Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Plaid Paintings: City Streets and 24/7 Society

Modern Life No. 2—paint and polyurethane layers on two, joined mahogany planks, approximately 32 x 21 inches.

M Y   A R T — I mentioned my plaid paintings in the post immediately below, and realized I hadn't posted any here before. These are paintings that illustrate the way I feel about the way other people live their lives, the people that drive their children to nine different places every day instead of spending time with them, the people that run red lights to get to the shopping mall before anyone else does so they can buy the same crap everyone else has already, the people that can't stop talking on their cell phones, even in a grocery store or checkout line. Yes, I'm generalizing just a wee bit, perhaps a bit of my bitterness at the way the world has moved on around me, but I really feel this way. Everyone is running around helter-skelter, willy-nilly, to-and-fro. Some of their roads intersect cleanly, some are eroded away. Some are wide and relatively clear, others have so many obstructions one has to wonder why they even exist. 

These paintings are created in as many as 50-75 layers, and I've used as much as three rolls of painter's tape, or more than 180 yards. Sometimes I leave the tape on until the paint is dry, leaving a clean edge. Sometimes I take it off when the paint is wet, and the edges will be a bit rough. Sometimes I take it off before I'm done painting the stripe and it ends up not quite straight. I will sand off almost as much as I paint on. I also detail some of the intersecting lines with dots, or patterns or geometric shapes, giving as much distinction as possible in a world that's increasingly the same. This particular painting took about 200 hours to complete, not counting drying time, and was painted on new imported South American mahogany boards I bought at my nearby lumber store. In the event that someone felt they were cold and lacked the 'human touch' when you look at them in just the right light, you'll find my hand print in one of the many clear layers of polyurethane. It's a way to tie my work in with artists as far back as prehistoric cave painters—there are footprints and handprints alongside their paintings of animals. I love to include as many details as I can for people to think about and discuss when viewing my work, even in a seemingly simple plaid painting.

B T W :
One last little trivia about my work. Back in my life in New York in the late '80s until the late '90s, I had a passing acquaintance with RuPaul, the famous singer and performer, although at the time she was just another clubbie to everyone. We'd see each other in the clubs du jours, and shared a couple of cab rides. I still have a small crystal she gave me one night telling me to smile more—I was always morose and worked the dark corners, lol. She is famously known for telling people to use "Every color in the crayon box" and I actually try to do that in every piece. No matter how subtle some of my work is, I try to incorporate some type of blue, green, yellow, orange, red and violet. Sometimes they're quite saturated, other times quite pale. It's my own personal meme you might say, my own personal rainbow coalition. You'd be surprised how many people that have seen my work haven't "gotten" that aspect, and I haven't necessarily gone out of my way to inform them. Until now.

6 comments:

  1. Incredibly insightful. Thanks for the glimpse into your soul.

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  2. Casey,

    I saw the plaid paintings in your online collection and thought they were beautiful. I had no idea of the amount of work that was put into them. Had I seen them in person the layers probably would have been been more apparent.

    I was reminded too, of a textile - something that had been woven on a loom. I kind of like the idea of a woven painting. Weave is a good word for a stories.

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  3. Casey,

    I love what you are doing here. And I agree with what you say about all the crazies in the world today. The cell phones, the texting (especially while driving), the overscheduled kids. If you see this as the world moving on without you, I see it as the world going off the tracks. I know it's popular nowadays to knock the 50s but it was a wonderful time to grow up. Kids were treated as individuals and were pretty much free to follow their own instincts. We were encouraged, nay implored, to "go out and play," which we did in the summer from sun up to sun down and beyond, stopping only occasionally to come in for lunch and dinner. We didn't have schedules and adults looking over our shoulders. And we survived. We learned that sometimes in games you lose and sometimes you win. We didn't get trophies for showing up! Oh boy -- I could go on all day but I think you get the drift and I have a feeling you agree.

    I am constantly impressed with your disciplined approach to your art and the intelligence behind it.

    Paul, New York City

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  4. CASEY, I'M INFORMED AND I ALREADY GOT IT. I LOVE THE RAINBOW FOR MANY REASONS.COLORS FIRST. THEY SEEM TO COME UP IN THE SHY WHEN I REALLY NEED TO SEE ONE. TO LONG OF A STORY.

    I AGREE 100% HOW THINGS ARE TODAY. I LOOK AT MY GRANDKIDS AT WHAT'S IMPORTANT TO THEM TODAY AS TO WHAT WAS IMPORTANT TO THEIR MOTHERS WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP. FOR ONE THING I REFUSED TO WORK OUTSIDE OF THE HOME. I DIDN'T BUY FANCY FOR THEM. THEY DID HAVE BEAUTIFUL HOMES TO LIVE IN. CLOTHES ON THERE BACK BUT NOT THE BEST.SEARS AT THE TIME WAS GOOD ENOUGH, AT LEAST I THOUGHT IT WAS WHILE THEIR FRIENDS WERE WEARING THE BEST IN STYLE. ALSO, HOMECOOKED MEALS ON THE TABLE EVERY NIGHT AT THE SAME TIME 6:00 P.M. YES, EVEN A CAKE OR PIE. MY KIDS DIDN'T WALK AROUND USING THE F WORD LIKE ALL KIDS DO TODAY. WORDS WERE KEPT CLEAN IN OUR HOUSE. KIDS LAUGH AT EVERYTHING OUT THERE IN THIS DIRTY WORLD. I'M GLAD I'M ON MY WAY OUT AND NOT JUST BEING BORN. TEN YEARS, TWENTY YEARS, I CAN'T IMAGINE. I TRY TO ENJOY EACH DAY. NOT TOMORROW. NOT YESTERDAY. TODAY IS A GIFT. I THINK I'M GOING TO HAVE MYSELF AN ICE CREAM CONE.

    GRANNY

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  5. Beautiful...I have to agree..too much rushing, "getting", wanting, running..and on it goes..Is it just me or do you think the world would be a MUCH better place if we would all (adults and children) just lay in the grass and stare at the clouds and dream? Have you all noticed that it seems people strive for new "stuff" and once they get it it's not a big deal anymore and on to the next thing. Rather sad.
    TG: my life reflects a lot how you lived yours...products of our time or did we just "know" in our heart we felt we needed to do and did it?? hmmm.
    Have a great, slow, cloud-watching day everyone.
    mare

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