Thursday, December 29, 2011

Snowbound 7

Snowbound 7

Snowbound 7 (2011)

 

Danny Torrance: What was the Donner Party?
Jack Torrance: They were a party of settlers in covered-wagon times. They got snowbound one winter in the mountains. They had to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.
Danny Torrance: You mean they ate each other up?
Jack Torrance: They had to, in order to survive.
Wendy Torrance: Jack...
Danny Torrance: Dont worry, Mom. I know all about cannibalism. I saw it on TV.
Jack Torrance: See, it's OK. He saw it on the television.
--from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining

~/~

This is part of a new series that I've been making (as Frost said) while watching my woods fill up with snow.

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until the image had to follow the rope strung between the house and the barn.

I'm sorry for the long intermission. Several writing projects monopolized my time. I hope to begin updating again with some semi-regularity.

While you're waiting for the St. Bernard to arrive, here's some music to enhance your viewing enjoyment.

Enjoy Russian Circles live in 2007 at Wicker Park Fest:

 

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Behind the Burlesque

Behind the Burlesque

Behind the Burlesque (2011)

[Click on the image above to see the view with binoculars.]


The difference between burlesque and the newspapers is that the former never pretended to be performing a public service by exposure.
--I. F. Stone

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until it had taken most of it all off.


Monday, September 26, 2011

From One Horse to Another

From One Horse to Another

From One Horse to Another (2011)

[Click on the image above to see the view with binoculars.]


After the horse dance was over, it seemed that I was above the ground and did not touch it when I walked.
--Black Elk

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed but never broken.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Bless You

Bless You

Bless You (2011)

[Click on the image above to see the view with binoculars.]


In which I have lived like a foot
For thirty years, poor and white,
Barely daring to breathe or Achoo.

--Sylvia Plath, "Daddy"

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until it asked for a Kleenix.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Cyclops BFF

Cyclops BFF

Cyclops BFF (2011)


Female cyclopes are not mentioned in any classical sources.
--Wikipedia entry on cyclops.

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed right up to the logjam.



Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Spill

Spill

Spill (2000)


From time to time there are going to be things that occur that are acts of God that cannot be prevented.
--Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, May 2010

~/~

Image probably initially made with Fractal Zplot. Post-processed until the landscape was slickly altered.

Thursday, August 04, 2011

Feather Tigers

Feather Tigers

Feather Tigers (2000)


Knowledge is soon changed, then lost in the mist, an echo half-heard.
--Gene Wolfe

~/~

This piece is inspired by Wolfe's story "Feather Tigers." Initial image probably made in Sterling-ware. Post-processed until it joined The People of the Yellow Leaves.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Gene Splicing the Saints

Gene Splicing the Saints

Gene Splicing the Saints (2001)


All the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly.
--St. Thomas Aquinas

~/~

Image initially made with Dofo-Zon Elite. Post-processed until the required miracle occurred.

And to supplement your viewing pleasure: "Eight Miles High" by Husker Du.

Friday, July 22, 2011

The Past

The Past

The Past (2002)


The past is never dead. It's not even past.
--William Faulkner

~/~

Image initially made with Sterling-ware. Post-processed until it became the future.

To supplement your viewing enjoyment: "Eight Miles High" by Leo Kottke:

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Drug War Burning Bush

Drug War Burning Bush

Drug War Burning Bush (1999)


Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.
Seneca, 65 A.D.

~/~

Initially created with Vchira. Post-processed until the drug-sniffing dog checked the trunk.

Fractal art can sometimes be trippy, so I think the next few posts should be enhanced with music and video.

"Eight Miles High" by the Byrds:

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Saw Is Family

The Saw Is Family

The Saw Is Family (2010)


You have one choice, boy: sex or the saw. Sex is, well, nobody knows. But the saw, the saw is family.
Drayton, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

~/~

Sorry for my last mopefest post. What was that all about?

I'll just put up stuff that has already been out or that never goes out anyway.

This blog always has been an exercise in rummaging around in my attic.

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until it danced in the middle of the road at the end.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis (2000)


The stars are putting on their glittering belts.
They throw around their shoulders cloaks that flash
Like a great shadow's last embellishment.

--Wallace Stevens

~/~

I haven't posted anything lately to either my blog or my web site. Why? Because I have discovered a trend that many art and literary magazines are now stipulating that submissions cannot have previously appeared on either a personal blog or web site. This situation has made me increasingly leery of placing any new work either here or on my web site.

