Refreshing the Palate: Titus
November 7, 2008
On Sunday, November 9, 2008, the Metro Wine Bar in Oklahoma City is hosting their second annual wine tasting and art exhibit, Refreshing the Palate. The Metro has commissioned twenty local artists to reinterpret the labels of their featured holiday wines. I was offered the 2006 Cabernet Franc from Titus Vineyards. How could I not riff on the deliciously gory Shakespeare tragedy of that same name?
Titus, collage and acrylic on Rives BFK, 2008. Click image to enlarge.
The artists’ labels will be sold by silent auction; proceeds will benefit the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.
TAMORA
Know, thou sad man, I am not Tamora;
She is thy enemy, and I thy friend:
I am Revenge: sent from the infernal kingdom,
To ease the gnawing vulture of thy mind,
By working wreakful vengeance on thy foes.
Come down, and welcome me to this world’s light;
Confer with me of murder and of death:
There’s not a hollow cave or lurking-place,
No vast obscurity or misty vale,
Where bloody murder or detested rape
Can couch for fear, but I will find them out;
And in their ears tell them my dreadful name,
Revenge, which makes the foul offender quake.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
Art thou Revenge? and art thou sent to me,
To be a torment to mine enemies?
TAMORA
I am; therefore come down, and welcome me.
(Thanks to William Shakespeare Info. And thanks to Julie Taymor for making the colorful film version of Titus Andronicus.)
Afterthought: The body and limbs of this character were collaged from a copy of Woman Stabbing Herself (or Woman Next to Water) by Urs Graf. If you like this style, you might also like Durer, Cranach the Elder, and Goltzius.
Normal, OK Characters Appear In Nimrod
October 3, 2008
Two characters from my series Normal, OK appear in the Fall 2008 issue of the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry. To purchase a copy, follow this link.
Normal, OK: Peoria Jenks. Mixed media, 2007.
Peoria Jenks, 72, carries on the family tradition of bootlegging. (Opteemah County is dry.) She does not sell to “drunkards.” One day, while having her hair set, she overheard a call on the salon’s police scanner noting suspicious activity at the Slim Pickens Mo-tel. On a hunch, she went over. Onlookers say she got a shotgun from the trunk of her Dart and walked purposefully past Sherrif Ardmore into room 112. No shots were fired. Ms. Jenks reportedly walked out shaking her head and saying, “Not in my town. Not in my town.” The headline in that week’s Porcupine read “Meth Lab Seized With Help From Locals.”
You can learn more about the people of Normal by reading the book.
My series of works titled Normal, OK was part of the Art 365 exhibition sponsored by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Art 365 travels to Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to open on October 15.
Illustration Friday: Foggy
July 12, 2008
Let Things Be Foggy, ink on paper, July 2008.
I began this sketch during my stay in Canadian, Texas over the Fourth of July holiday. I don’t have any major shows planned or new projects in progress at this point, so I feel a mite bit purposeless. (It’s been a long time since my schedule was this open.) Plus, I’m exploring some less graphic, more painterly stylistic ground. This foggy place is the perfect environment in which to let some new ideas germinate.
See more of Illustration Friday here.
Here is a snapshot of my desk upon completing the drawing, where you can see my collage sketch:
Puzzle Collages
June 17, 2008
Found on Flickr: Picazzle’s intricate jigsaw puzzle collages. They’re retro! They’re postmodern! They make my head hurt, in that good way.
Picazzle also links to jigsaw puzzle art by others on Flickr.
Our Lady Of Useful Things
May 20, 2008
This is Our Lady of Useful Things. She is composed of objects that were useful at some time, but whose purpose has been fulfilled, leaving them discarded shells. She has been with me for about a year and a half. She needs a new home.
Our Lady measures 57″ long, 18″ wide, and stands 26″ from the floor. The legs are detachable. I do not have room for her where I’m going.
If you’d like to take this table home with you, it’s yours to do with as you please. Add to it, take things off. Put plants on it, or mail. Take the legs off and stand it inside the guest room closet to startle visiting relatives. No questions asked.
Our Lady of Useful Things is available for the low bargain price of Come And Get Her. Drop me a note to make arrangements.
Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie
February 10, 2008
Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie. Mixed media on canvas, 2008.
Carmen McWillie, 86, constructs elaborate tapestries depicting scenes from the Book of Revelation.
Carmen was created using the acrylic gel transfer method detailed here and here. The background is reused canvas (formerly a dropcloth), plus a collaged piece of painted paper (which provides the pink and grey colors you see behind Carmen). I may add another image to the background, I’m not sure.
Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie, ink on paper, 2007
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster
February 9, 2008
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster. Mixed media, 2008
Pernell Foster is fixin’ to say somethin’.
Pernell Foster lives next door to Katie Hennepin, on his grandfather’s homestead. He finds Katie’s geodesic dome offensive, but harbors a crush on her. His repressed feelings gradually steer him into organic farming.
The background of this piece is acrylic on Rives BFK paper stretched over a particle board panel. (The swirly colors represent his feelings.)
Pernell was created using the acrylic gel transfer method detailed here and here.
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster. Ink on paper, 2008
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster. Conceptual sketch, collage on paper, 2007.
This is the kind of quick collage-sketch I often use to begin a character. I bring together many visual sources and compile them into a new conglomeration. It’s quick and dirty, a great visual tool.
Normal, OK: Caffey Strong
February 8, 2008
Normal, OK: Caffey Strong. Mixed media on MDF, 2008
Caffey Strong, 35, is the piano accompanist at the Blue Belle’s Academy. She is also an accomplished avant-garde composer, largely unknown at home but gaining notoriety among college radio audiences. Her latest work is titled “Con/text: Handless Compote for Altered Piano.” Caffey inherited her dextrous fingers from her father, Arnett Strong, a locksmith.
Caffey was created using the acrylic gel transfer method detailed here and here.
Normal, OK: Caffey Strong. Original drawing, ink on paper, 2008
(Sometimes I flip ‘em, sometimes I don’t. I started noticing that too many of my Normal characters were looking to the left. Not good.)
Piscatorial: Tina, Truman
February 7, 2008
The Piscatorial series was originally inspired by the movie Dear Frankie (which deserves your love). Frankie is a young man who enjoys, among other things, drawing pictures of marine life. In the film Frankie’s bedroom is decorated with his wonderfully whimsical and detailed sea creature drawings.
Have you ever noticed how adult artists put a lot of energy into the attempt to recapture their childlike freedom of visual creation?
Tina, mixed media on MDF, 2007
Tina’s pleased to meetcha!
Truman, mixed media on found wood, 2007
These fish were created using collaged paper, wallpaper, acrylic, and ink. Tina’s MDF panel was one of many cut from a larger piece that I chose not to keep. I highly recommend reusing materials from unsuccessful works.
Piscatorial: Lucius, Luigi
February 6, 2008
The names just come to me while I’m working.
Lucius, mixed media on masonite, 2007
Luigi, mixed media on MDF, 2007
These fish were created using collaged paper, acrylic, and ink.