Put the Phone Down - 3/26/15 - Image-a-day

I saw this display on the drive home today. I appreciate that some city worker took the time and creative energy to try to do something fun to get this message across. It occurred to me that this is probably a futile effort as it isn't illegal to talk on your cell phone in Virginia. Maybe they meant, "Stop Texting". Whatever the intent, I dig the big traffic cone creatures.

OK HW

The Door - 3/20/15 - Image-a-day

I took a different route home today to avoid the Friday traffic. Along the way, I saw this mysterious door in a stone wall protecting a hidden space. This door is an eccentric detail for the neighborhood; the entire area as there's not much in the way of original architecture here. I wondered who carved the door. Was it a commission? Did the homeowner carve it him (her?) self? I will carve a door like this one day.

OK HW

Love Yourself by Ralf Schulze - 3/17/2015 - Image-a-day

Today's image is a drawing done by my good, old friend Ralf Schulze. It was in a crazy package of bootleg movies and music and random DaDa bits and pieces. Ralf and I met through the underground comix zine scene way back in the late 1980s. We have managed to some how through the years, maintain a friendship. He's always been good at constructing elaborate packages full of art and silliness. It's like unpacking some lost time capsule from a tribe that got wiped out by unknown forces. I've tried to repay in-kind with my own packages, but they always seem to fall just short of Ralf's weird, eccentric glory.

I love this demented piece of art called, "Love Yourself". I see a skull fragmenting across some cyberpunk universe. If you can't love yourself, then who will?

OK HW

Where Do Lo-Fi-Ga's Come From? - 3/15/15 - Image-a-day

One of my regular hiking routes takes me through a nearby park that has several Hickory Nut trees along the path. I'd seen the broken nut husks on the ground for years and never thought much about them until I was invited to take part in the "Small Works" art exhibition held at the Charles H. Taylor Center in Hampton, Virginia ever fall. I was looking for a fresh idea and seized upon these naturally discarded nut containers. Their shape suggested to me tiny, primitive masks and so the Lo-Fi-Ga's were born! Im careful to only select sound fragments that won't break or crumble. Today's image is the harvesting grounds.

OK HW

Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac - 3/12/15 - Image-a-day

My Portrait of Jack Kerouac

In 1922 Jack Kerouac was born today. He only lived to the age of forty-seven when he died in his Mother's bathroom from internal bleeding brought on by acute alcoholism. His best known book, "On the Road" has inspired me to try and live a life of adventure and non-conformity. I reread it every few years and find as I grow older my perspective on the book changes. Now it seems naive and nostalgic and magical, were once it was the future. I still love it and love the beats and the prefect, neverland of beatnik Ponderosa that I'll always be chasing.

Sleep well Jack and know your words still ring true in the hearts and minds of a billion earnest dreamers searching for kicks beyond the work-a-day life.

OK HW

Art Supplies - 3/10/15 - Image-a-day

I've been carrying around a twenty-five dollar American Express gift card I received as a gift since Christmas. I didn't want to thoughtlessly blow it on a burger and a couple of beers. I wanted to think of something tangible I could get, something that would feed the better part of my soul, so I got some art supplies. It is impossible for me to go into an art supply store and not buy something. I always will buy another sketchbook or journal. This time I got two. Art supplies symbolize possibility and empowerment. I managed to get all this great stuff and still had four bucks and change left over.

What kind of art supplies do you like to buy?

OK HW

Angel Wing - 3/8/15 - Image-a-day

Finishing carving an Angel's Wing in basswood. It's a commission of sorts for a friend. When I researched  Angel's Wings on the interwebs, I was confounded to find such a mind-boggling variety. One could spend an entire life carving Angel's Wings and never repeat a style. There are far smaller ways to live a life...

OK HW

Pop Criner - 3/7/2015 - Image-a-day

Nine years ago today the world lost a bright and charming soul, my step Dad, Johnny "Pop" Criner. He was an adventurer, a musician, a gourmet cook, and the love of my Mom's life. Pop was a career Navy man and loved to tell tales of all the places he had been. He taught me how to shave and drive and tie a tie, much of what makes me the man I am today came from him. For a time he and my Mom lived in Norfolk, Va. where I was living and every week I'd go over on Tuesday nights to have dinner with them. Pop loved to cook fancy meals, trying out new recipes and we'd start every meal with a raised glass of wine and his signature toast, "I wonder what the po'folks is doing!", which always brought an ironic smile to my face because we were the po'folks if you measured our bank accounts. In all the ways it truly counted, the love and laughter accounts, we were truly rich indeed.

I miss and love you Pop!

OK HW

Happy Friday Night! - 3/6/15 - Image-a-day

I am so glad it is the weekend! This is a fun little piece by Battle Babies I got years ago at the Heroes Comic Convention in Charlotte, NC. Tonight it represents the spirit of Friday night! Party on!

OK HW

The Game of Art - 3/5/15 - Image-a-day

Where do ideas come from? Sometimes they are a lightening bolt out-of-the-blue. Sometimes you got to work hard for them. Other times, you just play the game. Turn off that critical part of your brain that shits on everything and just have some fun. It's a lovely puzzle to play at changing the world. Artists create something from nothing. Given the choice between being an artist and being a billionaire, I'd gladly pick artist because that well is infinite and can never be taken away, while money, no matter the amount, can be lost in a second. Any day I can play the game is a good day indeed.

OK HW

HRBT Traffic Stop - 3/4/2015 - Image-a-day

I drive through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel (HRBT) twice everyday for work. It is one of the many traffic choke points in Tidewater. Today I was three cars away from making it though the tunnel, when the dreaded "Prepare to Stop" sign flashed and the man halted the flow. I used to get stressed out by these unscheduled breaks, but now take it as an opportunity to breath and enjoy the scenery. Today I saw this fishing boat on it's commute home while I waited.

OK HW

Meet the latest Lo-Fi-Ga, "Hoo-Tah" - 3/3/15 - Image-a-day

Here is another Lo-Fi-Ga I recently finished. His name is "Hoo-Tah", the spirit of mysterious sounds in the night.

All of the Lo-Fi-Ga's are carved from  Hickory Nut Husk. This one, without the base, is about an inch and quarter high.

OK HW