Happy New Year

Happy New Year

We've skated right into the New Year

I wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR and smooth skating!

(Image found on Flickr)

The Year in Review

As we review the year that has unfolded, I am thankful for things that have come to pass and I look forward to what will be.

A very safe and happy, New Year's Eve to you all!

(Image found on Flickr)

Tree and Houses

24" x 30" oil on canvas.
The colors in this painting were influenced by something I saw several years ago. When we were working on "Pocahontas" in Glendale, there was a fire across the freeway in Griffith Park. At that time several of us were in a temporary building right next to the directors.

As I was walking to see the directors, I noticed that because of the smoke in the air the sidewalk was pink and the shadows were a very intense blue.

It's probably completely obvious to someone else but at that point I began to realize that sunlight actually had a COLOR and that shadows had a COLOR too. A lot of painters add just WHITE to lighten something, and they mix BLACK to make shadows. I don't even own a tube of black paint because ever since the fire it drives me crazy how it's often used. It's great to use black as a COLOR, like if someone is wearing a black t-shirt or is driving a black car. But to use it as the color for a shadow kills me.

2. I often like to paint fairly loosely but make things look completely recognizable.

3. Also as you can tell I don't like rendering.

4. The shadows in this photo might look like I used black but I guarantee you I didn't.

5. Depending on what I'm painting I might use Pthalo Blue or Alizerine Crimson or something like that for a shadow color.

Reservoir and Truck

40" x 48" oil on canvas.
1. I posted this painting previously but for some reason it didn't show up.
This photo is a little over exposed but I was too lazy to shoot it again. This size is what I prefer but I'm trying to get used to painting smaller.

Even though I usually paint somewhat loosely the paint is pretty thinned out with turp because I like to show what's underneath.
This is how I like to play with 2D and 3D.




































4. In this image the rectangle on the right is actually more orange than yellow...it's the same as the orange field in the image above.

Goodbye 2010 Hello 2011

 

Happy Happy New Year!!

image 1 - kate spade via pretty stuff, image 2 - , image 3 - little of that, image 4 - kates papiere

The Five Skandhas

I rather like this presentation of the five heaps: http://bodhi.sofiatopia.org/skandhas.htm

Taken from it:

1. "rûpa": embodied phenomena, having form, corporeal;
2. "vedanâ": feelings;
3. "samjñâ": recognition, assimilation of perceptions;
4. "samskâra": putting together, forming, synergy, process, volitional dispositions;
5. "vijñâna": distinguishing, discerning, understanding, comprehending, skill, proficiency, consciousness, thought-faculty, sentience.

Snow-pocolypse, & my bad!

