New Artwork: Empire State of Mind

You know I love the Bay, and will represent for the Town ’til the day of my demise.  But I have left NorCal for my new love: New York.  I always say that places are like men; like my lovers.  Oakland is my round-the-way dude/thug, Berkeley is my hippie/health nut, Miami is my Latin lover, Jamaica is my Rastaman, and Seattle is my nerd/computer geek.   New York?  New York is my crazy ass artist/musician/multiple personality-having, smoking, drinking, drug abuser.  And even though he’s moody and I’m constantly being subjected to second-hand smoke from his cigarettes, I still love him.

When I arrived in NJ, and caught a glimpse of him from afar, my heart started palpitating and I got weak in the knees. I didn’t show it, but that’s how I felt.  I stood there, at the Hudson, and asked him to take it easy on me.  ”Look, I know you have a reputation for chewing outsiders up and spittin’ em out, but, me?  I’m not the one!  Even if you are San Francisco’s grand-daddy, I don’t care!  I ain’t never scared!”  (Not that I hadn’t been here before.  But I’d never been to New Jersey, or seen the view from Edgewater.  It’s breathtaking.)

I would stay for a long time; I’ve acclimated to the cold for the most part, and learned my way around New Jersey, which I actually really like.  I love the area I’ve been living in, and Penn Station is only 3 stops away on the train.  But all good things must come to an end.  Looks like I gotta go back to MIA and take care of my niece.

Anyway, I just sketched this little piece up in my spare time.  It’s a beautiful lady in a dressed I designed, that was inspired by New York in the 50′s and the fashion and music scene at the time.  Nothing spectacular.  I listen to Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis and transport myself back to the time when people were so damn classy. The funny thing is, that after I started drawing this, my sister brought me a book called “Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class,” (by Lawrence Otis Graham) and they have all these photos of beautiful black people (mostly light skinned, though) at cotillions and debutante balls.  So I’m gonna do a backdrop that fits in with that theme, as it relates to New York.  There are old photos online from Time or Life magazine of a debutante ball in Harlem in the 50′s you should check out.  The costumes??  Pure perfection…

12/19

I changed the idea a bit.  Found a photo from the original West Side Story broadway show, and thought that’s where she should be.   Im gonna draw a ’57 Thunderbird behind her.  Or maybe a taxi – I’m not sure yet.

p.s.  Her head looks too big for her body, I think.  I don’t know, I started free-handing once I finished the face, which has morphed into another face that looks nothing like Bami’s anymore.  :P

New Painting for Tibet/Rants

So, I’m going to do that Tibetan Gothic painting I described in a previous post later.  For the Choice: HIV/AIDS Initiative silent auction on September 4, 2010, I’m gonna do something a little less time-consuming.  This is one of my #1 soul-bruthas, J.D., with the Tibetan flag behind him.

8/20

This is just the beginning.  I still have to fix the eyes, cuz they’re looking kinda cock-eyed… and do the eyebrows and lips and some darker shading.  I’ll probably get that done later today.

8/21

This is like the second layer… and I still have more detail to do on the eyelids, the ears, and the hair…

8/25

I still have to fix his hair, his shirt, and the straighten the lines, and paint some sun rays on the flag behind him.  I don’t know if I’m gonna keep the button-up shirt on him or chupa… I’ll figure it out today.

9/2

Almost done…

9/4

Today is the day of the auction, and the painting still has some wet spots, but it is dry enough to travel to 1st Congregational Church on Harrison where the event is taking place.  Wish I had a little more time to make things perfect, but you can’t cry over spilled milk.  Hopefully it raises a little money for TANC and Choice: HIV/AIDS Initiative…

I know my non-Tibetan friends and family always hear me talking about, Tibet this, and Tibet that, but do you really understand what’s going on over there??  Basically, the same thing that was done to the Native people of America, the cultural genocide, is taking place in Tibet.

This is nothing new… it’s been going on since 1959, when the Chinese government took over.  Tibet is not a really small place, but it’s like a little mouse compared to China and it’s dragon-sized military.  I guess all the conflict only boils down to one thing – MONEY.  Tibet is a land rich in natural resources and culture, and the Chinese government claims that it is, and always has been, a part of China.  Therefore they’re entitled to anything that Tibet has to offer, including the various places of worship and historical landmarks that draw in a lot of tourism.  (Which doesn’t make much sense, since the Chinese government is so anti-religious.  I saw somewhere that you have to be an Athiest in order to work for the government.)  The fact is, that Tibet IS NOT part of China, and the written history proves that.  Tibetans ARE NOT Chinese - they don’t speak Chinese, nor do they look Chinese.  And their way of life is unlike any other I’ve ever seen.

The sad part is that the Tibetan people’s culture is dying out.  There is an influx of Chinese people in Tibet, and the number of original inhabitants continues to get smaller.  They may soon become the minority in their own land, a land where they are discriminated against if they speak their own language instead of Mandarin, and a place that they STILL do not have the religious freedom to worship the Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader.  You can be imprisoned if you openly support the Dalai Lama, or even keep a picture of him.

