As usual I’m doing some funky art for Christmas gifts.
JACKASS-TRONAUT BAM 2025 – Acrylic on canvas 16×20. Created per my son-in-law’s request as a Christmas gift. Hope he likes it.
FUNKY OLD MAN BAM 2025 Acrylic on canvas 8 x 10
My mother collects oddball portraits – quirky faces. I’ve given her one every Christmas for the past 5 years. This should fit right in with the others.
My wife, Patrice, was worried my Mom or her son, Joe, might see these before Christmas. Highly unlikely. As any art hobbyist knows, close friends and family lose interest. The novelty of having an active artist in the family loses its appeal as years pass. But for me, the fun is still there. I paint simply because I like the way it makes me feel. We all need more of that in our lives.
There are many reasons for creating a new piece of art. None of them are more compelling than making a child happy.
Not long ago I met my brother’s great granddaughter for the first time. Her name is Jayvrih and she is a precocious seven year old. As we were having dinner Brad, my brother, told her I was an artist. She asked if I could paint a horse. I told her, “I don’t know. I’ve never done it. But I can try.”
It had been several weeks since our first meeting and I finally got around to attempting to paint a horse. I packaged the painting up and mailed it to my brother. Yesterday, when Jayvrih came over to visit, he gave her the package. Naturally, she was excited. We all like receiving surprises in the mail! Just a short while ago, she called to thank me.
I told her to have her picture taken with the painting and I would post it on my website.
Here it is!
Jayvrih, I hope you have this painting for many years to come. Maybe someday you will draw or paint a picture for a child and experience the same great feeling I got by doing this horse for you!
Seems like I’m only blogging once a year judging from the previous blog date.
Since my last blog entry I produced and arranged distribution for feature film entitled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Shark. As one might guess from the title, it is a somewhat humorous spin on the classic horror tale by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Between January and May of 2024 I curated volume 9 of ROAD KILL: Texas Horror by Texas Writers. I was surprised by the high quality of submissions this year and I am extremely happy with the resulting anthology. My co-creator, E.R. Bills, has been very complimentary regarding the collection, so I am not alone in thinking this is one of the best RKs ever.
In January of 2023, I met Becky Major. Becky is one of the owners of the Proletariat Gallery in Galveston, Texas. I was impressed with the Proletariat and asked how I could display my paintings there. She told me there was an 18 month waiting list. I asked to be put on the list and this month I was finally able to hang art in this unique and wonderful gallery. The title of my exhibition is Pharaoh’s Dream. The display is comprised of 23 paintings and a glass display case containing 14 of my book and DVD products. I cannot thank Becky and Julie and the rest of the staff at Proletariat enough for their wonderful realization of Pharaoh’s Dream!
I do not usually post a lot of photos in the blog section of this site but I thought I’d make an exception this time and post all the paintings currently on display at the Proletariat Gallery.
“World’s First Diva” BAM 2024 (hieroglyph inscription reads ‘Taylor Swift Ain’t All That’)
“Shadowbox Eye of Horus” BAM 2024
“Shadowbox Hathor” BAM 2024
“Peace Divine Unity” BAM 2024
“I Got Stripes” BAM 2019
“Shadowbox Unemployed Deity, Will Work for Adoration” BAM 2024
“Eye of Horus” BAM 2024
“Holy Relic” BAM 2016
Because of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Beryl the opening of Pharaoh’s Dream was postponed for one week. I am amazed at how quickly Galvestonians recover from these Gulf floods but I suppose they have had a lot of practice over the years.
Lots of love and gratitude to the staff of Proletariat Gallery and to all the folks who purchased items on opening night 07/20/2024.
While at the Proletariat, I had the pleasure and privilege of being interviewed by Mr. Jim Bratton. Jim is a veteran voice talent from the Houston area. His mellifluous voice and charming personality have led him to be known as ‘the voice that explains things.’
