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.

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.

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)

fantasia de laurie lebon

okay, i think i have to take like, 99% credit on this gorgeous little slice of notebook art. this one was made of really no more than four cuttings, and was affixed to a page of one of my handwritten journals a long, long time ago. i think the original measured approximately 4 inches by two and a half, or something like that. but, although its small, it holds like a honeycomb within it; two of my greatest crushes. in the topmost circle, we have the achingly sexy hugh laurie, practically in drag for the mid-90's annie lennox hit video 'walking on broken glass.' underneath that, we have a disc cut of the marvelous simon le bon... not from any specific duran video; but, if i had to make an educated guess, i'd say that it was from sometime around 1983. 'rio'-era. so i hope you dig on it. umm, it really doesn't 'mean' anything, its just meant to look groovy, and to celebrate a couple of great sexy boys. (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.

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.)

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)

little secret slide

yeah, that's what jean-luc and i sometimes call these things; slides. in fact, its another groovy notebook illustration from... well, actually, now that i look about it and think about all the source material, the tricking, and juxtaposition, i'd say it was a 50-50 collaboration. its not really supposed to 'mean' anything, really... its just supposed to sit up there at the top of a notebook page and 'look cool for you' whilst you're writing in it. on it, whatever. and hey, what is it...? 'davy' week..? i had a shot of davy jones last night. oh well, here he is again. the shot is from the monkees' movie 'head.' he's checking himself out in a bathroom mirror right before he gets lost in a psychedelic 'freak scene.' and, the image on the right is a lovely blink-and-miss-it shot of simon le bon in full 'protest mode,' from the 'new moon on monday' video. dig it! (click to 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.

joe: page one

jean-lucien sent me this gorgeous notebook illustration a couple of months ago, and i hope he doesn't mind that i'm posting it now. it shows the cool genius joe strummer in the hat, with a generous amount of jean-lucien's colorwork surrounding him. i love the colors... like, i can literally almost taste them. and i've discovered what i love about his face: it fools me. like, he can move his face mere millimeters, and i get a completely different impression. he can go from repulsive to sublime in a matter of split-seconds. i love to watch him play and perform. he's lost, but he always delivers. anyway... i don't want to get too poetic. the artwork speaks for itself. dig it.

stolen

here's the cover of the next-to-most-recent book i wrote. its called 'stolen,' because i was stuck for a fresh book... i happened to have one jean-lucien started, but never wrote it. he'd done the whole cover and everything, but then never used it. so i took it, glued a few more scraps on the cover, and titled it. it's a vague throwback to that great dead milkmen song... 'punk rock girl.' in the narrative of the song, they get into a car, and the singer asks, '...how much'dyou pay for this? ...she said, 'nothin' man, its stolen...'' i've always liked that song. and i sort of feel like i 'stole' 90 percent of jean-lucien's cover. the book's finished now. but i still thought it needed a slot on 'the planet.' the lavender lad on the right of the cover is a lovely shot of a very teenaged morrissey. there's a little bit of blue alphonse mucha in there, too. very pretty.

the daisy blue collaborative effect

yes, i visited jean-lucien this past weekend. and he had this half-finished 'canvas' of some picturesque patchwork, and so he slid it over to me to see what i could do with it. so, feeling brave and listening to roman polanski speaking polish over my shoulder, i sifted through his clippings and applied the rest of the 'paint.' and here is the cool and pretty end result. its a true collaboration, considering it ended up being about half-and-half. i'd say its about 60-40, with jean-luc doing the '60.' and yeah, that title: 'the daisy blue collaborative effect...' doesn't that sound like a name of some late-60's swinging psychedelic 'cash-in' band? yes folks, its 'the daisy blue collaborative effect' with their new hit song, 'cotton candy, (sandy)' (mmm, you've gotta dig those parenthetical song titles. i.e. 'i want you, (she's so heavy.)' and this band is not to be confused with those six hippies out of 'frisco who call themselves 'the fork tines translation company,' who have their own hit song, 'chugga-chug, (the bus.)' (click to really enlarge-freak-your-brain.)

