Day 44: Sneltram Returns

An old friend. My art show in 2006 featured almost exclusively paintings of this guy. I can’t believe I got a month and a half into this project before he came to visit. I have a great love of Basil Wolverton’s pen & ink artwork (1950s-70s, weird artist for, among other things, Mad Magazine (when it was still a comic book) and “Plop!” magazine. He created Lena the Hyena (created for the Lil’ Abner cartoon strip.) He inspired folks like R. Crumb and much of the underground comics movement of the 1970s seemed to follow in his footsteps. So I’m about 35 years late on this one, and I don’t care.

Strangely, I started painting Sneltram for my art show (after “discovering” him during a 2005 artists' retreat with friends in the Virginia mountains), but later, I found an old sketchbook from 1991, when I was traveling in Amsterdam doing juggling shows on the street. There he was. I’d originally been inspired by the Dutch word for “Express Light Rail Train” (Sneltram) and decided that had to be a cartoon character’s name. It only took me 15 years to do something with the idea.

So when I say an old friend, he really has been in my life for a long time.

Day 43: Navigation

I don’t know how much I should say about this one (or any of them for that matter) as I want people to enjoy the works through their own filters. In fact, before reading on, you might want to think about what this means to you.

Once upon a time, I would draw or paint something and if people didn’t “get” exactly what I envisioned, I’d be hurt that they didn’t see what I wanted them to. I’ve been noticing since I started this project, I’ve found myself genuinely interested in what other people see. Sometimes it’s better than what I saw. Sometimes it’s evidence that I need to expand on my technical skill.

In any case, I’ve given you ample time to form your own vision on this painting. To me, it’s the guide: whether a parent, older sibling, teacher, or random saint (those sorts of wise folks you occasionally meet while traveling through life who may not even realize the effect they have). Someone whose life has basically shot them full of holes. We all have them. Sometimes literal, physical scars; emotional, energetic, … I think part of the healing process is to guide others through those injuries to the soul. Hence, “Navigation.”

Other people have seen different things in it. They're not wrong. What do you see?

Day 42: Bittersweet Reunion

OK, I admit I’m a vegetarian. But one with a sense of humor. For instance, about 5 or 6 years ago, my relentless brother was teasing me with a chunk of turkey on Thanksgiving, so I grabbed it off his fork and ate it. I was amused; he was shocked, and he never did that again. I think that's the last time I ate any turkey. I still call myself a vegetarian in the same way a yawning motorcyclist can be a vegetarian, despite the swallowed bugs. It is incidental, not a habit.

This painting amuses me greatly though, and would even if I did still eat pork. My long-held belief is that a person should not eat meat if they’re not willing to kill the animal themselves. For a long time, whenever I ate animal flesh, I would take a moment and imagine that animal alive. Later, I would imagine myself slitting that animal’s throat and feeling its warm blood trickle down my arm.

I was very proud of this and was espousing my high-and-mightiness to a colleague. I said something I’d said a number of times: “I wish I had the opportunity to kill an animal, just so I could put my money where my mouth is.”

“What do you want to kill?” he asked. I’d forgotten this guy’s a deer and goose hunter. He has a good relationship with his butcher. I stopped talking and thought about it. Pigs are about as smart as my dog. Cows aren’t too different from horses. (which the French eat, and so have I). I went down the list and haven’t eaten pig or cow since. I continued to occasionally eat fish and chicken, which I would still kill, if I had to. More recent information has caused me to rethink that, too.

A lot of bloviating on the subject, but all this was in my head when this idea percolated to the top.

This painting also reminds me of one of my favorite jokes. (Google "wooden leg pig" if you don't know it)

day 41:

The wife, a huge animal lover says as a child, she never pulled cats’ tails, pulled wings off flies, nor did she do that fake-throw fetch trick to the dog. Of course not. She wasn’t a boy. (still isn’t!) But the one thing she says she did, which could be construed as vile and evil and animal cruelty: when she found snails, she’d tap their antennae to watch them go, “plip!” back into their heads.

