I created the fighting cock painting as a result of recognizing forms when I sat down to do an abstract. My first intent was a very abstracted work but I soon saw the shapes forming while I was painting and it resulted in this abstracted painting of two birds fighting.
It is acrylic on canvas.
This painting is 24″ x 30″ (61cm x 76cm) and is available for sale. The colors included in the painting are Cadmium Yellow, Pyrrole Red, Green Gold, Iridescent Pearl, Interference Blue.
Italian Tree Abstract © 2012 MFCarter
I have always liked the form of the Italian Poplar tree. The tree is a cross between the Black Poplar of the old world and the Cottonwood tree of eastern North America.
The similarity of the poplar tree to this painting was by accident. I was simply listening to my heart and working by instinct in its creation. The realization of the similarity of form came only after a friend who was quilting with my partner pointed it out. I think I must have been working at some instinctual, subconscious level and repeating a form that I had seen in nature.
The painting is 30″ x 24″ ( 76cm x 61cm ) and was completed this past week using acrylic paint and sand for texture. The colors included in the painting are: Lime Yellow, Indian Yellow, Pyrrole Red, Gold, Titanium White, and Umber.
“Italian Tree Abstract” is available for sale as well as gallery display.
It’s Never Over – a recent video release by AVAN LAVA. A Pop, fun, dance party…definitely worth a listen.
The new iPad is expected to be announced tomorrow by Apple. The speculation on the iPad has been rampant with rumors of all sorts of new features being incorporated into the device.
Joy of Tech published a humorous look at the rumors several weeks ago. I thought it worthwhile to revisit their humorous take on the subject.
While some people see the humor in the rumor mill, other’s look to the future with speculation and imagination. Here is an amazing concept video predicting the highlights of the iPad 3 which includes features such as an edge-to-edge screen; magnetic iPads with near field communications (NFC); and 3d holographic displays for multiplayer games.
Whatever tomorrow brings at Apple, I’m sure that after all the rampant speculation a few people will be disappointed. I, on the other hand, have no doubt that Apple will be continuing its winning streak with another excellent and well thought out product. I’m looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings.
Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy ~ Walt Disney Company
Painting Continuity inspired by Continuidad de los parques by Julio Cortazar
A painting inspired by Continuidad de los parques by Julio Cortazar
I read this story several years ago and it has remained with me. This painting is inspired by it. The original story can be found here, in Spanish.
I love the way the story wraps around on itself. It is a story of passion, love, deceit, and murder that takes place in a few paragraphs. It’s a simple story but one of the most cleaver works that I have read in a long time. In my painting the red oval represents the continuity while the center represents the main character, the green line both the chair in which he sits as well as the knife used by the lover.
I’ve translated the story into English below…
Continuity of the Parks by Julio Corazar, translated by MFCarter.
Having started to read the novel a few days before, he had to put it down for some urgent business before returning to open it and begin reading it again on the train on the way to the farmstead; he allowed himself a growing interest in the plot and the characterizations. That evening, after writing a letter to his attorney and discussing with his steward a question over the sharecroppers he returned to the book in the tranquility of his study that looked out upon the park and it’s oaks. Sitting back comfortably in his favorite armchair with his back towards the door where even the thought of an intrusion would irritate him, he allowed his left had to caress repeatedly the green velvet of his chair as he read the last chapters. He remembered effortlessly the names and the images of the protagonists; the novel spread its glamor over him at once. He enjoyed the almost perverse pleasure of disengaging himself line by line from all the things around him with his head relaxing comfortably against the velvet of his high-backed chair and the cigarettes resting within reach of his hand, while beyond his windows the air of the afternoon danced beneath the oaks. Word by word, absorbed by the sordid and distinctive dilemma of the heroes, he abandoned himself to their images to the point where they acquired color and movement, he witnessed their last encounter in the hillside cabin. The woman arrived first, apprehensive; then the lover came, his face cut by a backlash of a branch. Admirably, she stanched the blood with her kisses, but he rebuffed her caresses, he had not come to repeat the ceremonies of a secret passion, protected by a world of dry leaves and furtive paths. The dagger warmed itself against his chest, and below beat liberty, crouching. Eager dialogue raced down the pages like a rivulet of snakes, and one felt that everything had been decided from eternity. Even the caresses that entangled the lover’s body wishing to keep him there, to dissuade him from it; sketched abominably the frame of another body which was necessary for them to destroy. Nothing had been forgotten: alibis, hazards, possible mistakes. From this hour, each moment had its detail minutely assigned. The examination and re-examination of the details was interrupted so that a ruthless hand could caress a cheek. It was beginning to get dark.
Without looking now, each rigidly fixed to the task which awaited them, they parted at the door of the cabin. She was to follow the trail that went north. On the path that lead in the opposite direction, he turned for a moment to see her running, her hair loosened and flying. He ran in turn, crouching in the trees and hedges, trying to distinguish in the mauve haze of twilight the walkway leading to the house. The dogs should not bark and they didn’t. The steward would not be there at that hour, and he was not. He climbed the three steps to the porch and went inside. Over the thudding of the blood in his ears came the woman’s words, first the blue room, then a gallery, then a carpeted stairway. At the top, two doors. No one in the first room, no one in the second. The door of the salon, and then with the dagger in his hand, the light of the windows, the high back of a green velvet chair, the head of the man in the chair reading a novel.