I have had nothing to say.
Which is new for me. One of the reasons I write here (usually) every single day is because I want to share all the cool ass shit we can do while living sustainably, off grid, eco, primitive or whatevs label you enojoy giving it.
I havent been saying anything on here, because I have been in a sort of limbo that may not end till Spring time - when decisions must be made. I like to only write about good stuff, positive feelings, i like it to motivate, be happy --- none of which I could do the last few weeks in all the snow storms because everything I did to prepare here, kinda.... well.... started falling apart.
*
The plumbing does something new every single day. I told ya'll about the filter-splosion in the cabin that flooded it, but there has also been intermitten times of no water, then water, then no water in the outside pump even, only water up the side of the mountain, then water again, then drain pipes freezing so i had to stop dripping water (aka no water again) - drain pipes de-frosting and coming apart, flooding the floor again, no running water?
I DONT fucking get it anymore?!!!
And i can tell you it's not sustainable water anymore (even though gravity fed) cause unless i put "heat tape" on the pipes (which uses bunches of electricity) they will stay frozen all winter long.
......
So i was talking on the phone with a friend who was ready for me to stop complaining and buck up - she said something to the effect "you wanted to be off grid" ---->
but these problems are not related to being Off Grid. They are problems of location, lack of immediate help, and did i mention NO SUNSHINE whatsoever during the winter months.
Yep, i found out the hard way that my cabin is between two ridges and during the winter the sun is behind a ridge and i get none. Even cutting back trees wont do enough good, and i would have to cut back hundreds of them, ones not even on my land.
My Mistake :::::::::::
not knowing the sun pattern before buying the Luck Cabin.
I thought it got enough sun, even though it doesnt get tons... i had no idea the winter would mean utter darkness. And the reason I have said nothing for quite a while now is because i have been sitting in my rocking chair in front the wood stove comtemplating whether I can spend the rest of my life half a year in darkness. This prospect, after all i have put into being here at the Luck Cabin, and it's utter perfection at all other times of the year make me feel heartbroken in a way there have been and still are no words for.
I don't know many or really any people who could live without sunshine half a year.
------ the other part of this, is just right down my driveway is another climate. I literally am just a few hundred feet from a warmer climate. My driveway marks some kind of elevation change, where the tempature drops a significant amount, and i got twice as much snow & cold as people just a lil' ways below me. Yesterday I took my Jimmy truck dangerously down the road, only to see that I really was in some kind of isolated world, one that had a storm much worse then those just hop, skips, and jumps away - and this was a bit of a shock.
*
Two things I can NOT fix :::::::::::
the sun
the micro climate at the Luck Cabin
*
For many weeks I could not put my finger on it, I could not put into words how i was feeling. I only knew I was getting no sunshine here and was feeling really depressed. I had no intention of ever revealing this dirty little secret, my big sustainability mistake.... but eventually i began crying (thanks PMS) and had to confess to the first person that rang my phone in the middle of the nervous breakdown.
*
I think living this way alone is quite hard, but do-able. But if you choose to live off grid in a harsh winter climate alone, you are either brave, crazy or the uni-bomber!!! It's grueling. There is no question about it.
I now have a greater understanding of why re-wilders like Urban Scout are preaching community. Everything is much easier with a lil bit o' help. Especially in any climate that may have harsh storms during the winter.
*****
Western North Carolina used to not have this kind of weather, not the last ten years I have lived here until last winter. I hear from locals it's been over 20 years since they have seen storms like this. So although I am kicking myself, at the same time how was i to know about the micro-climate PLUS the strange climate changes?
What would you do, if you were me?
*
Xoxoxoox

Houses Near Water

22" x 30" oil on canvas.
To take this photo the painting was lit by lights on the right and left, and I couldn't gt rid of the glare on the upper left.

I didn't want to paint a blue sky because the majority of the painting is blue ocean. However I wanted to paint it a color that wouldn't be distracting (as it would be if there was too much contrast between the ocean and sky), and worked well with the color of light in the painting.

It may be difficult to see but the sky is actually two horizontal bands of orange...a lighter orange on the bottom and a darker band of orange on the top. It may sound silly but I painted it four or five times to get the colors and values right. Also I wanted the island with houses to be the focal point and not the sky.

As I was doing this painting I decided to make the water have a graphic pattern which I think is pretty successful. The ocean takes up so much of the painting and I wanted to see if I could get a pattern to work.
2.As usual I wanted the light to have a color, and the shadow to have a color too.

3. The light and shadow colors for the foreground houses is the same as on the island houses. However they don't distract from the main focal point.

4. I like the design created by the palm trees. The pattern on the water is interesting too.

Fields

27" x 36" oil on canvas.
1. I might have said previously that painting is a struggle for me, but I like the look of that struggle. I'll paint something, then possibly change the color, or often change the shapes until it looks right. However I don't block out the "mistakes" because the finished painting looks better to me when they are visible. This painting has lots and lots of things like that. It's easiest to see on the two closest fields on the right...you can see what was painted earlier. Or look at the white building that's closest. You can see the light color in the dark side of the building. I really like stuff like that. I think it makes the painting much more interesting. So the painting looks entirely recognizable but it's really an abstract.

