In Progress and Another Finished Set....

So this is a set that I showed in production in an earlier entry here on this fine blog. Yes sir, The from of the Blue Box! This is about 60 of them strung up. There are two simple images: A Buddha and a tree and a Buddha and some bird cages. There are another 20 to string up for the set to be complete. I am moving past the super long strands of the summer project and looking into layering.

The last few projects have seen higher numbers of prints being pulled. The idea of repetition mass production and focus have become pretty obsessive lately. I suppose you could call it meditative. There seems to be an act of minimalization developing. How can one or two repeated images create a totality? What is the notion of the group functioning as a whole? Some very curious questions. And then I realize it is not that separate from studying zen koans. The act of much time spent on one story or question is similar to the manner of printing I have taken to. I do not think I could really call these Zen but perhaps the act of printing them just might be. I'll post the finished project after the sewing is complete. I wonder what the storm yesterday has done for them....

Above is another finished project. 60 paving stones in all. I am still playing with the actual layout similar to the one in a previous entry. There are 4 different Buddha images from my travels in Japan. During the production of these the focus has really become focused on the Buddha. No grounds or trees or anything else. I am looking at the paving stone, the image and the collection as a whole piece. I suppose I have started entering the world of sculpture as someone recently pointed out. I have not really looked at them in that perspective. In truth I have really been considering them more as garden art. Not really earth art, not really sculpture, not really in the land of Smithson or Lin. Granted I do admire those artists greatly. I suppose the focus is more dated back to them as part of a larger whole. How would these have fit into a temple in Asia back in the 1300's is more my perspective.

I have another set being started this week. Craziness of the week permitting. this set will be composed of one image over the sixty some stones I have purchased. The idea is to put the above flags and this set of stones together in a mixed set of intentions. It will be interesting to see where it goes.

I believe, finally, after the completion of the next set I will actively work to get these out in the world. elf promotion is not my strong point but as I have a good inventory building up I should probably do something with them. I have about six different projects to work with. Many friends have suggested some good sights to contact and work with. November sounds like a good month for that. As well I have found a residency I will be applying for that would happen next summer... IN RURAL JAPAN!!!!

Until next time....

The Buddha Wall...

Hello friends out there in the world of craziness and mind numbing politics. As of late I have come to notice a large amount of people who are very angry at the state of our current politics. Angry like I have not seen in years. Now I tend to stay fairly politically active but some of the words and things I have heard come out in the world seem to be a very consuming anger. YIKES. My point being: it has reminded me of what I want the work of Velvet Pelican to do. To work out in the general public, in whatever place will take them, and create a sense of solitude for those of us that want or need it. By placing these out in the world and letting people have them as gifts I hope to create a bit of good will and the reminder of taking in that which we often look past.

So with this installment I have just finished the Buddha Wall. This was originally intended to be more in the shape of a well. After some playing around, like a kid does with Legos, the above photograph took shape. This was most definitely not premeditated. It just started to fall into place. Very much like meditating I suppose. The act of the construction as well as that of the printing became of the same intent. Pulling from the act of constructing garden elements and the printing process fell in the same line. I guess this is a step closer to bring my garden obsession with my fondness of printmaking.

I estimate there are about 60 paving stones in this piece. As my new favorite art supply store, Home Depot, has run dry on this particular stone, this project is finished. The are four distinct Buddhas in this set printed in variations with two different trees. These are taken from photos during my trips to Japan. So I have thought of my obsession with the Buddha image. Why so many and not something else. Simply put: I can not think of a more serene image to work with at this time. The Buddha image, in many cultures, brings about the sense of serenity that studying zen koans and philosophy has brought to my life.

I don't see these as some spiritual quest. And no offence to anyone on that road. By and large I am an atheist. These are very Representative of the ordering of the mind and looking for that clarity of mind that zen philosophy bring to my mind. Wow... perhaps this is one of my more honest entries with the blog world. Anyhow, I am going to move on to other parts of my day. I have one more project I am adding to my inventory and then will start looking at places to get these out to. Hopefully around the first of the year.

Bye...

Bird Cages, More Buddhas, Slate and the Paths Project

 

Wow... since the last post was early August! Oops. Well, since early August and the return of school things got hairy hectic with a few surprises added. None the less the work resumed a bit sporadically during this time. 3 projects in the works at once. The above picture is from a set I am throwing into the "Paths" project I started with the slate this past summer. Home Depot has become a great resource for materials lately. This set is somewhere around 30 right now. Roughly 5" x 8" each in size. God only knows how big I'll let this set get to.

