I’m sure it’s no secret by now after reading my posts that this blog is a form of therapy for me. My emotions and creativity have been all over the board again but that’s nothing new. An unexpected surprise; a renewed interest in music continues after a very, very, very long sad draught so I’m happy to report that I’ve been hanging out in that world again lately. Visual art is still being made, but there are a lot of pieces in limbo so we’ll be taking another trip down memory lane for today’s studio closeup.

Today’s painting died in the flood and is the artwork intended for the song “Forbidden Fruit” by my old band Sweet Jelly. Our writing process was unique. Aaron lived in Milwaukee and I lived two hours away. Aaron would send me MP3 scratch tracks of songs he’d come up with out of nowhere and I would add lyrics and vocals. I really enjoyed it. The internet made it possible to write songs together despite the distance and that was new at that time.

After singing this past Monday for my Carolaoke project, I decided I was finally in a place where I could revisit Sweet Jelly Land again. I started going through the old lead sheets Aaron had painstakingly put together in Illustrator and I thought I’d revisit those old tunes we wrote together. Oh, boy that was a trippy trip trip. I’m not promising anything, but perhaps some of these 70+ old abandoned Sweet Jelly tunes might show up in a new way on Music Mondays here.

Title: Forbidden Fruit
Year: 2000
Media: Acrylic Paint, Paper Collage, Canvas Board
Total Dimension: (2) 6 x 4" Canvas Board Panels 1/4" apart

Let’s talk Doris Day. I already knew of Doris Day before hearing the lyrics of Stockard Channing’s performance of “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” in Grease. That may have been my father’s parents doing because what 12 year old knows of Doris Day in the 1980s. This weirdo.

So as I was first seeing Grease; hearing the words to this song, I kept thinking to myself “What’s wrong with Doris Day!? Why are they making fun of Doris Day?! And while we’re at it, why are they being so crappy to, and about, Sandy? She seems like a very nice...” and then I had an ah-ha moment and went “Ohhhhhhhhhhh. I get it.” That’s how I usually navigate in life. It takes me a while. I never seem to grasp the obvious right away and that has always made me feel stupid, secretly. At any rate, in college, I was really into listening to the songstresses of the 1940s and 1950s and Doris Day was one of my top ladies. I loved that songs back then were a full production which usually involved the singers being in movies, dancing and singing on beautiful sets while wearing colorful costumes. Every detail was accounted for.

This karaoke track already had the backing vocals of someone singing the main part during the round in the middle of the song. This bummed me out because I like the challenge of building different harmonies myself. Last week’s tune had no backing vocals added to the karaoke track so it was a lot of fun trying to reconstruct that tune and all the different vocal parts. Seriously though, I’m just grateful to live in a time where being able to record your own music with readily available karaoke tracks finally exists in present day. I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for this moment. At any rate, please enjoy my scratch track cover of Doris Day’s, “Everybody Loves A Lover”. Stay safe and please keep well.

Today’s art closeup centers around animals that can change colors because that has always fascinated me. The fact that some animals can do that is sort of magical really. I tried to convey the difference in seasons not only with the overall color palette, but also describing the “personality types” of the seasons by keeping the winter panel sparse and quiet and the summer panel busy and colorful. Please enjoy! I had a lot of fun doing this piece.

Title: Museum Series: Snowshoe Hare (Diptych)
Year: 2020
Media: Acrylic Paint, Paper Dioramas, Wood Panel
Total Dimension: (2) 4” x 4" Wood Panels 1/2” apart

I'm not sure if it’s because of all the ridiculousness that is our American politics currently, the world's general angsty vibe and energy or if it was just my own moodiness (probably all of it) but last week I really felt the need to be quiet and hide. As I've said before, I have to be in a different place entirely to sing and make noise and I could not get to that place to save my life last week.

It reminds me of when my mom would come into my room when I was little and I’d be drawing in my closet (sliding doors closed) completely silent, pretending I was invisible. I wouldn’t answer her or make a peep when she was calling my name standing right outside the closet door all the while seeing her feet from the light crack of the sliding door. I wasn’t trying to be naughty per se, I just didn’t want to be found. She’d walk through the house calling my name and I would only pop out when she’d get super panicked and terrified because she thought I had been abducted or something. Oh, she used to get so pissed. I'm sorry, Mom. I’m sure if you ask my sister, I did this to her too. Sorry, Cindy. I can’t explain it. I really can’t. It was nothing personal about or to anyone, I just liked not being found unless I wanted to be found. I absolutely LOVED being left alone and it hasn’t really changed in my adult life, I'm sad to say. At any rate, that’s what happened to last week’s Carolaoke Collection Song #15. I was hiding in my closet making dioramas, painting and exercising my right to remain completely silent.

But this week, I feel much better and I am ready to be loud again. This tune was introduced to me by my friend Mark Miskelly who I was doing Capitola Shows with a while back. When we would practice, we’d take a break and listen to different kinds of music to get motivated and this is a song that he brought to my attention and now has become one of my guilty pleasures to sing. My musical taste is all over the board and I don’t care what that says about me. So here is my scratch track version of Selena Gomez & The Scene’s “Love You Like A Love Song” for song #15. Please enjoy and thank you for stopping by!

Today is another peek into the past. I've been going through a lot of my old things again and discovered this artifact. I remember making this piece right after moving to the middle of Wisconsin in 1999 never considering how much I would miss living near The Lake. You might notice this tension with the lady being dragged across the state by an old exercise machine. It is amazing to me how just two different parts of the same state can be so dramatically different from each other. This is the case when comparing Dane County to Milwaukee County. Where I came from was flat and next to the ocean as far as I was concerned. Out here there are lots of bluffs and hills making it a more mountainous terrain and I tried to make that distinct difference visible with the horizon line throughout the triptych. On panel 3 on the right edge, you might also notice a little curve there; that's supposed to be the cross section of Lake Michigan's descent into its watery abyss. I also remember wanting to keep the piece minimal in color and collage pieces to add to the gloomy apprehension I had about such a drastic change.

It's so weird looking at and thinking about this 21 year old piece. I've definitely learned a few things since then. During this pandemic I sure am grateful to be living where there are not a lot of people. And the stars are gorgeous out here.

I do miss sushi though.

Title: Milwaukee To Madison (Triptych)
Year: 1999
Media: Acrylic Paint, Paper Collage, Canvas Board
Total Dimension: (3) 6 x 4" Canvas Board Panels 1/4" apart