Painting Triage And More

 

Detail of 30” x 24” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R. Redmond

 

Hi Cousins All Far And Wide,

Hope you are well.

I took some snaps of the paintings I am still working on and I’m sharing them with you.

 

The above detail shot is an image of one of the three paintings I have worked on this past week.  Yesterday I posted photos of one that is completed.  I am still enjoying my discovery that the photos in the album can be viewed as a full screen slide show.  If you have not viewed yesterday’s posting go back to it and view the surreal images as a slide show. It’s very cool.

 

Click on any image to view it enlarged. If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay. I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces). You can find me on Facebook, Myspace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7).

 

I do not think that my first postings on this blog had the capacity for a slide show.  Recently I switched to Windows Live for creating and posting the blog.  I has a little more capacity than the basic Blogger software. 

 

Uncompleted 30” x 24” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R. Redmond

 

Above is a shot of the painting, still in process, as it rests on the floor of my urban cave.  This morning I was applying a little more Payne's grey to the tree line on the right side of the painting.  The plastic spray bottle sits on the canvas as a weight.  It was helping me control the flow of the paint I applied.

Here is an instant photo view of a portion of this painting which I am still working on.  Most of the work is done.  I am putting a few touches to the deep blue tree line as noted above.

 

I consider this painting the calm one in the series.

 

The following picture

contains images of

artistic mud pie.  Viewer

discretion is advised.

{;~DD

 

 

The above  painting on the left is still on life support but there are glimmers of hope.  It is still considered in serious but stable condition.  An updated photo is not available at the request of next of kin.

 

Ciao,

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mud Pie Paintings On The Floor, Leo da Vinci and Such Things . . .

Hi All,

I bet even Leonardo da Vinci had days when he made Mona Lisa mud pie. Here is mine above.

Not all of those canvases that I put undercoating on last week (see previous posting) have turned out satisfactory to my taste. Ah well. The colour was getting too muddy…and in the end the one above just seemed too . . . {:~DDD

Click on any image to view it enlarged. If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay. I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces). You can find me on Facebook, Myspace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7).

The under painting did indicate that the paintings would be surreal and perhaps tricky to pull off.

????

??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Well maybe it was the weather . . . Good news is that two of the three appear to be fine in the end. One of the three is done. A second is drying now. The third canvas is on life support in serious condition.

Below are images of the ‘done’ one; 30” x 24” x 1/2” acrylic.

The painting above is rather surreal. It is a relative of the large double panel painting I shared with you not long ago but has a transformation journey feel about it. There is a poor little newly hatched chicken foetus reptilian like creature at the bottom centre crawling slowly along in some watery nether world dimension. It seems that a humanoid shape is coming out of it and all the other dream images burst out of that. To me the humanoid shape also looks like dark sun glasses so perhaps the painting is a self portrait (I tend to wear aviators a lot)…{:~DDD

30” x 24” x 1/2 abstract acrylic painting by John R. Redmond

The images in this painting seem dream like as if the being of this painting is on a transformation journey. Note the ‘Woodstock’ figure in the bottom right of the detail image immediately above. Everything is coming out in these paintings…dreams…Native art studies…Peanuts . . .Good Grief such a psyche! {:~DDD

And who is this?

Definitely a dream world . . . or is this one lying down awake? Notice the red eye . . . probably an insomniac . . .

The ‘sunglasses dude’ . . .

Above is the little chicken reptilian Woodstock creature dreaming all of this as he appears to crawl along through some nether world reality.

And wondering what it is all about . . . observing with a slight grin . . .

To the journey . . .

View Full Album

30” x 24” x 1/2 abstract acrylic painting by John R. Redmond

I think this must be a self portrait painting. The ‘sunglasses’ give it away.

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of peace

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of oneness

I’m a dreamer, a hope believer

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer

(me and grandma redmond)

Walking a long dreamy day

My heart is here to stay

Head in a cloud, feet on the ground

Together bringin’ dream reality ‘round

Ciao from the Daze Worth Living,

Strange Daze Indeed.