2. In the green field you can also see what was painted underneath.

3. You can also see the underpainting on the field on the right. To me it makes the painting much more interesting than if the "mistakes" were completely covered.

4. You can see it once again on the field on the right side, and in the wide "white" band. In fact there's yellow and pink that show thru on that band of light pink and pale yellow.

Lompoc Flower Fields

18" x 24" oil on canvas.
1. Another small one. Whether painting large or small the format is often the same 'cause I don't like them too rectangular.

2. Although the shadow side of the shrub might look like it's black it's not really. I probably used mainly Alizerine Crimson and maybe knocked down the intensity with Pthalo Green.

As you can see the shadow on the ground from the shrub is a cool blue.

Produce Stand

27" x 36" oil on canvas.
Although I like this painting now I worked and worked on it. As I said previously I like to play with 2D and 3D. That is I like the paintings to work three dimensionally but at the same time work as flat shapes. That's why the trees in the distance are essentially a horizontal band of color.





Detail #1 Once again the light and shadow have color, they're not simply white and gray.

Detail #2The trees are splotches of color which describe the light and shadow sides.

Detail #4 The part of the sign in light is pinker than it turned out in this photo.

House and Reservoir

18" x 24" oil on canvas.
This is another small one. I like the way "mistakes" look so I usually don't try to cover them entirely. Probably the easiest place to see that is on the sky. I loosely painted it the lighter color and then later decided to paint it slightly bluer (is "bluer" even a real word?)

After roughing in this hill I painted the orange line. Even though it looks like a field or something it's just an orange horizontal linle to me.

Houses on Hill #3

20" x 24" oil on canvas.
Hopefully this image isn't too soft since it's the only one I still have for this painting.

I always paint in oil 'cause I like the way it looks and feels. Also I like the fact that the colors are the same when they dry as when they're wet.

Acrylics aren't that way. They're slightly darker and the colors are more intense (brighter) when wet. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing artists who love to work in acrylics. I just don't happen to be one of them.

Snow, Snow, Snow, SNOW

Its snowing where I am today and I LOVE it! I feel like I am in a snow globe world!

The Uniqueness of Humans

This is incredible; wait for it. Its conclusion requires its body and its body its inception. Thanks Davie for bringing this to my attention.

The Ones That Stand Out - Best of 2010

I selected these 15 images to be my favourites for the year as they involved an interesting story to shoot and are relevant to my time spent working and traveling a small part of Asia. They are the ones that stood out and I thought I’d share them with you as 2010 draws to an end.

The end of 2010 is not a milestone or specific date that determines some kind of change or the start of something new for me. I’ve been viewing some interesting “best of 2010’s” this past week on leading news websites and thought I’d give it a go to re-publish some of my favourites too.

This blog has been my creative outlet for some time now and I hope you are enjoying the photos and stories I share.

Here are some of the images in no particular order for 2010:

1. Seokmodo Landscape

I drive past this house everyday towards school, but I never have the opportunity to stop and take a photo. One late afternoon in summer I decided to leave school and go for a walk to this view point to shoot this image. It is yet another reminder of where I am currently finding myself teaching out on a rural island in South Korea. This image will always stand out when I think back of Seokmodo Island and the commute to school.

2. Kaohsiung by Night

I stayed at my cousin Xenia and her husband Estienne in Taiwan before coming to South Korea. This photo was taken from the roof of their apartment building. Estienne and I climbed to the top with some beers and a chair each. I placed my camera on the chair for this shot as I had no tripod. I also ended up going back for more shots during the day. Estienne was my ‘Kaohsiung tour guide’ and was always keen for an adventure. It was his idea to go shoot photos and drink beers on the roof.

3. Exploring Bali’s East Coast

Clementine and I rented a scooter on our last day in Indonesia to explore Bali’s East Coast. This was one of the best days in Bali. We took the back roads through rice paddies and gravel roads and took this shot just before sunset. I took many photos here which resulted in us driving back in the dark dodging trucks and stray dogs.

