Old Friend

This blog was written  in October 2012, twenty years ago.  

Shortly after Hurricane Sandy ravished New York. 

I compare it to what is happening now. 

I imagine our spring and summer will be as extreme as our winter was. But I am talking about Chicago now, though much still applies to NYC.

Direct effects of disturbing the Gaia are happening in front of our very eyes. 

Storms happening not just in our skies, but in our Democracy, in our Constitution, in our cities and towns, in our homes, and apparently in our hearts. 

Looking at the past can sometimes shed light on the present.

Nothing like a storm to wake you up.

Are storms contagious? It seemed like it spread in my household with my father and I. Dad actually went out in the storm and came back angry and perplexed, as though he had been lied to by some mistaken meteorologist.  I suddenly realized how intimately this storm effected people's lives.

It had been a long time since I walked down to the Manhattan  Bridge, but there was no other way to get to Brooklyn. Most traffic was going uptown and not over the crowded bridges. So I walked slowly and took note of the old feeling that I used to get from parts of NYC that were vacant and quiet, that no longer exist, but here I was walking through them Thursday night - Soho, the Village, huge neighborhoods completely desolate and empty.

Had I known what the effects of Hurricane Sandy would have been in my life, I would have certainly tried to be better prepared. Though it was very stressful, I got into Manhattan on Thursday. 

I have real trouble with crowds, so it was easy to stay away from the few stores that were open then. Put in a full day of work...then the best part of my day - walking down to the Manhattan Bridge. It was like walking back in time. The old New York I knew like an old friend who I hadn't seen in a very long time. The further south I walked, the fewer people I saw. Then the bizarre building at 14th street and 8th avenue with the entire front ripped off exposing the 3 floors - obviously a crap restoration that Sandy would expose! 

Wandering down a beautiful street in Soho, I found my vision. On the large open sidewalks, an 8 x 10 inch painting lay on the ground staring up at me. Dabs of bright orange paint arranged in a sporadic pattern on a clear piece of plastic jumped out at me - mesmerizing me, as though it were three dimensional. The iron street grating had rusted onto the plastic wrapper creating a pattern and an image. I took it with me back to my studio and translated it into dabs of red paint onto several paintings. 

It brought to mind an old Dove chocolate wrapper fortune: "In chaos, there is opportunity".

                           Pandemic Sunset, Chicago

Romulus - azurite pigment

Paint making is an unusual process. As an artist, I prefer materials that suit my expectations. I began with natural hard resin formulas. Later,  I took a few workshops with Michael Price in Brooklyn. Price taught me about preparing pigments, and their specific, chemical properties.  Azurite is a specific, acid sensitive mineral that cannot be made into oil paint with linseed oil.  By using the correct oil, this extraordinary mineral color remains permanently blue rather than turning black - as in linseed oil. Casein - coated azurite may be an exception to mixing it with linseed oil.   I consulted many historical sources - all of which concern themselves with the properties of pigments and specific oils. Later I will share my bibliography with you. Reading translations that are often over a hundred years old, was an interesting journey into semantics. Grammatical interpretations sometimes created errors, particularly when referring to colors, often confusing material with color, eg, amber.  Regarding hard resin materials, the same applies, as hard copal varnish may be the most overlooked medium of all time.

What you see here is a sample of processed casein-coated azurite, grade AAA. 

The colors are from the core stone that varies in quality. The cleaning (water protein process) purifies the colors and through levigation, become pigment. In this case I moved the water away from the pigment in a circular manner and an image appeared. Metaphysical qualities of natural minerals abound within the alchemy of paint making. Each mineral has physical properties that are unique and dictate (lightfastness, permanence) - how the material is processed. 

I call this specimen, Romulus as it reminded me of the Roman babies at the tits of the she wolf. This specimen is from the Congo region, known for particularly beautiful quality minerals including diamonds. The process continues with making different particles to create the pigment. 

Once made, pigment may be made into a variety of paints depending on the medium.

 

ROMULUS - azurite pigment ©Copyright 2023tomirizarrystudio

JUST LIKE THAT

Addendum (April 2022)

When I explained this blog idea to a friend of mine who I had not talked to in awhile, he told me that Sarah Jessica Parker had already used the term in her new Sex and City. I swear, I did not know. I had the idea first! Oh well, it just confirms that the words were prevalent in the noosphere.

Things seems to happen quickly.  One day you're middle-aged, the next you're a senior.

Just like that.

You think you know someone and a new face appears in the same person.

Just like that.

Someone you know passed away.

Just like that.

Soon Spring will be here.

Just like that.

Everyone went back to work. (Physically)

Just like that. 

New website coming soon. You can own a new Tom Irizarry painting..

Just like that.

World peace needed more than ever.

Just like that!

This painting The Battle emerged from pandemic years as a battle between light and dark.

