it’s Summertime now and I got that itch…

I wanna head North again! Jason Krekel and I will be heading to Maine two weeks from to-day to begin the Lake-a-Day-Cycle for 2105 and to join the Blue Bunny ALL-Stars UP in Maine for Our annual REunion, there. This year marks the Cicada REunion, 17 years since We first joined the Blue Bunny (Abbott Vaughn Meader) and Tim Krekel in Maine for the Blue Bunny Grass Band Maine Tour and we are gonna keep it going, for at least one more year, so join US!

the Maine Tour of 1998, July 26th – August 8th.

the Cicada REunion POster for 2105.

it’s been 17 years since Jason Krekel, Ami Worthen, Cailen Campbell, Jay Sanders, Sarah Griscom and I (among others) joined Abbott Vaughn Meader and Tim Krekel UP in Maine for the Blue Bunny Grass Band Summer Tour.

also see more of Jason Krekel’s Artwork here: www.krekelart.com

February Again!

the title borrows a bit from Regina Spektor’s song “Jessica”, which is quite lovely to hear. We are into the second calendar month of the year 2015 now and I have been busy making drawings and preparing for an Art Show in Raleigh, NC in April at the Simkin Gallery there. I have been posting these drawings on a Secret Group Page on Facebook but as that one has an even smaller viewership than this blog, I thought I’d include a few here for You to see:

so enjoy the Mid-Winter and these ARTs from me!

Mid Winter Blog

I am contemplating posting an entry in these wee hours. Here I am in the darkness, staring at the glowing screen, the almost half-full Moon having sunk into the barren hills to the west. Thoughts fill my head. I am wide awake. I believe this is my first post of the new year, almost at the end of January. I don’t like to wish time away but I don’t cherish January and while We are in the Sweet Spot of Winter, it can’t melt away into Spring soon enough. I’m riding on a fairly productive wave, anticipating an UPcoming Art Show in Raleigh, NC in March, at the tail-end of Winter, so I’ve got that to look forward to before Spring. I feel the cold sneaking into my bones and I have to keep warm and fill not only my belly with warm food and liquids but my heArt and mind with warm thoughts and feelings, too. Feel Your mind filling up with warmth, I repeat it into the void, that darkness that goes from the backside of this tiny remote device on into forever, I whisper it a third time just for luck… Outside my window, Stars twinkle in the clear, black night, the jewel-like indicators of unbelievable brightness from Eons away. What more can be written about the Stars or the Moon, lights in the darkness are Our salvation, at least I know they are mine. How many Winters have I endured? Forty-four and a half, so far. How many more will I endure, before I finally make my way permanently to some warmer zone? Who knows. Good night to You out there. Good luck staying warm and safe and happy.

Walrus Mandala!

I just completed this commissioned work for a Long-time Friend and Collector, to His specifications. It is one of the more unusual Paintings I’ve ever done and goes into the series of Marine Mammals, which I dearly Love!

All of these elements went into making the painting, which begins as pen and ink drawings and then I organize them and make a color-study on my computer. Usually those beginning colors are just suggestions and new colors are added before the painting is complete.

Sometimes even an incidental Art-piece is created. In this case it figured heavily in “the Earliest Days of the Miracle Wave” painting.

Chinese Birthday/New Years Dragon pART 2.3

I have been working on a slew of Commissioned Paintings this Summer, as well as some just for Fun.

Here is the recently completed Chinese Birthday/New Years Dragon pART 2.3:

Thirteen and a half years ago, I travelled for the first time to the Island of Jamaica, with Snake Oil Medicine Show and I painted the original (then titled) New Year’s Dragon,

even though it was the year of the Monkey. The next year We returned and I was asked to make a T-Shirt design for the Chinese New Year Party. Thus, the second version:

So as You can see above the 2.3 version is clearly inspired, and yet somewhat different than the first two.

I was asked in January to make a next Dragon and I am quite happy with how this one came out, thirteen years later.

I wrote a Web Log Entry for Rhetorical Factory.

Celebrity Guest Author:

http://rhetoricalfactory.com/blogs/rhetorical-factory/14789521-galoobe-de-jamune-enchanted-king-of-hoons

Rhetorical Factory.

Lovely Old River.

Trying to compose these words on the fly, inspired in the morning sunlight while Doves coo and the sounds of the World waking up are happening. I have been awake and thinking thoughts for a while already but I’m just now having yesterday’s reheated coffee. The words flow by like the ancient River behind my studio, where I have had my station for more than 15 years now with my Dad and Others. I love to sit out back (especially in the warm weather, although I have done so in all Seasons) and watch the water go by, sometimes flat calm, like a Mill Pond, sometimes rough and wavy, like the Sea, and upon occasion covered with ice or bursting at the seams, bloated with heavy rains. It looks like a huge, churning vat of morning coffee during the latter stage, as I peer into my cup and take another slurp of this warm brown, I doubt that Fish-water tastes similarly. That River just keeps flowing by and there I sit on its banks, in all types of weather, where others have sat in previous ages, watching ducks and herons and honking geese glide by. It puts me at ease every time and I am grateful for the French Broad River.

Grey Skies and Thoughts of Wonder.

Memories of Wonder fill my mind as these grey clouds cover the entire sky. I keep hoping for a little Sunshine to poke through and heat-up the land. Flowers and Trees are surely bursting at the seams to get a little taste of that pure warming energy. I got some battery charging from a recent visit to a Magical Place, it’s been warming Me during these last few dark days. I’m down to the reserve tank, though, so I am gonna go outside and do a Sun-dance, just as soon as I get done with this entry. Join Me if You like, the more the merrier, is what They say, You know those They? They sit on their lanais, far away in very sunny climates and whisper such ideas onto the warm winds, which then encircle the Globe and slip into Our waiting ears to help Us out in conversations and in giving out advice…

Springtime Arrival.

I don’t know if it’s here to stay but Springtime seems to have arrived in and around the Asheville, NC Area. Of course, it snowed on Sunday morning but that seems like light-years ago (how fast are those, anyway?). I have found myself standing out-of-doors for longer and longer periods of time, somehow engaged in lengthy conversations with Those I might have otherwise quickly walked past. The dream of light green and pastel colors is not quite realized, yet, however, the purple and brown of Winter is still holding court in the Forest. I sit with my coffee cup and speculate as I hear the birdies chirping: what kind of day will this be? I hesitate to don my shorts-pair as yet, while others have been in theirs for days now. It does seem like a dream: the long Winter’s nap is over! Although for those North of the Mason and Dixon line, it could continue for several more weeks. I’m sure to keep lots more UPdates coming, so please do stand by. No one wants to miss any more yada-yada. It’s easiest to check back every couple months to see what I put next, or just scroll down!

Samovar ARTs Lounge Presents:

the Samovar ARTs Lounge, in conjunction with the Reggae Lounge, will be presenting Our first event of the New Year, the 100 Minute Reggae Dance Party and Art Sale, on Friday, January 31st from 7:00pm until 11:00pm. Special Guest Host DeeJay/ EmCee General Matt will be spinning the Hits and We will have ARTs on Display from Rob Seven of the Candlertown ArToREtuM, Rhetorical Factory, Jason Krekel, Justyn Thompson and Phil Cheney Brand Paintings and Drawings! Come early at 7:00pm and bring a Reggae Inspired Dish to share and/or wear something Reggae Themed!

Back in the 1980s, General Matt was live on the wires, here in Asheville, NC, with a Reggae