In an Instant © MFCarter 2012
This painting was inspired by a conversation that I was having one morning with Mario. We were talking about how things can change in what seems a blink of an eye. Things such as health, a job, a loved one, a lifetime… the list is long. Whatever you care to name; it can leave you quickly and with a sense of loss, of gain, of comfort or abandonment. These feelings can be overwhelming and rapid.
Life and time are like this. Things change, simply change, no matter how hard you try to grasp them and hold them tight – maintaining them and nurturing them. Change is always there and it sometimes occurs much more rapidly than you or anyone else could ever think possible.
Like a lightning bolt traversing the night, things in your life can blaze and fade quickly, almost as if they never existed at all and yet they leave a mark in the retina of your eye that no one else can see but can change you forever.
This painting is acrylic and gold leaf over canvas and is sized 24″ x 30″. It is available for sale.
From the album, Love is a Four Letter Word.
Get More: Jason Mraz, I Won’t Give Up, I Won’t Give Up, Free Music Videos
When I look into your eyes
It’s like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There’s so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you’ve come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?
I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up
And when you’re needing your space
To do some navigating
I’ll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find
‘Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We’ve got a lot to learn
God knows we’re worth it
No, I won’t give up
I don’t wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I’m here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you’re still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn’t break, we didn’t burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I’ve got, and what I’m not
And who I am
I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up
Still looking up.
I won’t give up on us (no I’m not giving up)
God knows I’m tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)
We’ve got a lot to learn (we’re alive, we are loved)
God knows we’re worth it (and we’re worth it)
I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up
It always drives me a bit crazy when I hear people “quoting” the Bible especially when it’s obvious that they know little about what they are quoting. It gets worse when people try to use the Bible to justify their persecution of homosexuals.
To put things in perspective… did you know that the Bible contains more than 31,000 verses? There are less than a dozen verses that say anything about a sexual act between men. Looking at simply the numbers of verses , it’s clear that the Bible was much more concerned about other things… oh like… gluttony, greed, economic condition, and treatment of fellow human beings.
There are only nine biblical passages that are invoked by people who wish to justify their persecution of homosexuals. The verses are:
The Deuteronomy and Kings passages simply forbid prostitution by both men and women. What more can be said?
The Leviticus passages are part of the Holiness Code. This code prohibits eating raw meat (Sushi anyone?), planting 2 different kinds of seeds in the same field (Whoops, there goes crop rotation and many of our gardens), wearing garments that are made from 2 different kinds of yarns (Guess I need to get rid of my silk and cashmere sweater), tattoos (Ok…a lot of people in this day are going to hell), adultery (How many people are guilty of this?), sexual intercourse during menstruation (Medical science tells us this is entirely normal and completely healthy.), and homosexual acts. The point here is we focus on one taboo and say that the others are excusable? Many of us need to drop our self-righteous pretensions if we’re to use these passages as justification for persecution. If you accept one rule as “God’s law,” don’t you have to accept them all?
The last 3 references are the most cited. All these references originate from St. Paul. He was concerned with homosexuality because it was one of the behaviors that represented sensuality and something that was contrary to his spiritual idealism. Lust and sensuality in anyone was considered abnormal and a sin by his ideology. To say that homosexual lust and sensuality is different than heterosexual lust and sensuality is not logical and makes no sense. For St. Paul anyone who put their interest ahead of God was condemned and that condemnation falls equally on everyone — not just homosexuals.
Passages in the Bible have been used by advocates of slavery; they have been used to keep white churches white; the Bible has been used to justify sexism and to keep women quiet; it has been used to justify things that many of us would consider as wicked and evil but it has also been used as an inspiration to liberate many people including blacks and women. It includes metaphors of redemption, renewal, inclusion and love which belong to and are applied to everyone and not just the exclusive domain of the religious right.
I have a confession to make. I’m lactose intolerant.
Now, there are only a very few cheeses that I can tolerate and milk is a disaster for me. So, I decided recently that I would love to have some whipped cream to go along with a pie that I was having for dessert.
I went to the grocery store and bought some Cool Whip. It was only after I got home that I looked at the ingredients. Here’s what I found in order from first to last ingredient:
Judging from the number of highly processed ingredients as well as some of their potentially detrimental effects, I’m now having second thoughts about the wiseness of my purchase.
But what’s a lactose intolerant guy to do?
I’m keeping the Cool Whip in the fridge this next year in case I have a moment of weakness but I suspect that next time, I’ll just skip that sweet, creamy, coolness completely. Unless someone out there has a suggestion?
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats was coined by John F Kennedy and describes the idea that when an economy is performing well, all people will benefit. As we know from the economy of today, the opposite is equally true.
Based on an image by JACAC on Deviant Art
