Freedom
Sold
Self portrait
Self portrait
Not for sale
Happy Friday and good evening, it’s officially cocktail hour at the studio and I’m well on my way to cooking a fabulous meal. It’s a gravy style sauce composed of roasted garlic, shallots, bacon, mushrooms,chicken stock and heavy cream, yum, served with baked/braised chicken breast and mashed potatoes. On that note my friends I must excuse myself from the table and continue to cook.
Bon appetite
Benjamin
Well hi their, thanks for coming by again today. Things around the studio are jumping! You get a chance to dance yet today? What really to busy at work to dance 
okay then after work.
The other day well left off with this:
Right? We had the table shot the full shot and the close up. Well today we are going to start with a full shot of the other piece that we hadn’t looked at yet:
Yes I know it looks pink. It’s not really its an optical illusion, it’s red transparent paint on top of a white textured board which in photo land translates into pink. But never fear this piece didn’t say red! For long. As we’d spoken about the other day these pieces will be getting many micro thin layers of paint. Keep in mind it’s equally important for the pieces to have paint removed in certain areas as well. 
so after mr red set for a sec this happened
Oh no!!!! He crashed into the yellow paint for shame yep looks like Fire
Yes I know I just had to it makes me giggle, and no I do not watch that show….. Anymore 
So you ask well what happened to that other piece? The Yellow and Green thing I’m not sure? Lets take a look:
Blue YAY well I think yay, sorry about the glare in the upper right side the paint was still dripping wet when I took this shot and highly reflective;
At this point any one of these pieces could and probably will change completely matter of fact I just flashed on an image of the blue thing evolving.
Well then I suppose you should get back to work right okay well thanks for coming over, oh and by the way you look fantastic today, very nice
Talk to you later.
Benjamin
2013.
Okay so yes it’s Friday and I’m in a pretty indestructible mood.. Hopefully it will last right? I’m taking a few minutes to be a lazy boy and do a quick post then I’m off to the studio.
So shall we, do a little jitterbug to get the blood flowing, come on don’t be shy it’ll be fun.
Ha, jitterbug (giggles) I just got that (says the guy with PD) hey! If I can’t laugh about it from time to time then what’s the point of putting up with it.
Message of the moment: Don’t let life slow you down, many things in this life will present themselves as challenges but with the right perspective a little luck and lots of hugs you can over come anything. I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!
Peace I’m out!!
xoxo
B.
Good morning, 4:12a an excerpt from a poem I wrote once:
I search for myself amongst these things we think we need and wonder how and why and who am I.
I’m left with lineage, love anguish and tremor. Pain and paint,passion and woes. But this my friend is where my garden grows. From ashes and fire from human desire. These are the things I’ve become. Of drink and desire and maddening rage, one name, one word my love for I am he.
Benjamin,.. is all that I be.
I think all humans long to be needed, missed, wanted and held even in my most hardened of days I longed to be held. As a child whilst being shipped from place to place I yearned for that connection. Be it a place of safety or a place of healing maybe even all the about and so much more. I write often of such a longing, I was once told by a Native American Indian elder that I had the soul of a lone wolf an old soul of the wanderer. At the time I was a very young boy so I had no idea what he meant but as I’ve grown into my shoes I would tend to agree.
Could be why I have such a fascination with the romantic, that ever present ache in my heart driving me to feel passion ( not to be confused with sex) but passion that fire that drives us to be great to be out spoken, Dali,Van Gogh, Gandhi, C.Bukowski and millions more have (had) it. You have it as well, yes you reading this as we sit and you ready yourself for the day or sit at lunch or prepare for the night to come. We all have that drive I just believe that for some it sits closer to the skin than others.
Okay well enough morning rambles from your poetish painter, I’ve been up since 3a PST I’ve fended off an army of ants who decided that the kitties were fat enough and they needed to eat the rest if their food. So gross I hate ants. I have a very! Clean house and these little F’ing ants make a b-line for the kitty food at least once a year when the ground outside reaches a certain saturation point. Grrrrrrr.. Any how time to start the day. I’ve much painting to do today.
To all: Be Brave Be Bold and Thrive in the life you have.
Namaste
Benjamin
If I showed you the heart of the child would you promise not to laugh?
And if I held you in my shaking arms
Would you tremble with me or walk away.
Does the depth of your heart run deeper than this electric light
Or is it shallow like a river run dry
Could it be an ocean or deepest of loch
Warmed by an evening breeze
Gentle to the skin and kind of heart
Does it require all that I am or can it stand against
these turbulent waves that crash against the shores of my mind.