With the "Paths" project experiment I am further exploring my obsession of rock/ dry landscape gardens and printmaking. My brain has toiled with the strangeness of these crossing into the land of being a commercial product. Something I should stay aware of as I move along I suppose. In person they almost look like book relics. The aim here is to get them to read as something more then a paving stone. Booklike is fine. But they are also, literally, pedestrian. These are intended to be walked on along a path, in a pattern, and explored in a natural garden like environment. A little note on the side: It has also been fun test driving them.

 As you will recall from the last post I started working with some recycled slate. Here is the finished set above. This is the backyard of the Blue Box print studio we love so much. They are not yet arranged in a pathlike setting but I wanted to get some sort of an idea how they could function in a garden. The test drive is pretty decent. More arranging and pushing around is definitely in order. But I think I am getting closer to merging that garden/ printmaking merger closer together.

Another detail from the slate set. With the art moving into a more tranquil setting I am also starting to investigate further the idea of bring some solitude into the world as we know it for the general public. I have noticed the I have been too wrapped up in the current politics and drudging through those interesting things life deals out to us. It is very easy to get wrapped up in it. Perhaps if I was still 19 I would still have the urge to stay in that sort of place. BUT.... NNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAHHHHH! There are so many people out there to do that. I am very interested in giving folks a break from that. It is time to start putting these back out into the world. I am learning that it can be difficult to do just that though. Perhaps I just simply need to do it. HHMMMM....

And lastly for this post the above project. No name unfortunately. Just an odd little set of flags with two different images. There are 80 in total. Again exploring the idea of solitude and tranquility. The moment and time of just being. Sitting under a sweetly singing bird or under a random tree and just watching. Perhaps my Zen interest is kicking in a bit here. All the same, these just sort of happened. I am planning to put them together as one long strand and get out onto the beach in the next week. More out in the world for the folks around.

This has been a really long post so I should now shut up and go do something else.

Paths and Slate, A New Experiment!

It is stuffy and humid this fine August morning! Blech.... Anyhow, this installment brings an experiment that I started about a week ago. As money is tight at this time of the year I looked around at available materials for printing. This brought me to a big pile of used slate tiles used for roofing! "What the hell!?" I thought, free and available. After some scrubbing they became usable. As what to screen onto them.... the usual and from the archives.

Pretty nifty, huh? I was not sure what to think at first but as the first 5 started to finish I came around and thought the same. A bit cheesy as well I suppose but I will deal with my own little art ethics at some other time. I've been spending a good bit of time this summer trying to figure out how to bring my fondness for gardening together with my art. Perhaps some gardening classes. Nope, way too much in student loans already. Then the idea of paths smacked me in the face. Now that is something I can spend some time on! Like below.

Now that is interesting! Not a bad place to start. And the bamboo likes it too.  After a bit of weatherproofing they became water proof. It took a bit of figuring out how to get the ink to adhere to the slate. Another interesting geeky aspect: Using the color and natural properties of the slate in conjunction with the printed images! An old lesson come back to haunt. Well the experiment expanded from 5 hunks of slate to 10 finished pieces. There are 6 more in process. Yup, it is getting bigger. See below.

One of these days I'll learn to take better pics. I think you pretty much get the idea. Yeah, paths literally and figuratively. My little love of Zen has started to creep in here. I suppose you can't keep from putting the more personal of interests totally out of your work. I won't expound upon it though. I am very much enjoying pushing them around though. Not really sculpture... not too sure what to call them, so "Paths" it is. Here are a couple of details.

Yup... slipped a dragon in there.

I have no idea how big or how many will be made. I suppose until the slate runs out. And then the more interesting question: WHAT DO I DO WITH THEM? As this is the third project I have worked on this summer the inventory is building up. A bunch of nobori and now this. Ideally, I would love to see them in some public garden. Guess some homework is in order. Perhaps some random places around town. Now that has potential as well. Maybe even let them exist as a commodity? Hmmmm. If anyone has suggestions or perhaps a garden for a temporary installment let me know.

Anyways that is all for now.

The Velvet Pelican Art Challenge #1 and More of the Blue Box...

Greeting all! For this installment I have decided to host the first Velvet Pelican Art Challenge. Perhaps more like a treasure hunt. I have taken a set of flags from "The Buddha Never Meets the Dragon" series and break them up. As the total length is more then thirty feet I have decided to have a bit of different fun with it. It is in the idea of Velvet Pelican Projects to put work out in the public and let people have it. I do enjoy this as there is a distinct possibility that these will spark some ideas or fir up some one's imagination. Even more so just to, perhaps bring a sense of solitude in these crazy times we dwell in.

