Hypno-Pollen - 4/25/15 - Image-a-day

It is that time of year when the pollen is flying free and thick. Mercifully the rains came and knocked the yellow plague from the atmosphere. The only evidence left behind; the swirling, abstract lace floating in the puddles and ponds.

OK HW

Old Stamps - 4/22/15 - Image-a-day

I collected stamps when I was a kid. I remember riding my bicycle down to the Woolworth's in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin and buying the "Big Bag of Stamps of the World", which was a little canvas sack full of stamps from all over the world, still stuck to the corner of an envelope (who was doing that job?). It was a gold mine wrapped around a treasure chest and I would loose entire weekends combing through those magical bits of paper. I had a basic, starter stamp collecting book that has organized alphabetically by country and date. Each page would have a scattering of pictures of some of the stamps from that time and place and it was always an extra thrill to find a stamp that matched one of those.

These stamps where another gift from my pal Ralf Schulze included in the mail art post from last time.

Thank you my friend!

OK HW

I Got Mail! - 4/20/15 - Image-a-day

My old friend Ralf Schulze of Aardvark Farms sent me some real mail today. Ralf has always been the master of mail art! He fully decorates the envelope front and back and then fills it up with all manner of Dadaist weirdness. Today I'll share the front of the envelope. Hand drawn popcorn mixed with some rubber stamp ants and bugs, finished off with interesting postage stamps.

Thanks' Ralf!

OK HW

Amsterdam - 4/10/15 - Image-a-day

Today's image is another in the series of sculptures that I did of Chet Baker inspired by the Bruce Weber documentary "Let's Get Lost". This was the last of four pieces that I did called "Amsterdam", which was where Chet Baker died under mysterious circumstances when he fell (or jumped) from a hotel window. I love the rhythm of the lines in his face. The paint job was fairly simple washes and then some steel wool to accentuate the texture and then another wash. Of the four pieces in the series, this is the only one I still own.

OK HW

Chet EXCU - 4/9/15 - Image-a-day

Chet Baker's moody, blue jazz music entered my life through the lovingly black and white gaze of Bruce Weber's documentary, "Let's Get Lost". I knew nothing of Baker or his music before seeing that movie, but became an instant fan of both his music and sad, tragic life. Bruce Weber's stark, black and white images emphasized the tortured crags of Baker's face and I explored that landscape in a series of four bas-relief sculptures. It was the early 1990s and I was working on the moniker of "Kan-Ken Studios" doing a few outdoor art shows and making a very modest living with my art. This piece is called "Chet EXCU" and was sculpted in oil-based clay, then molded and cast in dental stone and painted with acrylics. It lives in a collection in Richmond, Virginia now.

OK HW

Hello Monkey Boy - 4/5/15 - Image-a-day

I was back in the studio today doing a little whittling. Well, I don't know if it technically qualifies as "whittling" but it's close enough. Here's a WIP (work-in-progress) photo of my latest Lo-Fi-Ga. I haven't given him a name yet, but I was thinking of gorillas and apes and monkeys when I was working on him, so that will factor in. I really love making these silly little faces. I don't know if they amount to a hill of beans in this crazy old world, but they make me happy and I hope they put a smile on somebody else's face too.

OK HW