Anyway, it’s all about greed and the acquisition of wealth at the expense of someone else.  And it’s not right!  America really has no room to speak on it, because we do the same thing.  It’s everywhere.  For some reason, it’s really hard for humans to fight against a greedy spirit, and they will do whatever it takes to get what they want.  They are able to ignore that they are hurting someone else, because they are only looking straight ahead… got a one-track mind on the dollar sign.

Politically, America can’t get involved, because it would interfere with their own interests.  We owe billions(?) of dollars to China, and it would be really stupid to get on their bad side.  Plus, what can we say?  America is probably the greediest nation of all, and we have a long-standing history of abusing people in order to make money.  That’s why sometimes money makes me sick.  If we have enough to eat and our living conditions are comfortable, then why do we need more??  Why can’t we take some of the excess and share it with those who have NOTHING TO EAT!  There are people starving right now!  Damn.  (I know I’m talking a big game right now, but I’m not helping any of those hungry people.  If I were rich, I would, though.  I really would.)

Side Note:  I had also stated previously that I didn’t want any enemies, and that maybe things could be solved peaceably and yadah, yadah, yadah… But enough is enough.  50 years is enough.  I don’t like to be offensive, but I want to be the type of person who isn’t afraid to speak the truth.  Sorry, China.  I love you, but the false imprisonment, and the executions and torturing and brain-washing…  It is NOT the way to do it.  If the government doesn’t condone these things (torture, etc.), then can you please look further into the behavior of the officials in the cities and provinces, or individuals in the military/police, who may not not be handling the situation properly?

Police notice, Tibet, 1993

Shit, maybe I need to be taking the time out to ask the same thing to Mr. Obama and Schwartznegger and Ron Dellums.  Can you guys check your police officers and tell them to stop shooting kids?  This world is a mess.

As far as that situation in NY is concerned, about the Ground Zero mosque/cultural complex thing… I can’t believe the ignorance that still exists… We have to look at things with a purer heart and mind.  The fact is that there are Muslims who died in 9/11, there are Muslims that are “on the frontlines,” fighting for America (even though I don’t support that war).  The people who are equating Muslims with terrorists really need to expand their minds, watch some documentaries, and meet some people.  Islam is the world’s largest religion, so you will find a plethora of personality types within that group.  There are extremists in every religion.  Christians have done some f*cked up stuff, too.  Are you going to stop letting them build churches because some Christian killed a bunch of innocent people?  THINK ABOUT IT!

#RIDICULOUS

New Artwork.

This piece was kinda inspired by a film I just saw w/my Mama.  The movie I speak of is New York (Hindi), and stars Katrina Kaif and John Abraham.  If you live in the Bay Area you can watch it at Naz 8 Cinemas in Fremont.  http://www.naz8.com

This film is about a guy who is detained and coersed into becoming an informant after 9/11 because he had a friend in college who the FBI accused of being a terrorist.  At the end of the movie they shared some statistics, stating that over a thousand people were taken into custody and basically tortured, right here in the U.S.  And only about 200(?) people were found guilty.

The movie really hit home, because although I was born here and I’m proud of where I’m from, “Mera dil hai Hindustani.”  Meaning, my heart is Indian.  Well, my heart is actually International, Intergalactical… All of that.  I don’t know, maybe I was Indian in a past life.  But I love India and I love my Indian people.  And it hurts me to see people who have nothing to do with all that madness be wrongly accused and harrassed.  Some people even lost their lives over this.

There are so many Muslim people who would never even hurt a fly.  I hope we can kill this ignorance that has been fed to us.  I also think we need to be schooled on different world religions.  People need to be taught about the many different religions that exist in India alone.  It is really ridiculous that men wearing turbans were preyed upon, being that they were probably Sikh, and Sikhism is to Islam what Buddhism is to Christianity…

Anyway, the guys who suffered this abuse ended up with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, severe Depression and all kinds of other problems.  And all I can say is we’ve got work to do.  I hope that everyone, the victims and the culprits, can grow and leave their past behind them.  And we’ve got to try to live without inflicting pain on others.  Life is so much better if you treat people (and animals) right!  Plus, you’re accumulating more good Karma.  Think about it…

So this piece is for those who have dedicated their lives to ending the suffering of all beings and finding out what it all is really about.  I found this picture of a Sadhu, or Holy Man, in a book and I just started drawing.  The music is my fuel, and it pushes me to create.  I don’t think I need to tell you what I’m listening to because you should already know.

Check it:

“If you see the future

Ask it if I’m there

Ask Him if I’m there

Ask it to tell you

If I ever made a stand

Ask if you may care to mention

Did I learn from everything?

And even if it takes a sea of eternity to know

I’ll wait a century

A buried mess of bones…

KABOOOM! *Lightning Strikes*

I tried to weave those lyrics into the pencil strokes.  Now I’m trying to figure out what to put in the white space and how to send a message that is understood by all viewers.  Gimme a minute or 2,000…

Yes, I once again bit some great Lama’s style with a cloud I saw on a Padmapani thangka.  It may look like another pretty, girly piece of work but that’s not what I want this one to be about.  So stay tuned…

…hmmmm.  now i just have to fill in the white spaces…