Where's the new art?

I have not been posting on this blog as I have been making a lot of Social and Political art which I post regularly on my http://www.SocialPoliticalArt.com blog. To see new work go to that site.

dude the dog

6" x 8" acrylic on wood dog painting

Drab dwelling for whom?

- Home or roam –

Drool or foam –

The porch is better than a dog’s catacomb. -

My apologies to Emily Dickinson
Painting done as a gift for a neighbor

Does Art Change Minds

Now – that is a good question. Does it? And myanswer is found in a great book by Susan Sontag"Regarding the Pain of Others." I will not try andinterpret the book for you. I will not even paraphraseany of it’s meaning. But if you are interested insocial/political art this book really helps youunderstand the usage and meaning of images –in the case of this book - photography.Highly recommended. I do notice I’ve made literaryreferences in the last few blog posts. I’m not surewhat that is all about but you will notice I do liketo use text in my paintings. The painting is 50" x 70" acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.

Portrait of Cornell West

Cornel West Portrait.Painting by John Robertson is 50" x 70"
acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.
Cornel West, a well-known activist is Professor of Religion
and African American Studies at Princeton University

Polar Bear Express to Extinction

"Cha Ching" by John Robertson

9 1/2" x 10 1/4"

wood composition plastic, newspaper, tar

I hadn't thought about it before but Polar Bear meat use to be around $1.99 a pound but now (because of Global Warming) and the disappearance of the bears they go for around $5.99 a pound. It's getting much more expensive to run a dog team on polar bear meat. The Eskimos are only getting about five hundred miles per a polar bear and looking for an alternative food source.

Prisoner on Flag painting by John Robertson

Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl, 23, was captured a few weeks ago by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Bergdahl is from Hailey, a town of about 7,000 people in central Idaho. I have no idea what the type fifty means. It just seemed the right words for the image

"Type Fifty"
50" x 70"
acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.

War Means War

7" x 7" x 4" assemblage by John Robertson
"Pestle and Mortar"

I just don’t get it. War means war and it still goes on. The only difference is that there has been a change of venue and it has been moved to Afghanistan. What changed? Just the neighborhood.

A pestle and mortar is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix substances. (In this case soldiers) The pestle (or in the case of the soldiers holding a pistol) is a heavy stick whose end is used for pounding and grinding, and the mortar is a bowl. The substance (soldiers) is ground between the pestle and the mortar. For those of you who appreciate this kind of stuff – this is called irony.

Living Anywhere Else is Amateur – Living at the Beach is for the Pros

Can you imagine being the tight-lipped CEO, or on the Board of Directors of General Motors? The traders on the New York Stock Exchange are looking at you as if they are watching the fall of Vietnam. When I had, what some people called "a real job" over twenty years ago, the owners wanted me to goose-step like a parading soldier. Salute the "higher margins," and the "return on investment."

But I was out of step. Even then I lived at the beach – and it would call to me. "Don’t go to work today! Come on over! Bring the volleyball! Grab a surfboard!" Don’t forget your towel! I’ve been asked a number of times, "What is it like living at the beach?" My answer is usually a question: "What would your life be if everyday was a day at the beach?" Ask yourself: "would you rather be an accountant in Tupelo, Mississippi or an artist at the beach." I think anybody with any sense would rather be at the beach doing nothing than doing anything, someplace else. It’s freedom here – it’s bondage anywhere else.

At my job I got lucky. They fired me for being belligerent and persistent in my ill manner. I’ve been lucky ever since – I now have an empty bankbook and no shiny three-piece suit in my closet, no lace shoes and certainly no ties. My uniform is flip-flops and a bathing suit. When I exercise, I run barefoot in the sand.

I’m here to tell you: everyday is sunshine –. It’s dancing with Lisa Rinna. It’s cedar-planked salmon with dill hollandaise sauce. It’s life on the edge – both metaphorically and concretely. It’s where the continent ends and life begins. To most people the beach is an idea, a wish, a dream, but living here is real. Living anywhere else is amateur – living at the beach is for the pros.

