Crowd Noises

Crowd Noises is a book that I wrote over 40 years ago. Hard to believe. Its just as fresh and believable today as... What does that mean? A book being fresh. It used to be that in the 50s and 60s they had these terrible cliche expressions for movies. Well in the late 20th and early 21st century books have adopted those tired and wearisome generalities. STOP. Back to the book. Crowd Noises was a chapbook put out by Killaley Press in Hamilton Canada. Its the only chapbook I ever had published. Many of my colleagues at the time had dozens published. It was cheap. And it made you feel that you had a career. I didn't feel that way. Maybe I should have published more. But I always thought the idea of writing was to be read. In the art scene at the time (I'm sure its the same today) there are more writers than readers. Its a scene that gives the impression of contributing to the general culture. It was just a lot of young sensitive and mostly talented people holding each other's hand in the dark. And frightened out of their minds.

Higg's Field

Higg's Field or Higg's Ocean is an idea that in the void of space things come in and out of existence. That something is created out of nothing. And disappears into nothing. Of course this contradicts one of Newton's Law. And as long as Newton doesn't find out about it, all is well.
Life itself is one of these things that pops in and out of existence. Where does life or when does life appear. And when one dies, what happens to one's soul, one's lifeness?
Perhaps nothing is the answer.

to thine own self be... my god he's got a knife

One of my most recent self-portraits. Scares the hell out of me.

Drop Shadow

Just finished this new piece. And I'm pretty pleased with it. It has a surreal quality about it that blends with the more mundane aspects of the room that it takes place in. It is about shadows, this idea I had that shadows existed. Existed apart from the objects that create them. As if we ourselves might be a shadow of something purer or diabolical. My first fascination with shadows was Plato's allegory of the cave, when the things of this world are seen to be the mere reflections/shadows of ideals. And those ideals find their source in an even greater absolute. Anyway, read Plato, not me.

Does Anyone Remember Marianne Johnston

A girl I knew. Don't we all wish we could find out about people in our past without actually getting involved in their lives, without disrupting their lives. Perhaps that is how spy agencies began. Finding out about people without their knowledge. Curiosity can be an insatiable drug.

The anti-That Girl

I like this notion of the bizarro world. I remember reading Superman comics when I was a kid and there was this bizarro world that was the exactly the same as ours but with fundamentals changed. For one thing Superman was ugly. It was a cube world which is where I think Star Trek got its idea for the Borg. So why not have an anti- That Girl. Perhaps... Madonna.

That Girl

I was never a fan of the TV comedy That Girl. But there was something about Marlo Thomas. She was the kind of young lady that every guy I knew wanted to meet. Pretty but mostly fun. It was as if her world existed on a different planet than Sartre, Camus, or all of us horny adolescent boys.

The Power of H: Sweet Lady Jane

The Power of H: Sweet Lady Jane: "I created this piece and the name Sweet Lady Jane popped into my head. For the Rolling Stone song My Sweet Lady Jane. And a girl I knew in..."

Sweet Lady Jane

I created this piece and the name Sweet Lady Jane popped into my head. For the Rolling Stone song My Sweet Lady Jane. And a girl I knew in college. She was blond and beautiful. With huge wonderfully white teeth. A very economic figure. Fun to be with. Smart. (She was going to become an accountant and was head toward her Masters in Business.) But she was short. Shortest girl I’ve ever been next too. About 5 feet. I felt like a paler shade of Wilt Chamberlain next to her. We were never romantically involved although I thought about it. But I could never get over the idea… she was going to become an accountant!

The Lonesome Road

I love this pic. I know I created it. But I love it.

Old friends turning into stone

Just finished this evening. Two of these guys are my oldest and dearest friends. The other guy is me. This is a cottage that one of my friends rented. Not much of a cottage person myself. Don't fish. Can't swim. Fresh bait for mosquitoes. Miss my Starbucks. Would like to run naked through the woods. But the woods have put a restraining order out on me.

Pearls Before Swine

Years spent in Flanders. Listening to Pearls Before Swine. I saw the ancient past. Drifting through the warm muddy water in the ditches. Where old men fished for trout. And young girls waited. For their husbands to come back. From across the sea. Which they never do. And those young girls. Looked like my daughters.

Katie

My daughter is in the movie industry now. Working behind the camera in a post-production company. May I say as a proud father that she is prettier than the women on the screen. The camera loves Katie.

Ed Kuris

One of my oldest and dearest friends, Ed Kuris, is having a showing (with several artists) at the Royal Ontario Museum. It is a showing dedicated to those artists who suffer from mood disorders. Ed’s life has been filled with joy and turbulence, light and darkness, humour and anger. His work reflects all of this. But he cannot be reduced merely to someone who suffers bipolar disorders. He is one of the finest artists of his generation. Have a look at his work. Touched by Fire.

The Power of H: the fall of the house of Kuris

The Power of H: the fall of the house of Kuris: "I finished this tonight. Normally I don't let things out of my hands so quickly. Its a pretty busy piece. Based on a Poe piece called The F..."

the fall of the house of Kuris

I finished this tonight. Normally I don't let things out of my hands so quickly. Its a pretty busy piece. Based on a Poe piece called The Fall of the House of Usher. I changed Usher to Kuris because he's an old friend and his name reminds me of a word I don't know the meaning of. Like... a kuris is a means of transport used by the ancient Spartans. Or something like that.

The Power of H: King Albert of Belgium

The Power of H: King Albert of Belgium: "I lived for several years in Belgium. Wonderful people, terrible weather. Wonderful beer, terrible weather. Wonderful bread, coffee, bowlin..."

King Albert of Belgium

I lived for several years in Belgium. Wonderful people, terrible weather. Wonderful beer, terrible weather. Wonderful bread, coffee, bowling alleys.... well you guessed it.

forlorn

I'm not sure why I focus on this kind of sadness. But I see it all around. Under the veneer of pleasantness and civility. It is akin to loneliness except that it has less to do with being loved than with getting older.

The Power of H: Monday Morning about 6:45

The Power of H: Monday Morning about 6:45: "This is a piece called 'Monday Morning about 6:45' It was something new I was trying . I must be getting nostalgic. I loved dinosaurs when I..."

Monday Morning about 6:45

This is a piece called 'Monday Morning about 6:45' It was something new I was trying . I must be getting nostalgic. I loved dinosaurs when I was kid. This one reminds me of a Volkswagon.
I've been putting some of my most recent work on here as opposed to my other blogs.

The Power of H: There is a sense of timelessness about this illust...

The Power of H: There is a sense of timelessness about this illust...: "There is a sense of timelessness about this illustration that I love. That hour from 2 - 4:30. Its like a black hole in time. Or at least ou..."

There is a sense of timelessness about this illustration that I love. That hour from 2 - 4:30. Its like a black hole in time. Or at least our consciousness of time.

Does anyone remember Marianne

This is a piece I've been working on. Who knows if its finished. The title is a young woman that I dated as a young man. Sometimes I wonder how her life went.

Boys World 1

Amy Winehouse

Alex Andreyev