52 Fridays - Bad Drawing? All Good

Happy Friday and week five of this weekly drawing project. This week's subject is a weird, tiny building that I saw and photographed in Hakkaido, Japan. There is an abundance of weird, tiny buildings all over Japan, and I have amassed quite a collection, so this won't be the last weird, tiny Japanese building that I will draw. 

Is this a bad drawing? It's not great, but I enjoyed doing it and like some things about it, but it's not great. This drawing was actually my second attempt, my first effort was the next drawing to the lower left;  a quick ballpoint pen sketch that followed the original image more closely. Notice that I removed the fence in the second attempt to simplify the composition. This tiny building with the ridiculously large vent reminds me of a robot head and I decided to play with that vision, so did a few more quick sketches. I also did multiple drawings of this subject because I wasn't satisfied with any of these drawings. I felt like they were "bad" because I didn't capture the soul and character of the building as I remember it and what I see in the photo. Even so, I am satisfied with myself for pushing through and continuing to play with this subject, that was fun, so it is all good. The moral of the story is, keep pushing.

Now go do your own bad drawing!

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52 Fridays - Totonac Mexican Skull

This week's Friday drawing is from an image from Instagram posted by "smithsiannmai" of a "Totonac pottery mold used to make sugar or paper maché skulls for Day of the Dead, ca 1940. Veracruz, Mexico". I drew this on December 12th. I love skulls and this one has a weird, simple quality and shape that made it fun to draw.

See you next week.

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52 Fridays - Is It Magic? Or Is It Crap?

Happy Friday! Here is my third drawing of this “52 Fridays” drawing project. It is of a wooden figure of the Chimu African tribe from 1000-1470 AD. I worked from a photo found in a book called "Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art" that I found on The Metropolitan Museum of Art web site. They have made available over five hundred art books for free, as PDF files. It is a treasure trove for any art lover, so if you are looking to be inspired, pay them a visit and download a few (dozen) books. You will feel better, I promise you.

I choose this figure because I liked his shape and for the strong wood grain texture. There is also an "x-factor" there, something that I connected with that I can't articulate and don't want to spoil by thinking too much about it. 

I roughed out the basic shape in pencil and did the final drawing with a cheap, black Bic ballpoint pen. I like to draw, but always have to fight through the resistance of my critic and doubting mind to get to the fun part. That shitty voice is always telling me that whatever marks I am making are crap, that it's wrong, why am I bothering, and, of course, "you are a fraud". I've learned to fight through this, nodding my head and mentally agreeing in a patronizing way, "Yes, yes, you are right", but I continue on anyways. I always give myself an out that I don't have to show anyone if it really is that bad. I find drawing to be meditative and always, at some point, fall into a shallow trance and wake up when the the sketch is close to being done. That's when I often find that the marks I had so recently had no confidence in, now have magically become something. Mere marks now  have become wood or metal or bone and the the thing looks back at me. If I can get a little bit of my soul in there, then I have won. That is always a feeling worth the effort.

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52 Fridays - Drawing #2 - The Egyptian Museum

    Happy Friday! So, I missed posting on here last Friday, but I did post this on Instagram on the 8th, so I am covered. That means I will do a double posting on here today!

   Last  week I drew from a photo I took at The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt in the #BeforeTimes when I was literally traveling around the world. The Egyptian Museum is a sprawling, causally maintained facility, full of what seems to be millions of artifacts in dusty display cases with cracked glass and yellowing typewritten description tags. I loved it. I skipped the lines for King Tut to hang out with the more neglected displays such as these exquisite figurines. Unfortunately, I don’t have any historical details about this about this piece, but looks to be carved from Malachite and it was 3-4 cms. high.

    I hope wherever you are at and whatever your situation you can find something that brings you joy.

