Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Some of you may have noticed I have not been exactly knocking out the LIPs the last few months. Or perhaps you didn’t and so a hello from out of the blue may be a welcome respite from procrastinating on  those oh so easily made new year’s resolutions.

Regardless, the last three months here  have gone to different endeavors, the contents of which I shall not bore you. Suffice it to say that poor Ben is still nursing a very, very cold cup of coffee, regretting that he ever sat down at my easel to be painted without a guaranteed completion date.

But it IS a new year!!!! That means there is hope for Ben but more importantly it means I joyfully offer you my most heartfelt wishes that your New Year is filled with Light, Love, Compassion, Tolerance and Peace.   And that you pass it all along!

Love, and Blessings,

Bruce

During my three-hour stint, I got some pages turned on what is shaping up to be a good escapist science fiction novel.  I was also  treated to a wide range of visitors.  About fifty adults and ten kids came through the show. All kinds of shapes, sizes, social strata, shades of color and levels of interest.  Some folks took quite a long time to rest with each piece in the show. Some came in and did a quick lap as if combining their cultural requirement with their daily exercise routine. Couples or singles pushed their strollers, attention split up between what was on the wall and who was in the stroller.  Married tourists made dutiful stops together  as if the respective works of art had been scheduled into their  vacation itinerary.   Boyfriends impressed girlfriends with their artistic knowledge. Girlfriends exasperated boyfriends by not taking them seriously.  One guy sat down and told me how much his wife loved to do art but just hadn’t done it in years as she winsomely floated around the show with a sad smile.  A very wise man stopped his family from coming in with him and told them he’d catch up with them later.  He took his sweet time, relishing every minute of it.

180 pieces were entered into the show.  50 were selected by Neida Bangarter, a respected gallerist and juror from Mauai. It was a good quality show, varied with different styles and expressions. She also curated the show well. She began the show with abstracts, the artwork becoming more finite as you continued along.  And she ended the show with the most  representational style of work.  There were four  awards of merit  handed out and the State of Hawaii bought five pieces for their collection that is rotated for exhibition  in public places.  Ahh, the artistic ego. I felt very gratified when informed that  my ” Salt Pond Country Store”  made the cut and would be included in the show. But alas, I was not amongst the elite who had garnered an award or been bought by the State. So of course I left an utter failure after opening night, doomed to return to endless weed whacking. Or as an old friend once humorously said about a particular situation that he had royally messed up– “Hampered by the inability to create, I must destroy”. Well-  it was’t that bad , but ego is a pain in the ass on a good day and I confess to  temporarily buying into a level of non inspiration for future work.

However,  I was richly rewarded yesterday. From a vantage point at the front door and from behind my cheesy sci-fi novel, I got a pretty good view of most people’s reactions to the artwork. For the most part, people enjoyed looking at everything  in the show, others went back to a piece several times or spent longer in front of one versus another.  I must say,  I believe I was strongly in the running for most popular piece with the locals. You know, the locals- the kind who enjoys a good lunch at L&L and  doesn’t own a pair of leather shoes. Those who enjoy strolling in the mall with their girlfriend or boyfriend on their afternoon off. Those who have a fishing rod in the back of the truck for after work.  Those who have beer to celebrate something or just have a beer to have a beer. This series of images I’ve been working on the last two years are about Kauai. They are a threads that weave together  a glimpse of the everyday Island.  Some thing or place you see but don’t see because it’s too ordinary,  so you miss out on a good story or an incredibly lighted moment. The paintings aren’t in your face emotional,they are more like dry humor. But even though they aren’t dramatic,  I do want them to be engaging, to tell a story, to make someone want to take in the light.  Honestly,  I also wanted to paint something everyone on the island can relate to and take pleasure in  (visitors and locals alike) while satisfying my own creativity.

So I felt validated yesterday to see a number of the locals really enjoy Salt Pond. They stopped and smiled while looking at it, pointing at various details.  Inevitably they would get closer to see something better. Some waited for their partners to catch up and look at it together  (hey, maybe they knew the lady going in the front door or the guy who owned the truck?). One gal went out and got  her boyfriend and brother to come  look at it.  Cool, very cool. Mission accomplished. Thanks everyone. Onto the next painting.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,

Bruce

Sorry Folks,  it has been an MIA kinda time lately.  Dealing with some pinched nerve neck issues which makes for a creative and challenging period of world. I’ll spare you the verbage, but can say I sympathize with that bus.

