Whose territory?

“For all his technological sophistication, man is still a newcomer. It is only in the past century that he has been able to cross land, water or the air faster than a cheetah, porpoise or bat, which could claim mammalian speed records in these media for millions of years. Man’s electronic sonar is far from the minute, refined echolocation mechanism of bats, and even atomic submarines cannot yet dive as deep as sperm whales. Man’s technology has far to go to equal the efficiency and the variations of mammalian mechanisms. Whole areas are uninvestigated or beyond man’s ken-for example, the use of odors for communication or the disease resistance of hibernators.”

Richard G. Van Gelder

Altered quote

On Personal Territory.

The purpose of this is to present an attractive, concise and authentic story of {Sarah}. In addition to offering a sketch of the outstanding political happenings of {Sarah}, the {painter} has attempted to give a glimpse of the life of the people in our country. Naturally, within the brief limits of such a {space}, much material has had to be omitted. However, the most important phases of {Sarah}’s life have not been overlooked. The numerous illustrations have been carefully selected, and the {painter} trusts that they will contribute to the story by appealing to the imagination and interest of everyone, especially the school boys and girls.

weird werdz and new artz

I was at the house, because my mom left to go somewhere. When I got there, my mom was had already arrived. Ella was really happy to see me. It was raining. I felt very happy. The kids looked bigger. Jasmine Speigel was there as the new babysitter. They had always been disapproving of me. I saw a little boy, and I asked him how old he was. I called him "dude". He said he was 1. I never figured out who he was.

Check out my new painting:

My Place
4ft by 5ft

If your skin is ugly or dumb, you can cure this condition with the following cure. Every morning before washing your horse, massage it gently with a pig that has been soaked overnight in a bowl full of warm 7up.

Recipe. Mix together some cherries and some meatloaf until the mixture becomes clear.

Her eyes are like two slimy pools of saliva.

Your greasy teeth.

I hope I made a brainwashing impression.

On the news she claimed her husband quickly gave her a fungus in the eye and a kick in the clavicle.

Fishes that must have cost 3 dollars.

It's the front page on YouTube, rather than the front page of the paper these days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ95z6ywcBY&feature=topvideos

Watch it.


I think Lady Gaga is creating contemporary art history. Our time will be remembered by her work. I was under the impression that America had forgotten about art and that the art scene is just a bunch of kids painting stick figures with stoney messages written next to them. (Not to say that there isn't beauty in that.) But then I realized that America is just treating art the same way he treats everything else. Television, media, product placement. Celebrity royalty. The true royalty ruling elite to the American people are the celebrities. Art as a method of money making. Other artists have used fame and money as an outlet for their art, but none as successfully as Lady Gaga. For example, Jeff Koons understood that in today's world, the art doesn't have to be beautiful. It doesn't matter what the fuck the art is, as long as it has a famous name behind it. It just needs to be something to buy and sell. For HUGE amounts of money I might add. Artists like Matthew Barney understand the idea of putting celebrity appeal behind their work. The artist must be a celebrity, as well as utilize celebrities from other realms such as Bjork or Beyonce. (is that cheap shot at the marriage of two amazing artists? (bjork and barney?? nahhh fuck it) The American people flock to celebrities. Celebritism. I made this word up just now, and it means the worship of all things celebrity. Actually I'm sure someone else has already made up that word.


I love how forward she is about sexuality within her music. The difference between her musical sexuality and other artists such as The Pussycat Dolls or any other nakey dancing music videos is that she is owning it and claiming it, rather than presenting it others as eye candy. To excite men, and to put envy in women. Honestly most men seem to fear Gaga rather than or as well as excite them. Women, for the most part, respect rather than envy her like they would most other pop stars. She is also a huge step toward openness to homosexuality, by forcing so many Americans to confront it in popular culture within her videos. People can't hide from it if it's on television and the internet all over the place. We accept what our role models teach us to accept.

America does support the arts, but they do so through the beautification of money making. Advertising has become an art. Put the ads within the art(product placement), and the art between the ads on televison. It all blends together smoothly and artistically. You come out of it effected in many ways, but at least it was art, beautiful, or interesting or colorful or scary or.....ettccc.

rant

Post high school I immediately entered art school at California College of the Arts. I had absolutely no time to evaluate my life, or gain any sort of perspective outside of the tiny protective bubble that had been my life up until the age of 18. Upon entering CCA, I began to broaden my understanding of the world. I met new kinds of people, and had my first real relationship. All the while, I was taking classes in order to hone my craft as a painter. I find it unfortunate that these two aspects of my life fell at the same time, although I still feel as though I gained a lot from my experiences. The problem was that I was too busy experiencing and trying to understand life to fully gain everything I could from the classes I was in.

