Art & Perception

In answer to some real physical issues and intrigued by the visual possibilities, I have been experimenting with plastic as a medium for making chains. Acrylic plastic is tough and I have found that it stands up well to the jostling to which these chains tend to be subjected.

As a matter of aesthetic choice I have tended to make the chain links rectangular and with flat sides – a design that is also easily fabricated.  In some instances I have made chains using opaque plastic in available colors and finishes. But more I have customized clear stock with a number of different results.

The first image shows a simple assemblage of links whose colors and textures are derived from interference paints which I squeeze between clear sheets, which are then pulled apart. Once dry, these sheets are glued to a wooden framework.

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The Tree’s Daughter

Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas

Size:95×63 cm

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61 x 45, oil on birch panel

Do you see sky or water?
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You and Your Perfect Life
(playing time  5:18)
music by David Palmer / words by David Palmer (except *from Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby)

This song was inspired by the Nick Hornby novel Juliet, Naked. The story involves, among other things, an American singer/songwriter named Tucker Crowe, who mysteriously disappeared from the music scene in the late 80s after the release of his legendary breakup album Juliet. Over the years a cult following has developed, and twenty years after his disappearance, a CD labeled Juliet, Naked arrives in England at the home of Duncan, an avid fan and blogger, with a note claiming that this is the guitar and vocal demo Crowe recorded when he first wrote the songs. I won’t tell you what else happens in the book (there are reviews on Amazon), but I found it to be quite a page-turner.

Tucker Crowe is compared by his fans and the media to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Leonard Cohen. The album Juliet is described in great detail in the book, along with a track list, but there are no songs. So I thought it would be fun to go ahead and write some of them. I started with the final track on the album, You and Your Perfect Life, which chronicles the end of his affair with a married San Francisco model and socialite. There are three lines of lyrics for this song in the novel, so I used those as a starting point and wrote the rest of the song around them. My guitar. vocal and harmonica recording is in the spirit of Crowe’s demo. All of the lyrics refer to situations and events in the book.

Water reflections? Has to be Jay.

This creature placidly stood by as I clicked away. I would like to tender these three images of the stately bird in the spirit of comparison, soliciting your judgments of good better and best.

Number One:

Number Two:

Or Number Three:

Title: Peace of Mind
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 101×76 cm

Seeing the mist rolling in from the lake over the big dune,

coming closer, enveloping,

until finally, only feeling surrounded by grey.