The Window on Masonic

Do people make art, or does art manifest itself through people? Both I suppose but I prefer the later.

Halloween 2009, my teenage boys went off with their friends to do their thing leaving me home alone. Most of my friends were attending the Phish show in southern California.

As the boys left I turned back into the house and a pile of paper that I had salvaged years before caught my eye. The paper is two x three feet in size and is of thick stock. I arranged several pieces to form a 4x4 foot piece and taped them together.

My intention was to draw an image that could be mirrored to create an 8x4 foot image that could be used as a stencil to cut the image from a piece of plywood. I had no certain image in mind as I started to draw several failed attempts.

I should add that when I started all this, I also started to consume shots from a full bottle of tequila.

Then about three shots in, the image poured onto the paper from my pencil in hand as if the image itself was using me to bring itself into this world.

By 3 a.m. the image had presented in 3 layers, each on its own 4x4 piece of paper.

The middle layer would be duplicated to make 4 layers total.

The tequila was now gone yet I didn't feel drunk.

Five days later the unpainted four layer entity stood on my deck. I was amazed by it and I would like to mention that I have never done any art in this medium before.

The side extensions were born next. The painting of it all took the longest.

On Christmas Eve 2009, the almost finished installation was brought to the city from my home and put in place. The Buddha that remains for now in front of the installation was a part of the previous window display and was not intended to stay. Upon first viewing of the installation it was unanimous that the Buddha fit in perfectly. The Buddha has its own story and that will eventually be told in a posting that will be entitled "Just Mike".