Here is a video of me working on Diamond Eyes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9l4zDr0ASA

Pedro parts the sea of class

PEDRO THE ELITE


Formless perception
Perceived as perfect in part
Labeled normal as whole
Accepted as quality
Bought as rare and unique
Treasured and mistaken
Vile self imposed confecture
Raise your hands to the sky
Self ordained prince of antiquity
thy deprecating bile spills to the sea
Drivel is your ship o servant of our times
full head of steam my courageous villian of stagnation

Save us from ourselves
Take me to land
lost at sea
I plead
Ayudame!
Seat me on your hand
Hold me near your dusty heart
Let us rub a stick or two or three or four or five
Friction fuels the class and diamonds flash for crowns
Oh smoke, oh beautiful smoke forget him now
Release her licking fingers on this hollow suit 
Wooded grain runs shallow
Maybe you walk
or walked away
at least for now
Walk

Extreme exploring!

This guy knows how to explore the Moab trail system! He makes his own trail! Check it out and don't forget to support devinsupertramp who is listed below the video.

  http://youtu.be/wN3gueLT0D8

Jhator

 Interesting little tidbit I read tonight, Jhator, a Tibetan ritual first recorded in the Tibetan Book of The Dead. Literally translated means, "Giving alms to the birds". I knew Tibetans gave their body to nature after death as a final act of altruism but I had no idea of the actual process. I once read that this burial process just happened to be the most practical way of disposing of the body in an area covered with rock and permafrost. Makes sense right? Pretty rough to dig a hole and if you wondered about cremation, the tree line in these glacial landscapes is more than just a few miles away. Animal dung is often used for fuel so I doubt you'd give up a nice crunchy piece of heat producing poo for cremation services! The interesting  part of the Jhator (sky burial) process is what happens before and after the body is left to the vultures. The body is dissected or cut in specific areas as instructed by The Tibetan Book of the Dead and completed by Monks or people called Rogyapas (body breakers) trained in this ritual. Once the body is picked clean by the birds, (the Eurasian Griffon Vulture was specifically identified in everything I read) the bones are pulverized into dust and yak butter tea is added to entice the birds back for seconds. At this point several bird species show up to feast. I'd love to learn more about this, if any of you have more resource info leave a comment or email me.

Eine melodie im wind: charcoal on 40 weight paper 2009

...................................................................................................................................................JP

El rancho meets 2011

So I sat down with my parents a few days ago after years of bantering back and forth about actually sitting and walking through the process of "surfing the web". After a couple of minutes of simple google searching they both fell silent. Then they bombarded me with questions I wasn't expecting, they thought each page view cost money, when I engaged the live radio station from their "ranchito"  I felt embarrassed by my mothers giddiness! About ten minutes into the broadcast a three note chime announced the local obituaries in the area, again my mothers nervous excitement seeped through her childlike amazement. Amazing how much we miss out on despite the close proximity of our family. When we take a few minutes to share ourselves with  loved ones we fast forward the missed opportunities and feel as if nothing had been missed in the first place. I hope that's true.

What will my children be teaching me when technology leaves me behind? Makes me wonder.

Ashton Girl: A tribute to the 652!

It’s a strange thing growing up in a small town. Earlier this year I was working on a sketch of a friend who is snarling and throwing gang signs with the Idaho Falls LDS temple in the background. She’s covered in tattoos and sports an urban grill. I assume it’s urban since I’ve never seen grills advertised in Idaho that didn’t include gas or charcoal in the description.  I did see a grill store in the Dearborn mall while in Detroit Michigan. As a matter of fact it was the first store I saw as I entered!  (I took a “not from around here” cell phone picture to prove it). Ok….. back to the story.  

 My friend isn’t covered in tattoos nor does she sport a grill. She works as a dental hygienist at a local dentist’s office. She’s as conservative as they get and even bowls on a women’s league!  Anyway, the juxtaposition of these two very different elements of urban meets small town created an awkward feeling of my experience growing up in Ashton Idaho. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it for the most part. Some things I could have done without but who can’t relate to that?  

The “strange” had more to do with seeing my life through the fuzzy glasses of teenage angst. Confined by popular local beliefs we dragged Main Street listening to Metallica and experimented with big city influence. An innocent rebellion compared to the standards of urban mischief right? Well, there was more going on during that time that I’ll keep to myself but you know what I mean.  For the most part it was all about friends living it up whenever and however we could!  The influence of what I assumed was a “big city” lifestyle came to me through television and music. Mostly music but this isn’t what created the “strangeness” I wrote about. It was the thought of what exactly created this same rebellion in girls growing up in the same time and place.   

An example of what I is mean is, well, what influenced the huge bangs hovering over the forehead of these girls during that time? I really don’t know.  Was this a toned down version of an innocent rebellion?  If I remember correctly it was the tallest or highest hair sail that got recognized, or maybe it was the best styled? I’m not sure but they were big. So what influences the kids of Ashton Idaho today? What strange fad has made its way into the scenic gateway called Ashton Idaho? What innocent and not so innocent rebellion wafts through the air of those paved streets and open farm fields? 

Out of these confused questions came many ideas for a sketch or painting. So I took them and mashed them up and out came a new painting titled 652-GIRL.  It’s the 2011 clash of trends meets the small town Ashton girl.  Cheers to the girls graduating in the early 90’s with your big hair, platform shoes, neon colors, oversize sweaters, acid wash jeans and see through Fossil watches! Yeah! I can almost hear Jesus Jones screaming through the Z103 lifeline, "Right here, right now there is no other place I'd rather be"!

652-GIRL oil on canvas: Click on image to see details of lil ol Ashton.

Johnny Cash is up for sale!!!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300615008799&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123


Let the bidding begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!