.....for many years I had a lot of shame framed around the fact that I went to Vietnam....I was a 19 year old boy in Oklahoma and had been court marshaled from the Navy Reserve for not attending meetings and taking certain liberties with the dress code.....I was certified for the draft and through the Grace of Existence I was magically drafted by mistake into the US Navy at the height of the Vietnam War...I was stationed at Moffett in Mountain View (35 Miles from Haight Ashbury) working in an office for a Patrol Squadron that was deployed to the Phillipines....I was in Vietnam for a total of three weeks.......stoned on some of the best pot that one can imagine.....the draft enabled me to get out of Oklahoma and that mind set and I was lucky to experience the psychedelic scene in the Haight due to my being stationed nearby...Being in and around San Francisco, I learned so much about the diversity of this planet that I was not exposed to in Oklahoma City...but at the same time....I did not have the guts to stand up against the war...I just knew that I did not want to kill another or die in battle...I have always glossed over that period of my life...only illuminating the psychedelic part...so today...on Memorial Day...I am totally out of the closet...I am not at all proud of my time in the service, however, I am no longer ashamed...I just did not know any better...I was culturally and geographicaly challenged...things have changed...I escaped Oklahoma...the World has opened up and I take refuge in an expanded Dharma...beyond War...beyond Religion...in the loving hands of Existence!
Recent Posts
It is Never Too Late to be Early.....
......so here I am . I turned 65 yesterday here in San Francisco. It was a delightful day...Tartine for Breakfast...shopping in San Francisco with my Beloved...Lunch with Richard, Sudheer and his Richard at Catogna where we met Cecilia Chiang...saw the film "Bernie" at the Embarcadero...hung out afterwards in the Noe Valley Apartment...Dinner at Mandalay with a whole crowd...it was great...My old friend Harp was there...he and his Beloved Amy joined us (they live in Toronto) with their friend Nancy Anderman who we originally met on the Street in San Miguel...Anandi was there with her new boyfriend Paul...they met last March...both 78 and lovely...Anandi....wow...we do go back...Richard Bolingbroke was there with his friend Eric Burkett...Richard and Sudheer.....Beloved Pritama and totally beautiful Winifred Montgomery...we had fun....I had not had the Green Tea Leaf Salad in 10 years!....Later we hung out with Harp and Amy and Nancy in Nacy's apartment.......lovely day and night...Celebrating Senior Citizenship....I remember my 30th birthday celebrated way back when on Wooster in Soho........so glad to be alive...Forever Young! Forever Grateful!
Something to Live Up To......
.....I got my passport renewed today. I looked at the expiration date: 21 May 2022. If my book and I make it to that date I will be 74 years old...just this shy of 75. Now that is something to live up to! I embrace that possibility. Every day is a gift...People come and go in one's life...destinations and locations change...rain...snow...sun....fog...it is all part of the living horizon...I love reminders like this!
Out on the Horizon......
.......two new events are brewing and will be seen in the next few months at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...I am amidst some very early stages in planning....stay tuned because it should prove to be VERY interesting. The Opening back in February of this year was a delight...so the key word is: delight....and for all future adventures at the Chapel...just stay tuned....and Be There! I've got my ear down to the ground.....rumblings...
You know...
...I must live in a bubble...I have been tooling around Facebook and the internet tonight reading reactions to Obama's brave proclamation that supports my marriage to Richard Schultz and I am blown away by the major stupidity that can only be described as cancerous displayed by some of these so-called Christians. It is very troubling. I can only shake my head and ultimately find some compassion for these folks who have a very limited and propagandized life experience. So when I see and hear this drivel, I have to turn the metaphoric mirror towards myself and go inside..I love Richard with my heart and soul.....I am a gay man...I did not choose this...it is my doorway to pass through and to embrace...so...dig it...Mr. and Mrs. Christian Right...starting living your so called Golden Rule and quit fucking with the liberty and dignity of those who have different doorways...all these doorways lead to a vast Mystery and Acceptance which is part of a Universe that dwarfs dogma.......Religion is Bondage!
Remember Thyself......
........I needed to hear that....Sometimes I get so far away from center in the land of forgetfulness, ego, judgement and mistrust....and then somehow, through the grace of 'whatever"...I begin that rowing back to the shores of remembering my True Self...even if just for a micro-second...today it was laughter on the telephone with Patrice after two days of weirdness culminating in three different cats vomiting while I am making breakfast for myself and trying to tend to Patzky who is freaked out because of all the fireworks bursting in the sky because today is Juan de Cruz Day in Mexico......ahhhhhhhhhhhh...Home is in the heart with me,,,I can poke fun at myself now...remembering this divinely orchestrated cosmic joke that I swim in.....Gracias por todo!
