My first Collective Unconcious dream

This was one of my more vivid dreams that I had when I was somewhere between 8 and 10 years old:

I was in a garden, with my grandfather.   His role was that of mentor, almost a tour guide. In the heart of the garden, there was a small pond.  It was the kind that had dark water and lily pads, and I could not see the bottom.  There was lush vegetation, and it was cool and damp there.   In the middle of this dark pond was a man and a woman, up to their knees in the water, nude and frozen in embrace. I asked my grandfather about this imagery.  He said it was natural, and a part of life.

We walked around the pond, on a stone path.  On the side opposite the pond was a stone wall with insets, inside of which were human skulls. I asked him about this too, and he said it was also a part of life.

Youth, age, sex, death, all in a dream I had when I was 10" No joke. It was disturbing until I later read Joseph Campbell in college. I then found out how these are all intertwined in mythology and culture.

Lily pad image from here.

What to expect at my Birthday Party

Tie dye making!!
Here's a test example from the non-toxic EZ dyes that I made over the weekend:

And, here's the Adult Pinata, filled with adult stuff, like tax forms, student loans, medical bills, PT exercises, etc...  JUST KIDDING!  It's filled with tiny liquor bottles, candy and dinosaurs.Because dinosaurs are awesome.  I name thee "Ah, Hell NO Kitty!"

Taylormade Penta Golf Ball

I'll add to this post later with my impressions of how this golf ball performs.  But, in the meantime, I thought I'd post this image.  I went ahead and cut into this ball to see what the layers looked like.  And, while the colors don't match the marketing on the back of the box, there is indeed five layers.

UPDATE 6/5/2013
I tried these, and was unimpressed.  Maybe it was just my golf game that day, but for someone with a swing speed of less than 95 miles an hour, this is not your best ball.  I was getting more slicing, and less overall distance.  I had as much greenside feel with the Bridgestone e5. 

So, if your handicap is over 18, this is not the ball for you.

Now then, anyone know where I can get rid of the rest of this pack?

Gravity Painting is in its own Blog

If you are looking for additional Gravity painting, check it out at this BLOG

See you there!

Gravity Painting #4: New Tools

This painting was done on 3/25/2012.  I thought I'd try a few new tools for this gravity painting, along with some different brands of paint.  Below are the tools I tried.  Notice that both blenders have cardboard masks attached to keep the paint flying in only one direction.  I wasn't very impressed with the effect, but I really like what the egg beater and the wire tongs with black handles can do.

Here is the start of laying down the Background colors with my faithful assistant, Ms. R.

 After blending these colors a bit.  I assure you that Ms. R is not picking her nose in this shot.  Just scratching it.

 The thin, small splatters are what happens when you spin the eggbeater really fast.  In other shots, when you see a wobbly thin line, it is either from the egg beater, or from the tongs.

The result from a Restuarant Ketchup container, filled with partially mixed acrylic, paints and additional medium.  It reminds me of what chefs do with chocolate drizzlings that are then pulled off wax paper & used for decoration.

 The result of applying the top layer of paint before the background is dry, then hitting it with a dry brush.  It's an effect that could be used to one's advantage, but it doesn't work well in this piece.

 Detail

 This is why I only partially mix some paints when they are loaded into the ketchup containers.  I loke the depth and complexity shown in the paint.

Background blending brushes drying after cleaning.

Here is the final piece, poorly stitched together in Photoshop (next time I'll bring a ladder).
Seriously, click on the image for detail :)