and other observations

pen, acrylic & collage on altered book, book dimensions 6.25" x 4.25" [started in 2003, came back to it and reworked it end of 2007]

The book started out more as a collection of sketches, quick discreet sketches made while riding the bus. This was when i was still living in NY and the bus commute was about an hour to/from the subway. Some pages had paint laid out first before the sketches were made and others had color/texture added afterwards. I love the looseness and spontaneity of how the pages came about. It/I was not trying to make it become more than what it was, which was simply to observe and capture, take in and sketch, and let some pink help tie it all together.

I came back to it a couple of months ago, thinking i just need to touch it up a bit here and there before posting it up. Well, that was not the case.

I have kept almost all the pen drawings made in 2003 with only 4-5 small new ones created but the whole mood of the book has changed since reworking it. Almost all the pages have been retouched a bit, some with layers of new paint or paper, and a few completely reconstructed. I still miss before because it was more simple and just is what it is. Now, i see there is a trying to tell a story, maybe wanting/needing to be more connected and complete somewhere? Found myself consciously keeping some words on the page because they now have a more personal meaning to me than before.

View book as slideshow @ Flickr: redredday

black series: II

-click for larger image-

On and off, i've been working on this series since 2002(?), starting with 4 wooden 24" square panels (the 3 pieces on the left, and the 4 red pieces on the right have been sawed off not too long ago this year). It's been a real pain both with the subject matter and physically working and reworking the surface of each piece.

Here are some close-up images of the red pieces where the wood has been carved and gauged away:


The black layer is revealed from scratching off the red pink surface.

The yellowish tan color is the raw wood being exposed.

The blue is the layer beneath the black.

<-- This image here was at one point the 'final' state of one of the original 4 square panels... until it got cut into 3 pieces... At first, i was really satisfied with how it turned out - all very nice and clean-cut without being too rigid, i thought. But then one day the black just got too much. It was just such an empty artificial piece of crap that was trying to be all deep and abstract. -cut up into three pieces below-

You see here with all these pieces i have right now, everything is somewhat all over the place, a frustrating mess. I won't even address the blue and orange piece (next to the red pieces in the first picture at the top) except to say that it has quite a few layers of nothingness.

As trite as it may be, i started with the idea of 'inside/outside', which had/has been a constant theme in my work in one way or another. The black is the 'inside', which on good days represents inner strength, and on other days, it is just everything dark and empty. 'Outside' is whatever that juxtaposes with the black. Well, as it is, this idea is not going too far for me...

<---BUT, i do love love this painting that came out of all this mess. I must say though, most people everyone who sees this hanging up nice and proud in my living room don't seem to care too much for it. I look at it and it just makes me so happy. What does it for me is that constant blue square that opens out to the sky everytime i look at it...

pencils & orange

ballpoint pen & acrylic on collaged paper mounted on wood panel, 5" x 6" x 1.75" (1.75" is panel [frame] thickness from the wall)

a red red day painting was based on this little sketch that i did awhile back (2003?). At the time, it was part of a series of pen sketches that were going to be bound into a book. But not enough pages came through, so now i have it mounted on a wooden panel to hang with the other small objects on the wall.