I have never considered art or poetry that appears on this blog to be "published" in the conventional sense of the term -- but, unfortunately, some art and literary venues do. I am upset over this situation. It certainly crimps my ability to freely share my work with an established online audience without seriously limiting the possibilities for disseminating both my art and my poetry.

I am still making new work, but, sadly, I will be sharing it less often in this blog, since doing so apparently erodes the likelihood for being able to place it in a growing number of fine arts journals.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Primacy of BP

Primacy of BP

Primacy of BP (2011)


You simply cannot make more reefs, unless you have a few thousand years to wait.
--Doug Rader, Chief ocean scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until it was covered and smothered.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Applause Addict

Applause Addict

Applause Addict (2011)


Expressions of disapproval are on a level of vulgarity that cannot be tolerated. The way to express disapproval is to do without applause.
--Rudolph Bing

~/~

Image initially made with Quaz. Post-processed until the first hiss.


Thursday, March 31, 2011

Not Glad to See You

Not Glad to See You

Not Glad to See You (2011)

[Click on the image above to see the view with binoculars.]


Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until one of us left.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Cylon Centurion

Cylon Centurion

Cylon Centurion (2011)


"Enemy target destroyed."
Centurion, Battlestar Galactica: Razor

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed to appropriate toaster gleaminess.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Rex's Last Stand

Rex's Last Stand

Rex's Last Stand (2011)


A giant fossil sea monster found in the Arctic and known as "Predator X" had a bite that would make T-Rex look feeble, scientists said on Monday. "This one is more like it could crush a Hummer," said evolutionary biologist Greg Erickson from Florida State University.
Alister Doyle, Reuters, 3-19-09

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until its little arms just couldn't hold it any more.

Monday, March 07, 2011

Chris Runyan

Chris Runyan, my longtime good friend and bandmate, passed away last night.

Chris was the most creatively gifted person I have ever known -- equal parts musician, writer, and artist.

His guitar playing would sometimes literally take my breath away. His paintings continue to move me -- mysterious, ironic, enigmatic -- unafraid of confronting ideas and social commentary.

My life has been far richer for having met and known him.

~/~

A Chris Runyan Sampler:

Here are some shots of the Malls, and a few digital scans of some of Chris' paintings. The scans don't do his artwork justice. The colors really pop in the paintings, and much of the texture and attention to detail cannot be seen.

The Malls -- April 1980

The Malls. Live at the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville. April 1980.

[Left to right: Patrick Hollingsworth (bass), Tom Cochran (drums), Terry Wright (vocals), Chris Runyan (guitar, vocals).]


The Malls -- April 1980

The Malls. Live at the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville. April 1980.

[Left to right: Pia Zadora (marquee girl found behind a liquor store), Stanley Lancaster (keyboards, vocals).]


The Malls -- Halloween 1980

The Malls. Live at the U-Ark Theater. Fayetteville. Halloween 1980.

[Left to right: Patrick Hollingsworth (bass), Terry Wright (sweaty back, vocals), Chris Runyan (guitar, vocals).]


Malls Flyer

Malls Flyer. Drawing and design by Chris Runyan. September 1980.



The Awful Truth by Chris Runyan


The Realm of Envy by Chris Runyan

The Realm of Envy by Chris Runyan


The Insignificance of Conformity by Chris Runyan

The Insignificance of Conformity by Chris Runyan


Backyard #1 by Chris Runyan

Backyard #1 by Chris Runyan


Peace by Chris Runyan

Peace by Chris Runyan


The Right Allies by Chris Runyan

The Right Allies by Chris Runyan

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Bather

Bather

Bather (2011)


Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until it properly rinsed and repeated.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Makeover

Makeover

Makeover (2011)


Why worry about minor little details like clean air, clean water, safe ports and the safety net when Jesus is going to give the world an "Extreme Makeover: Planet Edition" right after he finishes putting Satan in his place once and for all?
--Arianna Huffington

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until it looked fifteen years younger.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Still Awake

Still Awake

Still Awake (2010)


I had a dream that I was awake and I woke up to find myself asleep.
--Stan Laurel

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until golden slumbers filled its eyes.

Monday, January 03, 2011

Godzilla Has Doubts

Godzilla Has Doubts

Godzilla Has Doubts (2010)

[Click on the image above to see the view with binoculars.]


Why stomp? It's so
predictable.

I prefer less digital destruction.
Algorithmic skylines and fake electrical towers
are no challenge. I need a fix
to ignite my atomic spine with light
that now burns less brightly.

Why hope? I'm so
so unstable.

~/~

Image initially made with Quasz. Post-processed until nothing but rubble. Text is a Google poem collaged from search strings of godzilla has doubts.