It is real.
Sentinel (Cawl)
Final. Shadows were provided courtesy of the redbud in my back yard. Black acrylic paint on canvas. This one is a biggun at 48"x48".
Almost there.
Getting close to finishing the final details.
We have a Studio
Today I signed a lease for what will be OkRandom Arts first public studio. I will be located at Lowe Mill in studio 2052 " Near Irons Distillery and Suzy's Pops. I will post Pictures soon.
Much Love,
Dave
Cawl
My latest project has been extremely rewarding thus far. I am at that place where the piece is really coming alive. So here is a sneak peek of us interacting. Hes been a really good boy...
Y'ALL!!
I have been playing around with words lately. To me, These works read like a good pun. This is my latest crow in progress. I am having a whole heck of a lot of fun with this one. The right side of this canvas is reserved for the word "Y'ALL". This is my "quick get it on canvas" brushwork...this is similar to a "rough sketch". I will begin dialing in the texture and details tomorrow.
One Eyed Willie
It is good to have a little fun.
Willie. Blue eye cryin in the wind...
Blacklit
So ... This work has become my "Frankensteins Monster". After holding in such a way that it was backlit by a lamp I had an idea,then I began to do a little research discovering that LEDs come in strips "like rolls of illuminated tape". Then it came to me that I know engineers....many many engineers of all varieties. Someone surely will know how to program a small microcontroller that will illuminate a grid of LED's in preser patterns as to simulate various lighting effects "shimmer,wave,ambient glow". Backlit art is nothing new..but.....I have an hunch that my take on this will be something very....very different from what is out there. So...we will see if I can make this work.
Concrete Jungle "illuminated"
Scrawl "Concrete Jungle"
Things are beginning to take shape..
Aging
Some are obsessed with slowing down the process of aging,I have become obsessed with the process of accellerating the aging process. Over the years,as i may have stated somewhere else in this blog, I have been drawn to the weathered,battered,and graffiti covered facades of condemned buildings in the city. They stand as a testiment that what man creates will return to dust and the elements that the ultimate creator has shaped around us will have the last word in the story of our "brilliance". I live in an age where mankind boldly exalts itself as being the gem of all creation. This is true ...in part...but as a whole we are but children boasting before the heavens of our accomplishments as we stand before structures that we have built in this temporal sandbox.The elements will always remind us that the work of our hands is temporal and should ultimately evoke a sense of reverance for all that has existed before we began to shape and prune the things of this world. The bigger the commotion that we make,the more of a footprint that we leave in the wake of our "progress", the more my own heart stirs to see things succumb to a more natural order. Some would say that unbridled nature is cruel...but I say there is nothing more cruel than a concrete jungle.
Here is a small slab of the concrete jungle from my latest work.
Concrete Jungle
Restructuring
I hear of others who seem to feel as if they have somehow lost control of areas of their life as they have submerged themselves in an automated world. One who submerges from being saturated in the digital world looks like and individual who may have unnecessarily surrendered a vital function like breathing to a machine for the sake of "convenience" all to later remove the tubes gasping for air attempting to reclaim their independence...but the natural process of breathing has atrophied and the flesh has surrendered to the machine. That sounds like a really cryptic analogy but I truly believe it is spot on. I see people all around me grasping for substance in their relationships...careers....in how they spend their free time....all to find that the beautiful gift of ones ability to reach out with all of their senses and interact with the world surrounding them has been subdued by a device and a stream of information...ironically enough the very device that presents this message delivered from my finger tips, stored in a database, presented on a web server, delivered via the world wide web to another individual reaching out on their electronic device. Though the distance between my message and you is one that is defined by proxy (Which is understandable we may hardly know each other) ....the distance between you and those that are in close proximity to you is not necessary. Those individuals may be in the same room with you consumed with their "smart" device as you read this. Disconnect....nothing on this page is worth the sacrifice of the time that you could be spending with your loved ones.
Where We Wander
As some of you know I have been working my way through an ambient guitar album titled "Where We Wander". We live in a world where at every turn we can find ourselves bombarded with a continual stream of dialogue. Sometimes...you need to unplug from all of the "intensity". For me I enjoy doing this by taking walks with my family in the cool of the evening when the world has settled a bit. My desire is to create a musical environment that highlites what this process looks like for me. My most recent track "The Nautilus" introduces a bit of that vocal dialogue..and the inner struggle of the individual as they attempt to find solace. The Nautilus track is really the gateway into what I hope to be an album that is garden of sound helping set the tone for ones place of solace. As always the creative process is a journey and though my aforementioned thoughts on this musical project may reflect my intent at the moment..but, who knows what may change on the road ahead. Regardless the title is still very fitting for how all of this works "Where We Wander".
Much love to those who wander into this blog.
Dave
In Queue.
So I have one foot in the door at Lowe Mill.This is fantastic news,however, it may be some time before space is available. All good things seem to demand that you grow in patience. So.. I will gladly spend a little more time preparing,which is honestly much needed. To anyone who happens to read this blog, I appreciate your time,consideration, and overall support.
Much love to you.
Dave
OkRandom will soon have a home @ Lowe Mill.
Congratulations! We are happy to announce that you have been juried into Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment. Please let me know when you have time to sit and discuss the future plans of your studio.
Welcome to the mill!
We Create Worlds
Over the next year I will be working on an ambient guitar project. I have been preparing for this for quite some time and now have all of the pieces in place to make it happen. My desire is to have these musical works act as a catalyst for my visual art. The theme of my work as of now is titled "We Create Worlds". My desire is to begin to lay a foundation for creative collaboration and ultimately no longer simply showcase my own work but also the works of other brilliant creative minds that I know. So..this blog entry is a survey marker if you will for the foundation of a creative habitat. Much love to the few who read this "journal".
Ok-Record "Audio"
We Create Worlds "Visual"
un·ac·cred·it·ed
Where did you study?
Who did you study?
What style?
What medium?
Do you like "Insert name of famous artist here"?
Though I understand the reason for these questions my reply is always an awkward attempt at validating myself by pulling names of artists that I enjoy off of the top of my head. Where was I educated?? I do not even know how to answer that question without engaging someone in an endless dialogue about who I am and why I create. As always there are no canned simple responses that I can offer people. The best reason or reply I can give is...simply consider the work I present,engage that work, let that work engage you, and I am sure you will begin a journey down the road to answering all of those questions.
"Ga$ Giant" Recovering From a Trainwreck Part II
The final product of my recovery from my earlier painting of a train yard has morphed into a Gas Giant. I actually like this concept more than what I was originally dialing in on with the earlier work.
Ga$ Giant
Recovering from a train wreck.
Things do not always go according to plan.... and if your plans train wreck on canvas.... At least you have a nice base layer of texture to rebuild upon.
So here is the chronology of a train wreck from disaster to the recovery process.
Phase one
The coverup begins
Evolution into my present theme. "Off the Grid/Borderlands"
Final
Progress/Regress
Rust...weathered paint....and all of the texture that the elements create over time... the revelation that what we create is temporal..I find very comforting. In this work it was my desire to tie into the aforementioned muse by building a city and then deliver it to the ages. "Progress/Regress"
"Listen"
The city stands as a monument to all that is proud,loud, and restless. The Lunar Effect only seems to aggravate its condition. Brother/Sister slip off to some place where the world around you is not deafened by all of that grandstanding. Find someplace far from the city lights...sit awhile...be small....and listen.
"Listen" The Lunar Effect & It's Respective Waveforms.