Watershed.

Exhausting the possibilities is fun.

Every once in a while i put out a bit of the dictionary from the ongoing work Lonnie + I are building. Here i go again.

 

• ready-fire-aim; The ability to start before you are altogether ready in order to initiate a beginning.

• perfection; Something that needn’t be determined in a concrete way. Something met w/ that is distracting.

• orphan / widow;

A word left alone, set at the top of the page on a line by itself. Lonely, confused + about to jump off.  A typography term.

• dance; Code word for big argument about to happen over here. -e.g. I’m cutting in on this one. I will take this dance.

• mock-up; A quickly built idea in 3D to see if it is a feasible design.

• mustard & shrimp; A color story.

• working designer, a working artist – + in order to keep the working part of the title in the equation an artist must work. A lot. That means there is little time for the stars to align + the majestic creative muse to descend w/ gifts of glorious expressions of great art. No, it is more like hurling yourself into the creative flux at a moment’s notice. It is necessary to turn on creativity at almost anytime + produce work.

• sticks; A gimmick learned for the Hong Kong episode. This skit had been organized + rehearsed numerous times, but whenever we were called upon to perform the ditty it seemed always to be changed into something none of us had ever heard of. -e.g. An inner circle joke became to compose a bewildering look in a confusing situation and ask, Sticks?

• scope creep; What happens when a project grows in scope silently + uncontrollably.

• left field; A proverbial place that you end up preceded by either putting your foot in your mouth, failing to impress a peer, or not paying attention to what is going on at the board meeting. -e.g. It’s a hit! The idea ball is floating over into left field + everyone at the table is scrambling after, trying to figure it out.

-Lonnie falling during the 1535 days.

Bear was a white guy, w/ green eyes on the red path.

20- years on, Counting Crows happened to be in the air at the shop + i remembered back to the evening of the concert. The street around Bimbo’s in SF was packed as we neared the club. Our search + the improbability of finding a parking spot had him monologging a mantra,  … she stomps out of the diner… her runs after her… she says take me home angrily… he stomps off to the car… he revved the engine… they pull out... there is still two bucks on the meter…  Inside a circus. A curious blond mop of hair eats the microphone. It had a great beat + you could dance to it. i sat rolling cigarettes poorly, but still smokeable, wondering if the show on or off the stage was best.

i tend to personify everything. Everything from lint to car engines. A bit like listening to a foreign language + pulling out what sounds like English to understand it. — Not interested in drawing it unless the subject breathes. i am no background story boarder. Another one of those, if i wake up + am it, great. However, i would not want to study for years to be it.

Too bad.
Not enough time.
Messages found written in the unfinished.

Honestly, is there any difference in a costumer and a bag lady?

Remember Jayne, do not get dead lining mixed with flat lining. -LH

 

I am not worried. I am not overly concerned.

The rock paper scissor gods get their way in taking turns at playing umpire. A great equalizer of a game, however, you must adhere to the rules.

At times it seems obvious what they are betting + whose side is whose. The cliché of a sword in hand forms the gaming board in the sky. The fickle hook swerves, as the blade’s edge points downward directing the luck we tremble to witness. Every province is in the queuing w/ a future moment to be reckoned w/. 

Them, us, Chad + all of the Stan countries. 
No one has been missed. No one will be excused.

Who has not their hand in conveying the future?

I am not worried. I am not overly concerned.

Sensationalize as a commodity. Who needs a fortuneteller with/ a performance to look forward to? The dull-witted ever need direction in matters of tangent nor suggestion to give shape to drama.

He remained in the soapbox position tolerating + persuading the passers-by to see, along w/ him, the forerunners + warnings + to interpret the signs that were so very obvious to him. Causes are assigned through the movement of the sky, the direction of the wind, + placement of fallen leaves. That’s why it happened. This is what will happen now. The crier carried ideas w/ the seriousness some caught, others could not. These ordinary influences made the common person apprehensive of calamity, doom, and a wasted Akeldama ahead. By using the power of suggestion the foretelling comes about.

Have you ever had the experience when someone is being obviously rude, + when you point it out to him or her; they become twice as rude being angry that you noticed they are being rude?

I am not worried. I am not overly concerned.