Some art news for you—- in the center of the art world–New York- Adi Da Samraj had a very successful opening at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery. Haven’t seent any formal reviews yet, looking forward to that, but the words from people there had a very common theme…”  The gallery felt extremely Happy and Bright-high energy. The art was unique and the quality of the fabrication was extraordinary and cutting edge…. and happy.”  People were milling about inside and outside on the street and no one was ready to go home even after the scheduled hours for the show to close. Hopefully much buzz will be created. It was the opening of the gallery season in New York as well as the opening of Fashion Week, so such a good turnout was an auspicious beginning to this show.

New York opening for Adi Da Samraj

On a much more humble and closer to home note-  I submitted some paintings for the annual Kauai Society of Artists juried show. It’s a  respected annual show  here. The best one on the island. The juror, Neida Bangarter, is from Maui, and is a well thought of professional. There were  180 entries and she chose 50 for the show so it seems the bar was high which is good.  One exciting thing for the artists is that this show is the only one on Kauai that the acquisitions committee for the state of Hawaii  Art in Public Paces  program visits and buys several pieces for the States collection. So it is a good place to be seen.

Got a call today and my ” Salt Pond Country Store” was one of the 50 selected for the show. Of course it would be tremendous if the state wanted to add it to it’s artistic coffers but even if they don’t it is rewarding to make the cut.  The show opens on Sept.18th for six weeks. I’ll let you know if by some stroke of artistic luck “Salt Pond” will be staying behind with new owners. Glad the bus wasn’t entered, though. Talk about stealing the show. It would make one cool installation piece.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,

Bruce

start em youmg

In case you don’t know,  ”August” in Hawaiian translates to something like “Just  where the hell did my desire to be creative and  communicative  go ?”  Besides the astrological cop-out of it being a month of planetary vibrational conflict and stress all across the zodiacal board and therefore a most excellent month to lie low- hey, sometimes it happens. all artists go thru this.

However, in the mood of simply waving hello from my Kaholalele Rd. foxhole, I would like to share this  humorous story Aaron related from his afternoons visit to Home Depot.

While he was there,  he saw this young boy throwing a class A temper tantrum, major leauge crying and yelling.  ( I guess the youngster didn’t hear that August was over and the planetary stress was waning).  The kid’s dad was laughing his keester off.  Aaron went on about his business, because maintenance and repair of the Sanctuary never sleeps. Indeed, we  fondly refer to Home Depot as the Outer Temple.  Meanwhile the young boy and his father have made it out to the parking lot where Aaron’s friend  was waiting  and witnessed  the same event – world class tantrum, laughing father. She was close enough to hear what the young guy was so torqued about.  In between the boy’s crying fits he was yelling….. ” I want…. I want…. I want…a CEILING FAN !!!”   Truly a contractor to be.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,      

Bruce

homage to Francis Bacon

True Confession -and no shocking revelation to those who know me-  I am not a neat and tidy kinda guy. I try.  Indeed, things have improved over the years and although I am non fully grown up yet,  a Sloppy Sagittarius  am I.

In case any of you out there were  wondering just who the heck Francis Bacon was, he was an Anglo-Irish painter who died in 1992. He painted raw, emotional figuratives. Strong stuff. And he was  the undisputed art king of mess. I mean the guy simply did not clean up his studio in his whole career. It was an archeological dig. Impressive actually. When something hit the floor,  it stayed there.  So although I am not in Mr. Bacon’s rarefied category, I thought a nod of the pallet would be appropriate in the caption to the progress photo from  the weekend.

Not much progress actually but hey it takes a while to build a bridge, shape and trim coconut trees, pot plants and seed clouds. What the heck did you do this weekend, huh? Anyhow, since it is late and it is a construction site I confess it isn’t that neat and tidy as I say hello and goodnight  and wish you all a good start to your week.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,

Bruce

the zinnia neighborhood and pollen factory

Now this post fits into the “factoids you will most likely forget in ten minutes” category but what the hey. You get what you pay for.