Full Disclosure - Symbolism in My Art (ART SPEAK)

(This is called Art Speak)

Symbolism in my art range from " no emotional connection’ to better dovetailing the ‘static world’ with irrelevant content." My art represents an outgrowth of the brighter, cheery side of Romanticism mining the mythology of "Hallmark Cards" and the dream imagery of "American Idol" for it's visual language. The symbols I use are the familiar tokens of mainstream icons and are intensely general, public, transparent - and are obvious references to the contemporary.This leads to an uncomplicated and thoughtless art devoid of consideration for any emblems and iconography. And, if not trite exactly, depends on an "affront to originality." As with most of my art, its ineffectiveness tends to be proven by the fact that only a few of my clients continue to purchase (which is too common today) my art for their collections. When asked, "Why do you paint this way?" I answer, "I need two pair of jeans, a new harmonica, and three fresh apples.

"First Street Bridge, Los Angeles

"60" x 72" ink, acrylic on unstretched canvas

Venice is a Myth - Painting by John Robertson

"Venice Sign" 60" x 72" painting is ink and acrylic on unstretched canvas

Venice is a myth. It is part of Los Angeles but to live there, you would never know it. It’s a community with only a hundred and eighty degrees and backs up to the Pacific. And when they say," move west," Venice is about as far as you can go. It takes all kinds to make Venice, from the delusional to the peaceful and enlightened - with the delusional dominating. Which is why the people move here (I say "here" as I live about a third to half my time in Venice).

The original population of Venice was comprised of refugees from Los Angeles. And the legacy of Venice is the artists and the boardwalk. The boardwalk expands the artists are in decline. Nobody makes much fuss over the departure of the artists. With the loss of artists and the low-income families the neighborhoods are changing – new houses, new cars, new people, new expectations. That could be a plus. New money restored the "Venice Sign". The old guard would steal the light bulbs for their own use. The minus is that some homes are still without light.

So where do the old "Venetians" go? Good question. We do not relish the change as we will have to leave soon - and probably will end up adrift off the coast in a dory with a jug of water and a broken oar. But that is much how Venice started.

Lifeguard tower Painting and Woman Meditating on Rock Jetty - Painting by John Robertson

I finished the Temescal Cyn. Life Guard Tower painting.. It’s just down the beach from my studio. Painting is 45" x 72", ink and acrylic on unstretched canvas.

About a hundred feet from the lifeguard tower is a rock jetty. I saw this woman meditating on the day I photographed the lifeguard tower for the painting. If I turned and pointed my camera behind me - about a hundred yards away you would see the cars on Pacific Coast Highway with their occupants stopped at the Temescal Canyon Rd. light – all on their way to work.

I prefer not to look in that direction. I’m sure in their rush they are off to do something significant. Bertrand Russell said, "One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." Not me - my life is pointless and not too hard. All I do is a little artwork and breath, breath, breath. I guess that is better than sitting around doing nothing.

Painting a Location

This is a painting I did from a hike I took on one of the Palisades Highlands hiking trails that is about 4 1/2 miles from my studio. The photograph below shows the actual location I worked from.

Someone once asked me how I decide on what to paint. The easiest way for me to decide is to walk with my sweetheart (here’s her web site) in the woods. Suddenly something catches my eye. I say to her, "Look at that!" Now, if she says "What is that out there, a dead possum?" I know she is not seeing what I’m seeing. I disregard it as a painting. But if she sees the same thing that I found interesting then I photograph the scene and paint it.

As you can see by the photos I do not accurately represent the actual scene. For me, painting is about the feeling of the object being painted. I try to express my feelings about the location through the color and brushstrokes.

About Obstacles in Making a Living as an Artist

48" x 60" India ink, acrylic, charcoal

I confess, I once thought about making money by painting signs – or going back to graduate school for my MFA. I even considered web-site school. I‘ve been tempted.

