Jeremiah Johnson Ganesh. Official HD

 
So glad to see Jeremiah releasing a video to his awesome song from the album Postcards.

The Damned at Godzillas 1982

These are a few photos I took of The Damned in 1982 when they played at Godzillas in the San Fernando Valley. It cost $9.00 to see them!! what a deal

                                                        The Captain and Dave Vanian

                                                    Captain Sensible Dave Vanian and Paul Gray

Rat Scabies  and Captain Sensible

Christian Death LP on Cleopatra Records

    One of my photographs of Rozz from Christian Death is being used on a record cover issued by Cleopatra Records! Im so stoked                   

If you want to order one here is the website...

 http://cleorecs.com/store/shop/christian-death-the-iron-mask-limited-edition-green-lp/

Christian Death – The Iron Mask (Limited Edition Green LP

 

Special limited edition colored vinyl reissue of this landmark album that saw Rozz Williams take control of Christian Death and launch a new wave of gothic music in the US!

 

 

   

Mandala of Compassion Tibetan

 

We went to the Hammer museum at UCLA to check out the sand mandala that four highly respected Tibetan monks created over a two week period. When we arrived the monks were in the middle of a Puja which is a ritual of prayer and meditation offered in this case for compassion for all beings in the presence of the elaborate sand mandala they created with different colored sands. The room was rather small and quiet except for the chanting monks. I was in awe as would  anyone who views this mandala up close at the details, colors and design. The murmur of prayer of the monks and the splendid devotional mandala helped me feel connected to their petition for compassion in the world.  When they complete the mandala, after the two weeks, the sand painting is carefully brushed into containers, a symbolic gesture of impermanence. The day we visited was the final day and the monks were going to disperse the collected sands of the mandala in the ocean and offer it as a blessing.   We didn't join some of the participants/viewers at the beach but I left the Hammer with a sense of respect and awareness of one important goal we as humans should strive for.

 

Kneelo Cove design

This design is one of my first combination of traditional cut and paste collage and computer assisted collage. All the images are from paper sources and layered traditionally on a 1/8" cardboard, then scanned and images manipulated in photo shop. text added later.

Assemblage

This is a new assemblage jewelry box I made this week. Parts are from an old desk lamp, pocket watch, watch parts, beads, various nick nacks in the drawers.

FRONT

                                                                    
                                                                           
                                                                            BACK

OPENED

Collage 09/19

Two more collages I've been working on.

The top one was inspired by the early morning light, that moment where your just waking up still kind of in a dream state and the sounds that are part of your environment become part of your dream. In this case, I have lots of crows that live in our neighborhood, squawking all the time, drinking water from our bird bath and rummaging through the trash. Crows have become part of my everyday existence. Through the years I've researched the symbolism of crows and love the fact that different cultures have a many interpretations of their interactions with crows. Crows can been seen as a bad omen and a messenger of death in some cultures and also be a divine creature and a messenger of the gods in others!  The dogs are loyal creatures and protective to the end and have a deep symbolism attached to them. Dogs have been written about and revered since they've been domesticated thousands of years ago.  I have dogs sleeping on our bed when we wake up in the morning and I witness and feel their protective nature everyday. So when I woke up one morning these words came to me quickly which inspired the collage..................................................................................

 This mornings song enveloping us at first light

 is shattered by a murder of crows

a reminder of the darkness

 lingering at the edge of dawn.

This collage utilizes the Devils Trumpet plant or (Datura Inoxia) as the cental focus of this collage. From ancient times continuing to the present, the taking of Datura tissues, particularly the seeds, was used in shamanistic rituals as a path to enlightenment. Today, people frequently experiment with it for the hallucinogenic effect, but the results are so unpleasant (dark visions, disorientation, amnesia, blurred vision, dry mouth, and incontinence) that they seldom recommend the experience. Overdoses can result in death. I'm always reading murder mysteries and thought I'd create something inspired by those mysteries.  I just finished a ghost story/murder mystery that took place on an island , I love anything to do about islands.