Jim currently hosts ‘From the Pro,’ a podcast of interviews with the many artists who exhibit their work in the Proletariat Gallery. The video below is our interview with accompanying visuals.
Today is 07/23/2023. It’s been 9 months since I posted in this blog, so its high time I wrote something about my creative journey. Hopefully some of my experiences and insights will impact on your own journey in a positive manner.
I experienced a period of a couple of months in the spring of this year during which I was severely limited by sciatic pain. I tried to tough it through for about 4 weeks, keeping the pain secret from my life partner, Patrice, and forcing myself to work through the pain. But that strategy failed. Eventually, I was unable to stand still long enough to make my morning coffee. The only relatively pain free position I could find was sitting in the semi lotus meditation posture. The pain was so persistent that I was unable to sleep many nights. I found that constant pain and lack of sleep had a powerful impact on my mind. I could not concentrate and my habitual urge to be creative vanished.
Finally I began seeing a chiropractor, had session with a massage therapist and enlisted my longtime friend and Reiki Master, Frances Garza to help me with the problem. It took 4 weeks of work but finally I had a pain free day. This was such a relief. I had begun to fear that constant pain had become my new normal.
Prior to the onset of my sciatica, I had been walking around a local lake four times every morning. In May 2023 I was able to continue that routine. I found that 8 weeks of inactivity had really done a number on my muscles. I was weak. It took me about 6 weeks of regular work to regain the muscle tone and body strength I’d had before the sciatica. I went at a measured pace because I was fearful of doing something that would put pressure on the sciatic nerve again and send me right back into that painful limbo.
This unexpected excursion into a state of discomfort over which I had little control had some important impacts on my mental landscape. First, I became much more tolerant of grumpy old people because I understood they are often in a state of ongoing discomfort. My compassion grew. Second, I reevaluated my creative impulses and made a commitment to being more selective about how I used my time. I backed off of the pulp novels I was reading and focused on literature that had a better reputation. I watched less crap on TV.
I am only now getting back into writing and painting. I still love creativity. It is my highest ideal. But I realize, at my age, health is my greatest priority. So now I exercise every single day, walking briskly for an hour and going to the gym three days a week to exercise my upper body musculature. Where I was diving into writing or painting everyday after that first cup of coffee, often getting lost in the process and spending hours at the desk or in the studio, neglecting my body, now I jump into exercise first. Later, after I’ve done my laps and reps I settle into thinking about writing or painting.
I am grateful to have made it through this game-changing challenge and I want to encourage others to find their own solutions to challenges that threaten to take away the joys of creativity. As we get older, its increasingly important to attend to the maintenance of our bodies. I’m 65 this year and I’m looking forward to at least another twenty years of creative output.
When I am inspired to paint something I just do it without considering the commercial viability or ‘artistic worthiness’ of the conception. Art is something I do because it feels good.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE (the 6 season television show that ran in the early 90s) was not on my radar in its original run. I knew it was one of the most popular shows on the air, I just never watched it. I contented myself with the coffee break observations and synopses I received from friends and co-workers. My beloved life-partner, Patrice, had a nostalgic love of the series so she bought the box set for us to watch together. Often our video tastes are polar opposites; what I enjoy is too violent for her and what she enjoys is too sentimental for me. NORTHERN EXPOSURE is a neutral ground on which we can spend an hour together as we eat dinner or while Patrice crochets.
It’s still hard for me to imagine why the show was such a hit. Even so, I’ve come to appreciate Joel, Maggie, Maurice, Chris, Ruth Ann, Holling, Shelley, and Ed. I especially like Chris, the ex-con Radio DJ prone to artistic impulses and philosophical discourse. In one episode, Chris points out to Holling that ‘art’ is the process of creation and should be appreciated for the sheer enjoyment it brings. Selling art is not ‘art’ — it’s commerce. The two should never be confused. Though such confusion is easy to understand in the light of Andy Warhol’s rise to fame and fortune. If we take our cue about art from the mainstream media we will become hopelessly mired in self-defeating artistic neuroses.
