Merry Christmas everyone...

the last in a series of four,

this painting is acrylic 30 by 40
painted on november 11, 2012.
I like this form in particular because it divides
the canvas into 5 sections to be treated differently
and yet still contains the simple "dancer" motif.
I plan to do as many more of these as I can

until I feel I've exhausted the idea.

it was 20 years ago today...

and I'm still amazed.

more excitements

tomorrow daniel and I will board a plane for L.A.
unexpectedly I've been invited into another
exciting new recording project.
I'm sure you will want to hear all about it,
but for now I'll have to wait until it's announced.

after L.A. daniel and I will fly to amsterdam
to see if 200 guitar players
can actually get in tune together.

meanwhile, here's another new painting.
acrylic, spray paint, masking tape. 30 by 40
november 7, 2012

remember: click once on the painting to enlarge it.

my portrait of david bowie?

I wasn't meaning to do a portrait of someone
but as often happens this painting slowly developed
like a polaroid before my eyes into something
resembling the thin white dude.
for the ghostly eyes I pasted paper on the canvas

then peeled most of it off.

acrylic 24 x 30
painted on october 24, 2012

a new painting

from october 20, 2012

my final engagements of the year

will be december 5 thru december 11 in amsterdam, netherlands.
they're centered around the Electric Guitar Heaven Festival.

on dec. 7 I'll be part of the opening show
which is at Rabozaal Melkweg www.melkweg.nl

on dec. 8 I'll be playing a solo set as part of a double bill
with andy summers and ben verdery at a nice venue I know
called Bimhuis, www.bimhuis.nl
last year I did a television appearance there.

on dec. 9 the main event is a piece of music for 200 guitarists!
that's right, 200 guitar players will be playing tom trapp's AID
the piece is 16 and a half minutes long.
I'm struggling to learn it now. (phew!)
tom will be conducting. I will be the guest soloist.
I can't imagine playing with 200 guitarists. mind-boggling.
the venue is The Max, Melkweg www.melkweg.nl
same as the first show.

then on dec. 10th I'm honored to be doing a seminar
at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.
1:00 sharp.

daniel and I are psyched to go back to amsterdam!

I should feel like a fish out of water

painting things.
since I have had no training
and very often don't know what I'm doing.
but I love it!
it's so much like making music.
it's alchemy.

here's one from september 14
acrylic, kitchen cabinet liner,
and a photo of an eyeball.
30 by 30

reuseal

I began covering over a painting or two I no longer cared for.
september 9, 2012
acrylic 24 by 36.

postscript

for bigger images click on the paintings.

then...

I had one more 30 by 40 canvas left
so I decided to do something different.
don't ask me what it is.

september 12, 2012.

and a third...

september 5, 2012

painting again

I enjoyed doing the first one.
it felt so rewarding to be painting again.
I liked the form of the first painting so much,
having the dancing figure surrounded by
five areas to treat differently.























so I decided to do a second one.
september 2, 2012.
acrylic 30 by 40

hi there. remember me?

my first new post since august.
I'm a baaaaad boy.
but if you were here like the proverbial fly on the wall,
apart from the horror of having spikes and a thousand eyes,
you would see my creative motor is in super high gear.

it's just that musically I'm doing something
which has never been done and I cannot say much.
except that daniel and I have been very busy
and new music is pouring out of me.

alongside the busy days of recording and writing
I began painting again at nights after our sessions.
so since I cannot yet share the music with you
I thought I should at least share the new paintings.
this is the first one I did on august 31, 2012.

back home from camp for 8 days now

and I still have a big smile on my face.
this year was maybe even more fun than last year.
partly because we knew more what to expect.
I certainly felt like we taught more.
tony and pat taught everyone thrak,
in fact our giant jam began with thrak.
I taught everyone three of a perfect pair
and frame by frame.
the coolest thing to me was how many campers
returned from last year; that made a big difference.
like seeing old friends.

thanks to one and all.

I'm bringing the marshmallows...

it's that time of the year again: band camp!
I'll be driving myself to Big Indian, New York tomorrow morning
for 5 fine days at the Full Moon Resort.
followed by a concert next friday night at Bearsville Theatre.
good food, good company, good music...
good grief, it's fun!

personal appearances

remember when that was what concerts were called.
unfortunately, I do.

for the last few months I've been obviously absent
from my blogdom duties, only because I've been working
so hard on new music.
my days have been filled with creativity in my favorite sphere,
my recording studio.
daniel and I have recorded an impressive amount
of new solo material meant to tickle your ears
hopefully sometime this year.
we're certainly far from finished
and I'm very happy with the results
but now it's time to switch gears into
personal appearance mode.
i.e. touring.

for the next 3 months my time will mostly be devoted to shows
which involve a new entity called crimson projekct,
named and approved of by our dearest robert.
in case you missed last year's touring model
it went something like this:
stickmen trio (tony levin, pat mastelotto, and markus rueter)
play a 45-minute set,
then adrian belew power trio play a 45-minute set,
the tony, pat, and yours truly play 3 songs as a trio,
and finally both trios unite in a blazing set of krimson
double trio material and other past krimgems.
that last bit is crimson projekct
it's a powerhouse personal appearance.

tomorrow we begin by flying to russia to do 4 shows.
we'll be there for one week.
then it's do svidanya to our wonderful russian fans.
then we have 2.5 weeks off before we join up
with dream theatre as their opener
during which we'll be playing the crimson projekct
set only (no stickmen or power trio, wah!...)
around these great united states.
this takes up most of june and july.

then comes the icing on the cake,
our now-annual band camp at full moon resort
in late august which will include all 6 of us.
it's a blast! I hope you can make it.
it all ends in a glorious night of music-making
at the woodstock theatre in woodstock, new york.

then it's back to the studio for me. YAHOOO!

on may 1, 1990...

22 glorious years ago!