Random thought fragments I thought I'd share

Ovid's Americana
digital collage 2008

On history:

One of the worst evils ever perpetrated against the world was colonialism. That and slavery would have to be the two biggest crimes of Western civilization. I wish I could proudly call myself an American, but this country was a product of both so that is something hard for me to do.

On the other hand, history is not my fault.

On work:

God did not intend for human beings to work pointless, unfulfilling, tedious jobs for the majority of their lives. Yes, we need to work in order to live, and in order to create things that are worthwhile, but our post industrialized culture is such that only robotic humanoids are adapted to survive, while people who have genuine callings fall to the wayside.
I would gladly work ten to twelve hours everyday on something that I genuinely love and care about for little or no money as opposed to some mindless and robotic job in retail for a large corporation that neither pays me for what my toil is worth, nor for what they can actually afford to pay me.

On religion:

There is no pomposity greater than telling another human being where they will go after they die.

Artists:

Depart from ordinary church.

Looking at a painting should be like walking into a Cathedral.

A painting should always make us feel as if we are standing on the threshold of something big.

An artist who cannot change the way people see cannot change the world.

Approach each painting as a conversation, not just as a statement.

Evaluate what is good and what is of value to the culture in which you live. How does it hold up and how does it fall apart under scrutiny?

Reconcile paradoxes as best you can.

Parallel universes exist in the eyes of the artist. Much of it is playing 'what if?'

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE! Stop lamenting the fact that you were not a child prodigy or that you did not make a name for yourself ten years ago! DO IT NOW!

Art as an experience remains mostly visual; even though we may view them, we are still very rarely allowed to touch sculptures or installations. The tactile experience is reserved exclusively for its maker, not for the observer.
How is this any less self indulgent on the part of the artist than action painting or other forms of painterly abstraction?

Lamenting for no good reason... (or the Tyranny of Originality)

"Nostalgia is the Opiate of the Masses"
Mixed media/canvas, 2008.

Jesus Christ! I can't paint cartoons! I can't paint abstract! I can't paint anything readable or it becomes "illustrative"! What the fuck am I supposed to paint?

So now that McCain lost, can we put SNL out of its misery too? It really just isn't funny anymore.

How 'bout dat Obama? I'm not one to put an inordinate amout of faith in career politicians, but I did vote for Obama and I am glad to see him win rather than McCain. Time will tell, of course, whether Obama can really fix anything and if he can do more than give pretty speeches. I'm not ready to sing his praises just yet, he still needs to wow us.
As for you Republican-types out there (if indeed any of you happen to read my blog at all.), your guy had almost half the popular vote and he conceded very graciously (despite the throngs of idiots chanting "USA!" at his campaign headquarters). If you're sore about it at all, then maybe now you can appreciate how us lefty-liberals felt eight years ago when we thought we had it made, and someone who did not represent us (or very few people in the world for that matter) won the election. History will serve as a reminder of how lousy a president we've had over the last eight years, and if anybody is better than Bush, then I'm glad that that "anybody" is Obama.

Happy Halloween!

Egotism comes with many negative connotations. But we all have egos, so why is it bad to be egotistical? Is art making possible without the ego to act as a filter? Is subjectivity possible without an ego? Say what you will, but I feel strongly that the answer is no.
Every artist, myself included, is a practicing egotist. That's why it's art, and not commodity. It is shaped by the ego, not by need, by use, or by nature. Perhaps the most humble thing an egotist can consider himself to be is a mere filter through which sensory input flows.
Art is more than just the application of skill, art is a cultivated means of interpreting the outer world subjectively. This is the function of the ego for artists and non-artists alike; the only difference is that the artist has something to show for it. A master carpenter can build some beautiful cabinets and be very proud of them, but all the while his mind might have been occupied with something beyond building cabinets. But if the artist is putting the necessary amount of contemplation into his work, then the painting, or drawing, or sculpture, or whatever is the physical end result of a mental process.
Input-thought-nerve impulse-muscle movement-tool manipulation-art object. A sequence that cannot exist without the ego to act as a filter. Even photography and digital art follow this sequence, though the tools are much more sophisticated.
The cabinet-maker also follows this process while cutting, assembling, and staining wood, but at its inception the decision is not to make something aesthetic (though pleasing to the eye his work might be), but to make something functional and useful. His input is filtered through the demands of his client who needs cabinets for his kitchen. "Shall I go with cherry stain, or maple? Maple would match the furniture in the living room, so I want you to stain them maple." And, since this is his livelihood, the carpenter complies.
This is why artists are not generally hired to design kitchens. The artist might want to paint the cabinets fuchsia with chartreuse pin stripes. In fact, he might not even give a damn whether they open or close properly, so long as they look good. "Useful" and "functional" are not words commonly used to describe art.
Is art, then, useless?
Yes, it is. It's completely useless. It might occasionally serve the purpose of earning its creator money, but the art itself does nothing. It just sits there or hangs there and people look at it.
Art objects are fossils of the ego. They are records of this one human existence. The right of that art to exist is the same as the right of that person to exist. "Useless" is not the same as "worthless". An original Picasso is useless, but it is not worthless. A person can be useless, but unless you're thinking like a sociopath, then no person is worthless.
Human existence is inexorably tied to the ego, and art is a product of the ego. Art can be good or bad just like people can be good or bad. Good art might be made by a bad person, while bad art might be made by a good person.
So to say that, "He sure is an egotistical asshole" might be accurate but egotistical is not necessarily bad. Artists are extremely egotistical people, but not all of them are bad people, in fact, some are rather nice. Artists are egotistical in the sense that the ego is a vital part of what they do.

seal in a fur coat
watercolor and ink on paper
2008

There was a rush of blood to my brain when I was walking back home from the library today. It felt good, almost euphoric. It was also kind of embarrassing, so I didn't really let myself enjoy it.
I was thinking of a song I liked, and also about drawings or paintings I could do. It all just clicked.
I checked out some books about architecture that I think I can mine for good samples. I'll take advantage of being between jobs and become a more productive artist. It just sucks to not have any money.

Jeanne Drawing
Graphite and watercolor on Bristol
2008

Lonely Frog
Watercolor and graphite on paper
2008

Self Portrait 10/08/08
Prismacolor pencils on recycled paper
2008

Sky Scape
Watercolor and Ink on paper
2008

Today, I walked to get an employment guide and contemplated my current condition. I applied basic Buddhist philosophy (which can be very helpful at certain junctures) and tried to pinpoint the cause of my current suffering: Jobless, idle, losing money, etc. Desire for work, desire to have an income, this is the cause of it.
We all need money to live. For money, most of us need to work. The desire for money is a necessary one. It goes beyond desire and into need.
I do not avoid work. Anybody I worked with at Texas Art Supply will tell you that I was no slacker. I do avoid people and situations involving them, however. This shyness and lack of confidence is something that I need to overcome. "Fear is the mind-killer", and all that stuff.
Hence, the removal of my plight involves the removal of the jobless state. It needs not be elaborated any further. The only hurdle I face is that which is imposed by my own mind, and only I am in control of my mind. Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action: These will remove any impediments to my advancement in life, and end this miserable state.

Pepto-Bear
Prismacolor pencils and ink on recycled paper
2008

Happy Spocktober, Everybody!
Prismacolor pencils and graphite on recycled paper
2008

The Law Offices of Robot, Nudibranch and Cowboy
Watercolor and ink on Bristol
2008

Mutes in the Emerald City
Watercolor and ink on Bristol
2008

The world is so ridiculous. We all have to pay for things that should be our birth right. We have to travel far away just to see something "natural".