Cruising With Elsie

After having Elsie serviced a few weeks ago, it's time to enjoy the warm January afternoon sun in California.  I drive her about 15 miles a week just so she's happy and runs well.  She loves the streets above Day Creek Blvd overlooking the cities of Etiwanda and Fontana.  Today was 80 deg F, the winds having died down and was just absolutely perfect.

In Search Of Language

I've always been interested in communciation between any two unique beings with enough cognitive skills as well as how a common language is developed.  The pool of beings who speak this language grows as time goes on and at some point, the origin of that language is lost in antiquity.  I also have long pondered the question of how we, earth creatures can communicate with extra-terrestrials if contact is made at some point.  I believe that the method that will work will need to have both a solid mathematical basis as well as a simple visual interface.  After all, language really is just a construct of symbols and combinations of symbols that a group of users share.  Language also exists to allow man to talk to machine.  Computer languages at the lowest level consists of simple binary instructions to electronic switches.  At the next level, groups of predefined binary instructions form a single available directive to accomplish a complex series of tasks.  Define enough of these stringed-directives and you have a words and soon enough, a complex vocabulary.  At the highest level, you end up with what you have in modern computers, GUIs.  Since I don't have any formal art training, I continually struggle to communicate my ideas to others who are versed in the language they teach at art school.  I am more comfortable when speaking in the language of the natural sciences and mathematics.  So I had come up with several constructs that are relatively simple ways of representing visually a number system.  The real beauty for me is the existence of hidden mathematical structure within the seemingly visual random image.  And unless the viewer is cognizant of the decoder ring, they will not see its inherent elegance.  This had always fascinated me in the natural world from Newtonian mechanics describing binary stars to statistics methods explaining gas behavior.  As with my series of frameworks, the observer needs to find that mathematical pattern in order to see that there is hidden order underneath all that mess.  (Above is a representation of the 16 unique numbers using permutations of diagonal lines over spatial compartments of two sizes.  A common start-of-series and end-of-series patterns bookend any possible series consisting of any combination of the inner 16.)

Visual Mathematician

I've taken about half a dozen IQ tests as an adult and after every test, based on the sections I did OK in, I had been profiled as a "visual mathematician".  I'm not sure what that really means other than I have above average math skills as well as above average visual logic skills.  I hadn't really paid too much to that description of me until recently when I realized that a good percentage of the artwork I had produced lately have a very definite mathematical structure behind them.  It started a few years ago when I used to dial in to teleconferences for hours on end and I doodled on engineering graphing paper to keep my sanity.  Pretty soon, I had algorithms that generate specific non-decimal patterns and had consumed several pads of the pre-lined paper.  Years ago, I learned that math provides the elegance behind physics and the natural sciences but only lately have I come to realize that math can also be the basis of visual aesthetics.  Today, I make drawings executed on graphing paper.  What I like about my grid drawings is that fact that underneath all the apparent chaos of each drawing is a hidden mathematical structure.  They're not too terribly complex but it does take a bit of work to see the numerical basis of the visual.  (Above is a current work in progress titled "Number 0 Through 48 In A Spiral Progression")

Five Landscape Paintings (2007)

Not that kind of landscape painting.  Conceptual art is something I don't necessarily relate to nor something I find remotely interesting.  However, as my form of protest, I think it's a fairly convenient medium due to its simplicity and ease of execution.  As a way of poking fun at the art establishment, in particular art critics, I think conceptual art is both fitting and ironic.  Why on earth do these people have to speak in such flowery, incomprehensible language and pseudo technical terms that only they and their colleagues can understand -- no, actually, I doubt they even understand each other when they speak.  So this series I did back in 2007 is my way of saying that I'm just got so sick of artists and art critic using and abusing the word "landscape".  At some point, someone needs to tell these people to please just speak in normal English that average person can understand.  Kill the pretentious.  Using some stencil, black and white enamel spray paint and some cheap poster boards from Target, I think my commentary on the whole absurdity of the language of art speaks for itself.

Sam Playing Drums

I decided to capture this point in Sam's drumming.  After about a month of lessons at Alta Loma Music, he's progressed to the point where he can actually play a simple tune like Alice In Chains' "Would".  We ended up moving the drums, all the amps and guitars to the living room and will probably keep it there for a while until we get the spare bedroom downstairs all soundproofed.  Sam's always had a good aptitude for music and seems to get it naturally.  I just hope he keeps this up and maybe he and JJ (and maybe me) can form a band someday.  

2012 Painting

I didn't execute a single painting in 2011 but just finished this one on a four-panel canvas last night.  Is this a trend for 2012 or will this be my one and last painting of the year?

Stingray Project Update 1/12/12

The Corvette finally got new wheels this week.  I got some replica Chevy rally wheels from Eckler's and had the rims painted Can-Am white at Avalon Collision in Rancho Cucamonga.  The period correct color for the rims is gray but I thought a matching color to the body would work better aesthetically.  To finish the retro look, I put them on a set of Firestone Firehawk radial tires.  This should be the last of the exterior work on the car.  The next focus is the interior upholstery and carpeting.  To think it took over 10 years to get the car to this point is frustrating but I'm finally there.  And by the way, this 69 Stingray is now officially named "Betty".  Vroom vroom.  For comparison purposes, this is what Betty looked like a little over a year ago as I rolled her out of the driveway in our Pasadena house.