I had an opening for a show once – a one-person show – at which twelve people came to the opening reception. That night it poured rain – not only cats and dogs but giraffes and cows – the whole ark. Of the twelve only one person was not family or a friend. Can you imagine. One person! We had sent out over eight hundred invitations and had a short article in the newspaper. Nobody read their mail or newspaper that week and nobody had a boat. We had enough cheese-wiz left over to feed the entire homeless population of Santa Monica. I almost quit painting.

Instead, to achieve some sort of financial success (in the most meager of measurements) I developed my guidelines as an artist.

1. No whining – no complaining.
2. Don’t question the nature of the aesthetic experience.
3. Bite the heads off of chickens
4. Don’t ever be embarrassed or proud about your artwork.
5. Don’t squander time.
6. Wear a cape.

And the final words I live by is: "Kiss every hand and shake every baby" for you never know where opportunity will come from. Why? The one guy who showed up at the opening I had, passed along the invitation to a friend. That friend came in the day before the closing. He was a set decorator and rented twelve paintings and commissioned three paintings for the John Cusack/Minnie Driver movie "Grosse Point Blank".

I’ve lied to you before but this time I am telling you the truth. Trust me. Do it all. It is a trade. You never know.

_____

Quit "Déjà Vuing" Me

" Venice Canal" 47" x 62" acrylic on unstretched and unprimed canvas

One of my favorite movies is from the 60’s named "The Graduate". You may be too young to remember it. In the movie, a recent college graduate (Benjamin Braddock played by Dustin Hoffman) gets seduced by Mrs. Robinson (played by Anne Bancroft) and then falls in love with her daughter Elaine Robinson (played by Katharine Ross).

Ostensibly that is what the movie is about. But what it is really about is stated in a conversation early in the movie between Ben and Ben’s father’s business partner, Mr. Braddock. Benjamin (who has not found work since graduating) is asked if he is worried about his future.

Benjamin: "I don’t know … I want to be…" And Mr. Braddock asks: "To be what?" Benjamin looks at his father who is across the room. Benjamin says:…"Different."

Now, like Benjamin - I do not want to be like anyone else. Not Picasso – or Van Gogh or any other seductive artist. (For they are the, "Ben’s father and Mr. Braddock, and Mrs. Robinson"). I do not want to paint their paintings. I want to paint my own. Paintings’ appeal is making my own mark of paint on the canvas – however it looks.

Painting is a daily challenge. I crawl out of bed in the morning, and with brushes in hand, drag my old body outside. (I paint outside because I have poisoned myself three times with the fumes from my paints). And with a few "Hail Mary’s" in my petition for "grace" (because I can’t do it any other way) I try to paint something – anything – including the fence – with a certain quality that I cannot define. (By the way those "Hail Mary’s" are also used as a prayer in desperation, especially as I am near completion of a painting). (Another aside – Benjamin, in the final scenes of "The Graduate", is in a church throwing a few "Hail Mary’s himself)

I do not particularly care if I paint a person, a landscape or a dog - as much as how I paint it. But when I’m painting - over my shoulder, with a cup of coffee, a donut and wearing turtle necks is Picasso and Van Gogh and Warhol and a thousand ghosts saying "Idiot! Not like that! That’s crap." (It’s Ben’s father and Mr. Braddock and Mrs. Robinson "déjà vuing" me)

You’d think the bedevilers would have something else better to do instead of tormenting my conscience by saying things like "you need a little more on the left" or "you need some red." Red? I don’t need red. Red is needed for painting firemen and I’m not painting firemen. But I will tell you what I do need, I need those specters in my brain to – "shut the f*** up - and let me paint in peace!"

Now, how does one do that. That is the question. Because it is not like the movie’s ending where Benjamin gets the girl. Painting everyday with the ghosts is like what Yogi Berra, the great baseball player, said, "It’s déjà vu all over again."

Pin a Note on Your Web Site

A few years ago, on the doorstep of my website, I left a note with an address of my blog pinned on it. Prior to that I really didn't understand the importance of a blog.

