distress

Last chance for surf today before south winds come again and take away the fun.... paddling around Yaquina head this afternoon, catching some waves before the wind really did a number on it, things started to get spooky:

First, everyone left the water, all at once. Mass exodus, and there we were, Woody and I, all alone. It was the classic trilogy... grey skies, grey water, no visibility. I began to get that eerie feeling...

Next, I look up to the cliff which overlooks the break, and see a person waving his arms frantically. This, I recognize, is the international distress signal. What in the world would someone on land be doing waving at us this way? Unless....

I said to Woody, "lets go, right now... that dude is waving us out," and Woody thought I meant waving, as in a friendly hello.

willem de kooning

these paintings are an artist's testament to the power of composition.

no matter the abstraction: in these, i don't feel lost.

i could look at them for a lifetime.

Willem de Kooning (Dutch American 1904-1997)

this has nothing to do with anything

but it's awesome, and that's enough for me.

(in other news: beer is delicious. also, still no surf here in Newport. )

l' histoire de sassy album covers

i like this particular era.

i happen to like these albums as much as i like their covers. i am always drawn to the heavy analog aesthetic in both photography and in music, all of those things which are indelible,

things which were thriving in

the late 1960's and early 1970's.

if you haven't heard the French concept album "histoire de melody nelson" give it a listen.

very 1971. very French.

mark rothko

taken alone these Rothko paintings are at first frustratingly simple, the sort of art that makes one wonder, "couldn't i have done that?"

but the answer (which, by the way, is no) lies in their stillness, their timelessness, their originality. if you could have done this, wouldn't you have?

like many things i love, these are so immediately familiar that they feel like part of me. i enjoy this perspective: looking at them through people who are seeing them for real, in person. i like the scale and the color saturation that you get seeing them this way, the contrast of our human shapes against these almost organic squares and lines. yummy. like big candy.

garry winogrand

furthering my contemporary art collection, I acquire several photos from Garry Winogrand...
from "Women are Beautiful" portfolio by Garry Winogrand (American 1928-1984)

....."Being his wife would have been no bargain. But to be his friend is simply wonderful."

-Ophelia Dahl, in reference to Paul Farmer

wilhelm sasnal

due to the extreme downturn in coastal weather forecasts

here in oregon, surfing has gone underground.

i will now begin a month-long indulgence in contemporary art.

in the coming weeks i will collect art as if i were wealthy.

except, i am not.

so i will do it via the internet.

the paintings of Wilhelm Sasnal (born in Poland, 1972) will be the first of my acquisitions.

see more/learn more..... http://www.papercoffin.com/writing/articles/sasnal.html