Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Hello ALfA
ALfAnians,
The illustrious Macro, in his infinite wisdom, has invited me, The Disclaimer, to join your happy little family. I have accepted. As a token of goodwill and friendship I am posting a graphic gift for you. It is built as a desktop picture in honour of the Edmonton Oilers ascension to the Stanley Cup Finals (with a bit of satire thrown in for good measure). Blog on!
The illustrious Macro, in his infinite wisdom, has invited me, The Disclaimer, to join your happy little family. I have accepted. As a token of goodwill and friendship I am posting a graphic gift for you. It is built as a desktop picture in honour of the Edmonton Oilers ascension to the Stanley Cup Finals (with a bit of satire thrown in for good measure). Blog on!
To be in between
I feel I should
stop; but how can I
with constellar
dreams and revolving
lunar moles caressing
down the seemingly
obvious resolve
of the sea
And thus drowns
the love and the
longing; to be inside
to slip in between
with beats of illusion
and thoughts of the
dancing degrees and
darling confusion
stop; but how can I
with constellar
dreams and revolving
lunar moles caressing
down the seemingly
obvious resolve
of the sea
And thus drowns
the love and the
longing; to be inside
to slip in between
with beats of illusion
and thoughts of the
dancing degrees and
darling confusion
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Down By The River
Tony Tascona 1926-2006
http://72.29.14.218/console/pub/inducteeslist.cfm?start=141
this image is from the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame website.
In additon to being a great artist, Tony T was a helluva baseball player too, and was inducted into the MB hall of fame in 2002.
Tony worked in abstraction pretty much his entire career. In addition to having the distinction of having Gabrielle Roy as an early teacher (she spoke very well of him), he was part of the earliest group of U of M fine arts grads, and went on to a multi-decade international career.
In addition to being one of Manitoba's leading art figures, Tony was awarded the Order of Canada, and numerous other distinctions.
He died Sunday night.
Check out a recent article about him in Galleries West magazine-- http://www.gallerieswest.ca/
Monday, May 29, 2006
Being
I am a moth
Drawn to the flame
I am a shoulder
To counsel the blame
I am a road
Though travelled by less
I am a wish
To return to the nest
I am a light
You carry to bed
I am the soft breeze
That cools hot heads
I am the standard
Against, none are set
You are the truth
Unrevealed to me yet
Drawn to the flame
I am a shoulder
To counsel the blame
I am a road
Though travelled by less
I am a wish
To return to the nest
I am a light
You carry to bed
I am the soft breeze
That cools hot heads
I am the standard
Against, none are set
You are the truth
Unrevealed to me yet
Go away
No notice is given
when the window
becomes a door
of usher and change
to accept the
hurting visions
of desiring arms
that reach and go away
and return to reach
and go away
when the window
becomes a door
of usher and change
to accept the
hurting visions
of desiring arms
that reach and go away
and return to reach
and go away
Letting it bleed
Whatever happens
you must break the window;
you will be cut but you will be free
and if there's fire, let yourself burn
let yourself be.
Letting it bleed is the only way
so never stop, never stop
you will not be harmed
and the wounds
will set you free.
you must break the window;
you will be cut but you will be free
and if there's fire, let yourself burn
let yourself be.
Letting it bleed is the only way
so never stop, never stop
you will not be harmed
and the wounds
will set you free.
On the horizon
Leaves of heat
on the horizon
reach between
the ribs of silence
and the heart raged
and desirous leaves
of heat on the horizon
on the horizon
reach between
the ribs of silence
and the heart raged
and desirous leaves
of heat on the horizon
Sunday, May 28, 2006
New Label Mural
a full pic of the whole shebang to follow soon...five artists, who wish to remain anonymous.
Pleas
I cannot touch
the feel of
your pleas
speaking of angels
and processes
that leave from nothing
and arrive at nowhere;
there are things
that you must confess
and reach out and touch
the feel of your pleas
the feel of
your pleas
speaking of angels
and processes
that leave from nothing
and arrive at nowhere;
there are things
that you must confess
and reach out and touch
the feel of your pleas
Tragedy for you
I looked I looked
and I couldn't see
the nature of your skin
the thinness of your glee
I pressed I pressed
to feel in-between
I tried, I swear it
I searched and brought my plea
I want I want
the things
I do, you know
for if it was
and never shall be
and I couldn't see
the nature of your skin
the thinness of your glee
I pressed I pressed
to feel in-between
I tried, I swear it
I searched and brought my plea
I want I want
the things
I do, you know
for if it was
and never shall be
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Feelings: Point of View
A consciousness at rest...restless
A thought conceived. A voice stirred. A word spoken, released.