morrissey on the cover

i started a new notebook tonight. well, i decorated the cover. unfortunately, i'm not able to scan it, so just to commemorate the creative vibe, i'm posting this great large slide jean-lucien used for one of his covers many, many months ago. it features a cool close-up of morrissey on stage, in blue, on the left. he used a still from the 'who put the m in manchester?' dvd. and to the right, we've got michael nesmith, terry jones (in semi-drag) and a dash of john-rhys myers in orange, near the bottom. and i think there's even a little touch of alphonse mucha down there. i think its lush and gorgeous. the one i made tonight is pretty good too. i hope to feature it as soon as i can get to a scanner. (click to enlarge)

peppermoon 1972

wow, another stunning luminous collage from the talented hands of jean-lucien. i realize its nearly impossible for me to submit a non-partisan review, but i think this one is amazing. i love the light citrus punch colors. the model is hot. (i have no idea who she is, just for the record.) but wow. what skilled cutting and cool use of light. i think he sent this one to me about a year ago. maybe more. time flies, if you know what i mean. such great scissorwork. such a harmonious use of color and spatial relationships. and the bold lettering gives it that 'poster' vibe i love so much. man, there's just nobody out there that does it like my darling jean-luc. serious genius. it clicks and enlarges nicely, so enjoy. i'm pretty sure he used it for a notebook cover. seriously great.

peace shot

and wow, the genuis of jean-lucien never stops. here is a dazzlingly cool piece he sent me just about a year ago. and i can't even begin to express what's so cool about it. i mean, i'd be here all night. i love the icy colors. i love the hint of a lonely house in the upper background. i like the feeling that its almost looking back at you, with the camera lens pointed at the viewer, and all that. and, i'm not sure if you can see, but if you enlarge, you'll see the lovely pair in the center are aiming a 30's style bonnie-and-clyde-fied tommy gun at you too. its a 'shot that shoots back,' if you will. i love the slice of the MAD magazine table of contents in there; i love the dashboard of the car, the moistened flower petals, and the selective use of negative photography. its just so cool i could lose myself staring at it. it clicks to enlarge beautifully. it gets really big, so you can adequately appreciate the scissorwork and the clean gluing. i haven't been able to spot one single glue smudge or accidental cutting. just wonderful. so daring and pretty and cool. man, jean-luc is a genius. (oh, by the way, the blonde chick is french 60's-70's cutie recording artist france gall, and the dude is french svengali, serge gainsbourg.) click to really enlarge.

fear of the unknown

i hope jean-lucien doesn't mind me posting this. he sent me this grim and dazzling notebook illustration several months ago. and since we're closing in on halloween soon, i thought it was appropriate to post it now. from left to right, we've got miss imogene claire, tipping the bottle of communion wine to her lips. its actually an excised part of a still frame taken from the 'eyesight to the blind' number from the who and ken russell's 'tommy.' (the part where ann-margret takes tommy to the church of marilyn monroe.) the orange punch wash and bubbles that make up the background is a fine example of jean-lucien's abstract painting skills. i think i sent him the skeleton in the top hat a long time ago, and i must say he put it to good use. i have no idea where the little girl in the blindfold came from, but its a perfect symbol of captivity, powerlessness, anonymity, and fear. i love this piece. its one of my favorites of his. even so, if he wants me to take it down, i will do so in twenty-four hours. until then, dig on it. genius. his talent for this art form leaves me forever amazed. just beautiful. (click to enlarge.)

shok!

i hope jean-lucien doesn't mind me posting this. its a gorgeous notebook illustration he 'collaged-up' a few years ago. i think its stained-glassy and very beautiful. the couple in bed are, yes... that's roger daltrey, and the chick in his arms in none other than nell campbell. she's the chick who played the sequined columbia in 'the rocky horror picture show.' why are these two cuddled in bed together? well, its from the wild and wonderful ken russell movie about the composer franz liszt; 'lisztomania.' (i hope i spelled that right.) its one of my favorite pieces jean-luc made around that time. i think its glassy and i can almost taste it, if that makes any sense. in enlarges pretty well too. so yeah, all credit goes to jean-lucien for this one. and if he objects, i'll take it down within 24 hours.

nailing a lie

wow, i'm going wayyy back for this one. i can't tell you how many years ago i made this one... but i know it was at least ten. it was back in my 'primative days.' those days where i had no control over the color, size, and shade of my images. i scoured countless books and magazines, took what i thought i could use, then ripped into them like fresh kills with my scissors. the final image was assembled with nothing but talent and elmer's glue. and i would guess there was some hot steely dan playing in the background. i don't remember where i got the main model. i have no idea who she is. but even after all this time, i still like this one. there are a lot of things i don't remember from that long ago, but i actually remember putting this one together. i was sitting on the hardwood floor of my old bedroom. so, i hope you dig it. like most of my collages from that era, it really only gained 'meaning' after it was done. and this one has something to do with The Inherent Sin of Knowledge. i guess. or maybe its just about smut. maybe they're both the same thing. i don't know. (click to really enlarge)