A Long Time Gone.......
.........it was 30 years ago today that I arrived at the Commune in Oregon known as Rajneeshpuram. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I was picked up in the town of Madras after flying from San Francisco and busing from Portland to Madras. The experience of being there all those years ago and being so deeply entrenched in that experiment has been a beacon in my life. For a long time my life there was a singular beacon...a hallmark...everything was somehow compared to those moments on that Muddy Ranch with Bhagwan and "his people"...as the years have passed there are now more beacons on the horizon line of my life...However, I am forever grateful to have been part of that experiment and at the same time I have moved on. So.... today I am reminded of my arrival in the dusty Ranch yard and the excitement of seeing so many old friends. I am reminded of our unbridled enthusiasm and our love for Bhagwan and our innocence....our devotion...and there is a bittersweet tug in my heart...not a sense of longing...but a sense of remembrance that is imbedded deep in a root governed by Silence and Love and a bit of Sorrow. So....Gracias for this Life.....I felt I needed to mark this day.....
Winding My Way.....
.....home from a short stint in Mexico City with Richard. We took our friends Perry and Doug down here to see them off for their return to California....so it is back to work for Anado. It was busy while they were here...but I spent a lot of time away from the studio...so I need to get to work. Why do I work? That is a tough question because there are many reasons that I could give...but ultimately: there is no answer. If I look beyond the day to day...I see a spiraling...a winding...a return to a familiar place...but still unknown...I once did a piece titled...Return to the Source...I copped the title from a Bhagwan book. When I was in India I worked in the Ashram where all of Bhagwan's books were stored...I sat in a basement (they called it a go-down) and looked for imperfections in the books......my first book that I perused was called "Return to the Source"...so I guess this work enables me to attempt to Return to the Source...Return to the Unknowable...and all the flutterings of sales and tours and galleries and art gossip really means nothing other than the skin shedding from a serpent like quality that winds its way deep into something undefined...but familiar.....
6:04 am .......Typing in the Dark.....
........it has been awhile since I checked into this blog area......it has been a busy time...things have been quite successful at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...we were in Mexico City....then house guests arrived (Perry and Doug) and it has been full tilt with dinners and excursions and studio and Wheels our Beloved Dog Queen has a cancer scare and Bill Weber was down from SF and we showed his film, We Were Here at the Biblioteca and we are going back to Mexico City on Tuesday with Doug, Perry and Carol Wheeler and I have to really get moving in the studio/gallery/home front when I return with Richard and Semana Santa is coming up and Spring is in full blown flower and seeds to plant and beads to string and tiles and mosaics and dots and that kind of stuff.....and this......and that....seeing...being......listening..... and more of this...
A Blend of That Which Never Ends.......
......and that which grows.......yes: This is Life! I came home this afternoon after making some good business with my art and when I got here: the mantle had separated from the wall in our upstairs bedroom.....and well...I do not do well in crisis...luckily Carlos and his brother are here to fix it because I have a big tour coming out tomorrow...so some cosmetic surgery is in order...huge cracks will need to be mended....plus things need to be re-arranged in the Gallery before 10am tomorrow.......this is the hand that I have been dealt....In this photo...I am pointing to what happened......Such is Life.....
Escaping Oklahoma......(The Dust Bowl of the Mind).....
......I was born in Oklahoma where the wind goes whipping down the plain...but I felt there was nothing there that smelled so sweet, other than the wind of opportunity that blew from West to East: the opportunity of movement pointing to get the hell away. I always felt that there had been some kharmic mistake and that I was really from Huntington Beach...but alas...I was Sooner born and Sooner bred...but I knew I would not be Sooner dead. There was something really creepy about the place...embarrassment hung in the air...to this day, I believe it was all the bad press that Okies got when fleeing the Dust Bowl. But quite frankly, the Dust Bowl of the Mind has never vacated Oklahoma. More to the point...it is the vacancy in the minds of many people who inhabit that State...that forced my escape...I was out of there at 19 and have probably been back maybe a dozen times over the years...which brings me to R. Santorum...the Jerk- off of all Jerk-offs...the main enchilada of the 17th Century plate of bile that this man inhabits...and tonight I learned that he won the Republican Vote in Oklahoma...forcing me to write this blog entry....I shake my head...I shake my head...and I bow down to that child in me that knew he had to go elsewhere...and that....I have done...I can observe from time to time from a far off vantage point...I shake my head.....I shake my head......The Dust Bowl of the Mind.......