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada

More Johnny Warhol & JRR Painting Process PHotOs

Hi EveryBody & EveryOne,

Last evening I played around with a photo of Johnny to create the Johnny Warhol image above…

Today I am going to share some of the process involved with the three paintings I am working on now. The three canvases currently on the floor measure 30” x 24” x 1/2”. I have been applying black and white undercoat to the pre-primed and stretched canvas. It seems that they will be a bit surreal.

These images are NOT what the ‘finished’ painting will look like.

The above photo is the latest stage for one of the three paintings. I am working on them simultaneously – three on the floor.

Click on any image to view it enlarged. If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay. I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces). You can find me on Facebook, Myspace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7).

You may have to pardon today’s photos. At times they can be slightly out of focus. They are my snaps to record the process. I am sharing with you my personal record.

Looking North along the three 30” x 24” x 1/2 “ inch paintings in process.

We shall see where these images are headed when I begin to apply some colour once the undercoating paint dries.

I have been adding splashes and dribbles of black and white paint to the pre-primed canvas. Sometimes the layers are added quickly. I take some time in between to view the result. Occasionally I will add a layer wet on wet. Yesterday I was about to walk out the door of my urban cave when I had the irresistible urge to splash on some paint. I turned around and responded to the calling.

Below is a series of photos showing the sequence of layering for one of the paintings.

I enjoyed the shapes that occurred during my first layer. I was attached to them. I like the rounded forms on this canvas. It took a bit of ceiling and painting staring plus a viewing of Picasso’s Bio to move me on.

I started with black and white on the bottom with the idea that perhaps I would make an interesting abstract landscape image. Things have their own momentum.

And so I find myself at this stage. Perhaps it will still be an abstract surreal landscape . . . we shall see.

The paintings I have highlighted here can be seen at either end of the group photo above. The painting in the middle I have left with fewer layers of undercoating. I like the simple lines and the snake image that developed in the sky appeals to me. Perhaps that painting it is the calm center {:~DD

As I began today’s posting so shall I end by leaving you with a little Johnny Warhol colour created with playful intention by me and a mouse.

Bye 4 Now,

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada

I’m A Dreamer

Detail of 28” x 22” x 1/2’’ abstract acrylic painting on stretched canvas by John R Redmond

Hi EveryOne,

Dreaming, Imagine . . . Eye . . . Vision . . . hmmmmmmmmmm . . . he thought gazing at the ceiling in preparation for painting . . . hmmmmmmmm . . . or perhaps . . . AUMmmmmmm . . .

Dreaming; from the dictionary…I like to use the dictionary.  We use words all the time.  It’s nice to remind oneself of  the meaning and it can be interesting to see their roots.  I do like # 3 in the verb group below.

Further below I share lyrics from a song I wrote titled, “I’m A Dreamer”.

 Dream

1. A series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

2. A daydream; a reverie.

3. A state of abstraction; a trance.

4. A wild fancy or hope.

5. A condition or achievement that is longed for; an aspiration: a dream of owning their own business.

6. One that is exceptionally gratifying, excellent, or beautiful: Our new car runs like a dream.

v. dreamed or dreamt (dr*mt), dream·ing, dreams

v.intr.

1. To experience a dream in sleep: dreamed of meeting an old friend.

2. To daydream.

3. To have a deep aspiration: dreaming of a world at peace.

4. To regard something as feasible or practical: I wouldn't dream of trick skiing on icy slopes.

 

28” x 22” x 1/2’’ abstract acrylic painting  by John R Redmond

 

PERCHANCE TO DREAM

It seems that everything we see around us has been born in a dream.  The human world is our dream manifested; a collective dream reality. Sometimes those dreams are beautiful.  Sometimes those dreams are a nightmare. But it does seem that what we have in our human world or community was envisioned by people.

Could we dream of being  . . . . . . .*

Click on any image to view it enlarged. If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay. I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces). You can find me on Facebook, Myspace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7).

 

 

IMAGINE

Today I was listening to an interview Julian Lennon gave on a beach in the late nineties.  I don’t think he talks about that kind of stuff anymore.  Perhaps he has said all he has to say about his late great dad John Lennon.  Julian was very candid, and compassionate, in that interview…(Below I include that interview which I found posted on Youtube).

