Art, Nature & Soul #59

The deep blue sea, the darkness of an undersea world, as illuminated by the flickering light from above. A place where representational meets abstract in the recesses of the mind. As a young boy I loved to swim and especially underwater.

Growing up, I learned to swim at the YMCA, then we had a pool in our backyard. I’d spend hours swimming, doing circles and swimming back and forth across he middle underwater. In boy scout camp, I remember one camping trip in particular spent tenting, canoeing and swimming. Once I had swam out pretty far into the lake and decided to dive deep as I could. I was pretty good at holding my breath, so after one deep breath I dove to the bottom of the lake, some 15-20 feet or so, opened my eyes and magic, that was it. The water was green, the light flickered from above and I could see the plants, slimed with algae and fish swimming by me close. I was amazed, tickled & wanted to stay down there forever. Thinking back It was my, obscure reference #1, Incredible Mr. Limpit moment. A story about a man who loves the sea so much he dreams of being a fish and then is one. Flipper, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea & Jacques Cousteau, obscure reference #2, were all favorite TV shows, I’d watch regularly in awe in deep fascination. I had even thought of being a n Oceanographer in middle school, then swimming with and photographing the ocean seas creatures in my teens and early 20s.

At 57, I’ve finally booked a charter to go snorkeling for the first time. Our road trip included a 4 day stop in Key West, Florida, so I found a charter that left off of Stock Island in Key West. It was a Wild About Dolphins excursions. We choose the 3.5 hour trip. Tara, our guide was fantastic, as the pups came along for the boat ride and she watched after them so we could snorkel. After watching a couple pods of Dolphins, one that had a baby swimming with them, we headed for Casa Rocks, 2-3 ,miles off the island shore. Don, my husband, & I went in together, after testing the water to see if we needed wet suits or not. The water was about 75 degrees so we opted to swim without, although they would have made us more buoyant & offered some protection from the sea critters. Tara gave excellent instructions as she passed us the flippers, mask & snorkel. After getting in the water, I realized I hadn’t swam in over a decide and its a lot of work, so we went back for noodles, a float assist, so we could focus on getting used to the flippers , mask and snorkel…& breath through your mouth, not your nose…ha. I swam over the reef, repeatedly made that mental note and stuck my face in the water.

Wow, so amazing, a great variety of & hundreds and hundreds of sea critters, all living together. There were so many different types and some in large schools, it was hard to keep track of all that I was looking at. That said, the ones that stood out were several Yellow Tangs, a large Parrot Fish, what I think was a Spider Crab & a Moon Jellyfish, that I made sure to keep mt distance from. It was thrilling to watch them all do there thing, in the community around the living coral reef, 3rd largest in the world. As I often do, I just kept thinking symbiotics, symbiotics. Most life either gets it or just lives it instinctively…then I think, humans? Try as we may, a large percent just doesn’t get it. In my way of thinking, all of life needs and relies on these relationships or survival, and the patterns made echo across all life. By definition though, its more directly related to, 2 species mutual dependency for survival, like anemone & a clown fish. Symbiosis is a close ecological relationship between the individuals of two (or more) different species. Sometimes a symbiotic relationship benefits both species, sometimes one species benefits at the other's expense, and in other cases neither species benefits, so ask which are you and be it.

I have watched & read a fair amount of non fiction & documentary on sea life, and in particular, endangered whales. This painting is based on an image from one such educational opp & experience, that I’ve translated into a painting, charged with my thoughts, emotions & favorite color…blue. Plus the thrill eagerly anticipated entrance of the whole undersea world’s life, in it's abundance & glory. Snorkeling was a great thrill that I intend to do again, until then, I paint the world I live in, as I see & experience it.

6 different blues, a green, violet, magenta, 3 yellows, white, on canvas using an arsenal of paint brushes, palette knives & other implements were all used in combinations to create this piece. As always, your comments & questions are welcome~ Richard Sperry

‘Caverns’ 24”x24” oil

Caverns 24"x24" oil

Me snorkeling for the first time, in Key West 2022..

Art, Nature & Soul#35

I don’t know if it’s art, but it’s certainly, quite the performance, poetic & funny, as well.

*Thoughts on Bananas, has everybody gone...? ~I do not like them warm, I do like them frozen & dipped in chocolate, making me generally indifferent to the plight of the banana as a food, as they do not factor significantly in my life. But, that's me & I can be a real piece of work at times...others however, really, reeeeeally like them! Especially if they involve duct tape. Then they're willing to spend $120,000. for said banana. C'est la vie !

That said, when I was in High School, 79' ish,as a sophomore, in speech class, we had an assignment. Me being generally, the shy, quiet type, who did not like being on stage with an intense fear of being laughed at, had figured out a way to assure that I was laughed with, instead of at, or at least, that was my thinking.