OK HW

52 Fridays - A Drawing Project

Greetings and Happy New Year! Here's wishing that 2021 is a better year than 2020, which is a pretty low bar to cross. I'm not one for setting "New Year's Resolutions" (sidebar shout out to my pal Neil's podcast where he recently ruminated on this very topic), but I do love to set goals for the year. S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based) goals, stuff like, log 1,200 miles walking/running/hiking. I hit 1,972 miles last year. This year I decided to set an art-based goal that will motivate me to draw more often. Inspired by my prolific friend (same guy with the mentioned podcast) Neil Bruce's "52 Fridays" music video project from last year, that I contributed some video clips to, I have decided to do an art version of that project and will post a drawing every Friday through 2021. I will primarily be posting new drawings, but there might also be the occasional blast-from-the-past. 

This week's drawing was done today and was taken from an image I found on Instagram posted by "@johngrahamtribalart". It's an interesting woodcarving of a simple, primitive style face from the Lobi tribe according to the info from the original post. I used a cheap Bic ball-point pen and drew it in a little travel sketchbook that doesn't lie flat, so I get to be a hand model. 

Only fifty-one to go! 

See you next week,

OK HW

 

Another "Off-World" Birthday

This is the fourth birthday that my wife Janet will celebrate "off-world". She left this Earthly realm a few years ago and I miss her terribly, always will. Janet's hands were always busy drawing, knitting, baking; she was an artist and creator of many things. We were fortunate to live in Ireland for a couple of years where Janet earned her MFA at the Burren College of Art. She had Irish roots and loved living in Ireland as I did. We returned for visits as often as we could. While looking through photos and video of our life together, I found this snippet from our last trip there in December 2016. It's so strange, sad and wonderful to get this glimpse of Irish pub life (courtesy of Connolly's Pub, Kinvara) and hear Janet's laugh again. I'm grateful for all the time I had with Janet. She was a beautifully formidable wife and friend and I am a better man for having been with her. 

Cheers my sweet baby,

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Shadows on the Wall

 

We are always surrounded by art. We just have the right eyes to see it.

From yesterday, some shadows that I saw...

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52 Fridays - A Case Study in Good Collaboration

I've been creatively collaborating with my friend Neil Bruce for over fifteen years. Our first project together was on my short animated film, "ZANK", back in 2005 for which he wrote a fittingly zany music score. (Catch up on "ZANK"'s history here). Our next project was a few years later when I created a music video for one of his songs "A dream of life". Neil is an idea  and creative machine, and always has several projects going on, including a podcast called "There is Another Way" aimed at anyone pursuing a creative life, multiple YouTube channels and album projects. Check out his website for more information. 

I'm grateful for Neil's friendship and particularly enjoy the creative sparks that fly whenever we get a good chat on. Through the years, we have generated more movie, art and music ideas than we could ever possibly finish in our lifetimes. Finding a good creative collaboration partner is as rare as finding a good romantic partner, both contain an element of mystery and chemistry that can't be explained or quantified. Collaborating is a tricky dance as there are egos involved, so care must be taken to honor each other's point-of-view, while talking honestly about the value of the ideas and whether they support the overall vision. Beyond the alchemy of idea creation, then there's the practicalities of crafting the ideas into a coherent plan and finally accomplishing something. For all of this to happen, all parties involved have to maintain communication and enthusiasm for the project until the end. I've seen too many projects die-on-the-vine because one person or another starts "ghosting" the thread and the project sinks beneath the waves of day-to-day life. If you want to get something done, you either make it happen or make excuses. The best of creative partners can help keep your creative life going, particularly when the well runs dry. Just as it is with a running or exercise buddy, it's easier to stay on track when you have someone to answer to and share each other's struggles.

Which brings us to my latest collaboration with Neil, his weekly music video project called "52 Fridays", found on his "Light Before Sound" channel. 

I have contributed four videos for his music on this project so far and will likely have a couple more before it is finished. 

If you find your creative life is stuck in a rut, then think through your circle of friends or people in your network who might be good to collaborate with and reach out to them and give it a try. You might be surprised where it might lead. Remember, you can go faster alone, but further together.

Thank's Neil!

OK HW

The Old Guinea is All New Guinea to Me!