Following the Groove.....
........that is my only choice. And like Manchas who is seen here drinking from the fountain at the Chapel....I need to refresh myself. SInce the Opening we have had a number of visitors. So my time is spent in the studio and the Gallery...I need to find a way to get this more organized and grown-up/real life...people are interested in seeing what we have done and I really enjoy that fact...and......I also need to work. I have a busy week ahead of me.....work...gallery.....clients.....a Museum tour from a reputable collection in Washington D.C.......so breathing....exhale.....inhale....do my chores...chop the wood (not really)........um uh like carry.....no drink water.....embrace "what is"... 'cuz, darlin' friends........that is all there is....I am fortunate to follow the Groove......
Precious Moments......
.....indicate the possibilities in us all. And somehow when i have the time to uncover the layers...the jewel reflects back into my heart and a bittersweet longing tugs at me and I have to just stop and feel it and know it and know that its just one of those precious moments and I will never own it.... because it cannot be owned...I shake my head in groking this and I am humbled that it has been revealed to me and the key lies in reconciliation and not recognition...yes... a return to the source where my funky contraptions gestate and generate from a gumbo-like lifetime of wonder and wandering.... So if I have learned anything in my Art....I have learned this: Be a joke unto myself and embrace the Beauty Way.....Life is a Trip and a Sniff.....
I Have been Reminded.....
...time and time again of the possibilities and magic that life provides. I have wandered in places without words or definition and witnessed creation that comes from somewhere or better yet.....nowhere. Today...will I marvel? Today...will I roll up my sleeves? Today...will I wander? I have been imploding since the Opening of the gallery...the last few months and weeks have been so intense. I guess it is only logical that the space would open up and I would be drained...but I feel the trickle of remembrance...sparked by the reminder of possibilities and the engine is running.....just need to step on the gas.....and drive...it is time for more surprises!
I See Good People......
.......and it was exciting seeing so many at the Opening of the Gallery. So here is a selection of shots of some of the attendees.....I forgot to thank Klaudia Oliver for her music skills that she brought to the event...and Kevin McKoy and Donnie Masterson and Brigham Goldman for their music input...my "art slaves": lolita, Christie, Anandi, and Robin for all their help preceding the event and especially all of the members of Cartaphilus Teatro...Alma, Luis, Carmen and all the rest...all of you dear friends were of such etherial nature...I loved our collaberation! Here are some more photos:
Pouring Rainbows...Disappearing Splendor.......
....it is hard to believe that the Opening of the Chapel of Jimmy Ray has come and gone and I have not posted anything....well the thing is.......26 hours after the event...an over zealous waiter in a restaurant here in San Miguel spilt red wine on my computer....and alas.......the computer is in the shop....And I am typing on a computer that only opens a third of the way....Despite it all.......we were absolutely blessed and reveled in the magnificent sunshine that glowed and radiated and revealed so much at the Opening...I am still blown away and oftentimes moved to tears by what went down...We busted our asses off everyday from July to February...getting it together....It was so much fun...I am so lucky to be part of this effort and I am forever and eternally grateful for all the help I had. My Dad, James Rayburn McLauchlin Jr., the original Jimmy Ray would be proud of his son... i dedicated the Gallery to that man...so here are some pics that I rescued from Facebook.....I will be posting more as rainbows pour through my heart and moments disappear in the wonder of it all...We are all fortunate to be alive...stay close to yourselves and your friends...let us cherish these moments....Love to all! Thanks to all! Let us continue to celebrate! I am so grateful to beloved Richard, my partner...Carlos my assistant...Carlos' crew...Michael Sudheer, my oldest friend and patron, Patrice Wynne, Kate McKenna and Richard Quick for these great photos...to Spencer Tunick for his continued genius and his Beloved Muse, Krissy.......and all the revelers and attendees.......such a beautiful day!
Uh...Well You Know I Like to Live My Life......
.......I like to live it totally as I move and groove and attempt to feel real good into the 21st Century......yes.......tomorrow is a very big day....all days are big days...however, tomorrow we inaugurate the Chapel of Jimmy Ray. It is an amazing ride...I find myself so very grateful and amazed at the same time. Amazement seems to go with the territory of being alive. We did all of this without plans...just marking things off in the dust and going with hunches. Spencer and his wife Krissy arrived yesterday and he was able to see the metal nichos that will house his photos and he was happy with what Carlos had made....my friends from the States have been miracle girls..... helping to smooth the rough edges and putting up with my impatience. This is a glorious event for Richard and I. I am dedicating the Chapel to my father, Dr.James Rayburn McLauchlin Jr., Daddy would be proud....I am grateful to be his son....barnacles and all. Viva la Vida!!!!!!!
