Lets run

Have you ever thought about running away? Just running, not knowing where you'll end up, just hoping for an adventure. Not that people haven't been good to you, or anything traumatic has happened, but you feel.. stale. You are stuck somewhere in time and everything is racing around you so fast and you hardly have the energy to move. Its like this cosmic eggshell comes over your body that separates you from everyone and everything else. Things become putrid and begin to rot inside while you watch the outside run with all the fervor of new life. You know everything must change to break the shell and become the shining light you are supposed to be, living one and fluid with life and all of its strength, love and beauty. My question is.. how do we do this without completely destroying ourselves? How do we burn just the toxicity away? How do we live fully with Life? ... and how do we turn our lights back on once they've dimmed?

Writing about this made me think of a statement I had written for grad school, kind of an intent on what I was to do while there. Ill post since its along the same lines of what I'm talking about. here goes.

My intent is to explore the different avenues of self-worth and how we define value on a societal and spiritual level.

To begin, the body, physical manifestation of the self is to be represented as a container or shell containing the various elements we may hold to be either precious, heavy, etc., while this exterior is also seen as a veil partition that separates us from everyone else and the vast infinite. The items (whether they be feared, adored, burdensome, etc) combined with the individual nature of the selected vessel helps to make up the idea of a self. However, there is also a catalyst that is constantly pushing us- existence itself. I intend to represent this lot on Earth through various methods- the color red for blood and passion, the rhythmic beat from our heart and lungs that keep our mechanism alive, and liquid to represent the course, the cascade and the ever-shifting variable.

Now that we have defined allegories for the cause, we can now begin to explore the effect. What actions are taken when the items and its casing interact with others with different components? I want to raise questions such as who should be more valuable in our society and how do we determine that? Going forward, what is the interaction between ourselves after it is decided? What would make us love or desire? Why would we ever become lost in desire to the point where it becomes obsession? Why do we idolize? Why do some dress to fit an image they may deem as having value? Is it so subtle that we may all be unconsciously putting forth an image based on a past influence? Are we all suffering from malnutrition? Also, in a capitalistic society, such as ours, a young strong person who can generate the most productivity may be viewed as valuable while an elderly being may not. Should our worldly leaders be our elders with their years of experience or will they hold us back towards progression with their outdated mode of thought? Or should they be young with new ideas, full of hopes and aspirations, but with a blind naivete and little accomplishment and history behind them? Lastly, what does that fear of aging and eventually losing a coveted concept as youth, do to our gears and cogs and how are the artifacts affected and changed? What do we lose? But more importantly, what do we gain?

Sculpture

This one was an attempt at making a comic book type sculptural relief telling the story about a little girl getting wrapped up in the magic of playing with all these fireflies on the hill under the moon, only to be abducted into the castle by this firefly king and turned into one herself. I don't really think the flow on this one was very successful, it's kind of all over the place and a little confusing, so, eh.. lol. I'd like to do more like it though for sure. This one was about 3 ft wide and about a foot tall, made out found objects, sculpey, wood and plaster.
This one seems to be a crowd favorite.. Gertrude and Mortimer Ogilvy. The intention, or idea at first was to be just her, lamenting over her past lover. I had this whole set planned out, but there were things about it that didn't work. I like how he is slowly trailing by her anyways. And since, Mortimer has went ahead and taken his timely demise anyways.. he broken in half then fell out the chair :/ But these guys are about 4ft tall ( 6 +the umbrella) made out of sculpey, cast plastic, wood and found items.
Love this guy, hes about a foot tall and fully posable. His head hands and feet are cast plastic and the rest of his body is wood.

This was just something to work on during my time in Atl, I think I will be adding to him soon.. Hes about a foot tall, made out of sculpey, wood and found items with a wood and wire armature.

I have since changed Miguel's feathers on his under belly to a pink and light blue and much happier with him :) but I need to fix his head now.. it melted from being stored in a compartment over the summer. haha eh well.. maybe I can fix it.

