Tuesday, December 28, 2010

notion #13



 The individual is an illusion 
We are connected to everything
the twisting of the leaves tell me this
the bending of the water around the stone
speaks of this 
your turning as I enter the room gives it all away
my emotion 
my intellect
my every social interaction
the very touch of my physical being
surrenders this thought to me
over and over
in every moment
of everyday.


More latter
     Jeff not really

Monday, December 27, 2010

Update on old post

In my post of June 9th I shared parts of furniture I was building. I said I would share pictures when the furniture was done so here it is. Pop back to the June 9th post if you want to see what I said. Enjoy the pictures. 


Jeff sitting

Monday, December 20, 2010

this season

As I enter the Holiday season I always find myself looking for the real message. I look to friends, nature, the over all energy and movement of the season. Sometimes I find it some years it just comes and goes. One morning outside the house I am working at currently, I was putting off working by taking pictures of the trees. Later on that night (just a few nights ago) I put this image together. I call it "cracked vase".
 We live in a time of much brokenness as did this child Jesus. No mater what you believe this child grew to share a simple and yet complex message that if we could see past our fear and love each other with out conditions we could heal a broken world. I do not believe this child expected religions to be built around what he said and wars to be waged in his name. He simply wanted us to be together, truly together. It is that being together that is our greatest challenge. We still scramble around like frightened forest creatures gathering all the things we think we need to survive. Don't expect me to share some answer to all this I am as frightened as the next critter. Just keep looking to the creative spirit for guidance, always struggle to see in new ways and share what you feel with those around you. Allow growth, change, things must change, do not fear this. I know this is easier said than done, but we need to keep telling ourselves this. I hope the season gives you visions that eases a bit of your fear.

The Cracked Vase

The vase had been cracked
For all the years I was aware of it
It held a feather
She had pick up on a walk
The feather she said
Carried a prayer
Up to the heavens
To Gods ear.

"Awaken, awaken little one
The earth it moves with you
Bend down near it
And rise up from it
In every moment
You are new."

The vase was always cracked
But it still holds the feather well
The prayer had gone it's way
Along time ago
God has heard it full
And keeps handing it back to me.

Jeff then

Here is another story about broken Jars.

Friday, December 10, 2010

moment #2


"words of another world"

Jeff reading

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

On the Job

Got an idea while on the job site the other day. It was a great place to grab some random shots on the old camera and later on "art them up".
This one I call "drop cloth" (in Green), It can be any color you want it to be!


This one is called "Moldings in a Pile"




And this last one is called "Pipes". Are you picking up on the construction theme?




We are surrounded everyday by shapes that can be arranged into patterns or is it we are surrounded by patterns that can be arranged into shapes? Could be one or the other or both? I like taking these random images and then turning them 90 degrees until it creates this pin-wheel effect. This seems to enhance these very simple images or at least make them or the overall presentation more interesting. This is all about "play", my mantra. Make sure you are playing with your world. It is the only real way to unlock its secrets and make sense of your presence in it. You are the art you seek!
Jeff at 90 degrees
My math Guru Doug told me a bout fractals. Tell me the creator of the universe is not having fun playing with the cosmos. Check out this Fractal Zoom video. Warning this will blow your mind!  
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foxD6ZQlnlU

Thursday, November 18, 2010

moment #1


On this blog a "moment" will be somthing to share that I have no words for, alowing the moment to be yours.
Click on the image to get the words out of the way.

 See More http://jlcarrollimages.webs.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=10413607
Jeff

Friday, November 12, 2010

notion #12


These were once hidden

The roots of a tree up ended

Now exposed

Washed clean of the ground

That held it in place

And gave it life

Formed in the darkness of the earth

A shape created by the movement of growth

And resistance of the soil

It tells a story

Of the struggle to hold on

The need to keep changing direction

Find the path

Through the dark

Of least resistance

Entangled around one another

Holding on still

Exposed to the wind, rain, sun

And all kind of vermin

But still telling the story

Of the sculpting

Of the struggle

And the glory

Of living

-------------------------

Jeff Looking

Thursday, November 11, 2010

no time to blog

After a long day at work I have no energy left to articulate creativity, I am just doing it, creating. You do not need to have a plan or a theme or even a reason. Once again I am just messing with photos on the computer because it relaxes me. So here it is the residue of play! Enjoy.


This one is called "plark 44" Hey I don't know why that's what I heard in my head.



And this one is called "Dhali 56" The reasoning of a name is not always related to understanding.

These were both photos of ground, just aiming the camera down and shooting the ground. Of course the ground I shot was the hot springs and thermal pools of Yellowstone National Park. They have great colors.

