Prophecy mixed media
"Prophecy" - "They" didn't realize that "It" had finally happened. Their elders had predicted this event generations ago. The tribe had songs and dances telling of the explosion of the mountain and all the ensuing tragedies. Every year they would pray and think about making certain preparations in case this happened; but they never did. They really didn't know how, and had such a difficult life providing for themselves and their families, that anything extra for something so far fetched seemed a waste of good time. So they lived their daily lives...birthing, dying, laughing, crying, and looking with wonder at the huge mountain towering off in the distance. Every sundown and every morning at sunrise they would honor their gods with prayer, and always within the prayers were chants to save them from the evil volcano.

This afternoon, hell opened up and the devil finally got his way. The volcano erupted and a huge spew of flame and ash began to cover their beloved island. They ran, they knew not where, frantically searching for some safe place. However, there was no "safe place" on this island. Some fell, exhausted, and waited for death. Others became delirious running in circles. It was just a matter of time until the flames and molten lava would cover them and their island. The prophecy of their ancestors was finally coming true. All were doomed.

What they didn't know was that their small disaster was just a minute example of what the entire world was simultaneously experiencing. Just as predicted, "The button" had been pressed and life on this planet would never be the same. The volcanic eruption was only one small disaster in this tiny area of the world. The rest of earth was convulsing, erupting and collapsing from within. People all over the earth were scrambling to safety. The world was in chaos. The prophets were true. Unfortunately.

MORE: Some of my paintings/sculptures are visualized beforehand, some just happen. "Prophecy" was one that "just happened". I was working on "Basquiat Lives", using thin tape to stripe the walls of a building, when I took more tape and put it on an abstract painting I just started. I went from painting to painting, developing each one in its own right.

I don't know why or how I create a painting. I work on gut instinct. Each day when I enter my studio, I look at the piece(s) I've been working on with a fresh eye and a fresh desire to do "something more". The "something more" on the taped lines on "Prophecy" was swiping some black ink over the taped lines. The ink didn't "take". It became blotchy. Suddenly it looked like oriental writing to me. Then I painted the main figure over the tape. A frightened running figure. Next to her were some children and some people from the village.

The top part of the painting became the old wise men of the tribe prophesying the destruction of the area. Notice the volcano blowing up and the storm in the distance. Anyway, that's how "Prophecy" was born. I certainly hope it doesn't pan out to be a true prediction for that area of the world. In the meantime, here is what I've been up to since my last monthÕ's newsletter to you.

"I'm not an intellectual, I think with my hands" - Cesar.