Images for August 15, 2011 - Bring Out the Gimp

Here's another sculpture I did many years ago. He was one of a series of little busts that I sketched up in Sculpey, a polymer clay. I usually painted them with acrylic paints, but this one was never painted. I recently was surfing up what other artist are doing with Sculpey and found a whole group doing some fantastic sci-fi and fantasy genre stuff. One of my favorites are The Shiflett Brothers. Their work continues the same epic sense of adventure and power that painters like Frank Frazetta and Boris Vallejo are so well-known for. Looking at their work and going back and reexamining my own from back-in-the-day, is making me a little itchy to push some clay around again...

OK HW

Images for August 14, 2011 - African Mask Drawing

Got a little drawing done today. I have to get my skills sharpen in anticipation for the Monster Drawing Rally in Richmond at the 1708 Gallery later this month.

This is a "Gabun, Bakota figure" that I drew from an old book titled, "Primitive Art: It's Traditions and Styles". I like this piece because it is so abstract and alien. After finishing the drawing I noticed how asymmetrical the main form is of my version  compared to the original and I'm OK with that. The aim of the exercise was not to perfectly replicate the photograph; I may have well just scanned the photo and posted that, instead I wanted to filter it through my hand, brain and heart and see what happened.

OK HW

Images for August 10, 2011 - The Amazing Hypno-Man

Stare deep into my eyes...Deeper, DEEPER. Yes, that is better. Your eye lids are growing heavy, heavier, really dang heavy. BAM yo ass should be asleep.

Beware the Amazing Hypno-Man! You never know when he'll strike next!

OK HW

Images for August 9, 2011 - The Cement Pond

Today at work I got to participate in a little piece of NASA history. The "Hydro Impact Basin" or HIB the new big pool that's being used for Orion testing, was officially declared open. It was an unpleasantly hot and humid day, but that only encouraged the many visiting dignitaries to keep their speeches brief.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the official NASA Langley article on the event. If you watch the video, you can catch a glimpse of me in the crowd shot right after the ribbon cutting at :35 (I'm kneeling, taking a photo, a little off to the left and wearing a plaid shirt).

Here are a few of my shots from the event:

My pal Rob video-taping the event.
That's the HIB or "cement pond" behind him.

Lining up for the cut are Lesa Roe (LaRC Center Director)
and some politicians including Bobby Scott.

And that's a wrap!

OK HW

Image for July 30, 2011 - The Kill Circuit

This is my friend EJ and he's in a great rock band called "The Kill Circuit". They played at the new Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach tonight and they blew the joint right on up. This is the fourth or fifth time that I've seen them and this was their best show by far. The sound was great, the lads were tight and swinging it hard. They get better with every show. Check'em out sometime.

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Image for July 29, 2011 - Little Gifts

Sometimes the universe gives us little gifts. Today's gift for me was having a rather large dragonfly land on a fence, two feet from me. He (I always think of dragonflies as "He's") hung out for a few minutes and let me snap some photos with my phone camera. I got to commune with him and study his beautiful coloring and intricate, exquisite head. Fly on brother dragonfly!

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Image for July 27, 2011 - Ekpo Mask Drawing

Been too long since I spilled some ink in the little sketchbook. This was drawn out of a book of African Masks. This mask was too crazy to ignore; reminded me of Bootsy Collins. It is a tiny drawing, less then two inches high. It felt good to make some art, no matter how small.

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Image for July 26, 2011 - Pink Cadillac

I actually took this Sunday, not today, but it's too good not to share. I spent part of that day rolling around in fine retro style in the back of this limping pimp wagon on a tour of Virginia's wine country. It was all to celebrate a friend's 40th birthday (who's name will remain a secret in case he wants to pass younger). There were six of us crammed into the well-worn cabin of this relic from a Barry White fever dream. There was a bar and phone and even a cassette deck in the back there! All was great until the brake light came on and the tour company thought better then to risk a limo full of paying customers on the mountain roads, and sent out a replacement mini-van. It was fun while it lasted.

OK HW

Thai-Mex in the Mountains of Virginia

I shot this weird little shrine in a Thai-Mex Restaurant in the mountains of Virginia off 151. Was just in for a quick beer while waiting for some carry-out pizza. The menu in this place was intriguing with smells from the kitchen to match. Next time...

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Image for July 21, 2011 - Orion Splash Down!

Today I got to exercise one of the very cool fringe benefits of my job. I got to witness first hand a splash test of the next generation space vehicle, the Orion. It looks very similar to the Apollo capsule and would have a water landing, so today they were testing that aspect of the design. It was stupid hot out by the Gantry where they drop stuff to see what happens and the test was a bit late, but well worth the wait. I missed the moment of impact, so have included a shot that the Langley Office of Public Affairs posted on Twitter of the splash. Here's my shots.

Courtesy of NASA Langley OPA

Image for July 20, 2011 - What the Hell is it?

I don't know, but whatever it is, it appeared overnight after a heavy rain. My guess is it's some kinda mushroom, but let's have some fun and pretend that it's an invading alien of some kind. Not a silver disk full of classic big-headed greys, or some giant senseless freak crashing about or legions of murderous robots, just some weird, simple thing that appears one day and just starts to grow and cover everything. Hmmmm.....