I know... color correction! Above is one of the six at this neat location. Please feel free to hunt it down in our fair city of Beverly. Hint: it is on the waterfront. I have been considering expanding a bit. But the more I walk around Beverly the more places I find to install these things. I am moving more towards places that are perhaps underused. I like the idea of having people investigate their locality more closely. You know what they say... think globally, act locally.

Above is a test drive of this particular set earlier last week. Regardless to say it no longer looks like this. This scene is behind the Blue Think Box in our newly made garden.

Speaking of the Blue Box we had our first public opening this past Saturday. And boy did it rain! All the well though. We planted and the gARTen pARTy which was coordinated by our new inmate Ginger. She did a fine job. We must have had 60 plus in attendance. Many thanks to all who dropped in. I suppose next time we should pay attention to our rain date. In October we will be hosting our next thingee... details to come.

A couple of pics from installing. I'll post some of the finished ones sometime soon. That is all.

Nuclear Facts Bag and The Blue Box Update....

Greetings folks. In this episode I bring you a bit of a different project: A nuclear waste facts bag on one side and the new Velvet Pelican logo on the other. I have been looking at ways to bring a bit more politics and issues to the fold. I was very tempted to merge them with the nobori but that seemed at adds. Kind of like putting chocolate on a hot dog. A bit of separation is needed in this case. There is time and place in making art when it is necessary to produce in different avenues. From the complicated to the simple. Well these bags definitely fall into the simple and quick.

Most often one looks at their art and really wants to push it far to validate it. The lesson I have learned here is that sometimes the end result requires a more direct approach. So what is the goal here. Education for the most part. Of course the visual appeal is necessary but the info provided in this manner of art is as important. The means is to use the art to convey the information. In this case I have done much research on nuclear waste. Referencing many sources and checking facts to present accurate research. From the Nuclear regulatory Commission, The Sierra Club and the International Atomic Energy Association these facts were pulled.

The above photo gives you the idea. Yup, a little self promotion on the other side of the bag as well. Never hurts I suppose. The more the viewers, the more the reading goes around. I have this idea of someone taking them to the grocery store and the baggage person reading these nifty little facts.... or perhaps some light beach reading. The tone is neither angry nor light hearted. I tend to prefer not to be on a soap box when putting out this kind of work. I merely wish for people to think a bit and let them come to their own conclusions based on actual facts of the matter. A bit of activism I suppose you would say.

And as you can see there are many of them. I figure about 100 of them. It was kind of fun just doing the whole mass production things with the printing. I will have these available first at the Blue Think Box, next week July 28. We are at 29 Cabot Street and hosting the gARTen pARTy from 6 to 10. Come on by and take part. Art in the back garden we just cleared out for this temporary show. See inside and marvel at all of the goodies being made inside.

See this link for more: http://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/events/378510408870492/

Well, all in all a good summer in the nice ocean side town of Beverly. Enjoy!

The Buddha and the Dragon Never Find Each Other

Hello on this toasty fine July morning. This is some work from a new set. It is most certainly not finished yet but I am very excited about them. So I decided to post a few of them anyhow. This set is called, "The Bhudda and the Dragon Never Find Each Other."

This set is going to end up with thirty eight flags. Above is a sample of them down at the Blue Box. Currently I am hovering around 21. Not all of them are yet finished but I am really enjoying this one. Perhaps it is the down time between scheduled projects or just the inordinate amount of sun my brain is cooking in.

The above pic is one of my current favorites. It is funny how these favorites change. This set is a bit different in that I started with a title. I know that it is not really proper to go this way but... oh well. The title makes me giggle. And the thought that poor Buddha is chasing a dragon through a bamboo forest kind of cracks me up. I guess the humor is not really apparent which is good. This keeps the project from becoming a one liner.

There is our fine dragon in a not yet finished piece. The real source for this piece is based on Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. Perhaps my favorite. Anyhow, on the temple ground the Buddha statue is just outside of the main temple. The main hall is seperated by dividers taht have some wonderful dragons in sumi ink. I do suggest you read up on them. The dragon in these pieces are from the main hall. Years ago I would have sneered at placing a dragon or a Buddha in my work. HA! how time can get you to see differently. How ethics change. And you know, at times, I wish I were braver back then to have pulled that off.

There is another view of the set. It is my plan to get these out into the fair town of Beverly by the end of the week. They will not be installed like the past few projects as nobori. I am considering a tree or perhaps a nice alley and stringing them up high. I have babbled enough now and should go work on some other stuff. Pics of the final install next week.

OH YEAH..... JULY 28.... COME BY THE BLUE BOX! wE WILL BE HAVING OUR FIRST "EXHIBIT." 29 cABOT STREET. tHE BLUE tHINK bOX.

bye.