The Very Beginning or Mystery

I started with a 24×36″, Artist’s Loft, heavy duty, gallery wrapped canvas and I put it where I believed I was going to be doing the majority of my work, a large floor easel in my studio.  Mind the wonderful gift from Lady that hangs where I can see it as I work. I unwrap the plastic and get at the beautiful potential of a blank canvas.

Initial Layout

I have an idea of where I’m going but it’s vague. I start to gather the pieces I want to use to patch together a general aesthetic while keeping in mind that the earlier I lay something down the more likely it gets covered up at least in part and possibly in total.  This is a collection of pieces I had worked on as side projects or for learning purposes, some plastic sheets with pre-printed text and images on them and a piece of parchment that I know I want to end up playing a front and center focus of the piece as a treasure map.

A Redesign After Some Prep-work

I’ve cut some things up, created a set of bold words that mean mystery to fill in a seeming gap in the piece in the upper right hand corner.  I chose the word “mystery” in Irish, Italian, German and Latin.  The first three were for ancestral roots that are precious to me and that last for both the sound of it being read out loud having a audio quality that aligns with the piece and the nearness to the title of the work.  It acts a a translator to the above words so their context is more easily determined.  The parchment map has been inked, singed and placed, but won’t go down for a number of steps into the process because I want it to be out front. (As a joyful side note: I did not burn the place down in the process of making he map!)  This is the bones of the work all put together.

I like shorter instead of longer posts in general so I’ll save the next steps for another day.  May the Mysteries in your life create excitement and end in more joy than you could imagine right now,

~B~

It’s Not Punny

Bushy’s cynicism, T Stone’s zen and Headyboy’s resourcefulness confuse and confound Mr. Moon in Headboy and Mr. Moon 5: It’s not Punny.

Check the Headboy and Mr. Moon Main Page out to see the previous comics in the series!

My newest multimedia artwork: Mystery

My appreciation of art is somewhat contingent on their being more than what is easily observed to a piece.  While that may be the “why” behind a very simple piece, that effect has also been created by being led on a visual quest within a piece.  I wanted to create an expression with that as its theme and mode.  Thus I created a multi-layered, large piece of art that lets one explore the canvas for a very long time without ever taking it all in or just looking at the montage as a whole.

Mystery

Measuring 3’x2’x1.5″ Mystery allows for a tremendous amount of exploration without exhausting the possibilities.  Some parts overlap allowing only partial knowledge, others jump out at you to keep your attention away from the subtle things near them.  There are textures and words and images that combine to create this whole. There are hints at other pieces of my own both recent and in the past that make up many of the constituent parts. I invite you to spend some time going back and forth from seeing it as a whole to delving into the smaller clues of Mystery.

A Closer Look

If you’d like to delve deeper into the piece I will be doing a series of posts this week on it’s creation, the layers, the purpose of the choices that I made and close ups of some of the spots I find most enjoyable, but as a sneak peak here is one close up pic to let you see somethings that aren’t picked up in the larger picture.

The Comic Re-release Party Continues

To catch up on what you may have missed head over to the main comics page.

In this episode Headboy stays confused, Mr. Moon continues to act like he knows it all and Bushy and T. Stone get into another little tiff.

Headboy and Mr. Moon 004

The miscreant in me always wanted to run around and turn end construction sings into these into protest signs:

A simple stencil, spray paint and a lack of good sense and this brilliant idea can be yours!

Not quite sticking it to the man, but all I really ever wanted was to make people giggle at life.

May the places you get stuck in turn into the belly laughs of a respected life,

~B~

7 Minutes for Yourself

How does taking 7 minutes all for yourself, shutting off the outside world and relaxing feel to you? What about taking time to just rest, giving yourself time and permission to collect your thoughts, taking a few deep breaths and letting the world just be instead of fighting with it? It may feel selfish or impractical, but what if that time refreshed you and helped give you the energy and attitude to do more with the rest of your day?

People who rely on you need you to care for yourself

You don’t have to be some sort of expert meditator to gain significant benefits from a guided meditation. This is a version of a meditation that I was taught in middle school and as a stressed out 12 year old it was great for me.  I was able to do it on my own after being taught, as you will be able to after listening to this, but it was most effective when the teacher initially led me and the class through it. It lets you take a quick mental break in your day, relax, drift through the sky on a warm safe cloud then get back to the day refreshed and renewed.  Put in your headphones, find a way to relax and click play. Close your eyes, rest your head, even if it’s just on your folded arms on your desk or kitchen table and use this time for you.

Relaxation with Cloud (06:22)

Please note: This podcast uses binural beats and is most effective with headphones.  Please do not drive while listening to this meditation.

Headboy and Mr. Moon 2a and 3 are Now Re-released!

A Tribute to They Might be Giants: A comic

Bushy Wonders…?

The Return of Headboy and Mr. Moon

A number of years ago, while bored near to death with my work at the time I was actually told to spend an hour or more at home for lunch each day.  I was in security (the two words “in security” together still make me giggle, cause wow was I insecure and so were many of the people around me at the time) and I lived on a part of the facility I was in charge of securing so it wasn’t totally insane, but it was odd and boring. I could sit in my bed room with a view of the lot I was protecting and I spent some of that time developing a comic strip.  I shared it with some people that were closest to me, but eventually it became more work that it was worth to me and I just stopped doing it.  Now that I have the skills, programs and time to get it right I’m relaunching them on here.  I want to get in and edit the old ones as a way of getting me back into the characters and scenes I had created; they will be re-released slowly, but when there are updates I’ll post them in the blog so everybody knows to check them out.  Here’s where it all began, please click on for full size:

I use things that I would like in my own home as the inspiration for much of my art. In this case we have an abstractly beach themed bathroom that we wanted another piece of art for. I also happen to love clouds, the color teal and have fond memories of the beach so this has been a fun project for me.

With no further adieu:

Sky. Sea. Sand.

Showing the texture needed more light than nature was cooperating with at the time.

The color of water in places well south of little ole Columbus.

This ended up reminding me of a more volcanic and less traditional beach, but in a way that ties it back to other pieces of my art.

And some sand colored ribbon to tie it all together.

It was a fun project and I really like how it turned out.  As much as I like it, assuming we didn’t hit the lotto last night, I have to create the Etsy page for it and get it up for sale! The rest of the day after that will be more theme research for the website redesign. I though I had found it yesterday, but there is always something that I don’t like about each of the themes I try.

May the peace and power of the sky and sea be with all who read this,

~B~

One of the people that I have been watching and even buying some products from is Cory Huff at the Abundant Artist.  He has monthly featured artists, and while it isn’t me these two are great. Check them out.

Then I had to share this because I thought I made it up, but someone beat me to it and I’m so mad!

Cause who’d really try to stop them, I mean at least with their bare hands.

Credit where credit is due that’s from: http://cheezburger.com/6555482624

Peace to all those with a mind that’s off a bit, you aren’t anywhere near alone,

~B~