Paintings

Portraiture

The Origin

Ok, so I thought it would be a good time to let you guys know what my work is about and give you a statement. This was for a show at the Sue Layman Gallery downtown I had last year:

This is an attempt to create figures who physically embody a sense of longing for a variety of reasons and who possess a characteristic of drifting deep into the inner workings of the soul. The re-occuring image of a long neck symbolizes head separating from the body, or reality, and being in another imagined state. It can simply mean sitting and contemplating the simplest question to the vastness of life. Some of these characters have the desire to raise to a more spiritual level, but feel they do not have what they need. Contrary, there is also the idea that a being can be swept away by something beautiful but dwells on not wanting to let himself go because he is comfortable on the ground. The red balloon, to me is a symbol of a childish hope and playfulness. It can be personified as a being of happiness who reminds us of when everything was wonderful in the world and we had at least one friend - the balloon. This series has a lot to do with the concept of loneliness and dwelling on ideas of love and companionship. Each solo character is tied to their own environment, yet respecting and complimenting the others space. They are unmoving, lost in a moment that seems to last forever, dwelling on ideas or situations that affect who they are on the outside. Sometimes in order to just move, we must dig deep, test our character, and RISE.

Pictures will coming soon, I promise! Working on watermarks at the moment. :)

New Metatron painting

ok, this what i came up with.. Im liking because it fits with his concept of perfect mathematics and design, being Metatron, God's scribe, and creator of the physical realm.. The design is very structured and measured.. Beginning to get frustrated, I just started measuring everything out, relating everything to something else, and it all started flowing together..
his hair still definitely needs work, but im liking his face so far.. oh and dont be fooled, yes his head is proportionate to his body, its just a bad camera effect haha
so im liking how the figure looks, but having trouble with the wings.. i really want him to enveloped by this feathery cocoon.. i dunno, it has a long way to go, but letting you guys know the progress

Pictures are coming soon! I will show you something I found on the internet as my inspiration for the latest painting. It's Metatron, a scribe of God with three sets of wings and who developed Metatron's cube, the design that that creates the universe.

Hey everybody

So its been an amazing past few weeks. Everything seems to be working out and falling into place. I am finally back home after a year long deployment in Atlanta. Living in a another city, away from things, was a great experience and something I think was something that needed to and was supposed to happen for various reasons. Lance, you made it awesome and and there's no way I would've lasted that long if it wasn't for you. Eric, I'm glad I met you too. You were certainly an experience. Now, I'm back in Memphis and things seem to be flying so fast, I can barely keep up. I released the chains of Pinnacle and the universe seemed to hand me The Gap. I have orientation today, on my birthday! :) The plan is, to paint, have shows and sell lots of stuff up until its time for University of Memphis in the fall. I know people say not to go to a grad school thats in the same city as your undergrad, but I'm done being all over the place and missing people close to me. I'm ready to settle a bit and get a great job in the arts, which I think its going to be teaching on a college level. So that's it guys, that's where I'm at. Bare with me, I'm trying to write in this thing more to let you guys my progress on my career and events related to it. Hopefully, this will stay primarily an art blog, a diary if you will.

Anyways, I want to read you guys something that just kind of flowed out of me when I was looking for inspiration one day.. I think its universal for everyone, so I hope you get something out of it. I did.

Jason, nothing has to be as big as you dream. It can all be right here. This small moment can be as vast and wondrous as you make it. Your life is special. You are special. You know you have gifts already in you, waiting to be opened. They are your wings. Remember Icarus. When you use them for yourself, you fall. They are tools for escape. You will grow and feel accomplished after you get to where you are going. That is when you will be happy. Maybe not during the voyage, because as you know, voyages aren't always so fun. It is an adventure. There are ups and downs, triumphs and disappointments, but mostly long periods of wait.. until you get there. YOU WILL GET THERE. TRUST in your wings, little Icarus. Believe in them. If you do not believe they are there, they won't be. You are one with them. They are you, and you are them. We are here, we are together, and we are one entity guiding you on this special journey. Predetermined visions are rocks to pull yourself towards and rocks tied to you from behind. Pull yourself to your dreams, without expectation of how it should be. You must be flexible and in complete trust. You can't see the entire road while driving at night, only what your headlights allow you to see. And yet, you keep going.