Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Tooth of WISDOM


5 years ago my Uncle Eldon pulled 3 of my wisdom teeth free of charge. this dentist of dentists has such a large heart and is always so giving. after he pulled em out i sketched one out in my journal and decided that i should draw him one for his office. I guess once a wisdom tooth becomes this big and this powerfull...and glorious, it no longer is a wisdom tooth but becomes a "Tooth of WISDOM." He loved it and it's hanging in his office.


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Betrayal Betrayal

Betrayal was the first word that came to mind when i looked at this peice and was trying to understand it. it really came out of nowhere, without rough draft, key drawing, or even a vision of what i wanted as i drew it (this was one of the few that arose in such a manner). while looking at it now i think im realizing what it really means: Self betrayal, the ultimate betrayal of all. look it over carefullty and try to understand what i mean and see what i saw.
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The All Seeing


at first i called this piece "the mother." It has this story attatched to it that some kid was out on the beach and suddenly a shark nabbed him. his mother noticed and went after her child but was also gotten by the shark. poor kid. poor lady. to this day she (her ghost) walks upon the water of that beach with her baby (ghost baby) in her arms watching out for all who might be in danger, and she protects them...i guess. i think that is a pretty cool story, don't you? the eye symbolizes the loving watchfullness of mothers, even beyond the grave. it could also be the eye of God...na, its a mom. (this is now hanging in the home of: Tyler and Zac Beus, Tim Heywood, Franklin Lang and some other hippy guys.)


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crazy shiney moon

hey here it is. i made this one for a good friend of mine. there you go Becca Joy!



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desert of the night and day


This was actually the first night/day picture, comparable to Children of the Night and Day, that i drew. I love the hills in the center of the peice the most-how the moonlight hits the top of them.


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Sister Huso's dream car


kinda different huh? yea it was a commisioned peice for the Husos. tis now in their garage. it was the first peice i used white-out on.



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Into the blue




An old acquaintance of mine was angry that his girlfriend wouldn't marry him-at least right then. so he went out into the desert and shot himself. his death haunted her, my good friend (whom will also remain nameless), for a long time. after a week or so of absence from school, she returned teary-eyed, head bowed and emotional as can be in such a situation. somehow, in the midst of her comforting friends, i was able to get some alone time with her. i asked her if there was anything i could do. she, of course, said no.  But if you're a friend you obviously don't stop there.  i asked "are you sure?"... same response. Then i thought i should offer her something she would want, and something most could not give. "Can i draw you anything?"  i know, weird offer for the situation at hand, but i guess if that was all i could do then...there you have it. she accepted, and then thought for a bit... "Mermaids" she said. "oh no" i thought. "how corny, how cliche. Ive never drawn mermaids!" i asked her if she was certain what she wanted, and "why mermaids?" She responded, "[My boyfriend] would always draw them for me." so i went to work and for some reason the piece felt like it created itself while i just moved my hands around. the composition just happened without any thought about symbols or the meaning behind the mermaids positioning. a few days later i finished drawing it. i brought it to school but she dropped out -right on time, i know. i asked her friends if they could give it to her but she had cut them off completely. i hear she turned to drugs for a while. i dropped the piece off in one of her classes hoping that if she did come back, the teacher could give it to her for me. still nothing. summer passed, and on "meet the teachers night" i went by that classroom and asked for it back. Soon i found out where she lived and dropped it off with her mom. a few weeks passed and i went by again to ask her mom if she got it. she said that she had, but I recieved no details on her reaction.   Now i know why the peice seemed to draw itself-i had help.  after studying the picture of it i can tell now what it all means.  the mermaid was in the very act of letting go of the merman-he who held her down.  the light on the surface of the sea was her goal now, or at least should be.  simple, i know, but very profound.  my friend, if you somehow get the chance to see this, may God bless you, and i hope you have a GREAT life!



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Dancing Fire-Ghosts

one of my first color drawings. i think i was 15. when i was a scout i had a friend take a picture of me behind a fire. i was wearing a yellow shirt and the fire in fromt of me was covering my legs and therefore the my only illumination from the fire appearing in the picture was my arms, my yellow shirt and my ghost-story telling style lit face. after seeing these accidental photographic arrangements i thought that i looked a lot like what ive always wanted to see- fire ghosts. yes that is ghosts made of fire, dancing in the flames!



