What do you get when you combine a statue by Rodin with the Phantom, Ghost Who Walks, the original super-hero? You get this:
The Perfect Man
Have you ever wondered what the perfect man looks like? Here is how:
Of course it’s not quite that simple and everyone has their very personal idea of what perfection means, and what it looks like. So, here is a perhaps surrealistically looking yet definitely more realistic visual of the perfect man:
Her Tenzing Norgay
I was considering a painting of the Dalai Lama so I was researching a bit. “Tenzin Gyatso”, I said, and Ryan says “Everyone has their Tenzing Norgay… where was that?”
It was in the movie “Intolerable Cruelty” and here’s the bit.
Wrigley: Who are you looking for?
Miles Massey: Tenzing Norgay.
Wrigley: Tenzing Norgay? That’s someone she slept with?
Miles Massey: I doubt it. Tenzing Norgay was the Sherpa that helped Edmund Hillary climb Mt. Everest.
Tenzin Norgay and Edmund Hillary
Wrigley: And Marilyn knows him?
Miles Massey: No, you idiot. Not the Tenzing Norgay. Her Tenzing Norgay.
Wrigley: I’m not sure that I actually follow that.
Miles Massey: Few great accomplishments are achieved single-handedly, Wrigley. Most have their Norgays. Marilyn Rexroth is even now climbing her Everest. I wanna find her Norgay.
Wrigley: But how do you determine which of the people on here are…
Miles Massey: How do you spot a Norgay?
Wrigley: Yeah.
Miles Massey: You start with the people with the funny names.
I’m still not sure whether to paint the Dalai Lama.
Barbaric Yawp
I am feeling quite peculiar.
Here is what comes to mind…
“I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world”
From “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman
Hair & Make-up
Here are two subjects you will rarely hear me talk about. It’s not that I have nothing to say about it though, so here are a couple of thoughts.
Hair
Either natural (no coloring, no covering up of one’s own hair in any way), or like this:
Photo by Melanie Dawn Harter, wisely-chosen
Makeup
Either natural, so no make-up whatsoever, or Siouxsie.
Changing one’s natural look only makes sense if it’s done as a statement or out of playfulness/creativity/self-expression. Otherwise it is… what? Insecurity or misrepresentation.
Then again, covering oneself out of insecurity is a form of self-expression as well. So then I suppose what matters is what is being expressed, so ultimately, what is on the inside needs to be beautiful or at least interesting.
The Aim of Art
The following quote by Aristotle about sums up the answer to questions such as “Why surrealism?”, “Why all the symbolism?”, etc.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, and this, and not the external manner and detail, is true reality.”
~Aristotle
The Nature of Dilemma
“From one split personality to another…”
I’ve been aware of my own duality quite acutely lately, which led to a new painting: “The Nature of Dilemma”.
Almost as soon as the painting was completed I continued working on it, but as a separate version.
Perhaps the purple painting was too purple, or for whatever reason, I have also created a more classic (and possibly more classy) variation on the painting.
Click on either painting to see the enlarged version.
Ignis Fatuus
I have just completed my latest painting, Ignis Fatuus.
Literally translated that means “fool’s fire”. The alternate title for the painting is “An Illusion’s Worth”.
Click on the image to see the enlarged view.
The Wave
“The Wave” is a digital painting about free choice, freedom, subjectivity of opinion, and trust. Its impact and understanding, its interpretation may differ from viewer to viewer, and if you have one, I would love to hear it!
Collecting Art
It is my goal to collect amazing pieces of art by other artists, so that my home is the most amazing gallery in the world, filled with beautiful and inspiring artworks, by myself and others.
I have started this collection a long time ago, but then came the internet and I switched to collecting stuff in an “online gallery” instead. That’s not the same though, so I am turning back to the original idea.
Conquering Writer’s Block
In search of inspiration some artists develop rather creative habits and approaches. The September/October 2011 issue of the Mental Floss magazine features several bizarre yet seemingly effective tips that famous writers have used in order to keep the muses nearby.
It’s a piece of cake. In order to create an environment suitable for muses to delve into and stay, here is what you do...
Damon and Pythias
The words friendship and friends are thrown around rather loosely nowadays. Social networks, like FaceBook, would have us believe that an acquaintance or a contact equals a friendship. Consequently, new generations are growing up with this terminology and to them the meaning of the word “friendship” may be truly lost.
Friendship and love – these words are sacred.
My son was watching an episode from his Greek Mythology cartoon DVD and it happened to be the story of Damon and Pythias. Sitting at my desk I could hear it, and it brought a tear to my eye.
This story, told by Aristoxenus, Cicero and others, has been a symbol for trust and loyalty in true friendship. Read it and see just how much we have downsized and degraded the meaning of that term…