The Most Beautiful Woman In The World

this is what gave my new style (pencil, water color and gld leaf) momentum.  i wanted to present it as an antique, and yet contemporary gem.  Its my wife, yes i know-hot huh?  I drew it for her birthday last October.  It shares the same high gloss quality as the mayors home and the temple doors.  my school (MCC) sent this to Phoenix to appear in an art show where it receved many compliments and interested buyers...if only i hadn't priced it at $20,000.  Ha! are you kidding me? sell my wifes Birthday present?  Nope.  i guess my attitude was a mix of repelling buyers from taking this special peice, proping myself as a 'hard to get' painter whos stuff is way too expensive for most people, and the famous Jack-in-the-Box saying "All I need is one [buyer to make me rich]!"  Ash loved it!

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On Land or at Sea, or in the Sky are the Sheep?

i just came up with the title...you like it?  its another piece of questions.  where is the boat?  where are the sheep headed?  because the stairs portion of this freaky apparatus are on the floor, does this mean that it is on land?  or how about the destination of the boat?  is it drifting toward an island at sea...or a clowd in the sky? is it even drifting (or firmly planted)?  The telephone poles receding toward the horizon shows with certainty the first placement of the subject matter.  But then the trees in the clowds?  does that show that there's perhaps a peice of land up there?  but the connecting point of the stairs and the boat (with the clowds far behind them) show that they are up in the sky.  it makes sense if you divide this work in half or in thirds, but as it stands i guess its rather confusing.  Why sheep?  i dont know, I like sheep i guess.  I know it seems a bit unfinished, well it is.   I got so darn tired of drawing it! 

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Mayor John Lewis' Home - Details

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Home Portraits: my new thing

I start with an few pictures: one main one, and a few essential details 

fill in the details

begin to shade and fill in shrubbery

apply where you want the red base coat, this will show throught the cracks of the gold leafing

apply special adhesive, let dry, then apply gold leafing

add needed details and antiqueing.  Then add water color paint over top. 

let dry, mask w/ tape wher you want to put trimming (black).  also age the paper w/ drawn-in cracks.  mount with spray mounting glue onto 1/4 inch MDF and add wooden trim.  paint black.

then glaze and let dry.

Mayor of Gilbert, John Lewis', home.  They were so happy with how it turned out.  they had Ash and us over for dinner for "The Unveiling."  but i forgot my curtain  ):

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If you step on THIS crack youll have to pay me back! ha!

this

On my way to my art class a few months ago i saw this inspiring crack in the sidewalk!  i had to take a picture of it w my cell phone and then sketch it.  its a charcoal piece.  criticism: its too neat for real life!  there should be more texture in the highlighted portions of the crack...and debris and texture on the flat surface.    

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paper bag detail

heres a detail.

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The Crinkley (sp) Paper Bag!

why is this signifigant?  well 1st off its really good!  secondly, its really really good!  thirdly, its really...and so on.  please enjoy.  this charcoal peice took hours and was formed under the wing (mcc teaching aid) of Uncle Dan Fogal! 

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Laundry-Day Visions

not quite sure what this means yet...give me a few weeks.

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"the professor" details

And here are the details.
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The Professor

this is the wisdom of the world and the bondage and burden therefrom.  look at the details and you may notice what i mean.  Threre are some popular ideas today that are truely evil (in other words: contrary to true happiness and progression), and if they are adopted one can expect nothing less than darkness, destruction and bondage.  notice the prison like bars (there are 4 of them accross the whole piece) that presents all of the subject matter in their appropriate setting: prison.  The philosopher (in the forefront-mid left) is pointing outward toward the world around him.  this indicates his idea that truth comes not from God but from the world around him.  he represents "philosophy" as a whole.  on his shoulders there is a city, showing that the popular world rests on, and is founded upon such ideas.  to his right we see the professor who stands alone (in this piece) in the midst of the misleading ways of the world.  he stands in his conviction that truth, though it may be discovered in the world around us, is manifested to men in its fullness and clarity by God (notice he points up).  in his right hand (if you can find it, you will see a book with the title "ABC" indicating that Truth is basic, elementary even.  to the right of the professor is a few homes...on his shoulders-you know what that means?  the strength of homes and familys are dependant on True principles.

in Rafaels painting "School of Athens" (or "Philosophy") plato and arostotle stand in the center of the school making these same gestures (pointing) representing their conviction of mans axess to truth.  plato: from Godaround us; Arostotle: from the world around us. 

