Post #269569 by little lost tiki on Thu, Nov 30, 2006 9:18 AM

'Ello Friends!
Well Ms HipHipaHula....Leos Rule! I lived in the "Cave" for about 13 years after my first divorce and it really did have a kind of peace to it despite the cluttered walls (tho they've become EXTRA cluttered over the years) I think I'll have a "Lost our Lease" or"Fire Sale" Studio Sale to unload some inventory!The fun thing is that I can still see a progression,a mapping of terrains already visited,and the melding of different series/movements....As for those surfboards...no, they aren't commissions, just something to do to keep from kidnapping children at the schoolyard! Must keep busy! As for hours...... I never keep records, just a blur of guess-timates.... Hours never factor for me anymore,as one day I spend 10 minutes,and the next 10 hours... Surprisingly, the boards don't take that long at all-maybe 25 hours if it's broken up, and 10-15 if I just went Richter and chain-smoked,drank coffee and ingested lots of No-Doz! (quite a rush to stand up and look at a finished piece after zoning on it for such a stretch...it is then when I feel my full 42 years! Thank Heavens the Wahine is going to massage school!)
Paipo-Melvins Rawk! I sent you a list of some of their Rockinest albums! I use them for the rough background brush, then groove into some Ol' School Gospel (5 Blind Boys of Alabama/Dorothy Love Coates and the Gospel Harmonettes/Albertina Walker and the Caravans) or some Bach (Mass in B-Minor/Goldberg(?) variations-harpsichord/Mozart and Faure's Requiem/Vivaldi)or some Carter Family,Cash,Louis Prima.Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Ohio Players,Hapa Haole stuff,Slim Whitman, pretty much all over the map!I imagine a stone-cutter would have to listen to "stone"r music,eh? Thanks again for the art exchange program!
Tama-you are a FREAK! (in a good way!) A talented crazy stone carving Michaelangelo of the Kiwis! Just you and Paipo alone constitute a large portion of the talent bestowed upon that land!
As for the series, you may have been joking, but it after a successful piece ,you always want to chase that dragon and expound upon a mood or a color scheme or a narrative...For instance...that Revelation painting with the stars and the waves was inspired by a previous piece-also thrift store-rescued!

and here's one of the original paintings from the "Rational Suspicion" show, where I mixed the Book of Revelation with contemporary Conspiracy Theory!
This piece is the 10-headed Beast rising out of the sea (with homages to 9-11 and the Book of Daniel in the background). Seeing as we're not supposed to discuss religion here,read the book and you'll see how it all fits....

which was borne from another embellished thrift store painting "Catching the Tears of Heaven"

Sometimes the work drags you into areas of research one shouldn't enter without a stout constitution...For the "Rational Suspicion " Show I studied Chemtrails in my area and kept a log for 2 years, trying to see a pattern and how it fit into endtimes prophecy....Here's a shot of me in Tahoe with a big chemtrail "X" in the background

Besides chemtrails, I also researched microwaves, civilian and military applications,seeing as these cel phones were never properly tested (officially) before being handed over to adults and children...Here's a tropical piece that fit into that genre mixed up with a replacement of nature theme...

The sad attempts for disguising these are all over the OC, monitoring our thoughts and softly telling us that everything's okay and we should shop more! Anyways, that was just a drawn out example of how themes overlap and such! Miles Thompson, and Flounder understand "the Science" ( Hats off to Mile's mentioning of Dali's "Fifty Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship"! His "Sleep of the Key" is the ticket!talk about a crazy genius!) and how an artist must always reexamine the work and try to make it all fit into one cohesive narrative!We are building steps for the next generation to add to until that stairway is finished and we can look down and make fun of all those writers and poets!!!!
Stone and wood carving are more physical and a little less cerebral with respect to content (not to carving strategy and initial concept) but you do have some limitations. just as painters must work in 2 dimensions and are restricted by that! Sculpting is a lot harder, my skinny little arms would break! I think painting would be a fine addition as a break in between carving....You should always keep all talents you have thru practice and occasional revisitation! Just have fun with nothing in mind, your instinct will guide you well, as it has done numerous times before....
Glad you're hanging with Paipo! Come visit us sometime in the states!
Cheers and thanks for the insight! :)