect as an accent for any room  

three quotations come to mind …   

I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' — Muhammad Ali  

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. — Ralph Waldo Emerson  

Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay. — Simone de Beauvoir  

varnished: a durable artwork that can be freely handled  

meant for hanging but works well as an accent on a mantle or a shelf  

shipped with care  everything from my shop comes with an extra art surprise  

buy from people, not corporations  buy things made by human hands, not computers  

for American and International buyers, you can find more work here

escape from the dreaming planet ... give the gift of original art

The Empress Awakens

The Empress Awakens

an original mixed media painting on canvas

24 x 36 x 1 1/2 inches

canvas, card strips, collage, crayon, pencil, acrylic ink, acrylic paints, wash, varnish

a large, vibrant painting that sets the tone of a room

an painting that speaks in texture and colour, with allusions to the archetype of The Empress of the tarot

A kind of light spread out from her. And everything changed color. And the world opened out. And a day was good to awaken to. And there were no limits to anything. And the people of the world were good and handsome. And I was not afraid any more.
― John Steinbeck

See all of this world
As a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightening in a summer cloud,
A flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream.
–– Buddha

I called the world of phenomena an illusion, I called my eyes and my tongue and accident, valueless phenomena. No, that is all over; I have awakened, I have really awakened and have just been born today.
― Hermann Hesse

shipped with care –– with masonite board

everything from my store comes with an extra art surprise

ESCAPE THE DREAMING PLANET –– live your life with original art

the agent from the inner circle

the agent from the inner circle

an original mixed media painting on cradled wood panel

24 x 24 x 1 1/2 inches

ready to hang – wire hanger attached in back

sealed and protected with gloss varnish

Soon you will understand: she would not be here if things were going well, if certain plans had not degraded, if certain states were not in decay. She is urgency's pale representative. Skeptical, intelligent, somehow medical. Elegant, too –– in that cream-coloured coat, high at the collar, long to the knee, a swirling heart daubed to her chest. Black-handed, gloved in thin leather. Serious and Staring. A breaker of borders. A carrier of secrets and orders from a distant and unknown centre, saturated with lies and cold authority, a reader of signs, a calculator of efficiency and need, the on-site architect of control, or ruthlessness, or sudden mayhem, in the star-abraded cyan mint of early morning, in the waking light of that-which-must-be-done. Soon you will understand.

Part of a series I am doing on icons, archetypes –– characters that could be expressed on a card, like the symbols in Tarot. 

The horizontal lines you see are string, used to help fix the wood panel to the easel, then primed and painted right into the image. 

I wanted to be a secret agent and an astronaut, preferably at the same time. 

~ David Byrne

Let every eye negotiate for itself and trust no agent. 

~ William Shakespeare

If quick, I survive.

If not quick, I am lost.

This is "death.” 

~ Sun Tzu

shipped with care –– with board and wrap

everything from my store comes with an extra art surprise

ESCAPE THE DREAMING PLANET, GIVE THE GIFT OF ORIGINAL ART