OK HW

Image for July 18, 2011 - Dirty Mini-Van Star Wars

I have started to leave my camera out for my commute to and from work so I can capture the random weirdness that I see so often. It's yielded a few gems and I have missed even more, but today I hit the jackpot. Two key moments from "Star Wars: A New Hope" drawn into the dirt on the back window of a mini-van. On the left there is a light saber duo; hard to tell if it's Darth and Obi-Wan, but I think it could be. The figure on the left clearly has a larger head, hence Darth's helmet. On the right side of the glass is the rebel run on the Death Star. I am amazed that such simple drawings can conjure up such a huge chunk of pop culture. It was nice to see someone do something different with a dirty vehicle window then the usual "Wash Me!" and a smiley face.

OK HW

Image for July 17, 2011 - Portable God

I rarely see open displays of religion, christian or otherwise,  on dashboards these days, so was blown away when I stumbled across this magnificent shrine beautifully installed in a mini-van in the parking lot of a convenience store in Hampton, Va. I'm not sure which deity this is intended for, maybe Hindu god? I love the mystery and ornate quality of this piece. And what's in the bag?

OK HW

Image for 7-16-11 - Now & Zen

Lorraine & Janet

My wife is exhibiting some of her large scale multimedia drawings at The ODU Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Gallery in joint show with her  friend, Lorraine Fink called "Now & Zen". The opening was last night and the crowd was large and enthusiastic. It was wonderful to see so many old friends and also meet a some new ones. The Baron and Ellin Art Gallery is a splendid setting for viewing art and showcased this show's over-sized paintings and drawings perfectly. If you missed the opening last night, but still would like to see the art, no worries as it's on through September fourth.  Do yourself a favor and get some culture.

OK HW

Image for 7-15-11 - Playing Hooky

Sometimes you just gotta break out of the routine and reclaim your life. I took the day off from work today. It was necessary to recharge the batteries. I decided to devote some of the day to reconnecting with my creative life. I've been feeling guilty about not working on my book project to collect my old underground comic, so today was the day to get back on track. I also finished my first wood carving, the fish I posted about not long ago. All he lacked was a sealing coat of polyurethane. Good night my son.

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Goodbye Atlantis - July 8, 2011

I watched the Shuttle launch for the last time today. It was a flawless launch, though there was a brief delay at the :31 second mark for one last bit of reflection. I work at NASA Langley, so this milestone means a lot to me. I've always been a fan of the space program and it's been a true honor to get to work with the people who make the Shuttle possible. To share this historic moment with my such a good group of people is an honor. There are two theaters here on center and the main viewing event was set-up at the Pearl Young Theater, I opted for the back-up location as it is across the street from my office and it was also not as packed. There was no cheering when the spacecraft cleared the launch pad, we all have learned the hard way to wait a bit now until that brilliant sliver of light reaches high enough to be safely in orbit. It was a somber, sad affair for the people watching in the room many of whom have spent their entire career working on the Shuttle. The USA will officially have no way to put humans into space after this mission. NASA's limited budget ($19 Billion this year, less then one sixteenth of one percent of the overall budget, less then two months worth of what we spend just on the Afghanistan war) forces the choice between maintaining a fleet of low orbit vehicles like the Shuttle or going for deep space goals like the Moon, Mars and beyond. They are choosing the later leaving the low orbit work to the private sector and Elon Musk's Space X Falcon System which is scheduled to have it's first manned launch in 2014. That seems like a long way off. Godspeed Atlantis!

OK HW

Image for 7-6-11 - The Speed of Life

Time is going by too fast for me right now. Once we get past the Fourth of July, it feels like a quick jump from Labor Day to Halloween and Christmas. I've been spending a lot of time on the road lately between the trips to Mississippi and Nags Head, not to mention my daily commute to work of fifty-four miles (roundtrip). Life becomes a blur at times, my own version of "Groundhog Day", wake-up-work-home-sleep-repeat. All we can do is make the time we have count for something.

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Image for 7-4-11 - Happy Birthday America!

I spent the weekend down in Nags Head, NC with friends. It was a classic Fourth of July weekend; hot, hazy and lazy. The beach was covered in tourist. The pelicans glided through the hot air. Occasionally, a pod of dolphins cut through the waves. We ate, we drank and we napped. It was a fine time. Unfortunately, we had to drive back today,  so no fireworks at the beach, which was a slight drag. Any hope to catch some here at home was dampened by a heavy storm front. Happy 235th Birthday America.

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image for 7-2-11 - Train Game

Saturday night dominos with friends. Nothing better. Especially when I win!

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Image for 6-30-11 - Sunset

I did something last night that I haven't done in awhile, I walked on the beach to enjoy the sunset. It's easy to take for granted the beach option that lies just a few feet from my front door. I'm not naturally a beach person, you won't find me hunkered down in my beach chair sizzling like a hot dog in the blazing sun. I do like to walk on the beach, particularly in the off season. I also like a good sunset (who doesn't). The beauty is so brief. That twilight glow is unreal, calming and peaceful and can help one forget the tensions of the day. I need to do that more often.

OK HW