[If you're reading this in an email, I promise you'll enjoy it more on my website.]
"It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful than one square mile. That is not imagination. No, it kills it..."
"It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful than one square mile. That is not imagination. No, it kills it..."
– E.M. Forster, Howards End
A good thing to keep in mind as I load up the Windhorse, my beloved 1995 Subaru station wagon, to embark on an ambitious eight-week summer festival tour. My new Texas driver's license in my pocket, I'm bittersweet about leaving my new home to embark on another shoestring adventure...but this is 2012, the year to either do it or forever hold your peace. So here we go...!
Below is a list of all the festivals I'll be attending this summer – most of them as both a musical and visual performer, as well as a speaker on mind-bending topics like this. But first, here is a smattering of creative offerings that fell in the cracks between bigger projects over the last few weeks:
"We Are Machines In The Ghost"
The next in my series of spontaneous rants about the collision between human-technology co-evolution and mystical spirituality. This four-minute video examines how hard it is to draw the line between our minds and our tools – and it's only getting harder, as those tools become increasingly lifelike...
Custom-Painted Hats
Even with a busy summer looming ahead, I'm still open to talk with you about your own custom lid...because we all have a freak flag that needs flying, and I'm totally excited about helping you trigger sympathetic peak experiences in strangers as you walk by. Here's the whole gallery of my hats so far. I'm open to all kinds of suggestions for new work...
A few customers asked me to personalize the already-too-cool embroidered signature series hats I made in collaboration with Grassroots California. I still have plenty left, although not in every size – if you'd like one before they're gone, drop me a line as soon as you can! (And, obviously, I'll gladly accept a tip to make your 1-of-420 lid a one-of-a-kind.)
"The Crowd From Above"
2012 03 26 Ruta Maya (Esoteric Mondays)
16"x20" – paint markers on masonite panel
11"x17" signed poster prints: 1/$20, 2/$30, 3/$40 – email me
A quickie, after the last two epic dragon paintings...short and sweet and to the point. For some reason this reminds me of an x-ray aerial image of everybody's dog stuck alone in the house all day – a metaphor for how so many of us are stranded in the lonely cubicles of our suburban modern hearts. It doesn't have to be like this! It won't always be like this. And from above, we are just as much a sea of rippling grain...
Getting Into The Meme Game
Like a true friend, I turned my buddy Jeremy McDonough (aka Space Panda)'s least flattering photo ever into a web meme. And it blew up! Click that link above to share it on facebook, because Lord knows you have a friend who needs to see this. (Here's a link to "Festival Keyboard Guy" on quickmeme if you want to browse other people's captions or make your own.)
...And this one's little too heady, maybe, to ever go viral. Nonetheless, the resemblance is uncanny:
For The Readers...
• Spirit of Spider recently republished my awesome conversation with fellow live painter and geometry-head Kris Davidson – the guy who originally inspired me to start painting in the first place – in which we rap at length on what "realism" means in art, and exactly what kind of reality our art describes. I still go back to this chat every once in a while for inspiration, and am super glad to see it's still getting mileage.
• My latest album, Golden Hour, got a lovely short review from the new avant-guitar website, New Wave of Acoustic Guitar, where I now stand alongside such incredible talents as Adrian Belew and Jon Gomm:
"I found myself getting lost in the music a lot, often forgetting I was listening to one guy! Definitely a unique voice in the world of solo acoustic guitar."
Free copies of the album are available for anyone who'd like to blog about it. Get ahold of me if you're interested, or have friends who are looking to feature something fresh...
Let's Meet Up This Summer!
...my second year as live art director means more artists and better gallery placement. Come hang with us!
...my first main stage set at a festival is also my first sunrise set! Luxuriously sacred, that's what this'll be.
...my first time on stage in Georgia, for a first-year event shaping up to be really great!
...my fourth year as live art director at Sonic Bloom, now graced with an amazing gallery by Tribe 13!
...one of my favorite places on this entire continent is Northern Arizona; I can't wait to be a part of this.
...resort accommodations will make this the plushest festival all summer. Looking great for a first-year!
...absolutely my favorite small festival in the Midwest, this one balances art, music, and learning superbly.
