David Howard's Page

Before I go to sleep I like to have a bit of a read in bed. The above book is one I have flicked through more than once over the last 20 years. It's a book that tries " to come to terms with the mosaic of meaning systems which make up modern thinking". I rarely ever read fiction, preferring to flick pages of an art book or poke around theology, science or biographical stuff. I read the Bible most nights, which I have studied quite a bit over most of my life. Currently I am using the ESV (English Standard Version) which is a very recent translation, but retains the feel and accuracy of older English versions but with up to date language.

Recently, I have been drawing in bed - like the following quick layout of another NASA painting. I am up to No. 7 in the NASA preliminary drawings but only starting No. 3 in the paintings.




This is NASA No. 3, which I showed on the previous post in a state of partial undress. At the moment I am colouring in and scratching around, trying to get a feel for the work. I am just starting to like it and am feeling a lot more confident about progressing to it's logical end.

Below is a detail from the work that I call the "Lost in Space" portion, because it is like the opening credits of the sixties program of the same name that I watched as a kid. In the background can be seen the standard, 'David' symbol of a Glasshouse Mountain (Crookneck) signalling potential doom - these little guys have no idea of what's goin' down - sort of a Mr. Jones, thin man sung to a different ballad.

The upside down, party pooper, flower object in one astronauts hand, that is appearing in these paintings is starting to grab my attention - it seems to symbolise much, but very little at the same time - curious.

My son Jonas and daughter in-law Sarah's first home has just begun, being built in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland - lots of rock.


And finally, another bedtime story - below is a book I bought back in 1980 in Brisbane. This is one I have flicked through many times - it's a straight forward analysis of Modern Art and culture. It's a pity that it is an early 70's book as there is so much more to be said about the last 40 years. I might have to hunt down the author who took up the batton after this author as he (Rookmaaker) died in 1977. Here is a quote from Rookmaaker -"Modern art did not just happen. It came as a result of a deep reversal of spiritual values in the Age of Reason, a movement that in the course of a little more than two centuries changed the world." - we are living in the vacuum.

"The world is full of speculation" - so sings Dylan on 'Modern Times'.

So as I venture down another junction in the road - bobbing and weaving like Bunyan's pilgrim on his way - I present some more images of work in progress. Hot from the press and straight from the studio - vain glorious, speculative, naive, fundamentally flawed, wrenched, drawn and quartered and one foot fumbling over another advancing haplessly towards the Celestial City - beware the lions at the door.

These images show another Squarescape painting in progress and the last image shows also the beginning of another NASA painting.

I just bought a few more canvases for my NASA series and last night drew up an idea for the first one - one of the astronauts is sinking in a pond of despair while the other one is attached by an umbilical cord floating upside down in the landscape. Also, the larger non-astronaut figure is turning away from their mayhem in a feigned disinterest. Preliminary work will be posted as time permits.

I have almost finished another Squarescape painting - this one has been built up in a sequence of drips that have been then blasted with an atomiser gun. A few days ago I started to use a brush to carve out the landscape inspired forms - the marks and process remind me of Max Ernst's work. I have taken a few photos in sequence showing the build up of drips, blobs and runs and will post them sometime.

Also, at night I have been writing down and trying to illustrate a kids book based on stories I made up for my kids and nephews - we shall see what comes of that - the stories are easy to concoct and tell but are a different beast when set to paper.

Another idea I have been working on, is small attractive paintings of the Glasshouse Mountains to sell at markets - the trick is to create a repeatable style that is not corny, typical or boring and is not a sell out, but a by-product of the bigger arty stuff.

Besides all that stuff, I have been trying to finish a pile of old drawings - about 30 of them.

I am also dreaming of setting up an online art competition, run by artists for artists and judged by artists. A competition that may not have any prize money and may never be seen in a gallery. 20 to 100 artist will submit their work to an online system of sorts and then the same artists will be the judges of the work. The winners work will then be posted as the main picture for the month and the others work will be displayed below in a smaller format. The prestige will be the glory of being selected by other artists and being top of the pile for a month - maybe comments could also be left, but only by those who entered. Only a photo of the work, your name and email will need to be submitted - all other information like your CV, history, awards, shows, profile etc. will be superfluous and blatantly ignored. This way we can focus on what is important - the art.
One problem - I just need to come up with a online system that is self managing .

The photo at the top of the page is a batch of grubs I dug up from a pile of mulch in my back yard - there were maybe a hundred or so in an area of about 2 sq metres. The largest grubs were about as thick as my thumb and almost 75mm long - the magpies and other birds loved them. Below is a short video of their crawling about......

I just finished the second NASA painting. The first is now titled 'Twister in NASA' and the second one is titled 'Baptism in NASA'. Hopefully they will turn into a series, displayed as a grid of small paintings on a single wall. I have begun to set the work parameters: three primary colours, black and white, three characters in a landscape, loosely painted, astronauts, NASA in the title and a vague storyline. Here's the first two displayed together in my studio.

This is the one I completed this afternoon - it took a bit longer than the first one - the primary colours I chose were more difficult to balance and there were a few composition issues. These works are meant to be seen in a large group and so individual merits can be adjusted a bit, but they still stand as works on their own.


This is another one from the same photo session - my wife can be seen at the far end of the corridor - the painting is a work I did at High School (Grade 11) - it was my first big painting and was hung in the Gold Coast Art Prize and shown on the 6 o'clock news.