Just where did the phrase ” cup of joe ” come from?  For those of you who have been kept awake at night trying to figure that out, here is your salvation:

– Josephus Daniels (1862�1948) was appointed Secretary of the U.S. Navy by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Among his numerous reforms of the Navy was the abolition of the officers wine mess. From that time on, the strongest drink aboard navy ships was coffee and over the years, a cup of coffee became known as “a cup of Joe”.

commander in chief ponders the Joe question

In the wee small hours of the morning, when all distractions are fast asleep,  Mr Aaron Nakagawa is just getting into gear.  Musical phrasing,  recorded tracks and layovers, retakes and EQ tweaks, it seems the the art of mixing music is best done after midnight.

Recently, Aaron collaborated with Hanne  Skov,  a gifted Danish vocalist who had been spending time on Kauai, exploring the healing and creative energies of this Island.  There is a CD in production from those sessions, a unique one that will soon  be available to the benefit of your ears.

One of the songs on that collaboration, is “Kannon”,  a piece Aaron wrote  last year  and used in his video production of my artwork. It is a different song now, rounder and more full with Hanne’s added contribution and the  richly expressive clarinet of  Kauai resident and music professor,  Laine Griffith.  Hanne’s mature voice is full and complex, intuitive and  lithe,  penetrating and suddenly floating. A very good team.    Kannon is  beautiful, haunting music.

Aaron took the newly reworked “Kannon” and added a two of my  latest paintings so we could  offer everyone  a visual  as well as audio update.  I will let know you  when their CD,   “Twilight  Ti”,  has left  the After Midnight Production Studios and is on the shelf.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,

Bruce

Since the photos were taken at different times day, the actual lighting greatly affects the quality of light and color. In other words,  you weren’t looking at the same basic photo by which to make a proper visual judgement.  Sorrrrrry!!!

But just for fun and to show you what I mean by fine tuning, here is a list of what I worked on Sunday.

-  Sharpened the lines on the Temple. Both the dome and the rest of the structure.

- Darkened the shading on the dome.

-Darkened the shadow lines under most of the architectural elements of the Dome Temple for better contrast

- Rounded some clouds so they weren’t overtly echoing the shape of the dome

-Darkened the blue of the sky that was peaking out of the palm trees

- darkened the shadows in the palm trees

- highlighted more of the lichen color in the trunks of the palms.

-deepened the shadows of the trees to the right of the temple

- brought forward the red flowers more in the trees on either side of the temple

- more orange in the window to the left of the temple

- more intense color, more orange, etc in the water reflection for more glow.

- straightened the lines on the fountain pipes

-floated some violets and blues into the sidewalk and added some grout lines to help ground the sidewalks more.

-darkened the face of the sidewalk from the pond  sidewalks to the walkway sidewalk

- flushed out the entry door, put a suggestion of a door handle, door sill an more shadow under the lights.

So if you got any of these changes, big or small,  you may thoroughly enjoy  your burrito. And if you didn’t, you may thoroughly enjoy your burrito.

please pass the salsa,

Bruce

"Waters of Conscious Light" 24 x 30; arylics; Temple Adi Da, Da Love Ananda Mahal Renunciate Sanctuary

The “Waters” painting is with the print master.  The giclee should be ready by weeks end.  Thanks to Bryan and Aaron for helping me see some things that were either escaping my awareness and others  I was ignoring and hoping no one would notice.   The sidewalks still received a tiny more work after this last photo so  this isn’t the absolute latest digital image, but plenty good. I must say though, the painting has a lot of mana in person.

It was an interesting time, painting a subject  that resides at Sacred Grounds which are set apart for contemplation, meditation, service and the reception of uninterrupted Blessing. Moving onto the next painting, a street scene in Kapaa feels like a casual conversation after finishing a heart deep discussion with an intimate.  I do have some other subject though I want to paint of the Sanctuary and will do so  after this next one. Or maybe not. If I can locate one from the archives I have in mind it my just alter the course of the artistic river.

But for now here’s a sketch of the proposed new one:  Looking from the inside  of the Small Town coffee shop onto the tables and across the street to a bridge that goes over the river by the ocean. Clouds have yet to be sketched in.

Ben drinks Jo

Lotsa positive comments over this current piece. Thank you all for taking the time to voice your support.

Thanks for taking some LIP from me,

Bruce

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