Deep and rooted like trees of the gods.
Entangled in emotions deeper than hell itself.
Fear not of the child’s heart that weeps at the sound of bird song
Or the smell of roses
for a soldiers armor guards this heart with with sharpened tongue
And words that sting.
Lay by my side or walk with me in the night and
you shall have but a piece of this guarded heart to hold and call your own forever and a day.
For I would give it all away I am nothing yet have always been
full and empty, craving yet lack nothing.
Neither angel or demon nor child and man,
Forever more…
Benjamin
2013
** the above image is a photo negative of one of my paintings
“capturing infinity”
24 x 48
Acrylics on birch panel.
Good afternoon, it’s nice to see you again thanks for coming by. Today I’ve been spending some time with a dear friend and collector of my art. One of the very few I’ve had the pleasure of meeting face to face. Today’s Process post is just a quick touch base as I have an appointment in a bit. Yesterday we added some color and then had to do my least favorite thing as a painter. Literally watch the paint dry. Pretty darn boring if you ask me. So this is what we waited for from yesterday:
Since I’ve seriously only had a few minutes with it today this is what we have now:
This particular piece I will be using my glazing technique on, meaning it will eventually have hundreds of micro thin layers of paint at different thicknesses to create depth and color differentials.
Here is a close up up the coral technique being used, this style of texturing with allow me to build depth by pooling the paint in the valleys and crevasses.
If my appointment this evening goes well and I’m not completely exhausted then I’d very much like to continue to work on this tonight, if not then tomorrow it is.
Until then much love and afternoon naps for all.
Always
Benjamin
Ps: say goodbye to the Grapes as they have gone off to there new home today.
What harbingers of rain and pain these ravens be
their discourse harkens my heart of darkness
as I fear the words they bring, sing, song
All wrong is the tone to these deaf ears
mirrors bring only the sight of fright
Night has come to this hollow home
Rome these hall in the morning
hour searching for strength in the darkness
crying to the wolves for comfort and solace
For what depth does the day bring if only to be soured by the sight of pain.
Does it give no rest to the weary traveler, offer no safe haven for this heavy heart
Walking these days of change alone with child in hand burdened by these bones
Medicated sleep finds me for a brief love affair each day as the clock grows long
And shadows of tomorrows future grip tight these gliding hands and fear reigns supreme.
Hold tight to these lovers hands as they are graced with years of skill and a mind as old as time.
I would give it all if only to be heard by one bird on this night of the Ravens song.
Benjamin
2013
Good morning, I figured posting when I actually got up us excessive so I waiting till now. See because I have this rule no coffee before 3am unless you haven’t gone to be yet, which I have.
Any how it’s time to make coffee and start my day if not sleeping and painting YAY plus I get to hang out with a friend today….yes I do actually know a human or two.. And well if we lived under an hour from each other we could meet for coffee as well. Speaking I coffee again I’m in need.
Much love talk to you when I’m actually awake enough to talk.
xoxo
Benjamin
Good evening whilst waiting for The Process pieces to dry I was able to put the finishing touches on the
Grapes of Wrath piece.
The Painting.
The Photo I created from a grape stem and my kitchen counter.
The Painting and an 8 x 10 print of the photo.
** Some close up’s of the painting.
Greetings, I hope the day is treating you well today. Thanks for coming by the studio its great to see you again. Today we will continue in the process of creating these two pieces the other day we left off with the two panels having had multiple layers of primer(not gesso) applied and today we will begin adding some color and texture.
Where we started. Here we have the first on many many layers of color and texture:
Ooooo what’s it going to be? Well…. We’ll just have to wait and see right?
Oh no somebody spilled gesso all over…. Ha, why yes, yes I did but in a very specific place and pattern.
The green and yellow piece is going to change so much I think you’ll be pretty surprised when we go on to the next steps. I am using the coral texturing technique on this piece for a very specific reason which will become evident as the piece evolves. With this piece I already have a name and highly specific image I’m going to try and draw out of these panel.
This is a close up of the panel on the right. I have a color scheme in mind and a eventual goal (feeling) that I’d like evoke but because it’s an emotional piece the process will be far more in depth than the green and yellow piece.
Right then I’m back at it, these textural pieces need to dry and I need to paint, I still need to finish Green Girl and Grapes of Wrath . Once again thanks for coming by you lol beautiful as always, do please take care and I’ll see you again shortly.
Always
Benjamin