Like.........Totally.......
.......and it is like really close......and I am .....like really overwhelmed.......because .......like.......4 more days and there is so many details and I know we will have a great Opening because of all the good energy that has poured into this project and all the creative juices that have overflowed and drenched us in a really groovy way. I am forever grateful that I have had this folly in my life...love to everyone...I hope that you can make it on Saturday...think and be like a drop of paisley groove dust that wafts in the wind and gathers deep down in your very soul and lights your innards with a glow and bring that glow out to the Chapel of Jimmy Ray and share it with others.....Life truly is a Celebration.......
While Passing Through a Bar.....
......upon leaving a restaurant in the back of said bar...a woman asked me if I wished to be photographed. That got my attention and I stopped to speak with her and the man that she was sitting with. She told me that he was a photographer and they wanted to take my photo for a fashion spread or something like that. They said I would be wearing clothing designed by a Japanese designer and somewhere in the conversation they mentioned that I would be paid. So they came out to the house this am...but not to photograph me...they were looking for locations. I showed them around and we had a nice time and they loved what they saw...so possibly next week...after the designer arrives from Japan, they are going to do a photo shoot out here. The photographer told me that the designer likes to use non-models for his photos,,,,,,so here I am in the waning months of my 64th year and I am going to be a fashion model...or something like that. The Mystery provides all sorts of surprises...and this is one of them...I will keep you posted.......oh........The Chapel opens in almost 2 weeks............UNBELIEVABLE BUT TRUE>>>>>>>>I love life!
On This Day in January......
.....I wish to embrace the undoing of the the doing and bring non doing to my doing in an attempt to dissolve into the doing where nothing is everything and what is........is.......and what ain't......ain't and hopefully remembering nothing and revealing all.....25 more working days till the inauguration of the Chapel.....so much to do....Richard is in the States....all kinds of people want to see the Chapel before it opens....and I need to work...Carlos was working under lights in the dark last night...I am having difficulty sleeping because I am so revved...it goes with the territory.....and so does an angry Lesbian who sent me an email response to the Gallery invitation...she was offended by the nude women in Spencer's photo near the large candle holder crotch of the mosaic Jimmy Ray.....I know that sounds confusing...but it is true...I removed her from my mailing list.....so....we embrace the day....."we" meaning all of us who breath......this is the day...on this day in January........take the chance......Bear Hugs to all!
....and it is January 4th......
........2012 and there are 31 more days till the Opening of the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...this is one big miracle...so forgive me for so few postings lately. I am full on in the studio and of course the work is happening on the Chapel site.......paint, feathers, Buddhas, bottles, beads, chairs, photos, rhinestones, cement, plants, wire, sylicon, bricks, stone, electrics, ventilation, laughter, happiness, worry......and hard work...that is the picture we are painting these days.....yesterday I looked at the site and saw it from a new perspecive......this construction has actually happened and will continue to flourish...I am humbled and amazed.....Gracias por todo......so....February 4, 2012....1pm.....Be There!
Gratitude.....
........in a little bit over a month from now we will inaugurate the Chapel of Jimmy Ray with a Grand Opening. It is a wild ride......I feel content and an immense amount of gratitude percolates from the gumbo of my soul. Richard and I are so lucky and I am particularly lucky to have Richard as a magical touchstone in this life. Carlos Ramirez Galvan has been my right hand through all of this and will continue to be. Yesterday we were all out there with Carlos' crew and his five sons were cleaning the trees and sorting broken bottles for future mosaic work. It was a lovely day in the sun. I type today in wonder at the amount of work that has happened over the years. When people come out on tours they marvel at the depth of output.....but they don't see it all....it is impossible......however, we are bearing our souls and raising a toast to joy....I send Holiday Wishes of Prosperity and Awareness......May we all know our True Nature
Two Months From Now.....
.........if the planet stays on its axis...the Opening at the Gallery at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray will have happened. It is a very intense time as we wind up to the Opening. Having not been a man of lists my entire life...it is now happening....Lists are being made. Casa de Caca is 99.5% finished...the Chapel Building is 95% ready...we need to landscape and make another arch and add some pillars on the roof...not to mention...sealing the roof....so it is going to happen...I promise to make a further update real soon.....like tonight.....so onward we go....
