Wow. Let’s talk about today’s general energy and how metallic, loud and chaotic (shitty) it seems to be. I cannot be the only one experiencing this or noticing it. Last night was super bad. Today is more just angsty and annoying but still bubbling. They are doing VERY LOUD street work right outside my house and my parrot Toby has decided his screams sound better today than I do, so for today’s Music Monday, let’s have another look into the past.

Today we visit “Bathtub Mary”, a Sweet Jelly tune Mr. Lance Dobersek and I worked on together once upon a time. Lance is an amazing visual artist and guitarist; I love watching and listening to him play slide guitar especially. We had a lot of fun getting together for music weekends putting songs together on the Fostex machine. As for the lyrical content of this tune, I never understood why anyone would put a holy relic, let alone THE MOTHER OF GOD, inside of an old dirty bathtub. I’m sure there’s a reason. I’m sure google could tell me but I feel like living inside the unsolved mystery instead. Lawn ornaments in general are intriguing. I go back and forth on this issue personally. I have some, yes…but…let’s just say that there’s a plastic goose that lives in my neighborhood who’s dressed for every occasion and holiday. He’s never late with his special outfit. N-E-V-E-R. I admire that in a way but I also wonder about that. That means the plastic goose has its own wardrobe. That means you need a place to store the plastic goose’s wardrobe. And keeping track of when he needs a costume change.

That’s a lot to keep track of for a...

That’s all I’m saying.

Sadly, Bathtub Mary’s artwork perished in the 2018 flood but remains forever on slide film(!) White China Marker was used to outline the bathtub; I wanted that old dusty clawfoot bathtub feeling of a porcelain tub but I also didn’t want it to rub off by just using chalk. China marker is not as gooey as oil pastels or dusty and elusive as chalk, and depending on the surface you can still make it look like a rugged dusty chalkline. The consistency is right in the middle of those two materials. Remembering that this was the first time I started experimenting with flat panels instead of canvas panels and I remember really liking the way the brush and paint felt in comparison. More direct contact, I guess is the best way to put it. Please enjoy and keep well out there.