experimental hits

a few months ago, i was bored so i started playing around with the features on this laptop that was soooo generously donated to The Cause. i call this technique 'glass cutting.' i sort of randomly choose some shots, arrange them, then used a cropping tool to slice out an area that looked cool to me. the colors, values, subject matter... all sorts of things are in play... but i'm not actively thinking about them at the time. yeah, at the time i'm just effing around. but i like the end result. kind of like little psychedelic sticks of gum. as you can see, we've got a hitchcock poster, marilyn monroe, and a cover of 'smash hits' starring billy idol.

plush

this is one of jean-lucien godet's personal journals. the main image is keir dullea from kubrick's '2001.' in the dots across the bottom we've got a hazy early-era simon le bon, the french bombshell sylvie vartan, ( look her up on youtube ) a flower, a color flash, the swami-fied micky dolenz from the 'mijacogeo' episode, and two blokes who i fail to recognize at the moment. such fine work. seriously, why have a ho-hum notebook, when you can have one that looks like this...?

the eyes of jean-lucien godet

here's tonight's offering from the genius hands of jean-lucien godet. i love the way he can make decor and jewelry out of assorted clippings... i love the open book in the background. and i love the blue of the eyes and the early john taylor.

dig it.

jean-lucien gets clairvoyant

well, a clairvoyant jean-lucien godet is nothing new. at least, not to me. yes... once again jean-luc demonstrates his ability to know what we want, in the groovy visual sense. here is another one of his dazzling photocollages. i don't remember who the model is, but it doesn't matter. the real star, as always, is jean-lucien godet himself. again, we have the impeccable color palette, sense of balance, sense of weight. as always, virtually perfect.

jean-lucien informs me the model is fanny brice.

the hands of jean-lucien godet

when it comes to these genius works of art by jean-lucien godet, i can't remember which one's i've posted before. but i'm pretty sure this one is one you haven't seen. there's a young liza minnelli in there. and i think that's isabelle adjani. the composition is, as always, balanced and sound. the colors and tone are pleasant on the eye. all at the same time being exciting and fresh and hypnotic. after all these years cruising the internet, i've never seen anything quite like jean-lucien's art. nothing matches it in scissor precision, basic talent, unique style, and color palette. i do believe it is impossible to effectively imitate. it is its own signature. just perfect.

sundown

ahhh, the sheer genius of jean-lucien godet. this one, as you can see, stars twiggy, bedecked with funky jewelry and rings. the real visual coolness lies within the astounding talent of jean-lucien godet. i mean, like, wow, am i right? how does he do it? over and over again? i could stare at his stuff for long undetermined periods of time. man.... look forward to more to come.

jean-lucien rules

here's a sweet eye-treat to dazzle up the 'welcome back planetcool' party. i just realized how many stunning works of art that have piled up since the last time i was on here. jean-lucien just sent me this image today. man, what talent. what an eye for beauty and just plain visual grooviness. it's like my brain is eating some kind of strange ice cream that only jean-lucien has the recipe for. look at the intricacy of those scissor skills! wooo, i wish i could do that. okay, i'm kinda really digging being back in that intergalactic driver's seat. i kinda wanna 'floor it,' and 'do donuts.' mmm, gonna get pulled over.

annual alphonse mucha

it has become a christmas tradition that my mother sends me the latest and lushest calendar featuring artwork of the Master, Alphonse Mucha. this year was no exception. my marvelous mom came through with a real sweet one. the cover of it was lovely... and even though it's not yet January, i couldn't resist putting it up. i tacked it up right beside my little zen-computer pad on the floor. and this image, (one of my all-time Mucha faves) is the picture for January. i have actually been lucky enough to have seen some of his originals in person, like, at a museum in Raleigh several years ago. it was like a religious experience for me... to know that i was looking at the materials he actually touched. i even got close enough to see some pencil or charcoal erasures. jean-lucien said he looked at this painting when he was teaching himself how to successfully render 'ribbons' and 'streamer' shapes in his cutting. i love the colors, i love the composition, there's nothing i don't like about it. he really was the best at what he did. he created a certain style that has since been ripped off like, nine thousand ways. (google 'alphonse mucha' and see how many tattoos you see.) beautiful stuff.