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10 ready to sell!

and here they are (when thy were almost ready)...and now theyre ready to sell!

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Temple Doors

and here it is in its final state.  click on it to see detail!

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Temple Door Detail

here it is up close.

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Temple Doors

check it out!

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The Minds of James Gardner

this is my cousin james.  i dont know exactly what to say about this peice but i do know that it is an accurate portrayal ofhis mind before he was converted.  how can i know that?!  he told me so.  when i first showed him this peice he looked at it for a few minutes in silence and then said that he has never seen anything like it and that it was right on with how he felt and thought. 

the plurality of his person represents his instsability and  lack knowing who he was.  he would migrate from personality to personality each being determined by his awdience and the way he felt.  it also shows that there was a very large ammount of darkness in his life, contained in the confinds of his cell-like inner world.  the checkered floor shows the alternation of happiness and sadness, good and evil, peace of mind and instability.   all these states of mind were unfortunately reached by the very thin line of cercomstance from moment to moment.  the ribbon further illustrates this feeling of being bound in such an existence- his cell now becomes ever more small  as he is forced to feel, with incresing intimacy, his sad existence in all its potency.  such spiritual claustraphobia forces its victums to further feel their pain and in his situation he definately felt some pain.  but look at his faces...does he seem pained?  perhaps he was well experienced with this old friend  (pain) who causes so many to be troubled, but he-numb.  each focus, or mindset is different but notice that each looks up, each senses at least a general directon of light.  and thankfully there he went-every one of him.  there is nothing in this cell of his, look by his feet-nothing!  No real friends, no sign of a purpose, nothing of real worth is before him here.  such darkness and emptiness demands, no pleads for, an excape.  James Gardner found his way out some time in 2005 and has recognized the light for what (and who) it is ever since then.  he is happily married (and sealed) now with 2 beautiful young daughters and is living in Gilbert, AZ.  i have never seen such a change in a human being!  he is a living testimony of Christ and the truth.  Love you james.  

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Pumpkins and Squash...Mostly

this was fun. i started with a slightly greened black charcoaled backgrownd and drew in the subjects with white conte crayon, and white prismacolor pencil.  this one was real fun.  gosh im having so much fun with art lately!

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Grey Cactus

for the longest time i was stuck in a world of color.  this was a pleasant place to be, i argue  it's the BEST place to be.  But Ted Wolter (at CGCC in AZ) sent me on a different path.  I hadnt touched the black and white world in years and just about lost touch with it.  Ted helped bring me back into it with the wonder of charcoal and conte crayon, and not to mention willow charcoal and the eraser (the secret of the photgraphic quality of this peice).. i find im pretty good here, in this black and white world...if not better than i am in the color world. 
I WON AN AWARD for this one (ha, just wated you to see that)...well it was chosen along with 10 peices in all of Maricopa Community Colleges to be entered into this contest.  i understand why it didn't win anything up there, all it demostrated was a matured understanding of the basic princples of design-and not all of them btw...all this, but with no real conceptual aim.  i guess that would land this peice no higher in the art world than cowboy art. 
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Dawn of My Second Estate

i was born on December 21, 1985 at 10:45...or was it 11:45? (nevermind that the time is an important aspect of this peice). either way, after asking my mom what time i was born i set out to complete this peice. i am standing on this time (11:45), as you can see, to show that this was the very moment i became my own, and without cord or womb i, within my body, was a complete and whole vehicle unto myself, until the time i should pass away. there is a profound signifigance to this point in every souls existence, it is the dawn of the life we were meant to live here on earth. I appear as a monument, aged and statuesk, to immortilize and show greatness to this point in time. never before had i been embodied with flesh and blood, and until now i had not known sufferng. now i can feel as never before. the utmost bounds of pleasure and pain could now be appreciated due to the opportunity to feel both in the same sphere of existence. i never knew bitter, and therefore never really knew sweet, until now...and the same goes for all the opposites including good and evil. this, here depicted, represents the beginning of my journy as an agent unto myself here on earth.

