Go make stuff, a photo blog (or Dada's best Andy Rooney impression!)

Lately I've been thinking maybe some little worthwhile project I might putz around with could deflect my attention away from the increasingly slippery slide of the nation into its seemingly unstoppable destruction and moral decay of our delusionary despots (to include congress too!). "And who knows, it may even benefit my mental health," I thought.

With creative sources swirling all around me, there were no shortages of inspiration.

Recently I came across this T-shirt buried deep in a dresser drawer. Having not seen it in months, I decided to sport it one night last week during dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant with two of our most creative friends. They liked it and I imagined that other customers and staff maybe mistook me for an artist!Another source of inspiration comes from PTCruiser's "Adventures in Sedition" blog. PT's always making "guerilla art" in the form of signs he enjoys displaying publicly.
His work is represented by galleries all around the San Francisco Bay. Well, they're not actually galleries. They're the roadsides and freeways of the Bay Area. If you're ever in the area, keep your eye out for 'em because, where else can you get a lesson in Art Appreciation while stuck in commuter traffic?
Here's a source of inspiration from a recent conversation we had here among some of the regular readers at Dada's, to wit:
Milagro Beanfield War (MBW) was a rather delightful movie that captured much of the mysticism of northern New Mexico as well as its independent spirit as represented by one defiant individual against "the diminishing ideal of community in a world where simple communities are rendered nonviable by the expansion of business interests." That's how Wikipedia describes MBW anyway.

MBW was filmed in Truchas, another intriguing place that I hope to blog more about one day soon. But if you might recall, when in Taos last summer, I blogged of my visit to the Studio de Colores. Just outside it is a metal sculpture of the trademark character that appears somewhere in most of Ed Sandoval's incredible paintings.


A year ago after having some work in the house done, our contractor left me a sizeable piece of 3/4" plywood he didn't use. It's been staring at me ever since. Gradually, I decided I would rip me a copy of this sculptor's Ed Sandoval inspired trademark based on the Milagro Beanfield War character, "Amarante".




And so I drew an outline on the plywood. And while I was at it, I made a new sign or two for my wife's weekly peace demonstration.



I have an old jigsaw that got quite heated in the process of cutting out my "Amarante". As a result, I took the cutting slow over two days so as to minimalize my contribution to global warming. But with patience and in a wonderful metaphor for what lies ahead for this country, the last piece of unnecessary scrap fell away. "Voila!"


Now I'm in the sanding stage. Next comes the painting. Each successive step from here becomes more enjoyable. "Amarante" is a great character because he will be able to hold up a sign, a flag, who knows? And the message will always be changeable to fit present circumstances.





Patience, "Amarante" will debut when finished, hopefully soon!