And here's one more, I'll call "Flower Out"



Jeff Out

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Pulling on Pictures

I really like to take photos and pump up there color levels and then smear them up. You can do this with the computer. The computer is not about order and structure. It is about being able to make a mess of a photograph  and make it totally different evry time you do it. It's a picture wreckers paradise.
This first one was a very pretty flower.  The next one was a bunch of leaves in the grass, but I fixed that.


Below I mixed another flower picture with a  old photo of a woman. I then allowed my mind to look deep into the photo and write the first thing that came into my mind.


I just wrote words, I didn't use punctuation. Read it how ever you want. Not sure what it means, but I like where it's going.


I am Looking at you



Sometimes I am looking at you
but I feel like I am walking
through you
not past you
but within you
never reaching the other side
for your soul is so vast
it would take
more than a thousand life times
to cross it
I am looking at you
and I want to be there on that journey
within you
I do not know you
but my life is about wondering
through your soul
I gather pieces of stone and wood
I call them feelings
I carry them with me
and I talk to you
I saw you on the train
in 1981
we did not speak
but I was drawn into your soul then
I named you Madeline
others call you God
I am looking at you
through every stone and stick I gather
we will talk one day
when I reach the other side of your soul.
I'm good here for now.

---------------

Jeff looking

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Spiders Again? notion #11


When I reach the edge
I can do two things.
Turn around and go back the way I came
or leap up and let the wind carry me,
to some place else.

Turning around
is the chance to see what I've seen
from a different perspective.

The leaping is a faith issue
that sets me down
into a whole new situation.

Do I trust the wind?
The hand that carries me into the unknown?

I am making my way back down
the way I came.
a few more trips
and I may choose to ride the wind
I am working on the faith thing.
really I am.

Jeff or Spider

I think this is a Long Bodied Cellar spider in case you were wondering, not sure though. Here is a link to a spider identification chart http://www.insectidentification.org/spiders.asp

Monday, October 11, 2010

Face





In one of my latest posts I cut up a painting and fragmented it. Here I've taken a few photos and cropped the picture not giving you the full shot. I like the feeling this creates.  Faces say so much on there own. I think they are the first thing we learn to read as infants. Below are just some thoughts that come while looking at these images and others I haven't shown you. You can't see everything I see!


I can see you
but never know you completely
I take from you only what I need
a fraction here and there
The memory of your eyes,
the twisting of your mouth
ideas from your words,
inspiration from your actions
to see you completely
is only possible for the creator
besides, If I were to see you completely
it would be too difficult
to go on being myself.
You are a powerful force.
I see it in your face.

---------------------------------------------
Jeff partly

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

notion #10


I imagine myself quite the being
but can I draw out of my body
Materials
to build a structure
that will not only support me physically
but will also provide me with sustenance?

no

I kneel before thee
sister, brother.
You are the teacher,
my guide.

I will watch the ways of the morning meadow,
marvel at the dew suspended
and know
that I am but a single drop
waiting to fall.
Waiting for my moment
to give myself
to the earth
for its good.

------------------------------------------------------------
These photos and thought were captured on an early morning walk at the Kirkwood Preserve in Willistown township, PA. Here is a link all about this place and how to find it if you are local.

Jeff walking around thinking

Monday, September 20, 2010

Breaking things up

Okay I took the painting from my last post, cut it up digitaly and made it in to multimedia experience. Check it out!


Sometimes looking close at something changes how we see it. Then again sometimes we look to close. The key is to look and look again.

Here is a link to another artists who I found when I posted my video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfTM_jFgBsQ&feature=related

Jeff chopping stuff up

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Paint escape

I spent the day doing drywall. That makes me go a little mad. So this evening I took some time to escape into my subconscious painting. If you remember back a few posts I started painting from my subconscious attempting to capture the Jackson Pollock thing. This is where I just start putting paint on big chucks of plywood until I get something to come out of it. This is what I got tonight.

Okay I call it "snag"
Like it?

Then I put the Photo into the computer and Pumped it up a bit. Check it out!

Don't you love the power of digital.
and then again.


Mister Warhol would have loved the digital age. This has totally blown away the drywall blues. Click on the picks to see them a bit bigger.
Jeff surfing his subconscious

Friday, September 3, 2010

Messing with trees

Hey, got too much work, that's good, but not a lot of time to play. Took time to mess with tree photos from this summer's adventures. Not much to say! Enjoy!
Love a tree even if it is dead.



Trees are always telling their secrets.