          Also notice the placement of my feet. im on one of the hands of the clock. not only does this say that then was i born, but also that here and only here- in the moment- do we stand. not a filangey can excape this part of the clock (time), no it cannot touch either side of the hour or minute, but must remain where it always has been: in the moment. since before my earthly beginning i was in the moment, inexcapably, but now i am bound to stand and be measured by time. Continue Reading »

Man of Trees

i was in my controversial life drawing class when my favorite dude to draw struck this pose. it was a 50 minute drawing and i was done before everyone, about 35 minutes into it. i decided that I should plant some trees on him and some hills behind him (to his left)-i mean what else am i gonna do with 15 minutes, just sit there and look at this naked dude?-no. so there you have it, my obsession of humans and their surreal interaction with nature shined through without much thought or brainstorming. what does it mean ....???

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Long After the Sandstorm

the man standing here, by his very presence and relationship to his surroundings, seems to beg many questions. "what is he thinking?" we have to ask that, right (?), his house hs been taken over by sand! how about: "how long has he been standing there?" or, "whats with the sand at his feet?" "what was he thinking when he arrived as opposed to now?" "when did the storm hit?" "does he really care about his house?" after questioning and observing it seems clear that he must have been present durring the storm-see the sand at his feet? He must have watched his house from before, durring, and long after the sandstorm (see the weeds and sticks poking out of the long settled sand, also the cob webs in the open door?). but then why does he appear surprised? why does he look like he is arriving? why is he holding luggage as though he's returning from a safer place as to avoid the storm, (yet never leaving?)? the answer is symbolic in nature. one may look at his life and believe that there must be something wrong with it-that it is taken over and of no worth. he stands outside of it with such crippling beliefs and, almost ready to check out, he sadly gazes into it seeing it as something it is truely not-worthless, taken over, weathered and perhaps destroyed. little does he know that such thoughts bring the storm that will only confirm his belief. from the start he stsnds here and sees the invisible-inevitable, inevitable and invisible only because HE sees it. eventually with such negative thoughts of his life the storm happens-it takes over his life, it takes over him. Of course, because we are redeemable creatures, we can stop this before it ends us.

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Statues In the Water

There are many possibilities here: Either these statues-these creations were made to face the moon only on a certain time of year, and at a certain time of night, thus facing an empty spot in the sky all other times of the year-and at night. which would mean that they were created with a statement to the significance of this light source in relation to a certain time. That, or they are always facing the moon...that's right-they could be living, rotating, light-attracted stone giants created by the hands of a magician-like stone carver with great secrets to his design. wait! maybe no man created them but they are works of the gods. but could they have always existed? perhaps they can look anywhere they want but choose to face the moon? or maybe I'm lying to you and these statues in the water don't even exist-i just conjured them up. this, i guess is a work of questions- without a given answer, or maybe there is an answer, maybe more than one. Now what are you? are you a creation made to be already pointed toward the light, as a statement of its significance? are you a living art form naturally designed to move about wherever good is-who knows how...a mystery of nature? maybe you and i are created by the Governor(s) of the universe? but could we have always been? do we choose to be looking where we look? are we even real? This is the great dilemma placed upon us as we enter, and then go about this life viewing one another...what is going on here? who are we? where do we come from? why do we face where we face (and why do we love the light)? well whatever the answers, we are perpetually questioning due to the peculiar nature of our very existence-how we stand, where we face and how we came to be. We are statues in the water.