the machine stops

wow, my computer totally bit the dust today. i don't know if it can be repaired or what, but in the meantime, i'm managing. just popped into the main house to check my boxes and whatnot. i hate not being 'plugged in.' oh well, it comes with the game. i must send a huge thanks to my good friend linda... who brought me a radio, so i can play mix tapes and cds and the radio until i get a system up and running. so, to convey my pouting mood, here's a gorgeous collage jean-lucien made some time ago. it stars the pouting and fantastic miss sylvie vartan. dig it. i hope to have more soon. love.

mucha holds my place

okay, its late... i can't think of anything to post, but i wanted to mark my place and wish everyone a night of sweet dreams. and since this alphonse mucha work is currently on my desktop, i thought it was cool to use it as a bookmark. i love you all. more later.

true clews

when people ask me, '...who's your favorite artist?' i have one response: jean-lucien. here's one of his recent pieces i'm proud to say i had a hand in. it's a cool melding of both our interests, influences, techniques, and tastes. wow... its hard to actually write about this stuff. for so long, these pictoral paintings have existed between jean-luc and i...and the language, the telepathic shorthand we invariably use when discussing our work, is surprisingly tricky to translate. so... (deep breath) let me just say that jean-lucien and i both hope that you think our pieces as groovy as WE think they are. it would take me too long to account for all the hundreds of little scissor cuts and thousands of individual artistic decisions that are considered in the making of a collage no bigger than a playing card. um... i could spend a lot of keystrokes documenting where all the clippings came from, and what they 'mean' when assembled... but i think its best i leave THAT office of Art up to the Observer. there will be more 'jean-lucien/almadora' works featured in the very near future. until then, we welcome (and indeed thirst for) any manner of feedback. and thank you for your attention. (and hey, jean-luc... does this one have a title yet?) (click to enlarge)

sugarvirgo

man, i'm a little off-track tonight... i thought i had to go in to my little volunteer position in the morning, but i was informed a couple hours after supper that they weren't going to need me until friday. so here i am, up late when i wasn't expecting to be. so i figured i might as well post something. i needed a little splash of color, so i chose this notebook illustration from... wow, several years ago. jean-lucien assembled it out of various cuttings. the 'model' is a young and hot mr. harrison ford, from the francis ford-coppola ...thriller? 'the conversation,' also starring gene hackman in one of his most compelling roles. but in the flick, harrison follows gene around, more or less just to 'eff' with him, it seems. even though its an older one, scanned in on older equipment, i still think its very much worth showcasing. so dig it. and i love you all.

it's art

okay, i'm still behind as far as posting is concerned. tonight i had to start a new picture file, so that's taking some time. but as usual, i wanted to mark my place. here's a groovy notebook illustration jean-lucien made a long time ago. and it features, amidst the lush colors, mr. peter 'hippy' tork, reminding us to 'know its art.' its on my desktop as we speak. i love the shades and satiny texture this one has. considered it was scanned in on a now-dead scanner, it still looks pretty gorgeous. plus, i had to cook for seven people tonight, which always stresses me out somewhat. i made spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. and hey, everybody chowed down, so that's a good enough review for me. i feel pretty mellow now, with six new inches of glittering snow out there on the deck. and man, its cold, cold. but me and the kitty are cozy and warm inside. and we send our love. "...meow!" (yeah, thanks strumbie.)

happy birthday julian

yes, january 24th is the 51st birthday of the cute piano genius, mr. julian miles holland. i was deeply in love with julian a while back. and hey, he still has a cool place in my heart. a place for lovely snow-white-complected short guys who play expert piano. i'm sure i've mentioned it before, but i've had a crush on jools since the first time i saw him as the musical spot in an episode of 'the young ones,' way back in 1985. he was slimly masquerading as 'ken bishop's nice tweleve,' a band which included stewart copeland and chris difford. they did a version of dylan's 'subterranean homesick blues' on the show 'cash' in 'the young ones' second season. then i saw him as a host on imported segments from the english music show 'the tube.' this collage was made by jean-lucien a long time ago. the shot of jools and his lovely profile was captured by me from a clip of an old 'squeeze' concert. i don't think i've posted this one before, so dig it.

life goes on

and seasons change. over and over. here's a lovely quad of draped mucha girls. i think each one is supposed to represent different gemstones. the colors are next door to delicious. the girls are next door to angels. the artist is next door to Holy. god bless you alphonse mucha, your willing posing girls, and all their curious offspring, wherever they may be.

amen.