A Full-On Groove.....
.....we are workin' it here at full tilt. The Work Groove is finding its rythmn.....and I am very excited. I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas...what to do? I have hired a graffitti artist by the name of Roberto and he is going to be doing a paint/stencil homage to Guadalupe on one of the walls...he was working last night in the dark and his friend was illuminating the wall with the flashlight from his cell phone (very Mexico)....we are working on the opposite wall of the chapel...making a cut bottle border for the mural that is percolating in my lil' brain right now.....the doors and the railings have arrived for Casa de Caca.....totally cool...oh.....and beyond the beyond....Plus let us not forget the work in the studio and my tendency to procrastinate...I will post pictures in the next post...so stay tuned...we are so grateful to all of you who made the kickstarter thing happen.....miracle of miracles! We are up to here in the groove....and yes.....This is Life!
Been Busy Being......
......so this blog has been quiet for awhile. Over the last month so much has happened... to say the very least. I have raised as of this morning 11,000 dollars on my kickstarter fundraising proposal.....that has been quite spectacular and we will be having the Opening of The Chapel of Jimmy Ray on Feb 4, 2012....so my focus has been on the construction and life in the studio. I have learned a lot from this fundraising project...it has been a humbling experience...I am also learning to move on from some past acquaintances that over the years I had some disturbances...I am not entering into blame...I just realized that you can keep friends in your heart and hold them dearly (their Buddha Nature).....but you don't have to have them physically in your life..... so blessings to them.....this Chapel construction has been miraculous...I invite anyone who may read this to come to our Opening in three months.....I need to get to work...my plate is full.......Love
Finding the rythmn within......
The Chapel Compound: Construction Continues!
Amidst all the stuff that goes on here...I vave been miraculously gifted by friends and strangers to the tune of a good chunk of dinero to continue the construction on the Chapel Compound...all of this through a proposal that I initiated through kickstarter.com. This week the focus has been on Casa de Caca...building the domed roof.....here are some photos.....I am loving this! Stay tuned for lots of really cool surprises!
Carlos and Margarito working away!
Creating the domes wire infrastructure......
Carlos at work.....
This is a good view!
I Forgot the Choreography....
......actually I did not forget.....I barely studied it and time crept up on me and all of a sudden I was on Stage in a three man production and the audience was seated behind me and I was trying to improvise my dancing without knowing what the other two men were doing all the while I was trying to fool the audience into thinking that I knew my part as I danced holding the chorography notations and the only escape was to awaken from this dream and write it down......so I did......whew!
Our Quest for Blue Bottles: Intimate Behind the Scenes Accounts by a Living Artist...
...today we journeyed in our Ford Explorer to Corrolejo to the Tequila Distillery in search of blue bottles to add to the adornment at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray. It is only 1.5 hours from here...an easy drive. We pulled up to the Front Gate of the Distillery which is housed in a former hacienda built during the Modernist Period...it is quite spectacular and reminded us of Barcelona. We were greeted by the General manager and I introduced myself as an artist from San Miguel. He was quite generous and we were given a private tour of the facility by a young man and woman. Later the General Manager...Don Leonardo took us in his Mercedes to the Bottle Factory and he showed us the whole production. We were very impressed and grateful for his generosity...we purchased a huge amount of blue bottles.....the first of many trips....I promise...I felt like I was in some wonderful magic time bubble and the atmosphere was dripping with ideas that I gathered and brought back with me for the continued adornment of our world here at Casa de Las Ranas...Viva Mexico!
Richard at Corralejo Distillary
Window treatment at Corralejo
Below this grating which you walk on is newly distilled Tequila yet to be aged in large casks....it is literally a river of Tequila.....
Bottle Window in the darkness of the large room where the Tequila ages....
Close up of Window....
So Divine!
The Distillery...check out the architecture.....the windows too!
Amongst the Casks!
A mosaic dome.....incrusted with bottle glass....stay tuned......those who have been to our house have seen our domed bedroom.....next?
Don Leanardo...the Big Squeeze of the Whole Operation....
One of many piles of broken blue bottles......
The Bottle Machine...
Molten glass exudes from the top of the machine....
Red hot bottles!
Workers packing our bottles.....
We drove home with 260 Blue Bottles.......we will be back....I am in heaven!
A Lot of People Ask Me.....
