Ice Dream. There’s some strange references going on in this one. If I don’t explain it won’t come together. Back in my day the Europe 72 3 record Dead live album had a crazy kid on the back cover smashing a cone on his head. Later an ice cream truck company called Weaser ripped off that art and would visit my mid Jersey neighborhood daily. Google it if you care. Flash forward to 2019. The ice cream truck that hits my neighborhood EVERY DAYS has a loud obnoxious song and no Greatful Dead connections. It drives me out of my mind so here is the result. I always try to turn my pain into gain. What a long strange explanation it’s been.
Whenever I think of tags and/or labels for people, be it things like ‘gammons’ or ‘snowflakes’ et al, narrowing it down to a single person who represents that group is always running a fool’s errand in my opinion.
Plantain, Plantago major, was considered to be one of the nine sacred herbs by the ancient Saxon people, and has been celebrated in Anglo-Saxon poetry as the "mother of herbs." In Russian this plant is called Подорожник - meaning near the roads. Native Americans called it "white man's foot" as it is often found growing along well-trodden foot paths and it was brought to the Americas from Europe. The Latin generic name means "sole of the foot."
When I was a kid, we would use the leaves of this plant for small hurts and scratches. We would spit on the leaves and stick it onto our scratches.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE9jT9LqUY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Superstitions: Nightmare
The 'nightmare' was originally believed to be a huge spirit which settled on people while they slept and gave them a feeling of being stifled - and in Europe an old preventative for this was to place a knife or something similar at the end of the bed, as it was well known that the denizens of darkness feared iron and steel.
“In Caribbean mythology, the lusca or luska is the term given to one of the most feared sea monsters in the region. A deadly creature that prowls the deep and feeds on the unsuspecting. A being or a pod of beings that scour the Gulf eating up all in its wake. The lusca is a chimera; a mismatch of animal parts. A conglomerate of some of the Caribbean’s most feared creatures. It is a cryptid that said to hunt and prowl the Gulf and areas near the Mexican shore. Luscas are one of the lesser known cryptids of the deep. They are also one of the most fascinating not only on account of its fearsome symmetry but of the mystery that surrounds them...”
This line from the Stephin Merritt episode of the 'She's A Talker' podcast (referring to Stephen Sondheim plot-lines) got my imagination ticking in overdrive
As we approach the end of winter, who knows where we’ll end up next? Still cautiously optimistic here...
As long as there’s stuff to inspire us all, it can’t be all that bad?
Superstitions: Nipples
According to a strange middle-european superstition, it is possible to tell from a man's nipples whether or not he has fathered children. If they are pink in colour, then he has not - while if they are brown, then he has!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CE9eRXBBeRQ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
On Tuesday evening some 1000 people gather in front of the German chancellery to demonstrate. To ‘Open the borders! Safe lives! Fight Fascism!’ were called for by ‘Seebrücke Berlin’ and others. We marched along Reichstag (seat of german parliament), offices of members of parliament, Russian embassy to Friedrichstr, where a final rally was hold (this is where the sketch emerged). Seebrücke appealed to the parliament to allow at least these refugees in most urgent need to come from the inadequate camps on the greece islands to their german member municipalities, that have space and are willing to host them. German parliament yesterday refused to do so, presumably due to their fear of further rise of right wing parties. This influence was another topic, that was adressed by the demonstration, that marched against any influence of right wing and fascist parties in Europe and for an international spirit of humanity.
Had to squeeze in some drawing earlier on yesterday before editing the photos I captured at Friday night’s gig with Ozric Tentacles and friends. Fantastic stuff that was!
This piece is inspired by Mental Health Awareness Week that’s just left us.
Belated and as cryptic as things might be (as usual) here in Bleu’s world, better late to the party than never right?
Narwhals it seems, and I’m sure I’ve said this before, are a perfect remedy for art blocks I'd say. Wasn’t going anywhere last night, that is until I gave things another go and this fellow here saved the day!
These are some gesture drawing sketches I did in ink with white pen highlights on brown paper. I was in Europe and sitting around a fountain watching people go about their lives. This was a really fun figure study and I think people make for great works of art.
One last drawing before 2021 draws to a close...
There may come a day when I don’t get inspiration from Wings Of Desire, but today’s not one of them (tomorrow’s not looking good either), hehehe. Happy new year when it comes my friends!
Finally got round to watching Hunt For The Wilderpeople, after eons of procrastinating over doing so, and was well chuffed at how great it was! Gave me some much needed inspiration for some art as well, always a bonus.
Can see what the Deadpool 2 guys saw in Julian Dennison that’s for sure, and of course Sam Neill was brilliant as well. Can’t be forgetting Taika Waititi either for directing it! Excellent job from all in my opinion :)
Driven by my mishearing of something Dr. David Scheel was talking about regarding the octopus Heidi he kept in his home for a yearlong period...
His documentary ‘Octopus: Making Contact’ is a lovely thing worth watching I should add!