An emotion expressed.
The reaction, inevitable. Conceived from the other side, the diametric point of view.
A stance, a position, dug into the trenches. Warring factions, warring within to without.
Without to within...if only.
The other point of view: their feeling.
A thought conceived. A voice stirred. A word spoken, released.
An emotion expressed.
The reaction, inevitable. Conceived from the other side, the diametric point of view.
A stance, a position, dug into the trenches. Warring factions, warring within to without.
Without to within...if only.
The other point of view: their feeling.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Erotica (work in progress)
Faintly burning
the beat
escaping my
heart
anxious to dream
soft lush center
searching hands
trace
fingertips
down
my
spine
to
read the message
on lips that
speak a language of
never ending
pleasure
the beat
escaping my
heart
anxious to dream
soft lush center
searching hands
trace
fingertips
down
my
spine
to
read the message
on lips that
speak a language of
never ending
pleasure
American Transcendentalits
I've been interested in these Transcendentalist cats for years-- Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Walcott, etc.
The spiritual forefathers/mothers to the Beat Generation.
If you replace the word Transcendalists in this quote (Perry Miller, intro the "The American Transcendentalists") with "ALfA-ists", it works. (At least for me it does.)
"We may also see the Transcendentalists as the first outcry of the heart against the materialistsic pressures of a business civilization. Protestant to the core, they turn their protest against what is customarily called the 'Protestant Ethic': they refuse to labour in a proper calling, conscientiously cultivate the arts of leisure, and strive to avoid making money."
Didn't we once try to come up with a name for our larger artistic/philosopical movement, as represented in this blog and elsewhere? None were satisfactory, though.
The Enthusiasts? Prairie Organicism? Neo-neoism?
The spiritual forefathers/mothers to the Beat Generation.
If you replace the word Transcendalists in this quote (Perry Miller, intro the "The American Transcendentalists") with "ALfA-ists", it works. (At least for me it does.)
"We may also see the Transcendentalists as the first outcry of the heart against the materialistsic pressures of a business civilization. Protestant to the core, they turn their protest against what is customarily called the 'Protestant Ethic': they refuse to labour in a proper calling, conscientiously cultivate the arts of leisure, and strive to avoid making money."
Didn't we once try to come up with a name for our larger artistic/philosopical movement, as represented in this blog and elsewhere? None were satisfactory, though.
The Enthusiasts? Prairie Organicism? Neo-neoism?
The DaVinci Mode
This is from a mass email I get twice a week from Robert Genn, a B.C. landscape painter and writer.
you can see it at www.thepainterskeys.com
Leonardo da Vinci's life was a living demo of his "seven
virtues." For those artists of life and of art who might plot
to develop higher levels of accomplishment and greater
self-realization, here are his seven virtues, as I understand
them:
"Curiosita"--an attitude of curiosity and continuous learning.
What, when, where, why, and how?
"Dimostrazione"--an ability to learn and to test knowledge by
experience. Experimental nature.
"Sensazione"--a development of awareness and refinement of
sight and other senses. High sensitivity.
"Sfumato"--a tendency to embrace and accept uncertainty,
ambiguity and paradox. Free thinking.
"Arte/Scienza"--a development of balance between science and
art, logic and imagination. Whole-brain thinking.
"Corporalita"--a calculated desire to achieve poise, fitness
and ambidexterity. Physical action.
"Connessione"--a recognition that all things are connected.
Systems thinking.
you can see it at www.thepainterskeys.com
Leonardo da Vinci's life was a living demo of his "seven
virtues." For those artists of life and of art who might plot
to develop higher levels of accomplishment and greater
self-realization, here are his seven virtues, as I understand
them:
"Curiosita"--an attitude of curiosity and continuous learning.
What, when, where, why, and how?
"Dimostrazione"--an ability to learn and to test knowledge by
experience. Experimental nature.