New Artwork Collage and drawings

Two new artworks using old ocean depth maps as the foundation, cut up and reassembled and then adding some of my drawings and collage. I'm not done yet with them, still trying to figure out if they need anything else.

This one is titled Incantation. (26"X16")
an imaginary map of the locations of excellent rideable waves and the storms that produce them.

This artwork delves into my faith in Buddhism, again using a section of a map and more of my drawing with minimal use of collage 

New Artwork -- Nommo Ogo and Wolves in The Throne Room

Here is some new mixed media collage artwork I am currently working on..Been able to spend a few hours listening to Nommo Ogo and creating stuff. 

http://youtu.be/gsyAMNmlypM

 I went to see Nommo Ogo and Wolves in The Throne Room with tiernan and a few of his friends at the Echolplex and I was so stoked to witness them live. Nommo Ogo went on first, recordings and video do them no justice, live they are a powerful atmospheric almost mystical entity. The environment the band controls and performs in has a big influence on the performance. The echoplex  itself was like entering a dark cave, minimal illumination,  being visually deprived of details allowed one to conjure up images of their own devices. The constant other worldly sounds coming from the speakers between the bands performances and the black shadows of other patrons their faces veiled in the dark helps transport you into a otherworldly performance space. And WITTR was as powerful and heavy as the last time we saw them 2 years ago. Great evening!

 

 

Middle Class @ The Cuckoos Nest and Frank Ruffino of China White at the Cuckoos Nest

I found a few more images I took with my first camera a Nikonos III underwater camera that I bought before I went to Australia. I was still trying to figure out how to not draw attention to the camera and shot without a flash, not so great but some neat ones every once in awhile! very difficult to get any decent results! I shot a lot of photos like this, of some great bands but the photos just turned out crap and I chucked them in the trash! so bummed I didnt keep them because in hindsight I probably could have salvaged a few. 

Jeff Atta, Mike Atta

Jeff Atta

Frank Ruffino 

Assemblage

I've been working on these assemblages the past few weeks and are still works in progress.
The materials used are things I've found the past few years, they include moss, wood, chandelier parts, glass, photographs, plexi glass, salt and pepper shakers paper, beads, metal, clock parts. A lot of grief trying to bring the disparate objects together and connect them..no single adhesive can be used for everything! I utlized wood screws, metal bolts,wood glue, and glue of epoxy.

This assemblage utilizes 18 seperate objects to get to this stage of construction. I had to reassemble the clock body and repaint it, it was basically in pieces when I bought at the swap meet for $5.00. The rectangular display case was also a swap meet find and dissasembled, I rebuilt it, painted it and added gold leaf. I then secured the clock body and display case together with wood screws and added the brass chandaleir arms with the plexi glass boxes. The metal apertures at each end are tin lids and camera lenses with small collages inside each.  Again, bringing together different materials like metal and plexi glass and expecting them to adhere together with one kind of adhesive does not work. I had to use wood screws, bolts, glue of epoxy and nails to bring all this together. This is still a work in progress. 

This assemblage is constructed with wood, glass, wood plugs that I've gold leafed, plexiglass boxes with collages inside each one, salt and pepper shakers and one of the three wise monkeys made of balsa wood, black letters of plastic that follow the gold leafed plugs on the exterior.  Another work in progress.

Isla Natividad

Isla Natividad, an island about 3 miles off the west coast of Baja sur, and is part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve is 4 miles long and 1 mile wide. Has a population of about 400 people, mostly fishermen and thier families and 85 % of the worlds population of the black vented shearwater bird. Theres also a some waves on the island which I visited with a few friends in the mid 80's. We didnt get a whole lot of surf but we enjoyed what the island also offers, solitude and nature.

Looking towards the mainland Punta Eugenia

Open Doors

Lighthouse on the island built in 1935

Self portrait at dawn, downtown Natividad 

Our shade from the afternoon sun

Greg Shewman 

Nightlife downtown Natividad

Dave Settles, Scott Hayward, Me, Troy Bishop

Nightlife downtown Natividad

Dave Settles, Scott Hayward, Me, Troy Bishop

Graffitied wall