It is difficult for me to mimic. If it is not felt, it is not played out.

Having a think on  A Journal of a Plague Year by Daniel Defoe.

Research reading for a play … not a fun read … but engrossing. 

Above: 100 Paintings in 100 Hours / Hanzon - HarHar  / counting crows

-Sitting here in the fall of '23, trying to edit this to make since - i cant. i don't know what the fuc i was talking about + cant find the trail, ANYWHERE.

As i sit here - Drew put this above copy through a Jungian AI. It had this to say about that:

The text you’ve shared is indeed quite abstract and symbolic, with various elements that could be interpreted from a Jungian perspective. Carl Jung’s analytical psychology often delves into the realm of archetypes, symbols, and the collective unconscious, which can be a useful lens for examining such a text. Here are some potential Jungian analyses of various elements in the text:

 

1. Rock Paper Scissor Gods: This could symbolize the randomness and unpredictability of life. In Jungian terms, it might reflect the archetypal forces that govern human fate or destiny. The idea of gods playing games suggests a higher order of things that is beyond human understanding or control.


2. Sword in Hand Forming the Gaming Board in the Sky: Swords are often symbolic of conflict, decision-making, and power. The image of a sword forming a gaming board in the sky could represent the idea of life as a battleground of forces beyond our control. It might also signify the cutting edge of consciousness, where decisions and moral choices are made.


3. The Blade’s Edge Pointing Downward: This can be seen as a symbol of impending judgment or fate. In Jungian analysis, this might represent the descent of the conscious mind into the depths of the unconscious, or the penetration of a higher truth into the realm of the everyday.


4. Fickle Hand Swerving, Luck: These elements could be interpreted as the unpredictability of the psyche and the role of chance in human life. In Jungian psychology, the concept of synchronicity might come into play here – the idea that events are “meaningfully coincidental” even if they do not have a causal relationship.


5. Soapbox Position, Persuading Passersby: This could symbolize the archetype of the prophet or visionary, someone who sees beyond the ordinary and tries to communicate their insights to others. This figure often appears in mythology and dreams, representing the part of the psyche that is attuned to the deeper truths of the collective unconscious.


6. Foretelling, Power of Suggestion: This might relate to the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious, where archetypal patterns and symbols exist and influence human behavior and perceptions. The idea that events can be foretold or influenced through suggestion could reflect the power of these unconscious forces.


7. Observations on Rude Behavior: This part might be seen as a reflection on the shadow aspect in Jungian psychology – the part of the psyche that contains repressed or unrecognized aspects of oneself. Acknowledging rudeness and the reaction it provokes could symbolize the confrontation with the shadow.


8. Difficulty in Mimicking, Authenticity: This could relate to the Jungian process of individuation, where the goal is to integrate various aspects of the psyche into a harmonious whole. The struggle to mimic or perform actions not genuinely felt might reflect the tension between the persona (the social mask) and the true self.


9. Reference to ‘A Journal of a Plague Year’: This historical account of the bubonic plague could symbolize the collective trauma and the unconscious fears that pervade human societies. It might also represent the process of coming to terms with collective suffering and finding meaning in it.


In summary, the text seems to explore themes of fate, the unconscious forces that shape human life, the struggle for authenticity, and the human tendency to search for meaning in the chaos of existence. Through a Jungian lens, these themes reflect the interplay of archetypal forces, the collective unconscious, and the individual’s journey towards self-realization.

oml — AI does go on.

Rando-mize:

This surfaced and was too good not to share.

Circa: 1993 Here we are. What a day, + we look like wrecks. + what of it? 

i was art directing. We had stopped for a ‘buddy’ shot during the plexi-painting photo. From left, someone-you-know, Ann Cunningham, Terry Koepsel + Lonnie Hanzon, looking as though he is trying to talk photographer, John Mueller, out of this one.

ME: Any monkey can do what i do…

LONNIE: Well, that may be true, but do you realize how long it would take to train a monkey?

‘Drew is listening to the song One More Day from Les Miz (colloq.) when his sister comes in asking  hurried questions about this and that.

He raises his eyes to heaven in mock disgust, The moment is ruined! START IT AGAIN!

He cracks me up.

The only part of costuming i do not like is taking the time opening safety pins.

