Global Military Spending

Wonder why we're running a $1.4 trillion deficit?  I'll give you a hint, it's not because of our spending on health care.

Thanks to globalissues.org for the graphic.

A harmonica jam...

It has been a very long time since I have posted a harmonica video. I still play just about every day, though the few times I have tried to record have resulted in less than spectacular performances. Anyway, here's a tune called, "Hi Girlfriend."

This, the thing that I have done...

So Imaginary Thomas received the package I sent and I can finally show people what I made.  First off, it was an art swap.  You may remember that he sent me Old Friends.  Well, I sent him a piece titled, Nothing Personal.  It's made of watch parts, clock parts, found objects and piano pieces and it's mounted on gesso-covered plywood.

It's inspired by the army of robots Imaginary Thomas builds and the destructive tendencies they exude.  He sent one of his Mauraders to Vancouver in a box for Christmas so I thought the Watch Men would send a suitable response.  It also gives a nod to Imaginary Thomas' favorite of my watch paintings, Almost There. 

Well, he also sent me another paper collage of his that was inspired by a popular video game called Shadow of the Colossus.  I wanted the Shadow of the Colossus piece to give to a friend of mine here in Vancouver.  He loves it.  In exchange for this, I sent him a collection of parts.  Every found object artist loves new parts.  I found a box to fill and had a blast putting together a well of inspiration.  Check it out...

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

Now I think we're going to set up a community forum where other artists can come together and do their own artswaps.  I'll let you all know if it goes anywhere.

The Great Art Swap: entry 1

It has come!  I received a package in the mail from Imaginary Thomas with his part of the art swap.  It's a 12"x12" paper collage and it's called Old Friends.  I'm stoked to have it.  Check it out.

 

 

I love it!  The eye on the guy is so expressive, made so by such a subtle little line.  The textures of the papers (only partially evident in the photograph) make it such a rich image and give it a depth that is really emphasized by the contrast between the bright white monster and the dark background.  And the story!  It's a lot of what makes his work so unique is his ability to tell half of a story through image and half through narrative... neither being enough on its own, and yet together they feel as though you have opened a familiar book to the middle and begun to read.

I have pictures of what I sent him, but he hasn't received it yet and he reads my blog, so I shan't ruin it. I will say that I sent a box weighing almost 6 kilos, though!  Bring a bag when you go to the post office, Imaginary Thomas!

Ok, here comes the ketchup...

 

So I dropped out of sight for the holidays because the holidays kinda make me glum and the last thing I wanted to do was to infect others with my holiday blahs.  So now it's February and people are starting to remind me that I have a blog I haven't posted to for quite a while.  In fact, I suspect one or two people aren't returning my emails until I post.  For a while I felt bad for not posting and procrastinated further because I felt the need to make a big "I'm back" post that I never had the time to do.  Then I realized that a lot of the reason I haven't had time is because I've been so busy with other things.  In fact, I've been getting a fair bit done.  Check it out, a few new watch paintings and some furniture I've done recently...

Ooh, I Hope It's a Pony!

Salt and Pepper
 They Both Have Pretty Fantastic Shoes
(I forgot that one's name)

Here, Birdy! Birdy!

Detail from Here, Birdy! Birdy!

 Look, Ma!  I Got One!

My desk.

The 60 lbs. rack of hammers out of a piano from the 1850's... that girlfriend found on freecycle.org and carried home for me on a bus. 

I have an amazing girlfriend.

This is our dream house up amongst the old mansions on the hill behind our apartment.  It sold last month.

My favorite flowers to bring home for Katy.

A three-piece bookshelf I built for my studio space.

One of two display tables I built for Framehouse.

A molding rack for the back room at Framehouse. The only thing to see in this shot, though, is the neatly stacked molding.

Wait for it...

 

 Almost there...

And there is the dividers that make it all happen.  There is also a floor shelf to keep the base of the molding contained.

 

 And my latest project, a small bathroom shelf for my friends, Helena and Steve.

 

 Experimenting with engraving on the CNC.  I have some great ideas for furniture now.  All of the furniture you've seen, by the way, is made of recycled wood.  This particular piece is made of plywood that has no added urea formaldehyde.  Ooh!  Fancy and Green!

Here's some pictures from my neighborhood I took one evening.

Just a building.  I Like Katy's new camera. 

A shot of the hospital from the top or the parking garage.

Over the side of the parking garage to the public space below.

Looking West out over the neighborhood at dusk.

The hospital seen through the houses in the neighborhood.

The front entrance to our apartment.

So aside from all of these, I've also been working on designing a downhill racing longboard for one of the installers at work.  That's been a completely new challenge.  I'm hoping maybe to sell one or two in my quest to save up for a new bicycle.  I'm sketching on a few new box designs and have a couple of pieces of furniture in the works, as well.  I have another watch painting almost finished on my desk right now that will be mailed to Imaginary Thomas in a day or two.  Remember Imaginary Thomas?  He's the one I met through the Reddit Secret Santa who sent me Thunderous Charles the Bus Thrower.  Well, we got along famously and decided to do an art swap, wherein we would each create a piece of art inspired by the other person's work and send it in the mail.  I hit a snag with mine and so am just now finishing it.  Imaginary Thomas' art, on the other hand, is at the post office waiting to be picked up by me.  What can I say?  Anyone who knows me is not surprised to read this.  But I couldn't rush it!  I didn't have the right piece for about a week and it was killing me.  But I finally got it figured out the other night.  Sometimes it goes like that.  I could have most of a piece finished and staring me in the face for a month, but if one piece isn't right, then the work isn't finished.  The times when I've tried to force it it just hasn't worked.  Art has taught me patience, at least.

On top of all that, I've continued to train jiu jitsu at least twice a week.  I'm getting better all the time.  I have a great coach who, unfortunately, will be leaving to go back to Brazil for a month or two while he sorts out his immigration visa.  I'm sorely going to miss his teaching but I'm hoping he'll have no problems with his visa and he'll be back soon enough.  He's very motivational and a great teacher.  I hope the energy he brought to the school remains after he leaves.  

Katy has entered a co-op term in school wherein she gets an internship at a firm and works instead of going to classes.  To say she is happy would be an understatement.  She worked really hard to find a job and through her networking skills managed to land a good job at a really good firm.  It's a great office environement that's producing world-class designs that are at the forefront of the sustainability movement.  Katy is learning a great deal about normal architectural issues like codes and construction etc., but she is also getting to learn about the newest innovations in sustainable architecture.  I'm real proud of her and very happy for her.  It's strange for both of us having a fairly normal life for the first time.  We get up together in the morning and go about our separate days, then come back together in the evening to talk and get ready to do it again the next day.  It's pleasant.  It's low-stress.  We really enjoy each other.  And weekends (okay, just Sunday, really) are actually meaningful.   

Ok, well speaking of meaningful weekends, I need to get to sleep so I can get up at a decent hour and enjoy mine tomorrow.  The Olympics are a week away and things have kicked into crazy gear around here.  There's a lot of tourists here already and things haven't even started.  We're hoping to go downtown and mingle amongst the crowds.  We'll post some pictures and video.  

Alright, have a great week, everyone. And if you're still reading after that long break, thanks.  Heck, even if you're new, if you're reading period, thanks.

I'm not dead, I'm resting...