Slacker

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So at this point you may be wondering: "where the hell is Dennis and why isn't he creating any new art?" It's happening, just slowly since my life is a bit of a juggling act. Incidentally, the doggie painting was a success, was well-received and inspired a slew of new works...

...which I will reveal when my damn website is updated. I currently have a love-hate relationship with my site and I'm sad to say that right now the hate seems to be winning.

Anyway, take a look at that pretty blue circle up there. The one with the letters "S" and (not so obviously) "L" therein. Do you know what that symbol represents? Well, I'll tell you.

It represents FREEDOM!

Yes, folks, I am operating a Dell laptop which runs only Linux Slackware and is completely, utterly cleansed of that other popular operating system -- the one that starts with a DUBYA.

Was it easy to learn? No. But in fairness, it was no more difficult to learn than the other one was, originally. I come from the Age of Pong, man....none of this stuff is "easy". But I did it. Learned how to install it myself. Learned how to configure it to work with my machine. Learned how to get my Sprint wireless card running. Learned how to get Java applets going. How to work with files. How to use the BASH command line. How to install programs. Learning, learning, learning....

....and with that learning comes the thrill of personal power. The power to be the master of your computer. The power to get rid of stupid Spyware and Virus programs. The power to run a clean, beautifully tight ship, where every file is a working member of the crew, has one specific job, can be easily accounted for, and where all members report directly to the Captain....

....and I am that man.

I recently sent the creators/maintainers of Slackware a love-letter. It said, basically, "You guys rule. Thanks so much for an awesome operating system and for not selling out." They sent one back. It said, essentially, "You're welcome."


I cannot say enough good stuff about Linux in general, and then (because it suits my specific needs and sensibilities) the Linux distribution known as Slackware.

To learn more, click on the logo.

Oh by the way, did I mention that not only is the system FAR superior to the one most commonly used....it is also completely FREE??

Yup. Though I chose to contribute to the cause by buying a few items such as hats and shirts. There's something about the fact that payment isn't mandatory that will make any conscientious Slacker want to donate all the more to keep the project alive and strong.

So yeah. Slackware. Good, good, good.

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Two Dog Night - practically completed

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Ok, so almost finished. I still have to varnish it, which will give the paint lustre....or, you might say, "the wet look". This was a very interesting process:

1. Got an old frame, cut a wooden panel to cover it, glued and tacked it, put a cross-brace on the back.
2. Mixed water and marble powder with some sheet-rock mud and thickly covered the surface (allowing my strokes to begin to describe elements of the composition).
3. Sealed the surface with gesso.
4. My existing design (which was made by doing a point-for-point vector art drawing using our design software -- FlexiSignPRO) was sent to our Mimaki vinyl plotter and vinyl shapes were created.
5. Applied the vinyl shapes to the surface then melted them onto the bubbling gesso with a heat gun. (at this stage I used the bubbling and burning as shading and to create a rhythmic pattern of white "dots", or holes in the melting vinyl.
6. Used acrylic paint to create a blue background, strengthen certain parts of the black areas and put in a critical white line under Delilah's chin.
7. Will now paint the edges black, sign it, varnish it and that should be a rap.

Pretty simple. Austin asked me if I felt at all that the use of the vinyl was cheating. I answered no, that instead I think the innovative use of these otherwise industrial materials is more creative and artistic than anything I've done in a while. Thankfully we were able to agree rather than launching into a "what is art?" conversation. I'd rather eat a live cicada than argue what is and what is not "art".

But so yeah. Two Dog Night. I'm going to try a few more of these types of pieces for myself. Thanks to Austin and Justin for the help with this one.

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Two Dog Night - continued

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This is the direction this thing is going color-wise. In the sign shop now, actually. Too hot and dark and depressing in the studio. Spring. Jazz Fest. Lot of people out there doing their thing. Me? Hiding in my art. My last resort.

Anyway, the vinyl thing is cool as hell. I'd show it to you but my camera's upstairs. I worked on it today in the shop and my coworkers, Austin and Justin, had that "aha!" look on their faces when it all started coming together. For me it was already done. No one seems to get that the actual creation is in the meditation. Painting or whatever is just execution of a piece that already exists in my mind.

I'm in a horrible fucking mood. Just unbelievable. Marvin Gaye isn't helping. But yeah, the art. It's a pretty simple graphic image, but the melting of the vinyl onto a textured surface and then introducing paint was what I imagine could be the birth of a new thing for me. Honestly, I don't really like drawing anymore. In fact, I never did. I did it as a last resort. Like being buried alive with a pencil and paper. You draw.

Ok, rant over. Gonna paint this thing then take a picture. Later.

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Two Dog Night

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I'm back (after a short relationship, I might add). I hit quite a wall with the piece Conflict and in fact it isn't finished yet because it isn't resolved. Oh well. Heaven can wait.

What you see here are two preliminary designs for a piece I am doing called Two Dog Night. The dogs featured are Champ and Delilah (from left to right). I'm pretty excited about how this piece is going to come together.

As of right now there is a substrate built of wood (essentially a panel) which is slathered with marble dust and sheet rock mud. When it dries I will Gesso it, then paint it metallic gold, then dumb-it-down with raw umber.

Then for the cool part. Never tried this before. I have designed the image on the computer using sign-making software. I am going to plot (cut) vinyl and apply the pieces (dog, moon, water, cloud) the way you would if they were fridge magnets. The adhesive will of course never stick (and the surface is too bumpy anyway) but I'm going to use a heat gun and try to melt the vinyl onto the surface. FUN. Theeeen....

I am going to paint over it and finally varnish / clear-coat the whole thing. Believe it or not I'm totally excited about the process. I think I may really be onto something with the vinyl, and if so this opens me up creatively since I like designing WAY more than I do actually drawing and painting.

So that's the scoop, for now. Stay tuned....your boy is back.

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Tao

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A black fish and a white fish simultaneously take the fisherman's bait. Both hooked, they struggle until the line breaks. Then they drift downstream, away from the fisherman, spinning in circles.

This is a yin-yang. An active force, a counteractive force, and the unseen principle which perversely binds them. This perpetual struggle, if perfectly balanced, can seem at a casual glance to be an expression of harmony. Of peace.

It isn't. It's a manifestation of conflict.

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Archimedes

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No sooner did I enter my previous post than a light bulb went on in my mind and I began painting immediately. I am not going to show it in stages as I usually do but instead will wait until it is finished. I'll say this: the solution is beautiful. Elegant. Perfect.

While you are waiting (as if...) here is a list of relevant things to research and consider:

• The game of Go (and the "KO" rule)
  
• The F. Scott Fitzgerald quote: "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."
• Searches, tree-pruning and tree-ordering in Go
• The Arc(h) of the Covenant
• The Korean name for the game of Go, "Baduk", which means literally, "Hand-Talk"
• Any and all matrices
• Rene Magritte
• Piet Mondrian
• Particle vs. Wavelength
• Animation, Motion, The Dialectical Method
• The interesting fact that while being a Go term, "KO" also means "Child" in Japanese
• Dali's "Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory"
• Any and all things associated with Archimedes of Syracuse
  
• ....and finally, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho, which I have just finished reading and which I started only after having begun this piece.

Sadly, I doubt anyone will really delve into any of these let alone all of them, which sucks since they are the beginning to understanding where this piece is coming from and appreciating where it's going. Ah well.

As always, some will like it, some will dislike it, and if I'm lucky someone will actually get it.

Stand by.

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WAR GAMES

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I'm not lazy.

I'm not uninspired.

I'm not burnt out.

I'm stuck, exactly the way W.O.P.R. was stuck in the movie War Games.

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