CALL THE ASPCA!

Boy, was I tired and moving slowly. I understood exactly what this guy was feeling. I may have failed here since not everyone sees what I see in my paintings. Fortunately, I have (mostly) gotten over being upset when people don't "get" it.

Once, Jack Kerouac snuck into a college lecture on his book "On the Road." The prof was bloviating and after a while, Kerouac raised his hand and said, "actually, I think what the author was trying to say was [xxx]." The professor said, "no, you're wrong. What he meant was ... [yyy]." Kerouac stood up and said, "Well, actually, I know on good authority I am not wrong. You see, I am Jack Kerouac." Then he walked out.

Was the professor entirely wrong? Who's to say? I'm not.

In any case, I was tired. Bone tired. It was 2am with a couple of beers in me and still hadn't painted. How to depict that? How about a narcoleptic snail? Go!

Day 40: Disembodied Clown Essence

Dr. Boots, with whom I work frequently at the hospital, distilled down to remove all corporeal form, yet still embody the spirit of a clown. I didn’t really mean to channel him, but when I pulled the idea of “traditional clown” out of the ether, that’s what came out.

Whenever I paint a clown, I am always self-conscious to not make them look "pretty," "cute" or "happy." The ideas of a "happy clown" or a "sad clown," to me, are overly simplistic. Clowns, being a fun-house mirror image of the human soul, all have a full range of emotion. Anyone who always shows the same emotion is either not that deep or they're hiding something. A true Clown has looked into their soul and has made friends with their imperfections and foibles, warts and all. But I digress.

One of my favorite thoughts on the subject is from Bill Irwin, Macarthur Award-winning Clown and Tony award winner (and hero of mine) ... An interviewer said, 'it must be great to have a job where you make people happy." Mr. Irwin replied, "I don't make people happy. I make them laugh. The happiness is up to them."

Zen poetry befitting a clown.

Day 39: Smiley's Bad Day

I had drawn one of these years ago as a birthday gift for a friend. The wife wanted one, too. It only took 10 years. Where’s my Ritalin?

I love the smiley face. The story I heard is it was designed by Harvey Ball, a free-lance graphic designer for State Mutual Life Assurance Company in 1963, who received $45 for his work.

The symmetry and the simplicity are so elegant, yet it is extremely hard to execute well. Ball designed Smiley with hand tools -- computer graphic design was science fiction -- we hadn't even yet been on the moon! (and walking through the Apollo 11 module at NASM shows just how primitive our "computer systems" were back then).

Compasses, protractors and a French curve were all this guy had. I tried the same and it came out looking kinda lumpy. Of course, Ball used pen and ink; paint is a bit rougher.

Day 38: demon in the dark

Playing with light. Had this image in my head and wanted to see what it would look like. Maybe a Bogeyman. Who knows? I know I had a night light when I was young, but this guy never scared me. Well, at least not until the 7-year-old girl down the street informed me of him (and described him). Still, I was more freaked out by the dudes in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes," when they took off their faces. Yeccch!

I wanted to do this in all black-and-white except for the moon. It would have worked in pen & ink, but here, I felt compelled to use color. Glad I did.

Day 37: Clouds

From inside, looking outward? I imagined looking out from inside the hollow of a tree. Anything else is in the eye of the beholder.

I love trees. When I was in Thailand, enjoying the natural wonders they sometimes mix into their omelettes, I put my hand on the trunk of a palm tree, and ever since then, they have had a grounding effect. We all like looking at trees (at least, I hope) but there’s something really special about putting your hand on these creatures rooted in the same earth that feeds us and is the foundation of all our endeavors.

When working with environmental educators, it became clear that people focused on air and water, yet we take our soil for granted. The best soil to grow food on is also the best soil on which to build a shopping mall. Or a road.

So I like trees, and I can think of few things more peaceful than sitting inside the womb of a tree, safely looking outward. Well, in theory, as long as the bugs stay out of my pants.