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Invincible


i have always had this fascination with lightening. i remember my cousin Nyline telling me about this girl she saw get struck by lightening, and she survived-i guess it being charged...wrongly (?) (or in a manner that would cause her no harm. I'm sure it was just an adolescent creative liberty, but i think i remember Nyline saying that this girl was glowing blue for a few seconds after being struck. for years after (up until now actually) i have wanted so badly to be struck by lightening, and yet be completely OK, and maybe have a large group of people see it. moments after, they would hesitatingly surround me and i would here them question among themselves, "is he invincible?"
this is my second attempt to seriously portray lightening in a final piece (i did it with oil pastel and a white-out pen).


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Saturday, May 23, 2009

Children of the Night and Day

This idea came from somwhere around nowhere, like many ideas do. i cant recollect any inspiration for it-just a little corner of my mind that hasnt been interperated yet. i pondersd how to make the shaddows have some sort of unity and partenership in terms of movement in the composition (where they-the shaddows-are casted and how they direct your eye) when, out of nowhere, i felt that the sun and the moon should be the same light source for this little land, transforming from one to the other only by the bubble sepparating the night and day. the kids are naked, i don't know why.


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Black Angels


while on my mission in California i met the most wonderful woman named Shirli Groce. the day i met her i decided to call her "Aunti Suga." one day after seeing my art album she took me aside, away from the other elders, and said, "i wan chyou da pain me a picha...i wan angels- BLACK angels!" Because she deserved it, i agreed. i was so busy while there that i didn't get the chance to paint it. she reminded me the next time i saw her- i re promised, and started on it the month i got home. i finished it up and went back to Cali. unannounced i knocked on her door and here is exactly what happened (i video taped it):
"Who is it?!"
"iiiit's a friend- Spencer."
"what?"
"it's an Elder-Elder Stott"
"OHH," and she opened up the door..."Hey bab-OH MY! OH MY! No. Yes. No! (i guess this is where she noticed the painting) Oh MYYY-AAAAAH HA HAAA!"
"Come here you."
"Ohhh ho ho ha ha ha"
"I'm so glad you're here! Ha, I'm catching you on tape right now, me and you look at that. See. oh well here ya go- enjoy..."
And from there she fell silent and cried tears of gratitude- the best tears in my opinion. she then, after regaining her composure, she told me how her sister died right around the time i went home to AZ and she use to always bring Aunti Suga black angels, you know paintings, ceramics etc. At the moment of death, as she puts it, her sister became her black angel. months latter while cleaning the house Aunti Suga paused to look at a certain ceramic of a black angel her sister gave her. she looked at it, remembering her sister and getting a bit emotional. i guess at that moment i rang her doorbell with the promised painting of black angels. maybe, through me, her sister found it a good thing, at that perfect moment, to send her another piece for her collection.



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Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sea of Grass

We know reality. We know the answer, right? To them each hill is a wave adding to the violent rocking of an ever churning sea (of grass). It appears that all is needed is for them to step out and walk off the boat. "if it were me i would just do the obvious and walk away from the percieved impending shipwreck-their problem isnt even real!" But the fact is their problem is real-it is very real-to them, and it could only be understood by those who remain in this boat "irrationality" as we may call it. "Step off and walk! Step off and walk!" But perhaps such an attempt would only spawn another problem for them: drowning. I dont know, maybe its just a reminder that every persons perception on life, and their reality within it, is different and, therefore, different solutions must be granted. Maybe they should just be left alone to sail on to safety. Continue Reading »

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Faith Fishing

one day (when i was about 18 or so) Alli Ginos asked me the all too oft asked question, "Spencer, I've known you for a while..." and strangely i knew what was coming... "when are you gonna draw ME a picture?" i thought for a moment and made the point I'd like to make to you all, "well, can you make cookies?"
"huh?"
"cookies-you know, of the peanut butter kind, can you make them?"
"...Uhhh, yeah."
"Oh so you never made ME cookies before..." and its true she had'nt! ..."YOU make ME a plate of peanut butter cookies and ill draw you a picture."
"ok!"
She seemed to like (not love) the idea, but she agreed and by the end of the day we made the exchange.
its called faith fishing because this guy, even in the midst of men needing boats to catch their fish, he chooses the higher, and dare i say "cooler" way, and he walks out on top of the water (with his cat and his spear of course) and he goes fishing-"Faith Fishing."