My speech was to be on, "How To Peel A Banana". Me being a fan of the film 'Alien' and comedian Gallahger had come up with a simple idea. Like the original graphic for 'Alien', I went to the chalk board and drew a picture of a banana on a grid and wrote beneath it, "In space no one can peel it." In the original film graphic was the image of an alien egg on the grid and the words, "In space no one can hear you scream". Then with a bunch of bananas, in hand, I individually took one at a time, trying various comedic approaches to getting them out of the peel. One using a potato masher, two a hammer, three squishing it in my hands, four smashing it under my foot & five slicing/stabbing it with a knife. I tried several other approaches, including a meat tenderizer, as the speech went on, with the class roaring with laughter. It went on until I finally pulled out another banana in which I had sewed a zipper on, unzipped it, pulled out a piece of boloney that I had stuffed it with, saying, "If this boloney doesn't work, try this," to which I took the last banana and peeled it normally, taking a big bite out of it, saying blaaahk, that turned to an ear to ear smile on my face, the end. A+ Leading me to the theisis,'What is the use of a banana, if not to peel and eat?"

"Tra la la, la la la la…

One banana, two banana, three banana, four.
Four bananas make a bunch and so do many more.
Over hill and highway the banana buggies go
Comin' on to bring you The Banana Splits Show."

Briefly, as I’ve expounded on this in another blog~In the late 80s, I was in my early twenties, there were 3 extremely controversial art exhibits. One, 1988, a painting of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington in drag, two, 1989, the American flag displayed on the floor, with guests invited to walk across it and sign a guest book, three, 1989, art photographer recently deceased of AIDS complications, Robert Mapplethorpe, NY City exhibit closed as profanity. My reaction was too create my own surreal painting merging all three aspects as a rebutt to the controverisial aspects. I still have this painting, tried to show it at “WORLD TATTOO GALLERY" back in the day, but to controversial, bahaha. In short, all of the arts are about communication, everything from the earliest cave paintings in France to bananas, duck taped to walls and eaten in 2019, even if you do not like what it has to say. Besides everythings worth, what someones willing to pay for it, at least to them. Here we are, at the beginning of a new decade, with new ideas and thoughts, so, be sure you convey yours.

*Note to self~ Go to the Art Institute Chicago, by January 26, 2020, see the 'Warhol' exhibit, a 'Top Banana' of 60's pop art movement, then peruse the museum, take it all in and if there's time, hit a few of the art galleries in the area. Oh, btw, Andy Warhol also produced at least one of Velvet Undergrounds albums. Now thats one cool banana pop icon! Become a member of the AIC and explore the diverse artistic visions throughout history ;>

Art, Nature & Soul #24

Blue has always been my favorite color. Those of a more color sensitive nature, will appreciate the tonal nature of this piece and the line I’m playing between abstract & representational art.

We went out to Cape Cod, back in 2014, it had been over a decade since I had been to the ocean. Where the vast sea and sky meet, has left a lasting impression on me. I have painted both abstract and representational artworks for over a quarter century now. Typically they have been seperate entities, with an ocassional mixing of the two on the same canvas. In an effort to unify my body of work, I began trying to break down representational ideas into they’re more abstract forms, with the intention of leaving some of those representational things intact, on the canvas.

Having studied some of my most favorite artists, both living and dead, approaches to achieving they’re goals in their artworks, I set forth to create my own trademark look. The thought being , not to do what they do, but to discover what makes/made their work successful, make my work better and perhaps apply it to my own. The list of artist is to long to state here, but you may be surprised at who they are, so ask me sometime, I’m glad to share and promote them. Myself having mostly experimented and having very little formal training, found this to be a revelation of process’s.

Here is one of the early results of a more tonal concept & approach. A variety of blue and white paints, a multitude of painting tools, a complimentary color toned canvas and the inspiration that the sea & sky provided, along with the words of one of my favorite American thinkers.

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

As always, feel free to ask question or comment,

~Richard R. Sperry

Blue Haze' 24"x24" oil on canvas in private collection

Art, Nature & Soul #2

A most unsual piece for me to do, but inspiration just happens and I went with it. We had just arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on the fringe of Cape Cod. I've been on a mission to learn about the plight of the endangered species of whales, especially those along the eastern coast of the U.S.A. It seemed to me, a good place to start was the New Bedford Whaling Museum. To uderstand why they are endangered, I wanted to understand what happened to bring this many leviathans of the sea, to the brink of extinction. Upon our arrival and parking, we noticed a church. It looked familar and turned out to be Seaman's Bethel. The same church that appears in 1956 film, 'Moby Dick', where Orson Welles gives his most famous surmon on the Jonah and the Whale. On to the museum, which was an indepth, and not just a study of whaleing but, the nature of whales. It turned out New Bedford Whaling was the largest industry at the time and was lighting the world, at a great cost, the near obliteration of several species of whale. Thankfully the discovery of our ability to harness electric and edison's light bulb, put an abrupt end to the whaleing industry, just in time.  This turned out to be one of the most fascinating museums I'd ever been to. Standing outside on the balcony of the museum, I beheld this panoramic view of the town and Buzzards Bay. It brought me back to another time, another place, with great awe and wonderment. 

 'Buzzards Bay', 24"x20", oil on canvas.