At the start of my spirit journey, I walked away from my former life of family, property, belongings, and “stuff” to be on the road; living in the moment and experiencing life as it came at me. It was a conscious choice. It is a very stripped down, decluttered life when everything you have will fit in one saddlebag and a sissy bar bag (or in the case of the new Road Glide, the TourPak. One saddlebag is filled with tools, first aid kit, and cold weather gear including chaps.
I made one trip by air back to the family home to pick up two suit cases of belongings and most of these belongings are still in the suitcases and don’t fit in with the essentials that are required for my daily life on the road. They will soon go into storage here or a local Goodwill box.
I do miss my books including poetry, motorcycling stories, and sometimes my big studio MAC for editing photos and recording music. What I do really miss is my artwork. I drew great pleasure and comfort having my art on the walls in my living space.
When my brother and his wife contacted me here at the “Hotel California” to tell me they were coming down to visit and they asked what they could bring the list was fairly short. I asked them to bring my small tent I bought for riding trips, a cover for one of the motorcycles and one of my other helmets. I also asked them to bring one of my favorite paintings that I painted in 2000. I was seeing a friend in California and, as always, I had my 35mm Canon with me. I referred to it as my sketchpad.
On one of my many trips to California, my friend and I visited some beautiful places on the coast south of San Francisco including Rockaway Beach, haunt of my many Beat period poet heroes, Half Moon Bay, Ano Nuevo Beach, Monterrey, and Carmel. We also visited a tiny secluded beach at Montara.
As my friend sat up on the bluff overlooking the beach, I made my way down the ocean edge, and took a photo looking inland to capture this magnificent cypress sitting on the very brink of the bluff. I could see the possibilities for a painting and when I got the photo back from the lab, I had them make a 24 x 36 inch plaqued copy of the print.
Back in my studio, I lofted out the lines on a 24 x 36 inch gallery canvas interpreting the photo into an allegory about the spiritual connection between Mother Earth and the sky with the cypress featured as the channel connecting the two and the roots of the cypress binding the earth together and providing the nutrients and cohesiveness to provide for the birth of life. The words of the prayers for burial (and rebirth) were in my mind as I shaped the figured of clay emerging from the bank of the bluff joined as couples coming into the light of day beneath the spiritual sky.
I used an impasto technique I have used for 10 years now that is referred to as encaustic. Using a palette knife I blended soft wax with the foundation colours of the painting into a thick paste softened with Stand Oil that I applied and sculpted to give enormous buildup and dimension to the painting. Next, I used another favorite technique to create the spiritual sky, blending the paints directly on the canvas using 4 inch paint roller dipped in a cobalt and Venetian turps, glazing medium. The next step in two months of work was to texture the encaustic buildup with a slow drying glazing medium with 6 and in some places 8 layers of transparent colored paint glazes.
The final work on the cypress tree and the surrounding bushes used a thinned out encaustic with a high percentage of Stand Oil to create dimension and depth to the foliage and the tree trunk. Again a slow drying glazing medium allowed me to create minute variations in the hue and saturation of the colours.
The finished work has a vibrancy and inner light that still resonates with me. Tonight, the painting sits in front of me at the foot of my bed where the morning light brings it alive and it is the first sight I see on waking every day.
I am so happy my brother and his wife took the time, effort, and risk to transport it here so I could have a important and valued piece of my previous life with me.
When I hit the road again soon, I will leave it with a friend here who will have it to place on their wall until I return to spend next winter here. My other work will have to go into storage up in Canada.
Even in this nomadic life I have chosen, it is important to have some ties to things we love and cherish. Cypress - Montara Beach is just that.
More of my art is accessible through my FaceBook page and I may blog about some of the other works. Art, poetry, photography and music feed my soul and express my spirituality. Perhaps this work will provide you with insight, inspiration, and perhaps a little pleasure.
From the new book or poetry
As I work I found myself wondering
Of these chance meetings
Along this magical road
The touching of kindred souls
Perhaps only for a brief respite
Or a friendly conversation
Perhaps to join together
For part of the journey
Perhaps for the teaching
But in my wondering
I see only good
Harmony
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