Click on the Photo if you want the words out of the way
Jeff out on a limb

Saturday, August 14, 2010

just notion # 9



Everything that was today
burns away
the starry sky
waits just out of sight
I will live forever
here
in between today
and tonight


This is one of my new favorite places on earth. It is Kodachrome Basin State Park, Utah. Try and get there some day. This is a shot from my campsite. The photo above is sunset out on the gravel road coming back from a short evening hike. This post is proof I do not mess with all my photos.


Jeff at home

Back from Vacation

This summer I traveled to the west, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, and Arizona. I got lots of ideas from the things I saw. I'll try and share them in the coming weeks. One of the things I saw was the hydrothermal features of Yellowstone's Caldera. These range from steam vents to geysers and thermal pools and hot springs.  All these features expel minerals an grow bacteria that create run off of amazing color. I took close up photos of these amazing landscapes. Upon returning home and dumping my photos into the computer I did some of my usual manipulation of the images, drawing into the photos using the smear effects. The amazing color and texture are the way the original creator made them I just took the pictures, close up. Here are a few of my touched photos.

 

crying out
Waters streaming out from the steam vents


Out of Fear
Created from a photo of pond scum.


run from the tree
Monmouth Hot springs photo (the only touched part is the tree and figure)

Okay, these are all a bit dark, It's what comes out. I just look into the photos and start moving the color, pulling and smearing.
Here's a link to facts about Yellowstone National Park. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/yellowstone-national-park-facts.html

Jeff vacationed out

Saturday, July 24, 2010

just notion #8


There is a woman I know.
She comes from the woods,
the deep forest
that gives my soul depth.
I have known her all my life.
She is sister to my insecurity,
lover to my denial,
and mother to my ability to be complete.
Yet I struggle to understand her want.
She asks to go with me out beyond the trees,
into the open.
I take her by the hand
and walk her deeper into the wood.
You are safe here
Among these trees
I tell her.
Out there
together
It would become,
well complicated.
She claims she belongs there
with me.
I start a fire
it gives off heat.
We sit, she moves close.
I fear her more than any-
One,
cause I have kept her here for so long
protecting her,
or me...
--------------------------
This notion comes from a songwriting exercise I do sometimes. If I have an idea for a song I will sometimes just ignore all the metering and rhyming of the poetry and just do a stream of thought. It may be bullets of all the things the song topic makes me think about or often it is this kind of thing where I visualize myself telling someone the story behind the topic, it is an attempt to explain to my self what I am feeling or thinking.
This song is called "The Woman In The Woods". It is the struggle of the individual (okay me) to find the inner balance between the masculine and the feminine and understand the attributes, positive or negative that each possesses. This song idea has lived with me for over 25 years. I may never sing it but at least I have the exercise and pages of fragments. I'm not worried about the music the forest in my head is full of that. Oh and yes to me a song is a song even before it is done or ever performed. Even if no one ever hears it it has still had an effect upon me.
Jeff with song

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

just notion #7

into the darkness
again
to be there
here
in this dark
place
come to heal
hold
take back health
rest
but the darkness
consumes
easy to fear
question
is this death?
voices
with in me
speak
some lift up
others
draw me down
fight
I hold on
back
I will climb
out
of the dark
not
into the light
but
into the arms
now
of the one
who
holds it all
darkness
and the light
breath
I am there
good.

----------------------------------

Wrote this reflecting on a good friend who was having brain surgery, Scary days!

Jeff waiting

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fun With Paint!

Okay, okay I'm having fun now. A week ago I watched the movie "Pollock". It's the story of Jackson Pollock that Ed Harris did back in 2000. A very well done film: sad story. Ed Harris must have done lots of prep work on this one because the scenes where he paints are amazing. One of the ideas I got from watching the film was that he worked by trusting his subconscious. It seemed like he would just put color on the canvas and then pull form from it. The relationship the artist had was with the process, at least that's what I was feeling while watching the movie. I need to read more about Pollock's thinking, I got a book around here somewhere.

 Most people are familiar with Pollock's dripped work where he put the canvas on the floor and let the paint fall onto the canvas. That was at the end of his carrier, but before that he had more brush contact work.

So watching Ed Harris do his painting I thought I'm going to try this, just start to put the paint on the canvas and find form as it shows it's self to me. So because I have this blog to share my process I now have to be vulnerable and share my first two subconscious works with you. So here they are!
Sorry, but I'm going to keep doing this so you're going to see more of my twisted mind. Enjoy enjoy!! It'll grow on you, no it will!


                                             No1.                         


                                           No.2     
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is one of Pollocks paintings with brush, it's called "The Key"
 Here's the website for pollock's work
  http://www.jacksonpollock.com/  

Jeff with paint in his hair