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Thursday, May 7, 2009

Allan (my brotha from...my motha)


here he is. This is the largest portrait ive ever drawn! It's real big! I cant remember how big, but "real big" i guess describes it enoug
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Headless Trio


i noticed a particular recurring detail in my drawings a while after drawing this, and that detail was: people facing away from the viewer. i wondered why, concluding that it was a symbol of being misunderstood or underappriciated for who i knew i was. Common among...everyone i guess @ least one time in our lives, but i thought it interesting that it came out in symbolic form. Here, not only are they facing away but they also are headless, i guess a representation for careless-mindlessness. this being present in superficial people (many of whom i was referring to my disconnected relationship with) i guess it gives me comfort in knowing that those who don't understand, or don't at least try to appreciate are often of the careless-mindless type who's attention i suppose is probably better away from me anyway. Wishing i was more optimistic, of course, i just can't deny such prideful thoughts that were present within me from time to time.


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Sunday, May 3, 2009

Grass Bubbles

I was stopped at a red light while on my way to grandpas about 7 years ago (when i was about 16), and i looked to my right noticing on the edge of a golf course, by the road, there was a hill of grass different then all the others. it was tall, abnormally tall, disproportionate to how small it was at the base. A man, maybe a golfer, was walking near it or maybe on it, and suddenly (here's where imagination begins) the hill started rising higher and higher out of the ground, bubbling up and off its original surface, like the stuff in a lava lamp, and into the air. the grass, though out of its expected nature, just cooperated with these unnatural, law defying movements in the soil. the man seemed at peace atop that rising bubble of grass and even rested there as though he were in for a long and high ride through the sky to the place he desired far far away, where, when reached, the bubble would lightly settle again into the ground and mix with its surroundings as a drop of water would after falling into a lake...




The light turned green again i noticed (after a while), and as i proceeded to drive i looked out over the golf course, spacious and hilly, and in one beautiful moment every hill began to rise-transporting men to the place they desired. this event remained with me and i could not get it out of my mind for the life of me! while at grandpas i asked him if i could borrow his camera, i not owning one, so i could take pictures of the hills at sunset. he consented, i took the pictures, and a few days later he developed them for me. I sketched out the idea how i saw it in my mind and set out to draw the actual piece. i became discouraged because my depiction of this strange world did not seem to be developing accurately. I felt defeated and left it behind other-more prized pieces of mine on the easel in my high school art room.
winter break came and left, and the weeks passed. while sorting through my art i noticed the long lost piece. within the paper whereon it was drawn, and behind months of collected dust, the world it would be seemed to beg me to create it. I felt it, so i created it. it was successful, and a favorite among many friends of mine.
My interpretation of this piece arises directly from its manner of creation-or the process by which it came into being. The very fact that this piece came alive reminds me that there are an infinite amount of possible histories in our existence. i could have never went to grandpas that day. or the light could have been green disallowing a persisted observance, or even the noticing of the abnormally tall hill. or i could have driven by those hills flat minded and uninspired, never seeing the world of The Grass Bubbles. Or i could have never ventured to draw it, just too busy maybe. Or i could have never decided to look back at the drawing and listen to it telling me to finish. Heck i could have died and that world would have left with me. But no, no all of these facts remained, and so did i, therefore the way was paved for me to create this world i so dreamed, or even to choose not to. But, as my history goes, i chose to-and now it exists, now it lives. with every possible history waiting to happen, that would (because they could) take us into every possible direction, why then would we not choose the one we want-the world WE see? Many of them (possible histories) are laid at our feet, many just happen because history has to happen one way or the other, but to those we have control over let us choose wisely, let us choose how we really want to, for that is how this world, and all of us in it came into being. Continue Reading »

Pure Thoughts

i drew this years ago for Katie, a friend of mine. Her name means "Pure." it was a symbolic rendering of my Thoughts of Katie (or "Pure").



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