You know, the number of cats and dogs in the United States is over 90 million and there is well over 150 million blogs. That means there is twice as many blogs as there is cats and dogs - and I didn't have one - a blog, I mean, not a cat or dog. My dog walker had a blog, my cat had a blog - but me, I didn't have one.

What did I have against a blog? Nothing. I just didn't have a clue. You would think that, as an artist, I'd understand the whole idea of changing my art content regularly. Art is not something you hide or store on your own or the back pages of a community art website. It has to be changed, updated and seen.

I can have an art opening at the neighborhood gallery and if I'm lucky a hundred of my closest and most intimate friends will show up - mainly to eat cheese balls and drink "Two Buck Chuck"... and maybe a few of the local homeless will wander in for some baloney slices. Heck! As a starving artist I'd live off the leftover cheese and crackers for a week. But after the art show nobody sees the work - unless an occasional lost couple drops by for directions to the nearest tattoo parlor.

You could put on a Thomas Kinkade, the "Painter of Light," art opening and a thousand screaming, treacle seeking collectors would show up. Yes - I am jealous. I want that many eyeballs. But how was I going to get the "looks?"

People used to make a case that an artist needed a web site. It was exclusive - elite and cultivated - a champagne site with all kinds of flashy stuff to distract the viewer from how the art really looked. Artists had their art zoom in and fade out - twirl like a spinning belly dancer right before your very eyes. And most of the time you were only dazzled by the technology.

For me web sites are now old school. I'd be out of step with only a web site. They are worth preserving if you like wax museums. I'm not into historic artifacts. My blog has been such a better alternative First: I can have a blog, for a year, at the cost of a good cup of coffee. Second: Building and maintaining a web site is a painful, time consuming process - like assembling and maintaining a ... - well, for me, there really isn't anything much harder than maintaining a web site. My blog is easier to build and maintain than Lincoln Logs. Third: It is interactive - I like the easy access to "post" and "comment" - but some of the those "attic living" commenter's do get on my nerves. Fourth: Google Loves Blogs! And best of all - I get more looks than a pack of "Jellied Eyeballs" candy.

Dude" Golden Retriever
450" x 70"
acrylic on unastretched canvas

sailboats

8 1/4" x 16" acrylic on cardboard (sold)
Because the painting was done on cardboard the client asked if it would last
a long time. I told them "it os cardboard"

northern california lighthouse

5" x 7" oil on copper (sold)
Painting is 10% inspiration and 90% desperation.

Nobody asked me but –

Here is a list of answers to questions about "Art" that nobody asked me about.

1. How come there are not any really good dog paintings?
2. The only artist (male or female) that looks good with their hair pulled back is Salma Hayek as Frida.
3. Painting is always a good excuse for having a beer in the middle of the day.
4. Any artist using red in a painting should be painting bullfighters.
5. I do not like creamy gallery owners.
6. I think any artist who paints twenty paintings in the same subject in the same colors and/or size is faking it – period.
7. When I see an artist wearing painting clothes to an art opening I figure they are posing.
8. Three times is two too many times to have poisoned myself with the toxic fumes from painting.
9. I think Lucian Freud’s paintings look absolutely fabulous in photographs but not too good in person – except for the queen’s painting.
10. I never met an artist who didn’t think he deserved a show.
11. I think that artists using feces in their work should resign from the human race.
12. I was told twenty years ago that if I’d paint the same subject fifty times I am bound to paint one good one. Good advice – and -that is about my percentage.
13. Every time I need inspiration I visit the Lamp Art Project. - see: http://www.lampartproject.org/
14. If you told me twenty years ago I’d be an artist I would have thought you were speaking about my wind chimes.

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12" x 22" wood, children blocks and baby shoes Outsider Art
If you like this piece you are in a select group of
mixed-up people.

grazing cow

13" x15" overall size with painted frame - acrylic on foamboard

The older I get the more I paint like the way a cow grazes

Sunsets at my Studio

This is a 30 second video of twenty-six sunsets from my art studio windows. These were taken over the last six weeks. I missid some days as I am not always at my place at sunset. The view is facing northwest looking over Will Rodgers State Beach which is just across the highway from my place. I always wonder how often people have the opportunity to see a good sunset. They are such a part of my life and I do not take them for granted. Hence photographing them most evenings.