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Moon

yea here you go. i couldnt come up w a better title, sorry. ok this is the first, and yet one of the best moonscapes i have ever made! do you see it? can you feel it? i can! i think that the reason it was so good for its time, even better than many i make now, is the same reason any artist often creates better things in the beginning. its because at first all you have is blankness. a canvas, a paper-thats all. from there you are not pressuring yourself to improve, you are only exploring-unafraid of mistakes. as time passes you begin to compete with yourself and any mistakes are, to you, a supposed sign of digression, or a step backward. the blank canvas becomes a dare to conquer yourself-you having created so much already. now the drawings of the past are not percieved by you as step by step creations, they are there own living thing, appearing as though theyve always existed (because, i guess, in a sense they have). And viewing things like that (looking back rather than ahead-and without the encouragement of seeing the steps) can be very intimidating to you. funny how you intimidate yourself. a pride thing perhaps? one of the many artist blocks suffered by most-all you artists are so prideful! Me too dagnabit! this is a fear i have struggled with for years. this drawing, along with Faith Fishing, Pure Thoughts, and Rise of the Tree-Men are the poster children for what i am speaking of here. they seem to dare me to try, saying "Beat this!" i will. Betsy Bush you better believe i will! this piece now belongs to Jenny Miller, a very good friend of mine.

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The Island

i love this piece! mainly it was inspired by my friend Jen (Yes, "The Hen") but also applies in many different levels and directions in my mind. 1st off why call it the island? that is a term that applies to a person, or people who are completely alone in a sense of being different, living off their own fruit, and who stand as a source of life for others (or a haven) in the middle of a deep black body of water that, by its very presence threatens to consume the weak and ill-prepared. i guess through these symbols one can understand the type of person this piece is referring to. There is one who is lodged in the branches of the tree on this island; there and only there fall books, or a record of the life had by, and made through this soul (the island) depicted here (for the tree lodger to receive). these records, or books, are meant to show that the life of this "island" is worth not only depicting, but also digesting through hearing of, dreaming of, learning of and seeking to understand the essence and motivation of this person. often estranged, these islands rarely shine as this one, due to loneliness or a people-trained inferiority. perhaps this piece stands as a statement out there to all the islands: I can see your light, i can see your life- your thoughts worth consuming, your ways worth studying. I say this not to bring the attention to myself as if I'm some sort of noble seer-a teller of personal greatness within you...no I'm just saying that though there are others in the world who are often blind to such light, or afraid to announce it, these great things DO exist within you...and i am not affraid to announce it................................there are other symbols hidden here: the eyes on the tree, the roots, the sun and moon etc- i have my thoughts on them but ill let those be to yal for personal interpretation.

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Against the Wind

This ones cool. look at it...see? it's COOL!

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The Human Connection

The main idea behind this piece comes from a hypothetical i had on the power of human intimacy-the very fullness of its desire being revealed through the deprivation thereof. what if all the world suddenly shook and there appeared a chasm in the form of a ring down the center-around the globe? (in this hypothetical there are no bridge-making technologies...or axes to cut down those trees :) friends and family would be separated, hearts would be broken and all attention would be devoted to the reuniting of us all. people would come in droves to all the places of connection on earth. These places would be greatly sought after, and revered as sacred. Each of these they would title: Connection, and to but touch the fingers of the ones they love would make their travels all worth while. That which was felt there would be the holy moment they would treasure until the next connection arrived in the form of another simple touch. this is simply demonstrating the potential drive for man kind to feel and be felt, to know and be known, to love and be loved. The next person who reaches across a Connection for me, i hope i will also be there reaching for them with equal strain.

Notice the point of connection, there are green leaves. are there green leaves anywhere else? this represents all the life found in that moment.

I made this for my friend Roni last year.

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Without Roots

What would happen to trees without roots-and that could fly? i don't think they would be content with the soil or water at their...uh feet (for lack of a better word) nor would they stay grounded- ever reaching at a snails pace for the sun. what would happen is these special trees would fly into all of the bodies of water, and up through the sky and to the sun. drowning and burning aren't the thoughts that come to mind when one looks at this piece...i think "release" and "freedom" are more like it. but really, that is what would happen, drowning and burning that is. trees are specifically made to move, grow and reach in a manner that is best for them. roots are what we need, on the ground is where we belong. what if, at any given moment, we could fly to whatever it is we want? before we realized its consequences we would find ourselves consumed in them (the consequences). puritanical sounding? Perhaps at first, but go ahead and live both lives and discover that it is infinitely better to be disciplined, to ponder our decisions and to work for what we want. (drawn for Tim Heywoods guitar studio place and is now hanging in his home.)

Compare to "Rise of the Tree-Men."

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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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