Where there are possibilities of too many double letters in one word, i usually get the spelling wrong.

+ another thing, the ‘i e’ rule doesn’t.

Matching furniture is a clue to adulthood.

i wonder about many things ...  not in the least is, when did my generation get use to listening to mini sound speakers instead of the steady boom of a Klipsh Belle?

More from the ongoing WIP/graphic work collab w/ Lonnie Hanzon.

• Houndstooth Check; A twill weave construction in which a broken check is produced by a variation in the pattern of interlacing yarns, utilizing at least two different colored threads. This is the weave that hides stains real well.

• mistake; Also called Spontaneous Expressions, and, they add uniqueness and expense to the work.

• now; As in The Now. The very now gets very old very fast and starting from scratch can be old news to begin with. So begin with something that is already on the designated design path that will get you there sooner than now so you can say you’ve been there later. 

• hypomnemata; A material memory. A copybook, a notebook. A written permanent relationship between self and self. Memorandum, quotations, fragments of works, examples, actions witnessed or read, reflections and reasoning heard or have come to mind. An accumulated treasure for rereading and later meditation. Also, raw material for writing more formal work.

• Toshiro Mifune; 

A line left blank in his honor.

-This project is not angst riddled + smartassy, though it may seem, by this small slice. We are (way) over that part of our lives. Or, i am. Lonnie may need to speak for himself here. -jahh

Just dusting off the unfinished manuscript from the collaborative piece, w/ Hanzon, on the cross-training dictionary. 
i’ve not posted any in a long while + thought i would break this silence w/ a few more of our simple revelations: or not.

1. Materials-alter / Method-alchemy / Inspiration-spirit.

2. There exists in everything the potential of transformation.

The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has. -Michelangelo

3. Try to know if that was the easy part or the hard part.

4. If something is not changing you are not looking close enough.

5. Muse: Learn to work this. Most successful freelancers can't afford to wait for inspiration. People in other professions work everyday whether they feel like it or not.

6. Keep the iron moving.

7. Use gravity to you own advantage.

8. In a proposal I like to always throw in something terribly wrong ... just to see if they are watching.

9. Inner-directed / Outer-directed.

10. Edentulous; Without teeth. I just really like this word.

11. Dynamic Change; Change that happens positively, immediately and, is not irreversible.

12. Great creative works are hard work and not simple. Move towards a true quiet profound excitement, and, being in this slipstream of the creative flux is indeed our element of trusting the outcome.

conNOTEative.

This rusted giant crushed can thingie will not be coming home w/ me.
Here is an example of something i can not make.
i collect things i can not make.
They lie mean-looking, stacked in a wood crate, sometimes disturbed, but mostly waiting to be upcycled.

define work load / budget
define budget / workload
sizes
things you can steal
things you can hand over to someone else
things too large to move

i keep thinking about what am i going to be, what am i gonna do? That is the condition of an artist. i am once again gaining mental ground by stepping away from it all + saying, okay this is it, i am what i am being. Socks up, continue on. Older ideas drop off, some decision are made for you ... others take time.
Instead of having the mind of this is my lot (a lot)... i’m asking, are we all in this too deep to think it was the wrong path? (Perhaps there is a sand bar up ahead.) i am forever trying to redefine my path + concentrate.

When trying narrowing + deepening of a vision i end up w/ a wider swath, bumping into the side walls for lack of focus.

Rest on that.

Have I really not been around in so long? i'll be here soon.

"Great, Jayne, just close the lines."

-past, present & future ongoing lesson from LH.

Who would the Minotaur Apologize to? 

This is a memory circa '90 put down in ... Script for a Practicing Artist and an Unfinished Life. i read this thinking how judgmental it is, which isn't really me. Add too, i'm fairly skittish, + scare easily. But wondering, now, what was really going on then. 

You could live at the Vulcan for a long while, then all of a sudden someone you’d never seen nor ever want to meet would surface. A friend of a friend wanted to introduce us to someone's painting. i believe a false word had got around that we had lots of work for all that asked. Little did they know. + little did they know how picky we were about who we worked w/. Though always eager to cheer someone on, i walked by Lonnie’s side to the other end of the complex w/ an open heart + beginners mind. We entered through the creaking garage door, jumping (with fight or flight) as it slammed closing us in. My thoughts were as murky as the cavernous space. Eyes adjusted, i looked into the rambling studio set up like an art show. We walked past the art w/ wide eyed poker faces. The work was colorless, abstract, sans expressionism + expression. When the dreaded artist pointed saying, “The good stuff is in here.” i mouthed words to Lonnie, ‘I’m not going in there!’ He rolled his eyes to let me know this too will pass so lets get it over w/ sooner than later. We walked into the artist’s private chamber like we were doomed. +, as it turned out, we had good reason. 

Sometimes i suspect we were all left here to unravel each other. Art is subjective, + this fellow is probably a celeb now. It has become a standard joke between us that when you start talking about the size of a piece of artwork, you don’t think highly of it. If the best compliment you can come up w/ is ‘that's a great size for a poster’ then you must think the work isn’t worth looking at any closer. Just too scary. 

When the scene is a Victorian mansion, you should know it’s going to be a horror movie. i tend to carry that backdrop around in my head so it’s accessible at appropriate moments.

So, this will be the a self indulgent page on a project (circa '04?) mentioned in the before post. Just for fun. Lonnie gave me the OK in the comments. So, to forge ahead. i will write under if there were words to go along w/ the painting. You know, as designers, one wants to be as darn clear as possible.

This project was for a 95th anniversary encompassing: 95 painting in 95 hours executed as a live window display at the Texas flagship Neiman Marcus. There were 95 prepped canvas' along with to-size matching fancy frames, sporting white-out. These empty white frames installed on the white wallsin the shoe gallery were a beautiful installation - even before the paintings were added. Below notice a photo where you can see the hours and painting being 'ticked off' as time went by. We were armed with gallons of paint, brushes from a flogger to a one-hair, + stack of favored scrap for the killing + to the liking. We hoped to please every taste. i particularly like the image of me fake working. Throw in spontaneity + ability to dance around each other + a bit of loud music + you have a successful event where all 95 paintings found good homes + the money raised in the auction going to a children's charity. 

The charm of it all was to make it look as though lots of different artist had done the job. Some more finished than others. The copy-cat Klimt was one of my favorites. Reimagined here as an art director makes notes to Gustav K. asking for changes on a WIP.

It was, as Lonnie said in the comment, damn honest work. 

       

 

    

Well, as these things go i was looking for one of my favorite signs placed early one morning on the dirt road into the Renaissance Fair (Black Point Forest/Novato). Something about the ...to the end of the earth being closed because of dust-off ... when i came across this rat thingy that was taken when we worked in Hong Kong...

Ok, so i continued looking + found a handful of WIP images of paintings, some looking finished, from the
95 painting in 95 hours series that was done for the 95th anniversary of major (meaning expensive) department store. i must say the stack was pretty amusing, even now, + i do remember the audience outside the window liking the ongoing live display work.

But before i start scanning + send this into the ether ... i reckon i need to ask Lonnie if it’s okay to show this, after all this time.

i don’t know why not.
Lonnie? Are you there?

Why do you have such bad handwriting, when you can draw so well?  

-Chloe

i get energy + inspiration from working on something completely different.

Want to work costume ideas? Illustrate a mandala.
Want a book theme? Sculpt the Mona Lisa.
Color story? Take off your glasses and make the lines disappear.

me: Hey, i just found an old scrap file named 'cities', in my writing ... it’s spelled wrong.

Lonnie: Well, if it were spelled right, we’d know it was a forgery.

...good luck will rub off when you shakes hands with me...
 -Bert  + we thought that was only coal dust.

It’s time to do the shuffle + purge, again.

3 

The tide had just gone out. Walking down to the shore i noticed a gorgeous, colossal sand castle someone was obviously living in. Taking a self guided tour i found it had been designed + outfitted by sculpting sand complete w/ overhead lights down to the tile + fixtures in the bathroom. The designer was dashing about rearranging sand that had drooped + shifted from the ocean seeping in. i asked her why the place was so heavily decorated, when the tide moves + removes things daily. She explained that the owners wanted to learn the art of letting go, only slowly.

i hiked under a full moon along the beach, + lay down for a nap near the sandy villa at dawn. The sun was awhile above the horizon when the tide awoke me by sloshing my toes. i looked over in time to see the great mound of sand crumble nobly into the sea. A moment later the face of the woman appeared behind the huge pile, as she raised a shovel + prepared to rebuild.

You’d have to know me better, but this dream seems appropriate just now.

-Retreating Angel

Shadows are purple, except when they aren't. -jahh

Art is often like opera, some people just need the super-titles.

           -Lonnie Hanzon - in a frustrated moment.

Fall in love with something every day, even if it’s just a color.

          -Kyle Bradfield

You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in.  -Arlo Guthrie 

Those who restrain their desires, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.  -William Blake

I went on, all over the States, ranting poems to enthusiastic audiences that, the week before, had been equally enthusiastic about lectures on Railway Development or the Modern Turkish Essay. -Dylan Thomas 

I call everyone 'Darling' because I can't remember their names.  -Zsa Zsa Gabor

No good deed goes un-punished.  -jahh

At some point down the street there lived a threesome of grown bros that were Civil War reenactment enthusiasts. As though it wasn’t good enough the first time around. They were the classic, happy, Santa/biker ZZ type, w/ a home full of dusty American antiques + a ready musket leaned near every window. no kidding. The booby trapped barb wired back acre was decorated w/ litter + half organized w/ destitute VW parts, (we where expecting?) W/in that motley pile + wonder weeds, there stood a heavy black cannon they fired off every Fourth of July.

i imagine other neighbors knew the date + time + moment of the annual explosion. On the expectation of it hurrying willy-nilly to hold down the urns + nic-nacs, keeping the piano in place as in the scene from Mary Poppins when Admiral Boom blasts the canon on-the-dot.

There were gun shots shuttering over Oakland that would ring every New Year. As though everyone let loose w/ a hidden weapon + then, once over + concealed again, eyed each other suspiciously from then on. Starting one minute till w/ the final sound-off at five minutes after midnight. i’m sure, since then, the Vulcan motley units have become rather gentrified to a degree. When we lived there the inhabitants were working artists + artistic spirit types converting it into the groovy space we are allegedly known to occupy. Yet, as time passed it was inevitably commandeered by the popular yuppies w/ bigger bank rolls + small children. We looked on their actions as the courtesy of patrons instead of a hostel takeover. Whoa, where have i gone...

Anyway, yes, New Years Eve at the Vulcan ... of course most of this was during my white-out phase so i could be way off in recall. Also what goes around, again, so it could be totally trashed + on it's way back up in repeat by now....hey, Mark you think your murals still grace the Vulcan Thai Café?

You’d think that after so many years of yoga i could put my boots on standing up + not fall over. i obviously have not been consistent. 

i am comforted by Maude’s observation, Consistency is not a human trait. 

Regrets sent. Regrets all kinds. Just another human condition. We often regret not having done something, more than if we had. 

e.g.

-When i left for good, not taking the wobbler from the pressure cooker just to drive him crazy.

-Another time, when i left for good, not stopping w/ she looks just like you, but needing to add ...only younger. 

-Never having a lost decade. Off center, off base and slightly skewed. Actually, would i remember if I had? Well, something about purgatory, suspended animation, + time spent in Limbo. Leave it to Latin America to make purgatory into a dance. 

Aye, Sometimes there is a need to sum up a conversation, to find a point, which seemed important at the time. Go figure, we all did. 

Oh, for writing out loud!

second wind...
Nothing awakens the heart or stops it cold more than dirtying pages. To me, writing is much like gardening. Carrying my tools out, i turn to a place looking as though it needs a bit of tending to. i have a sit. Before long, using a word dragnet, i’ve raked in + set up a few pages, + weeded through verbosity.

i heard KR will be writing an autobiography. Good thing. I hope it’s full of lies. He’s one of my heroes.

116 Having just spied Keith Richards on the cover of the Rolling Stone, i ran back to the studio to ask who would go get it for me. Someone joked, It’s just like porn, after the first time you buy, it’s no big deal.

A kind soul left + came back with the tabloid. i ran into the oval office showing off the cover image. A universal grimace, Jayne, I just had lunch!

...the river is flowing, rolling and flowing. the river is flowing, down to the sea...