“I Spy Jesus” Assemblage

The Jesus assemblage by John Robertson is 12" x 24" x 2 ¾"

wood, plastic, paper, paint

My grandchildren love these assemblages that I do with the children’s toys.

They like to find the different characters that are imbedded in the

black paint. In this case there is a Jesus (along with Cat Woman and others)

somewhere in the piece.

Unfinished Work

This is what the black finished pieces look

like before I put the actual finish on the piece.

The animals have been embedded in a foam

like substance. ( I use a variety of material

to embed the figures and have experimented with

Tar, Paper, glue, cement - all kinds of things)

Duck! duck.

7" high x 12" long x 5" deep wood duck, plastic revolver
Outsider Art, Political Art
Art is about doing something. Anything. You make
your own things.

crows in the field

6" x 12" oil on wood
To paint exactly like you want to without trying
to please someone else is actually hard to do -
unless you become a schizoid or have a drug problem.

school daze

13 1/2" high x 18" wide x 4 1/4" deep
School desktop, wood pencil, dollar bill
Outsider Art, Political Art
But what does it mean? That's your job.
I only make the stuff.

dalmatian dog

5" x 7" oil on canvas dog painting
Dogs love my paintings - with gravy

German Shepherd Dog Painting on a Map of Germany

The German Shepherd originated in Germany so it seemed appropriate to paint the dog on a map of Germany. The dog is covering part of Germany on the map. In the upper right corner is the words "Germany" And also the words Germany is below the portrait and running across the front of the map.

This hand painted (not a print) original art painting by John Robertson of the German Shepherd is 11" x 14 ½" acrylic on a map page of Germany. The paper is torn from an old Oxford Atlas of the World. The paper is high quality with a slight sheen. One side has rough edges from where it was torn from the atlas

Tar Assemblage Art - Beach Junk

My studio is right across the street from the beach.

Most days I take a run in the late morning and

sometimes stop to collect stuff from the beach for

assemblages. I try and take the stuff from the same

small section of the beach (about 50 yards). It is

interesting to see what floats or gets washed up

each day. I don’t collect every day but I do observe

the same stretch of sand. So this Tar Assemblage

art is a small sampling of junk washed up a couple

of days ago. After awhile one sees the same sort

of stuff reoccurring – lighters, bottle caps, plastic

cups – bottles – broken foam cups, etc. A real

mess on any given day and a real testimony to the

care so many give to the beach environment

Tar Pits Crab

As some of you know my studio is just across

the street from the beach. I pick up stuff in the

mornings and sometimes turn it into a piece.

There were a lot of shells, some with tar on them.

Assemblage art by John Robertson is 7 1/2" x 9"

Oil might have been a good for us at one time but

we’ve been using too much of it for too long. For

those that don’t get the fact that global warming

is a problem – I just don’t understand what is on

their mind – which, I guess is an overstatement

Emmitt Smith of Dallas Cowboys Painting

This Emmitt Smith sports football painting

by John Robertson was done for a presentation.

The artwork is approximately 50" x 70"

acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.

March 2009 news-wire service story about ARTIST STIMULUS PACKAGE from NEA (The National Endowment for the Arts)

Art investments are dropping, as patrons hold out hope that Washington will restore confidence in the art market by relieving artists of their poor quality artwork. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) acting chairman Patrice Powell said she wanted to make it "compelling" for artists to cleanse their studios of 'toxic' art and would quickly make arrangements for purchasing and destroying their inferior work.

Powell, who has faced criticism for not spelling out details of a proposed public-private fund for buying rotten art from artists, promised action within weeks and said she was moving deliberately to maximize the destruction of art.

