Month: November 2014

Going where the wind don’t blow so strange…

November 29, 2014 — Leave a comment

I went out for another adventure on two wheels this week. 23.6 miles of highway, gravel roads, and dirt/rock single track. Pedaling down the railroad tracks on my way home I met this great bird. Watching me with suspicion as I fumbled about for my camera.

I imagined a conversation between us as I tried to get a worthwhile shot with an ill-suited camera.

“You’re not from California are you?”

hawkontele.jpg

“No I would reply, adding, I’m from Illinois, and I’d take a picture or three of an Illinois Hawk to so, that’s not a fair point”.

The Hawk flew away after I had snapped a few pictures and wasted the moment thinking about talking birds on telephone wires….again.

heisoutathere.jpg

Something different (But in all honesty quite the same)

November 16, 2014 — 2 Comments
I went for a good 20 mile mountain bike ride today by myself into the hills outside town.
I saw a number of Scrub Jays and two great Red-tailed hawks.
I believe we have established by now my fascination with the various birds of prey.
When I got home I cooked what would be my approach to steak tacos.
It’s a wonder how I could manage to destroy such a simple meal but cooking is another story for me. When I’m on I’m on. When I’m off, well, something usually gets burnt…
The internet connection has been patchy at best lately so I decided I would do myself a favor and venture out and work somewhere like a coffee shop.
I say favor because I’m not usually quick to go to public places like that alone. I find that I am most comfortable off of the pavement. It’s a good idea to do something outside your usual comfort zone, or so they tell me.
I will say It was nice to get out of the house and hear new sounds other than the freight trains outside my window. I walked to a café on Garden St. I ordered an Ice Chamomile tea to combat the days caffeine and sugar water. (That works right?) I brought this pencil hawk with me and as I sat I translated it to pen.
hawkholdsstillforme.jpg
 I brought my headphones, but only listened to them for a bit. I was finding the new change of background noise to be interesting enough to listen to while falling into the drawing.
The lighting was shit, the table unlevel, and without my amplifier I was unable to play music through my headphones at a terribly unhealthy level.
That being said, it did me some good to get out of the rut of my home studio and try something different.
myhawktonightagain.jpg
Even if when I was finished drawing I went straight home and baked French fries…
I’ll try again in a week or three…

You’re never too old to draw dinosaurs for fun. (If you were unaware).

November 14, 2014 — Leave a comment
Laying out the shapes on the plywood.

Laying out the shapes on the plywood.

Having fun with the large piece of scrap plywood I picked up from the hardware store down the street. It was thin enough to cut with a few passes with a box cutter. I cut it into three pieces. the first piece can be found under my previously shared abstract face drawing. This one is the second. I am considering options for the third.

The teeth reminded me of drawing the feathers on my hawks.

The teeth reminded me of drawing the feathers on my hawks.

I did the pencil for the dinosaur last night before I went to bed. Tonight I got home from work, cooked a hamburger and sat down with the headphones on. I listened to some live concerts by Umphrey’s McGee. A really great band out of Chicago.

These Micron pens are about toasted now. It’s the third large drawing on plywood I’ve done with them. The coarseness of the wood isn’t very kind to the tip of the pen. A bike ride to the art store in the morning before a trip into the hills on the mountain bike is in order.

Raptor or Tyrannosaur I'm not certain but it was fun to assemble piece by piece.

Raptor or Tyrannosaur I’m not certain but it was fun to assemble piece by piece.

A dream from October visited again in November.

November 13, 2014 — Leave a comment
It was impossible to run out and meet the night, from where I was sitting.
Across from her at that restaurant on Marsh St.
“I’ve identified the problem” she said in a cold, lifeless voice. The lantern still in her cold white hands.
“you’re terrified of being loved”.
With that last sentence I woke from the sleepless October dream.
So what is my next command? Raise the portcullis and drain the moat?
I began to suspect that traveling storyteller with the troubled mind was right.
I do often suspect my ribcage is a sort of jail cell.
I’m not sure what it is I want to keep out or in.
It’s evident from the street there is a conflict inside.
To hear the echo now might have just saved my life.
Or at the least a chapter of a book I can’t yet write.
And again to further contradict myself, in my own learned form, I’ll tell you something here.
As much as I strive for the clean drawn page. I’m often just thirsty for a fiery destruction of my delightful own.
It crosses my mind more than she does.
Brightly.

Getting by with a little help from my friends.

November 3, 2014 — Leave a comment

I’d been keeping all these in a big plastic box because I was too lazy to make mounts for them. I’d usually get as far as calling the piece done, snap a picture and add it to the pile. A good friend stopped by the other day to see some of my works. She suggested the plastic box might not be the best place for these birds. She recommended some good wall mounting options. Thus lighting the fire under me to get them truly finished.

Now that they’re up, I can’t imagine why I didn’t finish the wall mounts for them sooner. It was a great excuse to go to the hardware store.

I am very grateful to have the inspiring and supportive friends and family that I do….and a hardware store down the tracks from my house.

And a Thank You to whomever has squandered a perfectly good minute reading my words and looking at my birds.