A Great Pear No.2

I'm back from holiday fun ( sleeping, eating, movies, fighting with the family, avoiding fighting with the family, pretending to sleep instead of interacting with people...all that holiday fun). Actually, I got to spend a lot of time thinking about paintings I want to do.

I was going to go into a whole thing on pairs...

It was funnier in my head.

"A Great Pear No.2", 2006

7" x 5", oil on Masonite panel

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A Great Pear No.1

All good things come in pairs. This is part one of two ( a pair of pears...). Actually, I never liked them as a kid, but it has since become a replacement for a Snicker's bar. I have loads of bad habits, but I make an attempt at including a little nutrition into my day.

Also, there never seems to be any shortage of pears...at any time of the year. I have a naturaly addictive quality, and I don't like to get hooked on anything "seasonal".

"A Great Pear No.1", 2006

7" x 5", oil on Masonite panel

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strawberry cupcake

The great thing about working from life is that there are times when you have to make a little sacrifice for your art. Example: if one wanted to paint a strawberry cupcake, one would have to manipulate ( i.e. eat) many of them in order to get the "money shot". Sometimes you might have to eat seven or eight in one sitting to get that perfect ratio of bite to frosting to cake exposure. What's awesome is when you're making a total pig out of yourself and someone comes in the room and says" Hey, you're making a total pig out of yourself". You can boldly say ( with your mouth full of cake) "Hey, I'm workin' here!"

If its important, you go the distance!

"Strawberry Cupcake", 2006

6" x 6", oil on Masonite panel

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cool, cool water

H2O, nature's cocktail, and "Hey, who's that tall drink of water?". Yeah, I know...

Actually, it was the straw that sparked this one. I have total electric in my house, and I'll tell you...electric heat blows! It makes the house too dry. I feel like Nosferatu every morning.

So, I've got plants, humidifiers, and ...I drink a lot of water. Usually, I just have a gallon jug by my easel ( classy...I know) , but this time I had the glass ...and the ice and... the straw. Cool twisty-light-bending-straw!

Oh, this is also the title of one of my favorite Beach Boys songs ( from the album Sunflower, 1970 ...also, the year I was born).

"Cool, Cool Water", 2006

6" x 6", oil on Masonite panel

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Cinnibon in the Pink

This is the ONLY reason I go to "the mall"...

"Cinnibon in the Pink", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Why these three?

This is like the Sesame Street game "which of these three is not like the other?".

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Bartlett on the Green

I've been reading/looking at the Itten book The Elements of Color and started mixing a lot of paint. Sometimes I will look at my palette and then wander around the house to see if I can make something out of some really cool color I've mixed. The science of art was really my initial attraction to painting in the first place. There was some article in Scientific American ( which is usually pretty dry stuff) that talked about certain colors can actually influence human behavior in a direct way. Its like in music when they talk about the "black chord" ( you know listening to some Rush song can make some people take off their clothes and wriggle around on the salad bar at Wendy's).

"Bartlett on the Green", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Bing on Blue

Bing on Blue is like the name of a great late 50's Bing Crosby jazz album. There's a real one called Bing Sings whilst Bregman Swings that is fantastic. Buddy Bregman had a real crash-boom-swingy arrangement and Bing did his thing. The best on this album ( and one of my favorite "Der Bingle" songs ever is his cover of Johnny Mercer's classic Jeepers Creepers .

Okay, a word on Bing Crosby. I love Bing...a lot. There's a scene in Road to Morocco where he's looking for Bob Hope ( who he sold for food money...), and he's singing his way through the streets of Morocco as he does it. The best part is...He's wearing a fez and...He looks really cool in it!


"Bing on Blue", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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When Life Gives You Lemons...

...Make lemonade? Or how about..."when life gives you lemons...throw them back...really hard!"? I prefer the latter. The "making lemonade" approach implies that you take what is given to you and then "ah, let's just make the best of it".
Here's an example of "making lemonade" : Someone ( we'll call him Bob) says something crappy to you, and you then say "Well, Bob's just having a bad day" or " Hey, thanks Bob, you've always been a keen observer, and you're valuable information has greatly improved my life".
Okay, now here's my approach to dealing with life "giving me lemons": "Blow it out your ass Bob!". See, my way is active; it makes you feel really good; and...Bob learns a little about how he should keep some of his "wisdom" to himself. This approach works best if Bob isn't your boss or an officer of the law.

"When Life Gives You Lemons...", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Jawbreakers No.2

"Jawbreakers No.2", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Apple Core

The last batch of apples I bought were super tiny, but also had one the most brilliant red colors I'd ever seen ( in my fruit...). These almost didn't even look real. It was like they were made for painting.Here's a funny. I was actually criticized on how I eat an apple. "Don't you know you're 'sposed to eat an apple from side to side? Not up and down!". Yeah, there are people who put thought into this.

I've been working on a lot of commissions for Christmas over the last few weeks, but I'm together now ( everyone waits till the last minute...).

"Apple Core", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Powerlines

I actually almost wreck my car looking up at the skies sometimes. I'm usually looking for really neat cloud formations, but powerlines always seem to corrupt the image. I've decided to stop trying to fight "city hall" and do a series of these as well. I love nature and all, but we are a part of the environment now. I'm sure that there isn't any comittee on the aesthetic integration of powerlines into the natural landscape, but...there should be.