Well known artist Thomas Kinkade comments, in a television interview, "were a huge help," said Carrie Holbo, Development Officer for the NEA in Washington. Kinkade said, " I would be the first to destroy my "toxic "art" -which would lead to the destruction of over nine thousand pieces of his (or his crew’s) original work. "There is still so much uncertainty," he said, "as to what I will do to with the fifty-eight thousand embellished pieces."

Patrice Powell added art galleries to the "conviction destroy" list emphasizing the need to get rid of those "noxious" holdings. She said that people should continue to look to Washington for guidance as to what the rules are going to be; "but about ninety-five percent of the galleries and about eighty percent of artist’s artwork should be destroyed. There's still so much uncertainty but adding clarity to the market and taking these actions, we can find some sort of bottom."

Opening Jose Drudis-Biada Gallery

Me standing on my painting at the opening

Jose Drudis-Biada Gallery

Mount St. Mary's College

Insight/Inside LA

(Quote from the catalog)

"The present exhibition is a visual history of Los Angeles art over the last thirty-five years seen through the prisim of the artists who have shown in this gallery since its inception. The immense undertaking of creating this living archive aims, on the one hand, to celebrate artist' creativity and on the other, to acknowledge the expra ordinary contributions of this universuty gallery to the arts in Los Angeles and Southern California. This show and related events were coordinated in partnership with the newly opened gallery at CSUCI to take place during the annual College Art Association Confrence, held this year in Los Angeles."

Portrait of Man - Painting by John Robertson

Portrait of Man
approximately 45" x 60" acrylic/latex
on unstretched canvas
Yes I do commissions. See pricing
Policy in the right column

Roberto Clemente Portrait by John Robertson

50" x 70" acrylic/latex
on unstretched canvas

The great baseball player Roberto Clemente won 12 Gold Glove Awards for his outstanding defense (a record among outfielders, which he shares with fellow legend Willie Mays) To see the paintings of Willie Mays that I did for Fox Sports and the All Star Game Interview in the 2007 season, click on link (Here is the link to this page on my blog) It was used in an interview with Derik Jeter and Ken Griffey, Jr. during the pre-game show for the 2007 All-star game. A link to the interview with Willie Mays is on that blog page.

pug bulldog mix

6" x 8" oil on canvas dog painting
Although I have painted hundreds of portraits of humans,
I prefer to paint dogs. They don't tell me there is
something wrong with the nose.

soil of faith

acrylic on canvas

Woman’s face portrait

I saw the woman. I liked her face. I painted it.
The woman’s portrait by John Robertson is approximately
50” x 70” acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.

Portrait of Ian Usher

Painting by John Robertson is 11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper.

This is a portrait of Ian Usher from Australia who stopped by my studio last week during his 100 goals in 100 weeks trip around the world. You may have heard of him as he was featured on Good Morning America and other news media around the world. He’s the one who put his life and all his possessions up for sale on e bay to fund his travels. This is how he describes what he is doing on his web site http://100goals100weeks.blogspot.com/

"Hi there, my name is Ian Usher. I sold my life on eBay! on the 29 th of June 2008.I was left with no ties and one big question:What do I do next? I have had goals and dreams for as long as I can remember, but like everyone else,I have found that living often gets in the way, and goals get put aside for too long!It's time to start ticking off some goals.It's time to challenge myself! It's time to achieve 100 goals in the next 100 weeks! "

These are some of the things Ian has already done so far:

Snowboard on Dubai indoor ski slope
Tomatina Festival in Spain (tomato throwing in the streets)
See the Grand Canyon in the US
Juggle with fire clubs
Paraglide in France
Big bungee jump in France
Oktoberfest in Germany
Have a hawk land on my hand and eat (in United states)
Niagara Falls Canada
See Mount Rushmore
Christ of the Deep in Italy
Skydive in a wind tunnel
Drive across America on Route 66