I love primitive art from every culture and time period. There is a spiritual power and fierceness I find that permeates art created in pre-modern cultures. I am no scholar or authority on primitive art (the scholars and authorities are vigorously nodding their heads in agreement), but merely an admirer, so often when I am drawing for pure pleasure, I will crack open a book on African or Mexican or, in this case, Melanesia culture and flip through until something speaks to me. I always acknowledge the culture I am literally drawing from because I respect their art and hope that the information inspires someone else to learn more about an indigenousness people. Here is the link to the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.

I have recently done two drawings of New Guinea, Astrolabe Bay Masks that were collected in the late 1800s.

I generally am first drawn to a mask by it's overall shape and this one has a strong, top-heavy look. The mouth-like eyes are weird enough for me and I like how you can see the cutouts for the wearers actual eyes just underneath. The mouth itself looks dangerous, something from a nightmare.

The second mask reminds me of some mutant beatnik with the tiny soul man beard hanging off his chin and crazy, beanie hat on his conehead dome. I also love the cinnamon bun eyes, once again with cutout eye holes just underneath.

I hope to travel to Papua New Guinea one day and draw some masks from the real thing and not just from a photo.

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Evil Rays - The Unofficial Music Video

  Evil Rays - The Unofficial Music Video from Weaverwerx on Vimeo.

My friend Sam McDonald is in a two-piece rock band called UGLYOGRAPHY that makes strange and humorous music. When he asked me if I was interested in creating a music video as background for live shows, I said "Hell Yeah!". Currently the band is sans drummer, so they embed a drum track to play along with. Sam gave me some vague ideas of what they were expecting, but mostly trusted me to to keep it weird and so I did. All the footage is public domain and was found on www.archive.org, the junkyard of culture where you can find everything from feature length movies to books and all your favorite childhood arcade games emulated right on the site, but I would save the games for last otherwise you won't get anything done. You will notice some reoccurring themes; monkeys, masks, retro go-go ladies, all elements that just felt right to me for this song. 

"A dream of life", A Music Video Collaboration

It has been too long since I worked on a film project, so when my pal, Neil Bruce of "Light B4 Sound" put a call out to film makers to create a music video based on a song from his latest album, "Senescence III", I jumped at the chance. I've been enjoying Neil's smooth, cinematic tone poem while on long walks and had some ideas that I thought would mesh well. The music reminded me of visiting the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo, a magical facility, part of Skytree town. I recall wandering among the displays of jellyfish, penguins and the big tank; compulsively shooting pictures and video, that now would serve as the raw material for this project. Using Adobe After Effects, I created a gently hypnotic tapestry of textures and images that I hope flow harmoniously with the Neil's music.

Enjoy!  OK HW

A 12-Mile Journey - 2/6/16

It's been too long since I last posted anything. How many times has a blog post begun with that sentence? It probably numbers in the thousands, maybe even millions. Regardless, I am back. Since my last entry from November, much has happened. The holidays rolled in and dominated the calendar as they do every year, but the bigger event was we moved to a new place. It's not far from the old place geographically, but the difference in lifestyle is huge. We went from a little beach bungalow to a high-rise condo on the fifteenth floor. I'll save the details of all the differences between the two places and how I felt about moving for another time.

Today I want to share with you a twelve-mile hike I did from my new address on Saturday, February 6, 2016. I decided to document my journey by shooting a photo every mile as I did last August in a post called, "My Eight Mile". My new location is prefect for hiking as there's a variety of environments to explore from the beach out front to the forest in First Landing State Park. My training will also benefit from living on the fifteenth floor, as I will take the stairs down and up when I go out for a hike. You can check out this outings stats and see it plotted on a map here on Endomondo. I've been using Endomondo for a couple of years now and have found it to be easy to use and reliable. If you're on there too, feel free to connect with me. It's fun to encourage each other and see what hikes and runs other folks are doing.

On to yesterday's 12-mile journey. It was a cold and clear day, perfect for hiking, so I filled my CamelBak and headed out...

Mile Zero - Heading down the stairs from the fifteenth floor.

Mile One - The Cape Henry Bike Path looking east.

Mile Two - Still on the Cape Henry Bike Path heading east.

Mile Three - First Landing State Park on the Long Creek Trail. There's lots of Spanish Moss in the park.

Mile Four - There is no shortage of Pine Cones here.

Mile Five - Alone on the White Hill Lake Trail. I only saw two other people on this trail.

Mile Six - Where the White Hill Lake Trail meets the Cape Henry Bike Path.

Mile Seven - A always feel better walking in the woods.

Mile Eight - Found art - This dead, graffiti covered tree looks like modern art to me.

Mile Nine - More nature-based abstract art.

Mile Ten - This house along the Cape Henry Bike Path has some cool sculptures. I always love to see this skeleton and the flying man in the trees to the left.

Mile Eleven - I started the hike with long pants, but it warmed-up enough for me to convert to shorts.

Mile Twelve - Heading back up the stairs. This was from the fifth floor stairwell window.

The End - My front door.

Necklace of the Gods... Lo-Fi-Gods that is -- 11/12/15

A friend of mine suggested that my Lo-Fi-Ga miniature woodcarvings would make a cool necklace, so I have created a prototype. What do you think? I've already made a couple of pairs of earrings for my wife, but haven't shown them off yet. This isn't my first experience in the jewelry making world. Many years ago I worked part-time at "Gypsy D's", one of the cornerstone small businesses in the 1980s and 90s in the Ghent area of Norfolk. We handmade much of the jewelry that was sold there back then, so I know my way around a ring mandrel and round-tipped pliers. It may be time to dust off those old skills.

OK HW

A NASA Photo Op One Hundred Years In the Making - 10/31/15

I've been working as a contractor at NASA Langley for ten years, which is exactly one tenth the time that NASA Langley, well Langley airfield has existed. The official anniversary date is July 17, 2017 and according to this article on NASA.gov,  "On that day, one hundred years earlier, construction began on the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. It was the nation’s first civilian aeronautics research facility."

Can you see me now?

I feel fortunate to work in such an amazing place full of history and hope for the future. The researchers and scientist I've had the pleasure to work with (I'm a multimedia specialist in the video department, so we get to work with a wide range of people) are as passionate and dedicated a group as you'll ever find anywhere. It's quite common to see a researcher retire, only to show up the following week to continue work on their project because they want to solve the BIG PROBLEM. Not because they'll get rich or famous, just because they can't quit until they figured it out, whatever "it" is. And the things they figure out advance the quality of human life, whether it's safer airplanes or satellite tech that gives us cell phones and accurate weather forecasts or creating spacecraft that allows us to explore our universe. All of those incredible achievements come down to a person applying their brain and heart to finding smarter, better ways to do things.

The obligatory selfie

So, on a drizzly Tuesday in October, we all took a break from the routine and stood together to mark this moment in time and recognize that the people make the place. I'm proud to have been a part of it.

OK HW

Here are a couple "behind-the-scenes" photos as everyone gathered together in front of the hanger.

The official photo was taken from a hovering helicopter from the Air Force Base next door. 

It Always Looks Better In Print...

You can find an article on my neo-primitive, miniature woodcarvings in the October issue of VEER Magazine. The piece is called, "Unmasking Small Works of Hal Weaver" and ties in with the "Small Works" Exhibition at the Charles H. Taylor Art Center in Hampton. The article is online, but I always like to see ink on paper, which is quickly becoming a rare thing. 

Full disclosure, the publisher/owner of VEER Magazine, Jeff Maisey is an old friend and longtime supporter of my art and the arts in general here in Tidewater.

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The Black Stallion - 10/23/15

Another day, another strange sighting on the drive home. This time I came upon this weird tri-wheeled vehicle that reminded me of cheesy sci-fi action flicks from the 1980s. I caught the name across the rear, a "Stallion". Apparently the base model is only $33,995.00. That's a lot of money to get rained on.  

