haunted.

well,
i was trying to make a night wooer neighbors.
a block rocking print of a happy nighttime duder,
bringing a bouquet with him on his way to romance-land.
i guess the ephemeral ghosts of really-realness in the
Folk Life & Liberty Fortress had other plans, though.
they 'geisted a geas on my good vibes,
and guided my hands into something different altogether.
yup.
check teleport:

it's all in those eyes, guys.
y'know?
like one squinty squinky one,
and the other and one dreadfully dread-full-
i s'pose i carved 'em in an accidental portrait of my own mirror image;
making those sunken cheeks look more than just a little haunted.
uh huh.
he seems more like he's headed out to place those flowers on a grave,
and looking back at death, calling from out of frame,
and giving a wave to that familiar face.
damn.
i dunno what went off in between drawing and carving,
but it did, and this is what we've got.
i made a bunch, and they're drying throughout the house:

yeah.
i'll tell you what, friends-
golden linoleum is not fun to carve.
especially when you've been spoiled by soft cork blocks for years and years.
it's way less forgiving, and way more slippery.
i won't say i hate it,
but i don't love it as much as the cork jauns by a very wide margin.
maybe that's what went awry?
the hard styles of a hard surface created conflict and caution
while i tried not to F* it up, and also not to stab myself in the hands....
i think that's it.
-
overall, i think the image works-
i was hoping it wouldn't be such a bleak one, though.
there are some points that make me happy, anyway.
like the striped shirt.
am i right?
it makes that fella look old-timey,
especially since he's also wearing that straw hat
with the feathery macaroni stuck in it.
why do all my old folksy men smoke pipes?
...because pipes are flippin' expert.
c'mon.
don't be dumb.
*
i don't think the next one will be so simple,
but there will definitely BE a next one.
art making has to happen,
and it has to happen more often, with more results,
less rarely,
in more mediums,
and it should at least attempt to be well done.
oh, stop it.
there's always room for more.
that's just the thing....
i need to find extra hours to get it going on.
this sort of sh!t takes FOREVER to finish,
and it's a real drag to only have one day off a week
to indulge in all the things i'd rather be doing instead of grinding away
at those movie checks.
ew!
responsible adulthood will ruin you, kids.
one minute you're making art because you like doing it,
the next you're making bad art happen to worse people,
because you have to pay the bills.
damn.
hard styles and haunted eyes are what i'm living.
laying to rest all the other other good parts until next wednesday...
they say art imitates life.
i think i see it,
and it looks just like me;
never quiet, never soft.....