......why don't you go to Burning Man?.......They say...for sure you must go to Burning Man...And I just say no...However, I do encourage them to go to Burning Man and live outside their box for a few days. I encourage them to bring that Spirit back with them and incorporate it into their lives. Cuz...see.....ummmmm...like uh....we kinda live out of the box everyday.......and like I lived in a commune in the desert for four years.......I know crowds.....I know dust......I know vistas......I know the Spirit of creating together....and I loved every moment of those years......So Burning Man is a good thing.....I encourage everyone to go who feels the need to....your lives will be enhanced....expansion will occur......I promise....
When I 'm 64....(oh.....I am!)
I remember remarking one night back in 1967 in Mountain View, California after consuming multiple mind/body/soul enhancers that were popular at the time, "I hope I never grow up!" Call it neither a curse nor a blessing......but I am still that same boy with that "up against the wall" attitude...maybe a softer version....but I never became an identifiable member of the "box"....so tonight we are going to a party here in San Miguel that will be coinciding with the Burn up in Black Rock City.....I am dressing very tribal/casual and bringing my "inner boy".....gonna have fun and watch the burning peñata....Viva la Vida!
Workin' It......and Workin' it again.....
...it costs money to build this Chapel. For the last month we have been creating and installing a large mosaic installation in a rather small powder room in a home being done over in Centro Historico here in San Miguel...the lovely couple from Austin who own the home gave me permission to do what I wanted.....so we have given it a complete go....we should be finished in a couple of days and then the Chapel wil be cookin' again. I am waiting to find out from Spencer Tunick who will be part of the Grand Opening which days he is available in early February for the opening...either the 4th or the 11th.....stay tuned.....here are some photos of the bathroom mosaics....
The sky light above....
High above and across from the toilet area....
Looking up and out.....the door.....
straight up from the toilet....
Detail....the owner is a "Birder".....
In the studio.....
I am loving it!.....
The Lights are On.....
...the interior lighting of the chapel has been 99% completed...just need 2 dimmers for the two small rooms. It looks very "grown up"...still working away. Carlos' sons are organizing our huge bottle stash.....so many bottles! A Wall? A Wall of Bottles?....
We Live 5km Down the Road.....
...from San Miguel de Allende. When we first found our property over 10 years ago, the road was of dirt with fathomless craters and nearly impossible to navigate in the rainy season...they paved the road about 6 years ago and now we are 10 minutes from town. Going to town used to be work...now it is a convenience...and a distraction. Over the last 10 years we have taken on so many projects here. Quite magically, somewhere along the line...our house has become somewhat of a tourist destination. Museums have found out about us and we get tours from up North who want to see our folly. Then, of course, there is the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...our gallery. It has been a huge undertaking and soon it will be ready for a formally informal Opening in February of 2012...so what I am getting at is this: the draw of going into town to space out, run errands...movies...lunch...dinner...is time that I need to not waste. Watering the garden today was such a splendid occurance...The water from the hand held hose mingled with the tears of gratitude that I feel because I am blessed to live 5km down the road from San Miguel in Mexico. I have been given the opportunity along with Richard to create a truly beautiful setting for our relationship and our kindred critters...what joy! I think I learned a few things from my years as a gardener...the gratitude is such a reminder of this connection to the olden ways of the Earth's whisper....
It Makes Me Happy....
....to know that there is another Being on this planet to riff in the groove with in an omni-playful angel winged way...to spring through the moment and rest in the comfort of two...to behold trust and juggle time and place and brag with the wind at our backs and define absolutely nothing and not know anything but......this....this precious kernel of nothing at all....
Goin' to the Chapel....
....and we have an official opening date....February 4, 2012. And that is not that far away. I will be sharing the Opening with New York Photographer Spencer Tunick. Spencer is a very gifted artist who photographs large installations of naked folk around the world. He will be showing some photos of individual nudes taken in Mexico City last year...I will be showing with my work (old and new)...So save the date...Come to San Miguel and be a part of the Grand Opening of the Chapel of Jimmy Ray....Gracias
Chapel facade is happening...
Spencer Tunick photographing at our home this morning....
The Opening is near.....stay tuned.....
Bottles Gone Vertical.....
......we are moving along with our February Lifeline (deadline does not apply) for the Opening of the Chapel...Our bottles are now going vertical and the outer facade of the building is going bling-adorn-funka-quadra-groove-bling! Today we are going into town to get the lighting...here are some pics...
View from above...
Jimmy Ray exposed!
Loving this.....
We need to cap the bottles.......with glass drops....
Only one more corner to go......
Richard approves.....his ideas are an integral part of this spontaneous flow.....