Just like that.

The Battle,  oil  and mineral pigments on paper, 21 x 29 inches, 2022

between now and now

During the pandemic, you must notice the alteration of so many things, but one stands out - how time passes. This story reflects extraordinary passage of time.

One dreary wet Fall day, I was sitting on the fire escape when something very large and black flew by at an incredible speed. It was a bit jarring since it came so close to me. Five minutes later it returned, but as it zipped by it suddenly and incredibly stopped  and there in front of me about 4 feet from my face was the biggest blackest dragonfly I had ever seen with a 7 inch wingspan hovering and staring right at me. 
I yelled out and it flew away.

Later I asked google what a visit by a dragonfly means. I received various links to some pretty out there stuff.  I liked one article that explained the visit meant that you were supposed to pay more attention to the present. Stop living in the past or future. Stay present.

So that article stayed with me for a long time and I actually began to change my life. I began to live more in the now. 

I stopped analyzing so much and moved energy from passive to active mental, physical and emotional. What a rush!

I told the story about the dragonfly visit several times. One day I got a call  from a friend who wondered why there was a mirror on my fire escape? Oh that? I quibbled.
It's a piece of aluminum foil I put up to attract birds. It must have read like a  mirror from a distance.

I then realized that my dragonfly visit had nothing to do with me. Or time. He was drawn to the odd square of light emanating from behind me. The  juxa-position of myself and the mirror created an unexpected glow of light from behind and intrigued the creature.

So the dragonfly visited me regardless - just not the reason I thought.
And his story and telling his story over and over helped change my life for the better and "woke me up" from my stupor of working in a world with no imagination.  I could live! and flourish and draw my strength from my imagination, like I've done my whole life.

It reminded me of when I asked my father how time passed for him at 85 years old. He replied - "it's like one very long day - from birth to old age". Dad died at 98 and 10 months. His life  must have seemed like watching a film in fast forward - everything and everyone, moving and talking at an incomprehensible speed.

And then I had a revelation.  How we choose to spend time is paramount to how we engage in living or not. I want to live my life to the fullest. Contemplation plays a big part in the land of the living - something I find harder and harder to do as I age. I want to be more active physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally.  This is what I want more of...

EPILOGUE (February 2022)

Some time after this post, approximately July 2021 I was sitting on the front porch of my brother's house and  a medium sized dragonfly stopped in front of me.

Yes it reminded me of this story. 

As he hoovered there in front of me - a good 30 seconds - I thought there is no aluminum foil behind me or a window. So the reason I thought the dragon visited me the first time was not correct...or both stories are unrelated.

REPOSE oil on panel, by Tom Irizarry 9 x 12 inches, 2019

Masquerade

How hard is it to be a leader in the world today.
I look at all the unrest in the world, the misery, sadness, hatred and greed.
I wonder - where are our leaders?
I think surely a great one is at hand. That one will rise up from the ashes of our own destruction and be the beacon of light that will guide the way leading us out of all this darkness and selfishness.
What I see is No one wearing masks. No one on TV News.
No one on TV period.
No leaders of our churches.

No priests wearing masks saying mass except in other countries.

Did you know you can actually speak through a mask?

No leaders.
Is it so hard to hold Faith?
Can we think of someone else besides ourselves?
Is there no one to look up to besides our own reflections?
Do not stand by ignorance. 

Do not give into self.  

Do not give into falsehood. 

Stand tall. Live today. 

Protect and respect.

Affirm and love. 

Now or never. 

Wear a mask always . 

The plague is around us. It is in us. It is selfishness. 

Value the sanctity of life.

Think of someone besides yourself.

The Phoenix will arise in a blaze of glory more brilliant than we can imagine. 

Hope Eternal.

 Hope Eternal (Brooklyn Skie)

Romance

My father was an accomplished watercolorist, and one of the finest draftsmen I have ever met with a natural understanding of color and form. He was an Ad Man in the 60's and created logos entirely by hand. He loved drawing them almost as much as sketching people. I inherited my father's love of drawing. He certainly encouraged it in me when I was very young.

I recently completed a monogram for a commission, even though it had been canceled. I found myself so attached to the design that I decided to fabricate it. Something about it encouraged the identity of silver as a precious metal. Something Precious and Dear,  and something Glowing and Radiating such as is found in silver and good design.

In this piece,  the "script" of the letter accomplishes it's mission of free form flowing lines that interconnect and weave between themselves, telling a story in silver, in design, and beyond.

Kelly and Rocco, KR
Sterling Silver
60 mm x 60 mm

Man on the Blue Guitar. Play us a song of things as they are. The man on the blue guitar replied; "things as they are are changed on the blue guitar." W. Stevens

Things as they are     oil on canvas   22 x 20 inches       2018