"Sensazione"--a development of awareness and refinement of
sight and other senses. High sensitivity.
"Sfumato"--a tendency to embrace and accept uncertainty,
ambiguity and paradox. Free thinking.
"Arte/Scienza"--a development of balance between science and
art, logic and imagination. Whole-brain thinking.
"Corporalita"--a calculated desire to achieve poise, fitness
and ambidexterity. Physical action.
"Connessione"--a recognition that all things are connected.
Systems thinking.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Prairie Seen
Deafening
wave crash
of tall prairie grass
shores of clay
cracked with
ancient script
telling the tale
of her bed
dripping
pleasure, birth and death
in cinnamon sheets
wave crash
of tall prairie grass
shores of clay
cracked with
ancient script
telling the tale
of her bed
dripping
pleasure, birth and death
in cinnamon sheets
Prairie Cocktail
driving down
highway 59
at sunset
the sky looks
newly stirred
blue caracao
grenadine swirls
foam and float
imbibed
while I think
bartender what is in this drink?
highway 59
at sunset
the sky looks
newly stirred
blue caracao
grenadine swirls
foam and float
imbibed
while I think
bartender what is in this drink?
you can buy a t-shirt with my artwork on it
hello friends! :)
i finally became a cafe press shopkeeper! yay!
i don't have a lot to offer at the moment,
only one t-shirt design on 6 different t-shirt styles.
i have so many ideas, so many graphics just waiting
to be scanned and uploaded it's not even funny.
i'm having an anxiety attack cuz i'm so freakin' excited!
okay, well, just thought i'd let all you starving artists
know that another fellow starving artist is trying
to take your money. :p
enjoy!
go
http://www.cafepress.com/gregoakes
i finally became a cafe press shopkeeper! yay!
i don't have a lot to offer at the moment,
only one t-shirt design on 6 different t-shirt styles.
i have so many ideas, so many graphics just waiting
to be scanned and uploaded it's not even funny.
i'm having an anxiety attack cuz i'm so freakin' excited!
okay, well, just thought i'd let all you starving artists
know that another fellow starving artist is trying
to take your money. :p
enjoy!
go
http://www.cafepress.com/gregoakes
Sunday, May 21, 2006
epiphany
hard desperate times
too much to decide
drowning breathless me
open occen widelessness
the recklessness with which
i continue on my way
the places so familular
the feeling not the same
you and i often go
to the place unknown
too much to decide
drowning breathless me
open occen widelessness
the recklessness with which
i continue on my way
the places so familular
the feeling not the same
you and i often go
to the place unknown
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Hortensia
I went to the biodome in montreal for the butterfly exhibition and I came across these flowers. My aunt's name is Hortense(one of my Mom's sister's). It made me wonder if she was named after the flower. I did a drawing of the photograph, click here to see it.
Aren't the blue and green dots magnificent. I feel a watercolour coming on...Dots!!!!
Friday, May 19, 2006
wow, you all have been keepin up alright.
i just stopped in quickly to check it out.
i have nothing interesting to blog
my photos are in a computer i can't connect.
but when i get home, i'll post.
haiti was INsane, a whilrwind 3 days of culture shock.
we sang in an open parc called champs de mars for 80-100 000 haitians.
4 haitian bands and madrigaia.
we dressed in white to stand out more. hahaha.
the dominican is now the bowels through which i digest this latest chapter of life.
glad to see you are all well.
i just stopped in quickly to check it out.
i have nothing interesting to blog
my photos are in a computer i can't connect.
but when i get home, i'll post.
haiti was INsane, a whilrwind 3 days of culture shock.
we sang in an open parc called champs de mars for 80-100 000 haitians.
4 haitian bands and madrigaia.
we dressed in white to stand out more. hahaha.
the dominican is now the bowels through which i digest this latest chapter of life.
glad to see you are all well.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Portrait of Knick Knackerson
This one was inspired by Arthur Villeneuve(click here to see a blind contour drawing I did of one of his called "the hunters"), a champion of art naif here in Quebec. It differs in that scale is used to give perspective, but like Villeneuve, it is drawn from imagination. It depicts Knick Knackerson roasting a marshmallow and a weiner, all while painting behind his back. Can you find the beaver? I had lots of fun with this one.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
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