Artist John Robertson with Frida Kahlo’s Monkeys

This small painting (4" x 6") of Frida Kahole’s monkeys was painted for Postcards From the Edge benefit hosted by Metro Pictures in New York on January 9 & 10, 2009 Postcards From the Edge is a show and sale of original, postcard-sized artworks on paper supporting Visual AIDS
All artworks (4" x 6" original work on paper) are $75 and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The works are signed on the back and exhibited so that the artists' signatures cannot be seen. While buyers have a list of all participating artists, they don't know who created which piece until it is purchased and the signature is revealed. A collector might end up with a work by a famous artist or one they don't yet know. Either way, they walk away with a great piece of art while supporting the important work of Visual AIDS

Video fo Sunrise at My Studio This Morning

This is what the mronings looks like here at the studio. The best sunrises and sunsets occur just before or after a rainstorm. Anytime there are clouds in the sky I get the dramatic views - which is most days.

Deconstruction Assemblage

Deconstruction of a box

9 1/2" x 13" x 2 1/2"

Beach Sunrise Before a Storm in Front of my Studio

I was up at my normal time and took a look out of my studio window and decided to cross over to the beach for the sunrise before the anticipated rains.

CaCalifornia’s Proposition 8 assemblage art

California’s Proposition 8 that is on the November ballot was the inspiration for this assemblage. If you are not familiar with the issue you can google it and read all about the issue. The assemblage measures 11" x 3 2/4" x 2" wood, plastic, paper.

Mutt Dog Painting

Dog Painting by John Robertson measures

48" x 60" acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.

This was a commission I finished today. The aged

dog's name is Sadie and has some shepherd

in it's blood.

Ben Bernanke Chairman of the Federal Reserve portrait

This painting of Ben Bernanke by John Robertson is 11" x 14 1/2" acrylic paint on paper.

Portrait of Rocky Dawuni by John Robertson

Today’s painting is of Ghanaian reggae musician Rocky Dawuni. I've nown him for about 7 yrs. He has a great face and I have painted him three times.

This portrait is 11" x 14 1/2", acrylic on paper. he paper is a page torn from an old Oxford Atlas of the World.

Rocky's website http://www.rockydawuni.com/

Crab painting

The crab painting on paper is the preliminary

drawing for the other crab painting. The crab on paper

is 11" x 14" acrylic on paper. The other crab

painting is 5 feet by 4 1/2 feet acrylic/latex

on unstretched canvas.

Sometimes, when I am

running on the beach across the road from my studio

I will see crabs on the beach.

Portrait of Larry at Triathlon

Portrait of Larry

11" x 14 1/2" acrylic on paper

My friend Larry participated in the Malibu

triathlon a couple of weeks ago. I photographed

him at the event just before he started the swim.

Larry is in his fifties and this is he second time

competing. He tried to get me to train with him

but I don't even know how to swim. - much less

ride a bike very well.

Photos of Venice Beach

Venice Beach is about four miles down from my beach along the bike path. These shots wee taken around 6:45 AM this morning. What a great way to start off the day before getting into the studio to paint. Some of you know my studio is right across the highway from the beach. I am always amazed at the number of cars, in such a rush,heading into work - When people find out where my studio is they speak of their desire to live close to the beach. When the discuss their hopes and dreams, they pretend it will happen some time in the future. But their lifestyle does not accommodate the change - the dream of living by the beach.

“Thank you Mam” assemblage

(detail)

"Thank you Mam" assemblage
Assemblage by John Robertson is 9 ½" x 7 ½" x 2"
Wood, plastic paper, black shellac

There are some artists who believe that art changes minds – meaning that world’s problems can be resolved through awareness – that someone will actually take action and do something about the problem – if they only know about the problem. So the artist creates awareness through his or her art, and somehow, "wham!" The artist says, "I did my part and now it is your turn to do your part." But what really happens is that the viewer sees the artwork and "bam!" "Oh, artist you have made me "aware." And the artist and viewer goes off happy feeling they have done something because they have felt empathy for the problem. "Thank you mam!"

Two Dads assemblage

This assemblage by John Robertson is 17" x 13" x 2" wood, plastic, metal
This looks like an assemblage, with children’s blocks, plastic soldiers, yo-yo’s and Wizard of Oz toys and everything cleverly disguised in a wood carrying case. Considering the contents it must have some meaning – of which you get to choose.