After 3 years at CCA, for financial as well as personal reasons I moved to Eugene. Once I was away from my past relationship, my artistic community, and general mindset, I was able to better evaluate everything that had happened to me since high school. My last year in California was filled with a lot of negative emotions that didn't allow me to paint as freely as I know that I am able. That all changed once I moved. I live by myself now, which allows total freedom to paint and create whenever and howerever I chose. This is very important to me, because I need to feel very comfortable in my environment in order to create in my truest form. It is also nice for me to live in closer proximity to my family, as they are very important to me.

My first school term in Eugene (fall 2009) was really great, although I wasn't enrolled in any painting classes. I came back to a few old paintings that had been left stagnant for months. I felt incredibly inspired to create, and I knew that I was ready to take my painting to a new level. A lot of the teaching I had from previous teachers began to connect and make a lot more sense during this time. I drew multiple self portraits and began dabbling outside of the abstraction that had been my comfort for so many years.

Upon entering this intermediate painting class my goal was to further my exploration into figurative painting while still involving the textural, color based abstraction that I had spent so much time studying. With the help of my intructor as well as being in a new artistic environment, my development came smoothly and rapidly. I have been looking at lots of books from the library of artists that I admire. From these books I have been trying to understand problem solving techniques used by other artists, and applying those methods to my own work. Some of the artists that I have studied recently are Lucian Frued, Paul Cezanne, Mary Cassatt, Francis Bacon, and Pablo Picasso. Francis Bacon in particular has really influenced my work. He is a deeply twisted man, and his creation comes from a very dark place that I can relate to in a certain sense. I honestly feel that in order to create you need a motive behind it, and often times that motive can be a dark or troubled past or present mind.

As Francis Bacon said, "If you can talk about it, why paint it?" I agree completely. There are some things in this world that lack verbal expression, that can only be expressed visually and emotionally. My art is a direct expression and connection to the feelings inside me, which is what makes it so incredibly personal. What I need to focus on now is figuring out the best way to make my personal expression something that can be universally appreciated and understood.

Looking at past artistic statements I have written in an attempt to explain why I create, I realize more than ever how intent behind art can change so rapidly. All I know is that I need to paint, and without art I would feel very lost in this world without any purpose or stability. Our world is very scary and I am filled with very strong emotions. I am so lucky to have an outlet like painting. I think that everyone needs a way to express the feelings that they have inside of themselves. Without an outlet, people have no way to reflect upon what they are experiencing and can resort to unhealthy outlets such as drugs or alcohol abuse.

With the paintings I have been making lately I do not immediately understand what I am expressing until later in the process as it becomes more clear. For example, the painting that I recently completed titled "Two Sides", shows two redheaded women with abstracted faces. When I first saw the picture this painting is based on, I was immediately attracted to it and knew I had to paint it. I was not sure what about it appealed so much. As I painted, I realized that this painting expresses the two sides within one individual. The human and the manic. The rational and the irrational. The good and the evil. The light and the dark. Within both of these figures are elements of the other. There is a strong crossover between the two, as they are connected within one.

I am also finishing up a self portrait that is very expressive of my current state. I have been studying politics and continue to feel the burden that humanity has put on our planet. I feel that humans are a parasite on this earth, and while I do feel our people need to find an answer to the injustices we are facing, I also feel as though our time on earth may have worn out its welcome. We have destroyed all of our natural resources, and are killing out other species in order to better our own lives. Even in doing so, we are tainting our human connections with one other, by desensitising ourselves so much through money, media, diconnected forms of communication, and over population. My self portrait shows myself with the United States as my clothing. It is what I as a human represent. I represent this damage that our country has done to this world. We are a capitalist nation that is using and abusing its people so that a minute amount of the population can gain economic power and control. This mindset is being globalized. A change must happen.

Come in she said I'll give you shelter from the storm.

Spring is necessary after winter. Especially in Oregon. There is a general veil of depression covering all of the humans and plants and animals during winter here. It is dark, damp, and cold by 4:30 in the afternoon. When you don't get up until noon like me this is a problem. Then spring comes along and flowers bloom and a billion bikers come out of hibernation!

I have a turtle named Quincy Bigz. I love him with all of my heart. Here is a picture of sir quince. He likes to make sick jumps off his log. It's actually pretty impressive. You wouldn't think a box turtle would be nearly as adventurous as this little guy. He provides hours of entertainment for both of us.

Here is my most recent painting called The Twins.