September 12, 2006 Bonus Blog
Went home for lunch and warmed up some turkey for the gang. Showed Tap Lou and her husband Billy Weir my studio. Gave Tap Lou my recent painting of Tap Duncan riding across Red Lake. She was thrilled. She gave me some rare photos of our family and pics of several family members who were allegedly related to John Wesley Hardin.

Speaking of horse wranglers and movies sets:

"On a few occasions when I was doing costumes for the movies, I was allowed to play a part. First, because I was there, and second, I carried a Screen actors Guild Card. On one show, I was cast as the leading man's neighbor - a rancher; and the star and I had several scenes together with dialogue while both of us were on horseback. This particular leading man was resented by the wranglers because he had insisted in having his own horse brought to location (putting a movie horse out of a job), and he was very persnickety about how the wranglers treated his mount. So, when it came time for me to go to work, they gave me a horse that was almost two hands higher than the star's, which made me look like John Wayne next to the guy; plus, during the scenes we did together, the wranglers held my horse's bridle off camera so its head wouldn't bob up and down covering my face during my close up. Of course, they did not do the same thing during the leading man's close ups, and he was never aware of their little scheme."
—Steve Lodge

Ah yes, movie politics. And speaking of horse operas, here's that John Wayne wash I was talking about the other day, you know, the one I pulled out of the failure pile:



It's from a Stagecoach I believe. Here's another aspect of my art that I'm trying to develope:



I call this method, Push It Til It Breaks. I keep adding color and values far beyond where I normally would, moving past every warning signal my body and mind can muster. Many times (if not most times) it collapses in a wall of mud, but every once in a while it congeals into something quite thick and juicy. The above is a pretty solid represenation of the bluffs around San Carlos, with the white line strata that makes that area so unique. The sky is full of many colors (see opaque areas in upper sky with the under layers peeking through), loaded down with value, but the sky is still very wet just the same. Almost seems like magic. Try it!

Meanwhile, in my sketchbook, I sometimes let my subconscious take over and just start sketching with no apparent theme or subject matter. After I let go, and let go (it's very hard, we have been taught over and over, "What is that you're making? No, really what is it?"), but I keep going and keep my mind away from the end result. This too ends in many a train wreck, but sometimes, something gels, like this:



I call this terracotta sonata, and I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it's very Apache, and I have a hunch it will end up in the book. It just has a certain integrity, I could never have "willed" on it. Michael Stipe of REM claims he wrote their new CD without his concious mind. Someday I'll have that much courage, but not today. Ha.

"Show Biz is high school, with money."
—Martin Mull