......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!
Recent Posts
- While Passing Through a Bar.....
- On This Day in January......
- ....and it is January 4th......
- Gratitude.....
- Two Months From Now.....
- A Full-On Groove.....
- Been Busy Being......
- The Chapel Compound: Construction Continues!
- I Forgot the Choreography....
- Our Quest for Blue Bottles: Intimate Behind the Scenes Accounts by a Living Artist...
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....
Jungle Float: Days 3 and Four.....
...well the back (mine) went out on the first day of work last week and it has impaired the progress of my float construction...it is just that my body is not working as fast as I wish....I have been to a chiropractor and a very skilled body worker. I have decided to go with the body worker guy. The results were better with him. So the float is progressing..it rained here for two days which is VERY unusual...I have started wrapping the frame with chicken wire...getting ready for the papier mache....the design keeps changing.....and so do I...
Wrapping the heart...the volunteer went for lunch and to my knowledge never returned...
More wrapping...
Rainy Sunday Afternoon...
Day 2 in the Jungle...
...we finished the frame for the jungle yesterday. If this fellow Richard had not miraculously shown up...I would have probably figured something else out...but it has been a mysticaly profound experience...all the people I have met here at the Solstice Workshop are so enthusiastic and creative..."The Heart of the Jungle"...is heading for the street...in the meantime, I met a woman at a Gallery Opening on Thursday...she had read about me somewhere...she wants me to paint her chicken coop...Magic is in the Air...and you have to work it!
One of the masks for the pushers of the float
Progression of work
Completed (99%) Frame
In the Workshop yard with heart frame....
The Archangel Richard from Montreal...
Solstice Jungle Day 1...
...got started yesterday on the float...most of the plans that I arrived with are out the window and things are falling into place..I have downsized my original idea and that feels good. My float is titled "The Heart of the Jungle"...I will keep photos posted as this progresses. A man form Montreal is helping me get started on the heart and it has been a great blessing. He has worked with this maluable cable that we are making the frame with...so that is great. His name is Richard...the main thing is to get this float on the street...so that is the Vision that must be realized....things are falling into place...
Richard making the interior armature for the Heart
Starting the cable work...
Plans on the wall in the workspace...
Richard and I
Heart Model....brought up from Mexico
Frame is coming along
Richard with Diane who is one of the Solstice Artists....great people!
Today is Santa Barbara...
...I arrived yesterday in Santa Barbara for my gig at the Solstice Parade...today I jump into the mix for a deep gulp of the unknown...I embrace this challenge and I know it will be fun and educational. I am staying at my friends Stan And Joanna's home...they live on the mesa above the Pacific Ocean...I guess one may wish to call this heaven...so I will...and I miss my heaven in Mexico...wish me luck!
I Love My Life...
...and I am forever grateful for this breath that passes through us all. I am 64 today...which absolutely amazes me beyond belief. I have been blessed so deeply. How does one say thank you to the Universe? I would think that one must just accept in deep gratitude the magic of Life. Gracias a La Vida! To all my dear friends, I am forever grateful to you...especially those who look past my "short comings"...and I don't mean my short Scottish legs...Love to all! I took this photo today on my new computer...and above all...I bow down in deep gratitude to Beloved Richard...we are dancing with the stars!
Are We Rollin', Bob?....
...yes, Johnnie Cash...we are and I am rockin' too I finished my door replacement today and I am stoked...I have caught the wave and I am heading North tomorrow for an extended stay in San Francisco and Santa Barbara....I really wanted to finish that door....the whole execution and process has led to so many ideas and possibilities...when I get back I will continue to cook on new projects...as Richard reminded me today: Gracias a La Vida! The Magic continues...it will be great to see my extended family of friends and visits to the ocean...waves are comin' in...waves are comin' in.....
Moving and Openings (Doors and Windows).....
....I moved one of my large oieces up to the bedroom......we completed the last window treatment in The Chapel of Jimmy Ray this week...13 in all...during a short window in time I am trying to work on a replacement door for the one that was sold recently....I am extremely and monumentaly stoked by the new evolving design...the triangular beaded treatment below the mask in the photo was removed from an India kirta from Gujarat......all the while I am preparing for my trip up North to San Francisco and the Santa Barbara Solstice Parade.....and quite magically...by the Grace of all my allies...I will soon be 64.........Life is a Gift.....
Door layout
Serpent Template
Glitter fabric for Serpent
The Divine Link....
...I heard the recording of Keith Jarrett's "Koln Concert" (on a Cassette) in India back in the 70's and have been listening to it off and on for decades. I had seen him performing with Charles Lloyd in Manila one incredibly stoned evening...We shared a joint. This music that he did that day in Koln back in 1975 is the link that I follow to that divine space of tenderness...my gratitude to the man who played this haunting piece is without bounds...thank you, Keith Jarrett....the youtube link that I have included is just a glimpse (cut and paste the URL and put it in your browser)...I love his vocals! Love it!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=koln+concert+part+1&aq=2&oq=koln+concert
My Beloved Friend...
....left Easter Sunday for San Francisco for 6 weeks. I will be joining him on May 16 for two weeks and then he will meet me in Santa Barbara on June 21 and when the Parade is over and all tidy-ed up we fly back to Mexico on June 30 via San Francisco....without Richard we would never have realized these big dreams that we share (we are still dreaming)...he's the "grown up" in the family....not real "grown up"...more like he is a teenager to my "arrested adolescent"...but the mix is good and we are still working at it. I just wanted to post this and acknowledge his quiet presence that sometimes gets placed in the background as the Anado Show unfolds...but lo and behold, I am just a hand puppet and he is the benevolent hand that reaches out and touches my soul and the souls of others...a True Gentleman in the deepest sense.....
