Around the Horn Print

This piece was painted August 2019 during an art festival on Bainbridge Island, WA. I enjoy painting when I'm busy because it takes away some of my ability to think and critique as I work. This piece is one of my absolute favorites of recent months. I've used quite a bit of gold paint which I made myself using natural micah powdered pigment, gum arabic and honey. You can see it dashed here and there and there. I found a little boat appeared in the bottom corner which got me thinking about sailing. So when I finished, "Around the Horn" popped into my head and became the title. This piece just makes me so happy. There are lots of figures and forms, cloths and drapes, winds and clouds in there. - - And here is some info about how I work from my website: Imaginary landscapes and abstractions with watercolor and India ink I create imaginary landscapes and abstractions with watercolor and India ink. In my paintings, everything flows together. Diverse colors, lines and shapes - People, places, plants and things are woven into one harmoniously functional ecosystem. I want to subtly remind viewers that we humans, in all our diversity, are essentially interconnected, and with thoughtfulness, can function together harmoniously as well. How I work... When I start a painting, I turn on some music, sit down with a blank sheet of paper and choose whether to begin with black ink, watercolor paint, or masking tape. I rely on improvisation and a stream of consciousness approach to let my life's experiences bubble up and flow out as shapes and lines, colors and textures. Anything I've seen or experienced through the years may come forward. I let my work flow and I am most happy when the work seems to create itself. Whatever takes shape is OK with me. I relish surprises. After each layer of paint, ink or masking tape, I stand back. I watch. I wait. Sometimes I wait days, weeks, or even years to add another layer. This process of painting and contemplation is always happening in my studio with many different pieces in many stages of completion. Why I paint… After nearly three decades of making and showing paintings, I have recently come to understand my role as that of an Artist/Shaman as elucidated in the work of Joseph Campbell. Briefly, this means to me, that my job is to share my visions of an interconnected, peaceful and beautiful world with others. I have created a life mission to help guide my actions: I create a world of unity and justice by generously sharing my visions of Oneness. My work is an exploration of what Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh has called ‘Interbeing’. “If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either.” - Thich Nhat Hanh. Thanks for having a look! Mike PS - - So here’s an idea I’ve been toying with most of my life… God/dess sends me ideas for my work and I receive and transmute them into art for anyone/everyone to see. I listen for the BIG ideas he/she needs to give to us humans, I receive them on some subconscious or superconscious level and turn them into collections of lines, colors, shapes, things, no-things, etc. I do this as my service to humanity. This is my job as an Artist/Shaman. Maybe you have your own ideas about my work and other work of a similar set of threads… I’m all ears. In Peace and Love for a Dynamic, Interesting and Long Life.