Drill Baby Drill Assemblage

Assemblage’s by John Robertson is 17" x 7 " x 4"

Kerosene lamp and small toys

I found the lamps at a garage sale over the weekend and had the perfect

objects to put into the lamp's glass chimney.

One has toy soldiers in the chimney

and the other has pre-historic animals in it.

Pepperdine University Flag Memorial

Last weekend we drove up to Malibu to see their annual triathlon that is staged beside the beach. As we passed Pepperdine University we saw these flags that were put out as a memorial for September 11. A flag for each victim. Below is a painting I had done to memorialize September 11. The painting is approximately nine feet by six feet, acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas.

Portrait Experiment on Paper

Portrait 11" x 14" acrylic on paper

I was fooling around today to see how some paper and paint worked together. I normally do not paint portraits in this small scale and prefer to paint in a four feet by six feet scale. The paper was smooth with a slight gloss. The paint did not absorb into the paper but built up on the surface. Instead of letting it build up I think I need to paint without laying color on top of other colors – let some of the paper show through.

Wash Away Your Sins Assemblage

Wash Away Your Sins assemblage by John Robertson
4" x 6 ¾" x 4"
Wood, ceramic, paper, cardboard, plastic

The box of soap has some great text on it.
On one side of the box it says: FOR LIARS, CHEATERS AND WRONG-DOERS – A SINNER’S NECESSITY! On the other side it says TEMPTING "DO-IT-AGAIN" SCENT.

On the back it says:
DIRECTION FOR USE
Open Box, Remove soap
Engage Water Supply
Moisten Oneself
Lather Vigorously
Rinse
Repent

INGREDIENTS: an exotic blend of Somalian Frankincense.

Indonesian Nutmeg & Ginger in 100% vegetable base

.
FOR VULGARITIES: Insert in mouth, scrub, spitout, flush with water

. May be harmful if swallowed.

WARNING: HABITUAL USE MAY STREGTHEN CHARACTER

Soldiers Cross

Soldier Cross assemblage by John Robertson is 10 ½" high by 6 ½" wide by 1" deep metal, glass rubber.
I did this piece after seeing the crosses on the beach at the Santa Monica pier a few days ago. You will see those photographs on this blog if you scroll down a bit. People sometimes ask where inspiration comes from for my pieces. This is a good example on how it works

Los Angeles Triathlon

I went to the Los Angeles Triathlon this last Sunday at Venice beach and took some photographs for possible paintings. I'm not showing those photos but here are some other ones from that day. Above is the start of one of the events.

A lot of the participants were cautious as some big sets of waves came through at different times. As my studio is just off the beach I'm used to swimming in the surf but a lot of these swimmers did not know how to handle the waves.

It is not that the waves are that large it is just most of these participants trained in a pool and did not swim regularily in the ocean

This is just one of the rescues during the event. The lifeguard jet sky is dropping off a women he had rescued from the swim.

Crosses on Santa Monica Beach

I was down at the Santa Monica pier early Sunday morning and had forgotten that these crosses are set up every Sunday as part of an anti-war protest. I remember seeing then a few years ago and it continues to this day. They represent the death of american soldiers fighting in Iraq.

Here is a statement from the web site http://www.arlingtonwestsantamonica.org/ "Every Sunday from sunrise to sunset, a temporary memorial is created on the beaches of Southern California. Located just north of the world famous pier at Santa Monica, California and at the Sterns Wharf in Santa Barbara, the Arlington West Memorial, a project of Veterans For Peace, offers visitors a graceful, visually and emotionally powerful, place for reflection."

Barack Obama Portrait

This Barack Obama Painting is approximately 48" x 60" (4 ft. x 5 ft.) acrylic/latex on unstretched canvas. It had been submitted for an art show in Denver during the Democratic National Convention. The artwork was not accepted - probably for one of two reasons - either they understood the art or they didn't. Either way they didn't select the portrait for showing. There are at least three meanings to the words on the painting - for your interpretation.