"Powerlines", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Chattering Teeth

These are actually called "Yakity-Yak". The box ( from 1949 and a little tattered) says the following..."they walk, they talk, THEY'RE ALIVE". This also has little cartoon people staring in amazement at this novelty marvel ( mouths are open).

I lost the key to these so you have to wind them with a little effort. They do "walk" a little ( if walking is shaking uncontrollably in a little circle). They do not talk, and I'm pretty sure they're not "ALIVE". I think "ALIVE" has a lot of impact ( its like the box is screaming at me " Hey Man, THEY'RE ALIVE!!!"). When people email you in all cap's are they screaming?

Hey, these are cool for a different reason. I'm pretty on top of my dental hygene, and I know all of my teeth. These "Yakity-Yak"s are pretty accurate from an anotomical standpoint ( okay...if we all had 28 teeth...). There was some care in this toy when they carved the molars.

"Chattering Teeth", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Apple Jack No.1

I've been going to Kroger ( a big grocery chain in GA) to buy my fruits and vegetables. They have this "marketplace" thing going, and I must say that they have absolutely fantastic specimens of produce sometimes. This apple is actual size relative to the jack and its huge ( the apple). Are we better farmers? Or...you think there's a little extra additive? Man, I hope so! Maybe, all these chemicals will give me some sort of super-powers! Like the ability to injest any poison ( Poison Drinker-Man?), or the ability to squirt fruit jelly of any flavor out of my elbow ( "Hold on! Don't eat that english muffin plain!").

This is also the first in a series of super-produce that I'll be working on.

"Apple Jack No.1", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Ain't Love Grand

This from a "novelty item" from 1959. These plastic figures have a little magnet in them and when they get close together...look out! The back actually has instructions for use. No.1- a picture of two hands holding each doll with a "?" by each one. No.2 -a picture of the hands slamming the two figures together. And No.3-a picture of the two dolls together with some red "action lines" above their heads...

The box has these little phrases on the sides enclosed in little hearts with things like: "George love Margaret","Harry Daisy 12-6-1959", and my favorite "Greetings from New York".

"Ain't Love Grand", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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Big Red Lifesaver

This is the first in a series of five of these that I'll be doing ( anyone want to guess what the others will be?). Actually, I have to clarify that I feel any flavors other than cherry, orange, lemon, grape, and ...green( ?) are not "pure" Lifesavers. This "wacky tropical" and "blueberry bonanza" stuff is pandering. Stick with the tried and true five!

"Big Red Lifesaver", 2006

12" x 12", oil on cradled Masonite

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Popcorn

We have this really awful county fair that comes through every year, and...I never miss it. I love all of it! I love the carny that is jacked up on some kind of crank that's running the toddler rides with a cigarette butt dangling precariously from his lower lip. I love the home-spun antics of the local "comedian" who also, incidentally, has a habit of leering at underage girls. I also love how the carnival has come into the 21st century with the addition of the fried Snickers bar ( yeah, that's real...I didn't make it up).

What I like most is how it reminds me that super-science and flying cars are not going to invade our lives as soon as Scientific American would have us believe. Seriously, the people who flock to this event are not going to have the problem of discerning the virtual world with the digital world ( from the book The Age of Spiritual MachinesWhen Computers Exceed Human Intelligenceby Ray Kurzweil ). Ol' Ray apparently hasn't visited his local Wal-Mart in a while. I really want things to slow down.

"Popcorn No.2", 2006

6" x 6", oil on cradled Masonite

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When You're Smiling...

I like the Sinatra arrangement ( actually Nelson Riddle arrangement, but...) of when you're smiling ( the whole world smiles with you). EVERYONE did this song! Bobby Darin, Nat King Cole, Tony Bennett, Bing...I think there even a Tony Martin ( I'm not a fan, but he is in the Marx Bros. The Big Store. Oh, count how many times he says "conservatory"in that movie).

Fortune cookies don't have actual fortunes anymore. They're always some cryptic assessment of your lifestyle or something, OR...the numbers from LOST. If they're not going to use fortunes, I figured it was okay to substitute something better. Actually, the cookies are good eatin' ( and the one thing I KNOW won't make me sick at our usual Chinese joint).

"When You're Smiling...The Whole World Smiles with You!", 2006

6" x 6", oil on Red Oak cradled Masonite

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Antique Crayons

These are the same crayons my great grandfather Jack Sr. used. We've got it pretty good a hundred years later with the Crayola family and all of their colorful glory. These MB crayons are from around 1918, and they're horrible. No pigment and all wax. Its like trying to draw with a birthday candle!

Jack Sr. was awesome! He walked 18 holes into his nineties, and he could hand-make Rolex watch parts . He made these cool little animals to go on top of our croquet wickets. He once impaled his "goodies" when he tried to walk on the top of a picket fence ( yeah, I know, and he was in his seventies...)

"Antique Crayons", 2006

6" x 6", oil on Red Oak cradled Masonite

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Cherry Ringpop

These are actually getting hard to find. A little "bird" contacted me about these, and after 2 grocery stores and 5 convenient stores...I found one ( thank you Quik Spot!).

"Cherry Ringpop", 2006

6" x 6", oil on Red Oak cradled Masonite

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