I Was Floored...
...by the Work of Javier Cruz and found a connection to "all that is" when witnessing his approach to the Groove.....
I have my own bag...
...and I try to give it a face...
...but I find myself rushing...
...and I forget the worth of my own bag...
...and I loose my Center...
...and compare myself with others...
...and make needless judgements...
...but a Silent part of me is Listening....
...and a voice from my crowded mind reveals.....
....The Voice is mirrored in my Beloved.....
...and I am reminded that I am free to continue to create my own bag....
A Day at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray.....
...here are some photos of the work today, Friday July 22, 2011.....
Back door to Chapel site at 7 or 8 this am...
Titi, Carlito and Eddy collecting green bottles to clean...we have a huge stash.....
Miguel laying tiles at one of the entrance doors....
Marco Antonio, Jaime Salvador, Eddie, Titi and Carlito...the Bottle Cleaning Brigade.....
More tile work...a five year old boy learning from his uncle...I love these folks!
The end of the day for some of the men and boys of the Ramirez Family...our extended family! The Chapel is becoming a reality...seeing this work and all that we have done...makes me feel so amazingly grateful.....
Having Been Served.....
...a full plate of life experience recently with refill upon refill expected in the future and beyond...I have to let out a big ol' sigh and answer to the call and get it on...these are the clues that unfold with the Mystery. After my return from up North I have been immersing myself back into the life that plays here. I have received a big commision recently and the completion of the Chapel is in sight and we will be having our Grand Opening in February...tiling, painting, landscaping, finishing up ...along with completeing upteen pieces for my November solo show in Pozos adds to this full to the max plate...Trust is always the key...always has been...always will be...I just need to get out of the way and ride!
Sitting on Top of the World...
...that's where I have been today. I am amidst a mosaic job in San Miguel on a rooftop in the ritzy side of town. There was a wireless outlet and I was tapping in from time to time to this amazing barage of emails that I was getting. The electronic avalanche had been fueled by the Rajneeshpuram Residents page on Facebook and all the chatter going back and forth between friends and acquaintances from 30 years ago. I often find myself playing the curmudgeon in this group. I just try to keep things a bit honest and I just can't go to LaLa Land concerning the Rajneesh Community that I was very much a part of. Now as I reflect, I feel a tug at the heart from a period of my life that was absolutely priceless and full of intrigue and Mystery...a Divine Play being enacted on the high desert hills of Oregon. We were such a crew of swaggering misfits...it was really something to behold...we felt like we were sitting on Top of the World! In many ways we were and ironically...I still find myself in similar situations and I often marvel how I got there. How many people have had the opportunity to play air guitar in front of 100,000 people like I recently did while riding serpent coiled around an eight and one half foot anotomically correct heart? I got to do that recently in Santa Barbara...so I raise a toast to life. I raise a toast to all the friends in this life...such gratitude!
O Mother of God.....
.....did I just say that while getting up from the couch this morning before breakfast? This guy...I am alluding to me... is worn to the bone and back again. We got home from the US on Thursday afternoon...somewhere along the journey I contacted a cold and I am feeling a bit weak...but let's get back to this Mother of God thing...I no longer consider myself a Christian...the myth had too many holes...and seeing the clergy up close while in prep school damaged any belief that these guys had the power to change unlevened wafers into the body of Christ...I tried to be a Christian again in the late 70's while reading Thomas Merton...however it was obvious to me that he was getting ready to jump ship before his untimely death in a Bangkok bathtub...I guess that deep down there is a connection with what I call the divine feminine that was ignited by the love my Mother showered on me while pointing the way to a life of Art and Adornment...I still like to check in with the DF (Divine Feminine)...there is assurance in that contact...when I was a sannyasin with Bhagwan...I used him as a touchstone..it got me through the 70's and the 80's...but the events around him and his commune were tarnished somewhat and I found the DF was till there...waiting...lingering in the light..pointing the way..not to God per se, but a divinity..a godliness that I savor....
Richard Schultz and Anado McLauchlin: Same Sex Married Santas...The New Black...
...well we all heard what happened in New York just recently...yes Children...there is a Goddess...and to go along with that...Richard and I...known in some circles as The Brothers Groove have given Santa Claus that Pagan edge that commerciality has tried to dismantle. So next Christmas...when Santa asks you what you want and perhaps you live in South Dakota or Oklahoma...or wherever you call home in this vast world...tell Santa you want equality for all..tell Santa that you want the world and you want it.......Now!
The Long and Winding Road...