John Lennon wrote some marvellous songs.  Imagine is one of them. It is really a classic and stands among the most popular songs ever written.  It’s popularity is worldwide. My friend Bob, a very big man and formerly in the Canadian armed forces, told me Imagine is the tune that comes right after Amazing Grace in it’s capacity to bring a military man to tears.  John Lennon was a flawed human being but we love the dream. We share the dream. And we love the dreamer.

Detail of 28” x 22” x 1/2’’ abstract acrylic painting on stretched canvas by John R Redmond

 

BSP AT DOMINION CHALMERS – IMAGINE THAT

In December 2007 I received an opportunity to sing Imagine.  Big Soul Project is a community choir and band in Ottawa.  I sang the solo for Imagine backed by the choir of 50 and a full band…The concert was offered to a capacity crowd of 1,000 in beautiful Dominion Chalmers United Church in Ottawa -  Too Cool.

While researching the song in the late fall I came upon the website IMAGINE PEACE.  Yoko Ono created the website.  Here is the link http://imaginepeace.com/news/  You can explore the site.  It has a spot where people can share wishes and thoughts.  I wrote that I was going to sing Imagine and that I had just realized that the day on which we were to perform would be the 27th anniversary of John Lennon’s passing.  The performance would be even more meaningful for me.  I clicked and sent the message across the cyber universe with no expectations.  To my surprise, a couple days later Yoko Ono sent me an e-mail thanking me for being the one to sing Imagine on that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View Full Album

28” x 22” x 1/2’’ abstract acrylic painting  by John R Redmond

 

After the concert I wrote a letter to addressed to Yoko Ono and Friends and sent it with a photo and an mp3 file of a recording of our performance of Imagine.  The recording was made with a single mike using a small digital recorder which we had placed in the middle of the hall.  I sent everything in one huge e-mail half expecting it to be returned with a message telling me good luck Charlie sending e-mails that large.  The e-mail went out fast and to my amazement it was all posted on Yoko Ono’s website IMAGINE PEACE, within an hour and a half!  It is still there for all.

Many influences combined to create a magic moment during our performance of Imagine; the anniversary of Lennon’s death, the history of the song, the season, our enthusiasm and feeling for the tune, the beautiful hall…and more.  It was felt as magic by many.  We received a standing ovation.  Our choir director said afterward that in all her performing experience she had never seen an audience give a standing ovation before the first intermission. It was a well shared moment in the Dream.

Here is a link to the page. http://www.imaginepeace.com/BigSoulProject2.html  The sound bar is under the photo and does work!  If you have trouble with the link simply Google search John Redmond Imagine Peace and you should be able to find the page.

I’M A DREAMER

A few months later I was in my apartment playing guitar and singing Imagine.  I was in the mood to write a tune so using many of the chord shapes in Imagine I wrote a tune titled, ‘I’m A Dreamer’.  I have not yet figured out how to post a single mp3 file to this blog so you will have to surf.  If you are my, ‘Friend’ on Facebook you can find it in the ‘My Band’ section.  You could also find me on ReverbNation.  Here is a link.   http://www.reverbnation.com/jredmond  If that does not work search for johnrussellredmond.

The recording is a rough of me playing on guitar and singing.  I made it at home on my computer.

This song reminds me of something Bobby Darin-ish.  Perhaps it is my Johnny meets Bobby and John tune. 

 

I’m A Dreamer  by john russell redmond November 2008

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of peace

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of oneness

I’m a dreamer, a hope believer

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer

 

Walking a long dreamy day

My heart is here to stay

Head in a cloud, feet on the ground

Together bring dream reality ‘round

 

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of peace

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of oneness

I’m a dreamer, a hope believer

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer

 

Our sunlit eye can see

Far beyond you and me

Building a dreamland we live near

Get ready today, now, tomorrow’s here

 

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of peace

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of oneness

I’m a dreamer, a hope believer

I’m a dreamer, a dreamer of love

I’m a dreamer

 

 

 

 

Where your heart is there is your home

Where your dream is there is your reality

 

Here is the interview Julian Lennon gave on a beach in the late nineties.  I don’t think he talks about that kind of stuff anymore.  Perhaps he has said all he has to say about his late great dad John Lennon.  Julian was very candid, and compassionate, in that interview…

 

 

Keep on Dreaming . . . IMAGINE . . .

Yours Truly cRAzY in Deep Dream,

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada