Something new and different

As an artist we are always searching for way to reinterpret our visions and as I have always been in love with textures, I too have been searching for ways to interpret and apply the texture I discover in the form of a painting.

So while gardening, trimming a tree and cutting all the branches down to fit in the fireplace, I looked at the pile of wood on the ground, my imagination began to run wild.

After collecting enough pieces of twigs and branches to fill a ten gallon bucket, I felt I had an abundant amount that were size appropriate for use on a canvas to begin the project. Using tweezers and medium gel, each piece of wood is carefully positioned in place until the desired effect is achieved and here are the results . . . 

Holz vor den Schuppen (Enough wood in front of the shed), 8 x 8 inches

Log jam, 8 x 8 inches

Beaver’s dam, 8 x 8 inches

Thank you for your visit

and comment . . .

Egmont

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Saturday, April 30 at sunset, according to the Jewish calendar was the beginning of the observation of 2011 Holocaust Remembrance Day, while officially on Sunday, May 1, it was observed by all others. In light of this somber reflection I wish to share a painting I completed in May 2008 in response to the 'German Question' and my thoughts about the Holocaust.

Remembrance, May 2008

MM/C 24 x 24” inches (60.96 x 60.96 cm)

During the process of this painting it was first known as “The German Question,” upon the completion, the painting was named “Remembrance.” Briefly I had considered “Absence of History,” a title my son had suggested and a title I am reserving for another canvas.

With the unveiling of “Remembrance” on my blog, I had planned to share an essay on the artist’s social responsibility to create art addressing current social issues or a social conscious message, as I personally feel that artists have a responsibility from time to time to set aside their own artistic efforts and tackle issues. Yet in light of yesterdays observations I shall hold off and only ask of you to reflect upon the Holocaust and that even to this day, crimes are committed against humans by people in the name of country or religion. Have we really learned from the Holocaust?

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - frequently asked questions

The next Holocaust Remembrance Day will begin at sunset on April 18, 2012 for the Jewish people and observed by others on Thursday, April 19.

Thank you for your visit

and comment . . .

Egmont

White on White

White on White
 MM-O/C 36x48” (91.44 x 121.92 cm)

After an almost two year absence from painting, I finally held a paint brush in my hand, inhaled the scent of oil paint and Liquin as if they were rare perfumes. It has taken almost this long to also solve a technical issue with which I was faced trying to emulate the series “Typography Graveyard,” the Berkeley telephone poles with their remnants of torn paper fliers.

In a 2009 post ,“A discovery turns into an artistic vision,” there are samples of art works, were collage material and painting are combined in order to duplicate the visual experiences. Now I wanted to take the art to the next level, beyond “Howl” or “Beauty Re-defined,” which are both flat, absent of any light or shadow play and recreate the micro-structure on a larger scale, including adding shapes to the surface. “White on White” is the result of that quest.

Thank you for your visit

and comment . . .

Egmont

My 2011 calender for you

As we begin the year, I would like to share with you some of my images recently posted for download in the form of bookmarks. These 2011 Calendar Bookmarks  cover the first quarter of this year and feature three of my favorite ones captured in 2010 from the Berkeley telephone pole series Typography Graveyard.

For downloadable PRINTER version, click here and enjoy

In general things have been slow all last year due to my being in cardiovascular rehabilitation and though I graduated at the end of August, I since returned six weeks later till early mid-December. The year 2011 will remain guarded, yet I have decided that health issues should no longer dictate my life as it has these past two years., this also means no longer bringing it in future posts.

A few days ago, during meditations I scribbled a few words in my notebook, then revisited them the following day. The following line represents my path for this year.

“The dreams you have sealed away,

give them the breath of life so that you may experience living.”

In closing I wish to thank you dear reader for having ventured with me these last nineteen months and though I cannot predict what this years offerings will bring for us, my notebooks have been filled with ideas which deserve another closer look.

Thank you for your visit

and comment . . . 

Egmont

Typography Graveyard

Typography Graveyard Slideshow

Rains have come early this year, altering the landscape of paper layers into a fusion of fibers. While pages of colour slowly bleed, leeching their tones into the depths like a toxin contaminating others; new fliers are added as the weekend draws near with the same vigor and speed as before. Just like the traffic that varies little with the hour until much later in the evening, then returns six-seven hours later to start the cycle all over again.

This network of telephone poles which has become the unwilling participants in another form of communications has also become an obsession and though the series has slowed to a trickle in 2007 and 2008 as my visits to Berkeley became less regular, I also felt I had exhausted the subject matter. It became more difficult to find points of interests that differed from what I had previously photographed, yet with my return to cardiovascular rehabilitation that occupied a good portion of this year, I had another closer look.

The renewed interests had me returning to certain street where the concentration of these types of telephone poles where at, continually searching for the exceptional.

        

        

        

An expression of my gratitude

I rose early to arrive in Berkeley as we were engulfed by fog that still had not been burned off by the rising sun, in order to cruise specific streets where fliers are regularly posted onto layers of stables and paper remnants. Once I have found a section of a couple of blocks, I park the car and gather the necessary equipment; all of this feels like I am going out on a safari, hunting my objective, the elusive, random ephemeral abstract beauty. Because I am using my friends’ 1:1 ratio macro lens, I am searching for specific abstracts that are a little larger than a few postage stamps, not easily achieved.

Once a possible section has been found, the tripod is set up, the camera positioned. A few more critical observations and calculations are made before three variable exposures are quickly achieved. A few more adjustments to tripod and camera for another angle and the whole process is repeated for the next set of multiple images. This process is repeated several more times until I have squeezed every possible second I have remaining of the early morning before I have to be at my cardiac rehabilitation class.

And as I enter my third month of dealing with a failed open-heart by-pass graft, I reflect upon the past two and the five to six hours I spend each day I attend the program, the progress has been marginal, suffering a few setbacks, leaving me with no clear answers and still too many uncertainties. However, focusing only on the negative means I am allowing the situation control me and though it is still a major distraction, I have been trying to find a balance.

One of the goals of the cardiac program is to be generally more active, especially accomplishing more walking and to achieve this, we were given a pedometer to guide our progress. So today I looked over the numbers I have been recording in my notebook to see that in seven weeks I have covered 181.53 miles (292.144 km), averaging 25.932 (41.734 km) per week, or 3.70 (5.955) a day, with the most in one day being 8.46 miles (13.615 km) when I visited the Pacific coast.

Now to help pass the time during my walks, I have been combining it with photography; especially focusing on the series I began a little more than five years ago. Walking down Ashby, Haste or Dwight , holding my extended tripod with camera securely mounted, inspecting each telephone pole, searching for the visual gem.

As I continue to cope with the disruption to my previous routine and life style, the past two months have felt like being stranded, isolated in a time warp from which there appears to be no escape. I have missed visiting your blogs, to see what you have been up to and leaving a comment, wile sharing with you my own creative events.

Please feel free to download the full size version of

the bookmark page by clicking here to gain access.

As I bring this update to my ‘Leave of Absence’ to a close, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to those who have sent me letters, cards and emails, checking up on my progress, sending me encouragements and wishing me well, I also desire to say thank you to those who have stopped by either of my blogs, just to see if there was anything new.

I would also like to say thank you to those who have decided to become a follower during my absence and in due time I shall also return the honour and list your blog at my blog roll and resource blog, The DIRECTORY.

I would like to reciprocate by sharing with you a few images of my excursions that I have designed into a page of bookmarks that you can download in full size here, then print out on card stock. You then have the option to punch a hole at the top for a string or ribbon.

If you would like to check out my other version of the books, please visit Four Seasons in a Life.

Wishing my American friends a wonderful and safe forth of July.

I thank you for your visit

and comment . . .

Egmont

A leave of absence

In the last two months I have fallen considerable behind on many levels, this includes responding to those who have commented and especially my visiting your blogs with any regularity.

Many of you also know of my medical challenges that have been a major distraction, particularly the previous month learning after an angiogram that the reason for always feeling tired and short of breath was due to a collapsed graft from the open heart surgery three years earlier.

Since some of the lateral veins to the artery have tried to take over, the current method of dealing with this is through medication and a three-day a week’s cardiac rehabilitation program that will last for three months,

Because this program occupies a large portion of my day, I would only fall further behind and so I have no option other than to take a leave of absence while I am in cardio rehabilitation.

This does not mean I will not be looking in now and then on your blogs, just that I shall not be posting. The decision was not taken lightly as I have worked hard these passed months building my blogs.

Typography of the forgotten - series

As the medical center is in Berkeley, I will have the opportunity to continue a series on telephone poles that I have been observing and photographing these passed four years. Their abstract appearance has intrigued me, even influenced some of my paintings, and now I have a chance to capture with greater frequency and regularity their continued temporary change and evolution.

I look forward to my return in August, sharing with you stories and images I have been working on.

Thank you for your visit

Egmont

Trial by fire

Much of my abstract inspirations come from industrial sites where corrosive elements coincide with fabricated structures, however this time I found myself in a parking lot, behind Barnes & Noble bookstore, admiring a dumpster.

What made it different from the usual ‘beat-up, graffiti spray painted’ and just trashy dumpster was, that at some point it had endured an internal fire. This caused the exterior to undergo some very interesting and dramatic changes to its surface and over time nature’s elements added to the outcome of the fire, including that of the refuse collectors and the stores personnel.

Full moon rising among planets

Though the dumpster is in plain view, I am sure little attention is given to its presence, except for someone in need of boxes for shipping, storage or a move, for the stores stockroom person has broken down and nicely folded their shipping boxes and deposited them in the ‘paper and cardboard only’ dumpster.

Blistering steel

The garbage container with its two metal covers swung back and filled to the brim with cardboard boxes appeared of no special interest at first glance, especially from a distance. After a second look, one that was more direct and focused to its mid and lower section, I was dragged into its seductive trap.

Upon closer examination it became clear that it was time to pull out the tripod and camera from the trunk of the car, grab myself a couple of the shipping boxes from the dumpster to serve as ground cover to sit upon and I begin taking pictures for the next forty or fifty minutes.

Innate combustion — Into the inferno’s abyss

What I had discovered was a wonderful abstract realistic palette of only the primary colours, including a host of varied textures, all of which were interacting with the random marks of human intervention.

Petroglyphs

Each image was carefully framed in the viewfinder until it satisfied personal compositional sensitivities and what I saw and tried to illustrate before pressing down on the shutter release. While with each passing minute the metal surface began unfolding more and more of its encrypted stories like a good book. There, in the depths of the pages, the Shamans hand points to the petroglyph, where the sun’s rays bless the land, there the buffalo and antelope roam plenty along the a river that empties into the lake.

Warnings too are foreshadowed, for when the full moon rises among the planets, from the depths of the inferno’s abyss, the land will shifts, erupt in a combustion of energy and its force will swell to the surface, unleashing a tsunami that travels the seas until it reaches the land of blistering steel.

The Tsunami

If we let our imagination be free to interpret what

our eyes have witness, we will see so much more.

For “the job of the artist

is to always deepen

the mystery”

—Francis Bacon.

Thank you for your visit

Egmont

German reunification twenty years later

I remember following the news for almost four weeks with great intensity as East Germans were successfully escaping to the west and when the Brandenburg Tor opened on September 11, 1989, it signaled the end of a divided Germany. I wanted to fly to Berlin, taking my son with me and for us to be part of the history in the making. However Armont was only one year, a month, and three days old at the time when the fall of the Berlin Wall was marked officially down on November 9, 1989. To personally mark the event, I started a 36 x 36 inch painting, which for me represents my own beginning as an artist, even though it would take another ten years before I would pick up my brushes again, and seriously returned to the profession of painting.

The Berlin Wall – Section 276, January 17, 1990

Multi-Medium on canvas, 36 x 36 inches (91.44 x 91.44 cm)

The abstract painting noting the fall of the Berlin Wall is one of the few canvases that were created spontaneously, reaching for whatever paints and art materials I had on hand. Using acrylic house paint, model craft spray paint, children’s crayons and of course oil paint, I went at the canvas as if lead by a mysterious hand guiding me through the various stages and the multiple layers until it was completed. In the end The Berlin Wall – Section 276 also represents what I encountered in 1974, when standing before the wall for the first time.

I grew up in the shadows of the Berlin Wall as construction started August 13, 1961 while living in Southern Germany, attending a private boarding school until my return to Californian the following year. I found myself in Berlin nine years later attending the HFBK as a guest and once more in 1974, when I decided to take a train through East Germany rather than flying to Berlin.

 My East German passport stamps

The train ride took several hours, stopping at most towns along the way. During our trip into the DDR, our train was boarded by East German soldiers with submachine weaponry and remained posted at each end of the compartment until we reached the West Berlin border. We were also treated to East German propaganda, handed out by the DDR Cultural Ministry personnel upon our first stop after entering East Germany. The experience is one I am grateful for, despite the lapses in memory which is also weak on a number of other points, especially the details of what the landscaped looked like, other than empty.

I still have a number of those booklets and smaller pamphlets that were handed out that day. They are in some box that have not been opened since they were packed when I moved out of my San Francisco apartment to get married some twenty-two years ago. I did find my out-of-date passport, turning to the page the East German border control stamped my arrival, departure into their land. With the subsequent arrival and departure stamps on the same page a few days later, as I returned to the West the same way I had left, with a long train ride though East Germany.

The Berlin Wall remained closed until September 11, 1989, six months later on March 10, 1990 Germany reunification took place.

Postscript:

At Four Seasons in a Life you can see photographs of the remaining Berlin Wall and it's refurbishing by the original 86 international artists in time for the celebration to mark twenty years since its downfall.