...leads to the Santa Barbara Solstice Parade...and here is a photo of yours true-ly and a young vistor to my float christened "The Heart of the Jungle" yesterday...tomorrow is the parade...there are finishing touches today. This has been one of the most magical, provocative, and labor intensive projects since my days in Cult City USA up at the Big Muddy in Oregon. I have had such an amazing experience of community...there are so many stories...I will try to post some sort of "greatest hits" of my experience here when I return to Groovelandia in the Heart of Mexico next week....
My Sister Came to the Heart of the Jungle....
...to visit me. My sister Joanie from Oklahoma City came for a short visit to the workshop on Monday. What a joy! She drove up from LA where she was visiting with her husband who is on business there. Needless to say, we go back a long way. My life led me away from Oklahoma early on and I have not been the best "keeper- in- toucher" for many different reasons...however, two years ago, Joanie and I mutually decided to repair our differences. I found myself yesterday falling into my lil' brother role with her. As many of my women friends can attest...that lil' brother role does pop up now and then (Lovee Groove?)...family is such a rich dynamic... I am happy that Joanie and I can get together and love one another...I called my other sister when I got home yesterday...such bittersweetness......I feel blessed and at the same time regret the loss of some innocence along the way...I love my sisters. I want them to know that.....
Joanie and I in front of "The Heart of the Jungle"....
Another view...we are so Scottish in our stature!
Further Along....Further Along....
.....still working away in Santa Barbara...my back is giving me fits...but the show must go on....today I will paint the Serpent's head and hopefully the pedestal will be built on the platform to house the heart......tomorrow or late today I will begin adorning the Serpent head..there is lot's and lot's to do...it will get done ...just need lots of help.....Some real life artists (Perry and Doug) are coming today to help out...
I appear distracted...actually contemplating the Portopotty ...(sigh)....
Well it must be many days down the road...
...preparing for the Solstice Parade...the heart is painted (70%)...the serpent head is being formed...I should finish papier mache on the serpent head today...the flames behind the head have been painted red (more definition is needed)...the whole process has been very miraculous and staying with my spontaneous and improvised ways...I am praying to get this thing finished...I will be riding the serpent in the parade...here are some photos....the Parade is June 25th....
Jimmy the Mask Maker
Preparing the Saddle for the Serpent
Riding the Serpent
Stages of the Float
Greg priming the Heart
Tracy made my Santa Jungle Suit
Painting the Heart
Carey painting the heart
The Serpent Head
While I Have Been Up North...
...Carlos has been busy working on the interior of the Chapel of Jimmy Ray. Richard got back to Mexico and took these photos on June 11. Carlos has tiled the interior frames of the windows, painted the beams and has done some tile work on the floor. I must admit that I am VERY homesick, but I am plugging away on the Solstice Parade. I am getting more help and that is great but there is lots more to do...I will post more Soltice photos tomorrow... in the meantime...these photos were beamed to me by Richard....
Framing
Color...I will mirror these beams when I get back with 2" mirrored circular dots...
Floor in the Chapel
Newly painted floor in my studio.....Love it! Only took 10 years to get around to it!
For What It's Worth: Keep on Rockin' in the Free World!
What an immensely beatific experience tonight witnessing the Reunion of The Buffalo Springfield here on my Santa Barbara Sojourn. I cried and cried throughout the performance hearing all the still fantastic songs from my youth. The audience was mostly survivors of those amazing times....it was definitely a reunion: A Re-Gathering of the Tribes...what a great time. Memories of those who passed wifted through my mind and heart...Una Noche de La Corazon! They played their hearts out and were obviously happy to be together again...the final encore song was Neil Young's "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World"....how appropriate! An historic evening in my book!
Joanna, Anado, Lolita and Riccardo..
Stan, Joanna, Anado and Lolita!
The Buffalo Springfield...
Matters of the Heart: Days 5 and Six in the Solstice Jungle Parade...
...well the frame for the heart is totally wrapped in chicken wire. Today we will wrap it in furniture plastic wrap and the it will be papier mached and painted...the platform has been skinned with ply wood and the snakes head will be mounted on a pre platform cut out in the shape of the head...miracles are happening despite the problems with my back. I have not worked this hard physically since my days in the gardens of Marin..tonight we are going to see Buffalo Springfield....one of my favorite bands from the sixties...I shake my head in wonder as I witness the Magic of Time flying by....Fly High My Love...Without Any Reason! Fly High My Love..There's Nowhere to Go....
Final stages of wrapping...
Finished....
