"The language spoken by Dakinis is not verbal - it is visual. Even mantras are usually communicated in visual form.

"[T]he language used in such forms of  sadhana  (spiritual practice) is metaphorical - it is as if information is compressed into a sphere with many layers. The true Buddha mandala is not flat - those [mandala] images you see are only a slice of a greater [multi-dimensional] image. The mandala is spherical and could be sliced in an infinite number of ways.

"The dakini language is like this. Let us imagine a dakini in vajra form, crystalline, wearing white brocade robes, in the midst of diamond flowers and roads of pearls. She takes a snowball and throws it at the meditator. When the snowball lands on his or her heart or forehead, it opens up, and within it is a world of knowledge.  The snowball has many layers."

Photo taken in front of collaborator's (Mysti Easterwood)  house at the beginning of what has turned out to be a two-year drought.  

 Alana Keres and I are exploring the lore and iconography of a female buddha who turns up under the rubric of 'vajra-yogini.'  The word 'vajra'  roughly translates to 'lightning' or 'diamond.'    Of course, 'yogini'  would be a woman who performs yoga -- but in this case we might say she  yokes (from the same root as 'yoga') or bridles lightning.  

Although we're not sure just how many turns this project will take, it seems a safe bet there will be at least three.   The first phase encompassed a series of sketches I made at the beginning of 2007 (which AK has threaded into the Helter Skelter slideshow); the second phase  was carried out at Sainte Colombe sur l'Hers, a small village just a few kilometers from Carcassone.  

Most of my time in the Midi-Pyrenees was spent getting to know the lineaments of the vajrayogini image - to understand how it was put together, where the lines of tension built and released in the figure.    Now back in Houston, I've started to loosen out quite a bit, reaching into places where she and her mandala start to fall (or fly) apart.    As I have had a long-standing relationship with the integrity  of the human form, her dismemberment is  a little unnerving - but good. 

We have put together a short slide-show/movie which shows the unfoldment of two paintings I worked on while at the Centre international CAT'Art.   Take a look and let us know what you think!  (If you tap the Comment button, you can write as a 'guest' without having to log-in or create an account.)

AK has a whole riff on the title of the project -- "Meeting the Girl in the Bone Bikini" --  over on the MGBB project blog.    This is also where the first slideshow is idling, though I understand that Alana is in the process of recompiling it to the smaller window for which it was designed. 

(from  Oct. 12)  Had another great day  yesterday.  Worked most of the day until about 10:pm.  Then, walked home along the river on a wonderfully dark night, arrived here and sat by the fire for about an hour or so,  then went to bed.  The Persian miniature show (the one at the Louvre) must have had more effect on me than I previously realized.  Most of the last two days have been spent working on line, very refined line, on both a small and larger scale. 

I've done two or three pretty nice line drawings of the vajrayogini figure. Much more classical and academic than any of the sketches. 

Hopefully today I'll be moving the largest over to a stage where I can loosen it up and begin some real paint flinging.  Meanwhile, with the smallest, I'll continue to develop layers of color and line. 

I met artists yesterday from England, Spain, and France.  Two painters and a photographer.  How wonderful to just work, eat , sleep, walk, and a little pleasant human interaction along the way each day.  I'm in heaven.

We've had a very busy Spring and Summer exhibition season, sending the paintings to nearby and farflung venues; now Green Man is headed abroad to spend a few well-deserved weeks regrouping his creative energy at the Cat'Art residency in the south of France. 

During the summer he also moved his studio to a space almost twice the size of the previous, giving him room to work on five paintings at once!  He has finished one as-yet-untitled, and I am in the process of creating its developmental slideshow, which will be up in a few days. 

We're also collaborating on a project  entitled 'Meeting the Girl in the Bone Bikini."   MGBB has  been underway since late last year, but is in slow-growth mode until this Spring.  More on that in January. 

If you can point out the Green Man in this picture, we'll send you a small,  limited-edition print of "Tigre" (the original is currently on view in Beaumont).  Signed by the artist. 

         The Houston VAA (Visual Arts Alliance) show had   a very touch-and-go feel  from the moment Jerry set out to deliver the paintings last week.   (My bad. )    The artist picked them up from Austin on Friday, and I called on Saturday morning to let him know he had 45 minutes to deliver the artwork to One Allen Center - about 30 miles from his house.  VAA had a 2-hour delivery window, a bit tighter than we were anticipating!   

When the Green Man  arrived,  curator and co. put him to work hauling artwork and lifting partitions, taking advantage of his youth and inexperience.   *8^D...

Having sown the lateness karma, I of course had to reap a little as well:  when I went to pick up a car to drive to Houston (my Metro , when it is seen at all, is generally regarded as a gas-powered hockey puck ) the agency didn't have anything on the lot for another two hours.    So my drive down (into the very teeth of rushhour traffic, no less) began at 3  p.m.     

But something curious happened.   Traffic failed to materialize, I actually understood my map, and --most miraculous of all-- a parking spot opened directly in front of One Allen Center.     I arrived at 5:57 for the 6 p.m. opening.    Jerry pulled up 10 minutes later, but by that time I had managed to find the labyrinthine tunnels that run beneath the Houston skyline.   So I got to practice my best Ariadne impression while upstairs the Minotaur rode the escalators and wondered where Dedalus hid the chess set. 

Meanwhile back at the opening:  There was a surprisingly robust attendance, and the ninety works on display are adroitly arranged in a space that is --one realizes after a minute-- deceptively small.   Yet none of the artwork felt or looked crowded, a fact that I chalk up to curatorial skill, but also the location under a sprawling skylight which opens up the space more actively than you might think it would. 

As the jurors and executives of the VAA called us into a group, Jerry had wandered off to look for Hugh McDonald and Gordon Phillipson.   I half-wondered if he realized there were prizes involved.  As the honorable mentions were announced, I kept thinking: no-no-no-no-no... do *not* say his name.   Most obliging.   Then they announced Third Place, using the title of the painting:  Oracle.  I looked around.  No Jerry.   After a minute he wandered to the front, a bit dazed.   He *didn't* know.   They had to fish him back and hand the envelope to him; standing next to me, I leaned up and muttered, "So, what is it?" "Just a certificate," he whispered back.  "I don't think so..."  He opened it and his mood instantly brightened.    Third Place was more than its own reward. 

  The new Green Man Gallery website has finally hit the 'net!    We hope you enjoy the  modernist flare...  bringing all of the Green Man imagery into this new space was a bit like moving to a Mies van der Rohe after living in a Wright. 

            A few points: 1)  the images shown 'en Vivo' were taken by Colombian photographer Carlos Lozano; 2) when you visit 'en Vitro'  keep your eye on the white door - it will change almost as much as the blog; 3) 'de Novo'  (the news page) will show the condensed news of Jerry's Adventures in  Artopia, but check the Blog for the rest of the story.    

          And feel free to add your own!   This is an open blog, so you can either post under 'comments,' or start your own posting/thread. . . about Jerry's artwork and anything else you care to pin up on the blogwall - other painters, questions regarding process,  waking dreams,  'geofiguration,' etc.

          This Spring J's work will be shown in three Texas venues, from Houston to the Hill Country.   I had a feeling he would get the HCAF show, since the opening falls on the Green Man's birthday.  

           Questions about the paintings?  (The 'en Vitro' pages also have a email link.)