This guy was towing a little matching trailer that must have been empty because it was bouncing all over the place. Here's a shot of the back and if you look closely, you'll spot the trailer hitch. If I had one of these, I'd wear a Batman outfit when I drove around town.

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Halloween Shotgun - 10/21/15

My intentions were good. I started the year off declaring I'd post an "image-a-day" and after an enthusiastic launch, was quickly overcome by all the usual suspects and then the shame hammer stopped me cold. But today, while driving home from work, I glanced to the vehicle to my left and saw a human skeleton riding shotgun and immediately recognized the manna that had been laid at my feet. Here was my chance to jump back into the "image-a-day" blog post, so here we are.

I love Halloween, mostly because I love the horror and monster genres. The candy ain't bad either....

OK HW

It Ain't Easy Being Green - 9/28/15

This morning I found this Green Tree Frog resting comfortable on the roof of my car. He was a tiny little guy and I'm glad I noticed him before jumping in and driving off, otherwise he may have wound up in the middle of the road. I carefully picked him up and he grabbed onto my hand with his little grippy fingers. I walked him over and set him down on a bush, I guess I should have found a tree. I'd never seen a frog like this in the yard and it made me happy to know that green little fellow is out there.

OK HW

On the Cover of the Rolling Hampton Arts Magazine! - 9/27/15

Last Saturday I went to the mailbox and was pleasantly surprised to find one of my woodcarvings on the cover of "Diversions - Hampton Arts" magazine. The reason why it has taken a week for me to write about it here on the blog, is that I posted this photo on Facebook last weekend and all the "Likes" and comments there satisfied my never-ending hunger for social media attention. So why bother writing about it here on a blog that few people actually read? Because the blog is better equipped to function as a chronicle, because of the hashtags and easier time-specific navigation. I also feel more comfortable rambling on at length here, as opposed to Facebooklandia where the short post seems a better fit.

"American Tiki" made the cover  because the "Small Works" show is coming up next month at the Charles H. Taylor Center and I've been asked to be a part of it again for the third year in a row. I'll always be grateful to James Warwick Jones for introducing me to the "Small Works" exhibition as it has led me to working in miniature, which I find is a good fit for the limited amount of time and space I currently have for making art. I hope to one day return to making bigger pieces, but for now I'm enjoying "getting small".

OK HW

"Ale Kuls" - Lo-Fi-Ga #03 - 9/10/15

Here is another Lo-Fi-Ga woodcarving from last fall that I did for the "Small Works show at the Charles H. Taylor Center. He is the first, but not the last skull I'll carve. Halloween is just around the corner after all.

This piece sold at last year's exhibition and I hope whomever acquired him has given him a good home. New owner, if you read this, please take a minute and send me a photo of "Ale Ku's" in his new environment. I miss him!

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"Mas" - Lo-Fi-Ga #2 - 8/30/15

August has been a good month for making art. I've made more time to be in the studio and this is a good thing. I've also spent some time organizing photos of the Lo-Fi-Ga pieces and entering their stats in the database. Looking back through each of the twelve, I realized that I've never blogged about "Mas", the second Ga I created October 19, 2014. He sold last year in the Charles H. Taylor "Small Works" show. I'm glad I got a full series of photos of him because he wasn't around long. Do yourself a favor and never put a piece of work in an exhibition without getting some photos of it.

OK HW

"El Roja" - Lo-Fi-Ga #10 - 8/23/15

Introducing Lo-Fi-Ga #10, "El Roja". Is he an alien? Is he a Mexican Wrestler? Is he an alien Mexican Wrestler? He is a Lo-Fi-Ga and his domain is the top rope body slam! 

I recently finished six new Lo-Fi-Ga carvings; all they lacked were bases and names and to be added to the database. I use a program called Flick! that is no longer produced, which is too bad as it was reasonably priced and easy to use. It certainly isn't much fun doing data-entry work, but necessary if you want to be a pro. All the information comes in handy and if you can enter each piece of art as you complete them, instead of waiting until you have a pile-up, it's much easier to keep on top of it. 

OK HW