Recently I painted an abstract with lots of blue and red. It made me feel good, I enjoyed the process, got that ‘artist’s high’ and that was that. Looking at the finished piece, I thought it was destined to remain on the shelf of canvases in my garage. I assumed it had no commercial appeal. Shortly thereafter I was given the opportunity to hang twenty one pieces of my art in the lobby of the local public library. The first day of that showing, a friend saw the red and blue piece, fell in love with it and bought it. BONUS! That’s what the sale of art should be, a bonus on top of the joy of creation, not the driving, defining force of what we choose to create.
Two years ago I painted an abstract of a river scene. My experiment was to see how quickly and with how few strokes I could paint the thing. I spent about 15 minutes on it. It accomplished the unspoken goal in the back of my mind, but I never believed anyone would pay money for it. At a local pop-up event, I took the abstract river scene along just to fill up my space. A little 8-year-old girl fell in love with it instantly, so her mother bought it for her.
The three overriding benefits of art are: the intoxicating act of creation, the sense of satisfaction that comes from someone liking the piece so much they want to make it a part of their home environment, last (and least) is the money that goes into the artist’s pocket when (if) he/she makes a sale.
I understand that my perspective may be difficult for many folks to embrace, agree with or even understand. I’m pretty sure a few artists get what I’m saying.
I receive academic papers on a variety of subjects. Today I read something that I felt was worth sharing:
“Creativity is largely a decision. Being a decision, it is therefore conscious, aware, rational. This suggests to Sternberg that creativity can be developed. To be creative, one will have to decide to have new ideas. A person may have analytical, synthetic or practical valences, but not apply them to problems involving creativity. Consequently, such person will not become creative.”
The above is from an article published by Paolo Tiago Cabeca on the site Academia Letters.
Often my friends tell me they are not creative. I have convinced a few that creativity is a choice.
Choose to be creative. It enriches life in ways no other activity can.
Okay, so I finally realized it’s been over a year since I wrote a new post for BAMart.studio. In my own defense I’ll say I have done lots of creative stuff in that time: I made my first feature-length genre movie in over 25 years (CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR MASSACRE — a horror comedy which will be released in December. My understanding is it will be available on streaming sites like TUBI.), I painted lots of paintings (and sold quite a few) but, unfortunately, I forgot to post pictures of all of them, I wrote six screenplays in the past year and sold four of them. Now, it’s starting to sound like I’m bragging, which is not my intention. I was just trying to make it clear that I haven’t been just parked on the sofa watching movies (although, I’ve done plenty of that as well!)…
I LOVE doing art. I painted five abstracts today. Patrice, my partner, likes two of them. I knew in advance which ones she’d appreciate. You develop a sense over time regarding which things have broader appeal (are commercial in other words) and the trick is to not let that keep you from doing the non-commercial things you feel an urge to create.
We all tend to cling to the familiar. But all our growth happens when we embrace the unfamiliar. Trying new techniques will keep your art alive. There are no mistakes, as our friend Bob Ross used to say. Every time I create I learn things, things about my own mental processes and things about using materials to execute my vision. The more mistakes I make, the quicker I learn what works. Mistakes are your best teacher, so experiment!
Some are morning people, some are night owls. I have friends who do their best work at 3am. For me it’s shortly after I wake up, as I’m starting that second cup of coffee. The caffeine gets my creative juices flowing and it’s very easy for me to access inspiration. Find your creative time of day and designate a time to create on a regular basis. The muse comes more often if she knows when she’s expected to arrive.
Every thought, action, object, person — in short everything you perceive — has the potential to provide creative inspiration. Opening the eyes and heart, the artist enters into a realm of possibilities unavailable to minds mired in routine, conformity and insecurity. Creativity emboldens the soul.
BAM Art 