(click to enlarge)

back covered

recently, our mother was good enough to send jean-luc and i an assortment of some of our older journals; like the ones from ten years ago. needless to say, it was interesting for me to get my hands on them again. this is a scan of the back cover of one of jean-lucien's books from over a decade ago. all the wear and tear you see on the edges is due to simply that: wear and tear. life.... the simple tread of having been handled and transported and dropped and shuffled and all of that kind of thing. i think i'm correct in revealing the adhesive used to affix the picksh was nothing more glamorous than elmer's glue. i love the color in the live bowie shot in the middle. and if you click-to-enlarge, and look very closely in the lower left-hand corner, you can clearly see and read a part of the lyrics to miss joni mitchell's genius song 'shades of scarlet conquering,' from her landmark album 'the hissing of summer lawns.' its gorgeous. i love the whole thing. it just proves that, with very, very few exceptions over the years, jean-lucien always knew what he was doing. (click to really, really enlarge.)

...this here boogie

i know jean-lucien is kissing me in spirit tonight, even if he's fast asleep. and to kiss back, i'm posting one of his more recent, more juicy and delicious works of art. i can't remember if he said he was particularly satisfied with this one, but i love it. i can almost smell it. lets see, who are the stars in this here flag? from left to right, we have... an anonymous hippy chick at some late 60's rock festival, then, in tangy electric green, we have the undisputed master of black cloaked, clever-tongued, magick-clack mascara-snake charmer-sparking arts, captain beefheart himself. as the captain reportedly once said, '...one cold vibe won't stop this here boogie.' yes, words to live by... and i'm not being even mildly sarcastic. and last but certainly never-never least, we have that bulgarian diva cream puff herself, mademoiselle sylvie vartan, with her hair in full-out 'curl mode,' smoking something that is obviously '...not one of your standard brands,' (as the texan once said.) all of jean-lucien's skills are in supreme form here, managing to snare visual melody from the colors and forms and faces all at once, and flawlessly. sigh... happy new year, my one true love. i love you, very literally, the most. (click to enlarge, my darlings.)

dora's crush

once again, jean-lucien has proven his credentials as a magician. here is one of his latest gorgeous works. as soon as he sent it to me, i applied it to my desktop. the colors are so delicious i can almost smell the perfume of it. i suppose its no secret to anyone that lately, i've been carrying on a shameless, necrophiliac, time- traveling, emotional, imaginary love affair with mr. joe strummer. well, jean-lucien has indicated that this collage is gently commenting on that. we see the deft and dreamy miss catherine deneuve, amidst florid paint near the top, (apparently symbolizing myself) ...and the stark, black and white, dead, gunslinging greaser mr. john graham mellor, joe strummer, near the bottom center. i am immeasurably flattered and deeply honored when jean-lucien can find such inspiration in any of my girlish crushes and impossible infatuations. all that said, herein lies the beauty of jean-lucien's work: you don't have to know ANY of the backstory in order to simply enjoy looking at it. my dearest love, he is a genius. (click to really enlarge)

things we did on cake

ahhh, the silky sweet euphoria of the sugar buzz. we all know it well. i just got off the phone with lucynell, and admitted to her the contents of my 'girl-child' fridge. lets see, in there right now i've got a slab of fun-size kit kats, a quart of thick and deelish egg nog, a six pack of chocolate puddings, some cherry cokes, a gold bag of lindor chocolate truffle balls in assorted flavors... some tangerine seltzer, and i think the closest thing i've got to actual 'human food' is a container of sour cream i've been using to dip my buffalo-and-ranch doritos in. its like, the fridge contents i might've imagined for myself if like, i was a ten year old, daydreaming about; '...someday, when i have my own fridge... it'll have all this junk in it.' this gorgeous collage is something of a tribute to that sweet creamy, dreamy, wispy state of chemical buzz one's brain enjoys after indulging in cake and other 'cake-like' frosting-inclusive 'high-sugar-content' treats. once again, jean-lucien's talent leaves me buzzing from the brain, the part of the brain that recognizes and digs on visual genius. the color treatment and sense of movement and composition are excellent, as usual. the main 'model' is a dolled-up miss sylvie vartan. there's a haloed hippychick from a kiraz cartoon in there, too... in the lower left hand corner. just incredible. it sounds so tired of me to say that '..he never ceases to amaze me.' but its true. i mean, i see everything jean-lucien does, eventually, and absolutely none of it sucks. click to really enlarge, and dig on it.

bubblewands

i love this. this a piece of painting jean-lucien sent me several months ago. i love the two studio 54-types blowing bubbles. i love that cool tropical use of colors. i love the graphic 'words-included.' what else can i say except wow... his stuff is truly gorgeous. (click to enlarge.)