4. Over Night

South Korea is growing at an enormous pace and new apartment skyscrapers seem to appear over night. I see this growth weekly when I take a bus into Seoul, but I never have the opportunity to stop for a photo. This was taken when I came back from China. An acquaintance picked me up with his motorbike and having our own set of wheels allowed me to stop on route for this shot.

5. Palm Trees and Rice Paddies

This image was taken in Bali Indonesia. It was one of the images I had in my mind of what I thought I might see while visiting Indonesia. It’s a cliché image that will probably appear on travel websites and in coffee table books, but it was still an amazing sight to witness.

6. Chained Dog

One of the first and most prominent things that stood out for me upon my arrival in March was that almost all dogs were chained to their kennel and lived outside in harsh conditions. I walked around my town before spring to shoot some of these dogs and found many to be just as cautious and curious as me. This dog at first looked as if he wanted to attack me but he soon calmed down and allowed me to come closer. This is not a common sight in the urban parts of South Korea, but here on the outskirts it is.

7. Taking Shelter While Viewing the Forbidden City

It started raining on the day that I visited the Forbidden City and hundreds of tourists took shelter under their umbrellas. I did not have an umbrella and took this shot just before the rain came down hard. I tried to capture the size and attractiveness of this palace with all its visitors regardless of the weather.

8. Carrying the Load

I took this image on Gili Trawangan Island in Indonesia. We did not stay on Trawangan Island, but had to take the ferry from there for Bali. This image was taken from the main tourist drag, though you wouldn’t think so. I tried to capture the non-tourist aspect of the famous Gili’s as I waited patiently for the women to walk past the boat with their load.

9. The Changing of the Season

This image was taken on the ferry that I commute on daily. I see these birds every weekday and have grown tired of them. The landscape changes frequently though and was what drew me to the ferry deck on this autumn day.

10. Mount Rinjani

Rinjani was truly one of the most spectacular sights ever. The photo does not do justice for the sheer size and beauty of this extravagant volcanic crater. Getting to this view point took a grueling one day hike and we camped at the top near the rim. The weather on the day before was miserable with downpours and no visibility, but on this morning we were lucky to be treated with a clear view of the crater. It was a memorable sight, though a wider lens and more time at the top could have helped to justify the size of Rinjani.

11. A View of the North

This is an image of North Korea taken at the DMZ (demilitarized zone) on one of the only clear days in April. I used to take my camera to school every day in the beginning of my contract and on this day our school took a field trip to the controversial DMZ. The soldiers on duty said that we were lucky to have a clear view of the North as the days before had no visibility. This image is not great, but it would have been useless if I didn’t have a 300mm lens in favourable weather conditions. Getting a clear photo of the north was difficult with all the photographic regulations in place. Tensions on the Korean peninsula between North and South have increased since my visit and my experience of this strong divide and sightings of the North have added to my understanding of this sensitive issue.    

12. The Great Wall of China

Not much to say about his image other than I had the opportunity to hike 8km on one of the seven wonders of the world on a perfectly clear, warm day outside China’s capital Beijing.

13. Forbidden City Wall

I visited the Forbidden City in Beijing on an overcast day with the possibility of rain. I found this big red wall towards the end of my long walk through the palace grounds and waited for a local to walk past. I took this image of a man pushing his motorbike only seconds before the rain came down.

14. Clementine’s Visit (s)

I’ve been extremely grateful and lucky to have had Clementine visit me three times in Korea. I took this image of her feeding Seagulls during her first visit in May. It was taken on the ferry that I take to school everyday and I see Koreans feed these birds daily. What makes this image special is that it is not just any Korean feeding the birds. It was Clem having fun and sharing these experiences on the outskirts with me.

15. Giving Assistance

This image was taken near Ubud in Bali Indonesia. Clementine and I went on a cycle tour through the small villages of Bali and I took this image of the locals doing daily work in traditional wear. I made use of my 300mm lens and waited for them to start loading the rice.