Sea Change

Sea Change  36" x 40"

People often ask me how I title my paintings. Unlike some of artists I know, I love writing and assigning titles. It lets me use my wordsmith skills and, when successful, gives the viewer another angle from which to view the work. Sometimes a title is a word or phrase I particularly like (Flabbergast, Goodness Gracious), sometimes a question (Is This All There Is?, What Were You thinking?), or a bit of a narrative culled from images in the painting (Back to Square One, Me and My Shadow); a stolen song title (Splendid Isolation, Shelter from the Storm). I once did a series and titled them all as bumper stickers: Honk if You Love Painting, My Other Paintings are Landscapes, Call 1-800-FISHART, If you lived here you'd be home by now etc.


Sometimes a title pops into my head seemingly from nowhere - and I try to trust that it's the right title. Recently I used "Sea Change" and then realized I didn't know the origin of the expression. Turns out it's Shakespeare, from The Tempest: "Of his bones are coral made:/Those are pearls that were his eyes:/Nothing of him that doth fade,/But doth suffer a sea change". Literally, it refers to fundamental change that would result from long submersion in the sea. But metaphorically, it means a radical change in the every nature of a thing.


When pundits use the phrase “sea change” today, they usually mean a profound shift in the way things are done (i.e. Obama’s taking office).


My inquiry took a funny turn when I mistyped “sea change” into Google and ended up searching Sea Monkeys. Being a strong believer in the serendipity of the typo, I followed it. I discovered that the Sea Monkey kit was originally called "Instant Life" and was invented by the same man who came up with another bit of brilliant marketing from my childhood, X-ray Specs. "See the bones in your hand! See through your clothes!" Yet another random reference to bones. The upshot of all this is I may have some new titles: Bones to Coral, Instant Life and maybe even
X-Ray Specs.? Sometimes a title appears first, and becomes the genesis of a painting. In any case, it all comes full circle. Painting-Title-Meaning-Title-Painting and back around again.

Images of Easter

Easter is my favorite holiday.... of course it means Spring is finally here. Big Hooray! Add to that March Madness, Peeps (yellow chicks only, please!), marshmallow eggs in a carton, and chocolate bunnies with big ears to bite off, great old technicolor Biblical movies on TV (e.g., The Robe), daffodils, etc etc. I have always had a fascination with the sacreligious - the plastic "Three-Pack Holy Family", the Jesus action figure, the 3-D Last Supper clock (a wedding gift!), etc. This year I was given the above bit of Jesus kitsch. Chocolate praying hands, hallelujah! Tom Waits has a great song called "Chocolate Jesus". In the spirit of Easter, I offer the lyrics here - enjoy......and Happy Easter!

Don't go to church on Sunday

Don't get on my knees to pray

Don't memorize the books of the Bible

I got my own special way

I know Jesus loves me

Maybe just a little bit more

I fall down on my knees every Sunday

At Zerelda Lee's candy store

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus

Make me feel good inside

Got to be a chocolate Jesus

Keep me satisfied

Well I don't want no Abba Zabba

Don't want no Almond Joy

There ain't nothing better

Suitable for this boy

Well it's the only thing

That can pick me up

Better than a cup of gold

See only a chocolate Jesus

Can satisfy my soul

When the weather gets rough

And it's whiskey in the shade

It's best to wrap your savior

Up in cellophane

He flows like the big muddy

But that's ok

Pour him over ice cream

For a nice parfait

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus

Good enough for me

Got to be a chocolate Jesus

Good enough for me

Well it's got to be a chocolate Jesus

Make me feel good inside

Got to be a chocolate Jesus

Keep me satisfied

Happy Holidays......

These guys all say "Stop Global Warming" but first, have a Merry Christmas!

Changes...............

A few months ago, I discovered a new and softer palette. I was quite happy with this new direction, and I was making a lot of new work. Then one day - without warning - I went off in a completely new direction…….and I haven’t looked back. No texture, no grid, no rocks…..it was almost as if I was channeling some long, lost part of myself…not completely unfamiliar, but certainly new. The connection I did feel was to my charcoal drawings, which I have always considered some of my most compelling work. I’m using charcoal again, though this time into oil paint. Now the new paintings are flowing. I’m trying to remain “in the zone” and follow this work where it takes me. An artist friend commented that it is a bit like some of my familiar icons got loose and are now floating free in a soft, mysterious space. For now, that’s as far as I want to go with a definition. I am tempted to wax philosophical…..or do my usual psychological analysis… but I think I’ll just go back to painting. Stay tuned.

Taking Stock Mid-Year

My mantra for 2009 has been “Embrace Uncertainty”. When I started this blog in early 2009, I was looking toward cyberspace for marketing and sales opportunities, feeling hopeful that this was the new reality. I was willing to jump in, put my work on the 1000 Markets, Zatista, etc. It’s been an interesting experiment, but it feels to me that things have come full circle – back to more face to face networking and local projects – actually more than before the current financial crisis turned our worlds upside down.

While working on a series of linocuts earlier this year, I wrote something about how I thought one positive outcome from this recession would be that people would want to go back to buying handmade things, rather than more electronics or a new car. That was wishful thinking at the time, but I think it’s actually happening. I can feel the difference in my studio – more people coming in and really appreciating my iconic imagery and the direct experience of seeing and touching original paintings. Wanting to meet and talk to the person who made the art rather than seeing it in a gallery.

My palette has softened this year, and that’s been challenging, too. The imagery is more mysterious again, and it looks more like a code, or the primitive expression of basic life forms.

I have certainly not given up on the internet (or this blog)…. although I finally gave up trying to use Twitter. I do still enjoy Facebook, and I think it can be a fun and effective networking tool. (or a big black hole…..)

Onward to the remainder of 2009….thank you to all who inspire me and support my creative work.

The Zen of Fireflies

These days I find I don't have a lot to write about. I think about a lot of things, yet they seem fleeting and/or trivial. I would rather stand on the back porch and dusk and watch the fireflies. There is a time to be a deep thinker. There is a time to think nothing and just watch something miraculous. For a lot of us, the latter is much harder than the former. Although explaining a miracle can detract from its effect, my curious mind gets the best of me every year and I have to research what makes fireflies glow. So, for those of you who have forgotten (like I do every year....)......
Fireflies have dedicated light organs that are located under their abdomens. They take in oxygen and, inside special cells, combine it with a substance called luciferin to produce light with almost no heat. Firefly light is usually intermittent, and flashes in patterns that are unique to each species (there are more than 200 species!). Each blinking pattern is an optical signal that helps fireflies find potential mates. Scientists are not sure how the insects regulate this process to turn their lights on and off.
So enjoy them while they are here! They don't grace our presence for long each year, and now is the time.

New Painting.........