Category: Reflection

Curious— how the story begins after the last stroke.

Eye in the Sky

Abstract mixed-media work with layered color connecting to memories of 1980s NYC and The Saint, featuring a subtle blue eye form in the lower right.
Eye In Th eSky-12012026

“I am the maker of rules, dealing with fools.”
— Eye in the Sky, Alan Parsons Project

Curious how the story begins with the last stroke of the pen or brush. As I look at the image — the strokes, shadows, and hues — something of the ’80s returns: the Saint, that holy spot. Dancing there with people I loved — accepting and greeting the universe. Death, hope, sorrow, play, joy, and the celebration of life — and a song: Eye in the Sky.

The line says “dealing with fools”…Nah. What circulates in my head is “protector of fools. I can read your mind.”

Bill Hendricks (Shadowmason)

Song reference: Eye in the Sky — The Alan Parsons Project

Related post:
Surrealism, Automatic Drawing and the Spirit
— a reflection on creativity, memory, and the unseen.

June 1–Can you imagine that?

Long shadows stretch across a tiled floor from unseen figures and window light, creating a quiet, haunting image suggestive of memory, absence, and presence.
Photo: One of my shadow pieces from grad school. Still poignant — Pride, AIDS, the 80s, the 90s. We are but shadows that linger.

This is an older shadow photography piece that I submitted for GLBT Pride 2006. A little dark, but it is one of my favorites. This last week I’ve been updating my online material. Perhaps I should be creating more art… but it is important to at least document a bit along the way. The information contained here may not be particularly insightful; it is only a gay man journaling some of his feelings in a very open forum. I am appreciative of life and all that it brings, but gratitude slips away now and then. That is sad.

I cannot believe how fortunate we are. Our lifestyle is beyond most of the world’s inhabitants’ imagination. I know my remaining time is short. I spend most of my time documenting the small things — the things one passes by without noticing. That is why you see so many shadows photographed in my work. What is more ignored than they are? What one might think of as totally benign is not. That is the point. That is the point of my art.

Vision, smell, and the rest of our senses are a miracle. Ick! Miracle — I really hate that word because it implies a God. Whether or not they are God-given is moot. That is not the point of the work. My work is about the ordinary. The ability to experience… to reason… is beyond what might be expected in this universe, and we get to. We get to. Pretty amazing.

Christian Art Show — Not Mine but Dr. He Qi’s

Postcard from Christian Art Show at Cross View Lutheran Church

I had the pleasure to judge the Christian Art Show at Cross View Lutheran Church along with Marko Fields. It was indeed a pleasure to see so many works.

I am grateful to the congregation of Cross View Lutheran Church for recognizing the importance art plays in our lives by supporting artists and administering the Christian Art Festival.

 

I had the pleasure to judge the Christian Art Show at Cross View Lutheran Church along with Marko Fields. It was indeed a pleasure to see so many works.

I am grateful to the congregation of Cross View Lutheran Church for recognizing the importance that art plays in our lives by supporting artist and administrating the Christian Art Festival.

Art is meant to be shared. It is a poetic form of communication that helps us understand and reflect on our world and its cultures and our relationship within its context.

What struck me most about the submissions that Cross View Lutheran Church received was the honesty that came through in the work and the sincerity in the process of art making. I see it, as a Quaker, as another approach to prayer. Where listening to that that stirs within is as important as vocalizing prayer.

The opening is Saturday, April 29, 2006
6 – 8 pm.

Clouds & Churches

Dramatic storm clouds reflected in a calm lake, with a dark treeline and a small church silhouette visible along the horizon.
Clouds and churches share the horizon as storm light and reflection blur the line between earth and sky.

Yesterday wasn’t a wash-out. Got a few things done. Checked on the dsl service in my studio. Scratch. The wires weren’t ran yet. Keeping things in perspective… I am not dying, poor, or fighting a war made by people that never served or worse yet got deferments or used daddy’s connections to get them out of serving.

The Republican’s and the war mongers seem to have found an answer to ensure they have lots of troops to fight their battles and keep the rich kids out of the fray. This current budget… the current budget decreases financial aid to poorer and middle class students. The end result for those folk is if they want to go to college they have to join up and fight wars that others chose– usually over oil. it is very sad. So my little dsl problems are nothing. Hope you’re staying warm… snow in Minnesota today.