Children’s Hands at Play

The structures usefulness has long outlived its purpose and been abandoned by the military and turned over to the National Park Services. These concrete structures of fortifications imbedded into the coastal hillside against an enemy that never arrived, are now left to the elements and to the many mischievous hands at play in the garden of forgotten childhood.

Sounds of the ocean are muffled; a sea gull’s shrill can be heard off in the distance, piercing the sky as it fills the void. My footsteps upon the lose gravel disrupt the surrounding rhythms measuring the intervals of time.

Gazing in through the window frame, as it is absent of glass or the iron bars, I behold a chamber adorned by the hands of many, they who have left behind a trace of their presence by any means possible.

As the right leg climbs over the ledge of the window, I slowly begin my descent, intruding into a realm of unknown. Here where ubiquitous voices have sanctified impenetrable walls, now harboring the transgressions of our silence are the cryptic, enigmatic symbols. They, which converse in a mix of language, colour and texture, ever changing as transient voices add or subtract to the layers when their dreams collide.

Though surrounded by the ghosts lingering between the overlapping layers of indifferent pigmentations of colour, I find myself alone in this space, losing track as the hours pass with the swiftness of a sparrow.

I leave this place the same as I had found it, though richer for having stayed.

Notes:

All digital photographs featured in this photographic essay were taken on April 17, July 8 and July 12, 2007, at the Battery Mendell, located at the Marin Headland in Northern California and under the supervision of National Park Services.

A discovery turns into an artistic vision

Over a period of three years I have photographed the telephone poles in the city of Berkeley, California, because over time fliers of advertisements are transformed into remnants of paper tidbits to which I am drawn because of their abstract nature.


As new fliers are stapled to the poles, old ones are torn off, leaving behind fragments held in place by which they were fastened. It is these snippets of randomness that have evolved from just being a captured photographic image, by becoming an artistic vision, a concept that is replicated on canvas or on a wooden pallet.

The eye that sees you, 2006

By not only gathering photographic evidence but also actual source material from telephone poles and from billboards, especially walls that were plastered with posters; larger pieces of art could now considered possible.

HOWL, 2008
Multi-Medium on canvas, 36 x 36 inches (91.44 x 91.44 cm)

The transitional period from working with just representational photographs to actually attempting a painting or a collage painting occurred in stages that continued for almost four years, beginning with HOWL, a painting which took 2½ years to complete.


Just before HOWLwas finished, another canvas was started, using materials torn from billboards in Berkeley and Emeryville and applied in a more graphic design application, rather then using the embodiment approach as with Orderly Confusion.

Beauty Re-defined, 2008
Multi-Medium on canvas, 24 x 24 inches (60.96 x 60.96 cm)


The key distinction between the first two paintings lies in the usage of the collage material as being the initial surface upon which the painting is build and the word ‘BEAUTY’ is spray painted on. In comparison to HOWL, the illusion of torn materials were first painted, then newsprint was adhered to, only to be torn off, before adding the local newspaper covers simulating posters.


Before HOWL was considered completed, the first four lines from Allen Ginsberg’s 1956 poem Howl were added, bringing together the social implications of the newspaper image and purpose of the painting to which it had evolved into. Though Beauty Re-defined was also finished with a handwritten commentary, it however reflects graffiti by the hand of a stranger.

Orderly Confusion, 2008
Multi-Medium on canvas, 10 x 10 inches (25.40 x 25.40 cm)

The smallest of the painting in this genre series also represents the truest forms of embodiment textural qualities of the telephone poles one finds in Berkeley. In order to achieve true embodiment and visual authenticity, an integral part of this collage painting, actual pieces of ephemeral material were collected from telephone poles I had photographed, along with various rusted and almost new staples and then reassembled in a design of my choosing. Paying careful attention to duplicating reality, any painterly evidence had been carefully disguised as not to draw immediate attention to it.

So far each piece of art has had its own individual approach, interpreting how to define what had been seen and photographed and Pangaea is no different, despite its much cleaner and highly refined graphic layout.

Pangaea
Multi-Medium on wooden pallet, 24 x 36 inches (60.96 x 91.44 cm)


The materials used came from telephone poles, billboards, and a large number of posters that had been plastered on walls at a number of different construction sites and were carefully torn from these locations with the intent of using only specific pieces of interest from the actual posters.

Since no other materials other than the collected pieces of papers had being used, careful attention was being paid to the interaction of each piece and its overall placement in the composition as a whole. Making sure that visual movement and points of key interest was given with no more and no less of attention then the piece next to it, even though one item by far outshined all others and remains the main focal point in the composition.

There are plans for a few more collage paintings, especially one very large endeavor, measuring 4 x 6 feet (121.92x182.88 cm) in size and utilizing source material and paint.