Busy in the Face of Mercury in Retrograde.....
...sometimes things do get done in the confusion of the esoteric tornado of emotional, psychological and all matters of the heart and mind...It has been a busy time while gearing up for who knows what...I have no complaints...it just seems that my ordinary life has been amped up a few octaves...here are some photos from the past week...LIFE IS GOOD...GRACIAS TO EXISTENCE!
Who is That Masked Man......
...is he someone like me? No he is just the Lone Rider...rockin' and sockin' not just from Oklahoma...and he's not one of the boys...and he ain't Damien Hirst's yo yo out for a thrill or Jeff Koons' sugar coated popularity pill...he is not faster than a dentist drill or speedier than a pep pill....but he is the culmination of his whole life rolled into one and aspires to be as spiritual as a land slide in a black hole bringing color to a Universe shaded by a dark dream...is he between the seams or is that what it seems? do his teeth gleam behind the hidden facade? He never was... so he never will emerge...he will have to purge the surge of sometime self contempt in order to embrace the Light of True Vision.....I am betting on him...I can read the cards....
Windows.....Onward.....
.....we are cooking on the windows for the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...all the top windows are in....the clear lower windows have been installed...now we are doing 6 panels of adorned windows for the three doors to the gallery....I have chosen a paisley design in honor of the Paisley Cowboy who once worked hand in hand with me going way back to Sausalito days...it feels so good to have these windows going in. I feel like we have gone over the hump despite the fact that Mercury is in retrograde...There are always lessons to be learned.....I got tired of telling people when they came on tours about my ideas for the windows. Now it is a reality....here are some photos....
Anado McLauchlin and Richard Schultz Were Accused of Being Easter Eggs...
...as they innocently passed through the streets of San Miguel de Allende which is in Mexico...and we all know that is not true...one hides easter eggs...and we are not hidden...we just adorn and ramp up the color to make up for all the men who choose to wear muted tones and blend into the sidewalks like repressed peacocks (no pun intended)...and while we are on the subject of Mexico...despite what one may read in the press...we find it safer here than in many neighborhoods and cities in the United States...and...there is no Tea party here....so make those travel plans and visit Mexico and come to San Miguel and visit Casa de Las Ranas (our home)...Just say yes to color!....and just say no to Fear! Here we are today at home after lunch in the colors of the rainbow which we embrace.....
Cranking....
...we started production yesterday for the windows in the Chapel of Jimmy Ray...first off I am doing a simple design for the upper windows....I am in love with them already...I have to get all the windows finished by May 15...wish us luck...I will keep you folks updated as the progress continues...ahh Life!
I Have Been Deeply Touched....
....tonight I watched a DVD..."The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg". I wept throughout. His personage...his vision...his depth...his rawness...his holy abandon...his wild deep quiet silent True Nature...has touched me deeply in this life...I can see so many occurences in my becoming that were the result of my admiration for him. In many ways, I am the man I am today because of his beingness...I went to New York to immulate him..I approached LSD in those early days as a sacrement that he defined...I would never have made it to India without hearing his chants on the harmonium so long ago at the New School in New York. The photo of me that accompanies this post was taken back in the 70's in Oklahoma where I had gone to heal aftera Hepatitus-A infection...35 years ago...Allen lived down the street from me in Manhattan before I returned to Oklahoma that summer and we were neighbors. During that healing process in Oklahoma, I wrote a long Spoken Word "Poem" called "Duel: White Chalk"...the inspiration for that log of words was pure Allen...I am so grateful to have crossed paths with him in this life...there is deep gratitude and affection in my heart for that Dear Soul named Allen...
I Like Staying Home.....
....I spent most of the 70's out until at least 2 in the morning...7 days a week...I drove a taxi through the five burroughed bellies of New York...that's where I got my college degree...a great learning experience that had it's moments...some of them I would just as soon forget. I think all those hours on the streets took the Night Owl out of me and by the 80's...I was usually in bed by 9 pm and up at 5:30 everyday...I am still within that time table and it fits. Richard and I have been in San Miguel now for 10 years or so...when we first got here we got seduced by the heavy duty social scene and the night life...lucky for us...that got old real quick and we surrendered to this home that is continuously in flux. I guess that I am writing this tonight to clarify for myself that I had the opportunity to go out this evening...Richard is up in San Francisco and I am here at home...alone...but when I got to looking at the possibility of driving into town...looking for parking...going to an art opening or two...driving home in the dark...well...home won out...the old saying that "Home is where the heart is" has some miles...the miles lead home....there is comfort and delight here...I am glad I stayed home.....
Forever Changing: The Non-Ritual of Impermanence....
...this life is forever in flux...something new...something old...here...now gone...the continuing story that remains plotless but unique and gripping. I sometimes hang out on the couch after lunch ...a great time to immerse myself in creative planning...nothing ever succeeds around here according to plan...the Groove just swallows it all and drums an inaudible beat that promises an eventful ride. I bow down to this process...whatever it is...it comes and goes...vagueness surrenders to Clarity and then it all disappears and transforms or gets sold or taken apart or collects dust or begs for attention or becomes a fogotten moment or just reappears as something totally different....
