Oil on canvas, 24” x 30”
Recovering from protracted fly-like illnesses. Yes, I was vaccinated. I took antibodies, bags of lozenges, gallons of liquid, chilis, analgesics. My wife bought a bag of pumpkin spice coffee. The aroma coming out of the coffee maker made everyone nauseous. I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth.
The video is the curse of Pumpkin Spice, the smell of Holiday Creep. I found its lair! The Christmas music on the radio happened to be playing while I drove by this hellscape.
I stayed in bed for two days with my throat polluted with pumpkin spice. The meds kicked in after two days – this flu was a bad one. This was hard. My kid had strep, I had flu, I was out of work for five days, and this big blank canvas kept nagging me.
The image consists of four square panels, 2×2, with an open area below, like an architectural drawing. So, clockwise, we have …
Upper Left: Frank Sinatra’s animated severed head on a mission in space. He seems fine.
Upper Right: Isometric view of experimental aircraft TOP. Decorative on port wing.
Lower Right: Isometric view of same FRONT, unimpressive, needs work.
Lower Left: A cat with gigantic compound crablike sensory stalks resembling eyes.
I chose this over a goose in an apron. I was going to paint a fat beady-eyes goose in an apron eyeing the viewer as it emerged from tall grass wearing a leather apron. Full of blackened steel smithing tools on clips. Like Weaponized Kitch. Old vintage truck at a pump with flowers growing out of it, carved out of a block of SPAM. Skyline made of friendship beads on safety pins. BBQ slow cooker in the rumble seat of an electric Rolls Royce.
I have the flu, so I watched old weird black and white shows because I felt like my eyes were going to burst out of my head. The lack of color sort of mercifully worked.
I remember watching a screwball comedy where a car backed onto a seemingly dried and partially flattened cat carcass. The driver used it as a tire stop. Pre-code 1930s insanity. The welfare of animals was not a high priority.
So, I brought the cat back, but gave it some of the weirdest eyes I could muster. They’re just plump antenna. No background yet. Gotta cook all day! Hopefully I find the aromatic theme.
I used an online tool to determine the colors. Generated a nice distortion of the aircraft, check it. Moiré pattern.
Added this rose to the palette. Added the four suits.
Had a sleep on it, came up with a dull complementary fill, daydreaming off an old blackboard in natural diffuse light slate green. I mapped the colors.
This is pop art. Go with the disease.
This is a National Christian zealot
Anti-Far Right Extremist Rant
Stop electing these fascists. They don’t give a shit about you or the Earth. They keep the two party system in a perpetual hair-pulling cat fight. They stoke violence. She can’t even keep her man. Patsy Decline, lol. Sorry not sorry. I bet her kitchen is a firing range and they cook chicken on the smoking barrels. Just order more ammo, Shabu-shabu style, keep shooting the liberal boogeymen, fuck. Jerk your own chicken for only 9000 rounds. Food is free, pay for ammo. There are no more food runners. Whoops.
These young fragile eggshell minds, yikes!
All those Dark Money teleleeches from higher dimensions sucking my psychic blood. Agony of the Algowretched, worming into hot districts, invisible. Working these flatulent muppets like sad-faced Volkswagen. Beep beep!
Gave the cat eyes some moonlight. Attached the parasitic control system to the Sinatra head, appendages. Run along, little guy. The UAV is brightened above, reflective below. SCRAM jet. Faster. I put it in a dive and leveled out at eye-level in Lower Right. Trails in the drain, accelerating through the apex of the maneuver. Find that head!
Egad! PIRATES!
Touch ups. Starting to pop. Recovering from monthlong bout with at least the flu, lil asthma. Lungs feel worked over. It’s warm enough to ventilate the house, so oils are go.
Background green to fade later.
Fifty State Banana 