These flowers, Gloriosa Lilies, are in full bloom all
around town right now. If they are in California, I never noticed them. Last
week I picked a handful of them, on a walk with my dogs, came home and drew them
all over the canvas. It seemed like it was lacking something so I added the guy
in a fishnet shirt as my focal point.
“El Glorioso”
30” x 40”
Copperleaf and Acrylic on Canvas
Happy October,
Tony
www.tonydecarlo.com
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  I didn't know it before I moved here, but the city of Savannah sure does love festivals. There are 175 festivals and celebrations here each year, a new one starting every other day and overlapping with others. There is a film festival, a book fesitval, and a pirate festival. A Greek fesival, a Latin festival, an Asian festival, and an Irish festival. A gay and lesbian festival, a sidewalk arts festival and a Black Heritage festival. A Savannah music festival, a jazz festival and a Blues & BBQ festival. I unknowingly stumbled into most of them while walking my dogs around town. Isidro and I went to the largest park here with my dogs and stumbled upon yet another festival. A festival for dogs, called "Mutt Strutt". Apparently we were the only that hadn't heard about it because there seemed to be 10,000 dogs there. From across the street, Isidro took one look at the crowd with their dogs and said "Every damn dog in the entire world is here!".But this painting is about the crowds of people I've seen at the various festivals, most of whom seem to be students of the Savannah College of Art and Design. "People In The Crowd" Festivally Yours,TONY |
   nother week, and another series of storms. Howling winds, torrential rains, topped off by ice and half a foot of snow. Spun a 180 heading to work on Thursday (after skidding thru an intersection and into the path of an ambulance). Since that pointed me back towards home, I took it as a sign, and returned home, raised the drawbridge, and just said no to going back out (except for a quick side trip to the gym).
he spin out was an apt symbol for other behind the scenes events that transpired in my life (sorry but these spin outs are not for public consumption...not at this time). Will be going into surgery this Tuesday. Trying not to think about that. Will just show up and let the lasers start the slicing and dicing and hope for the best
 "In the wee small hours of the morning
While the whole wide world is fast asleep"
I have not mentioned this, but I've been on an extended fast (technically not a fast; is called a “protein sparing modified fast” which means you take in enough protein to insure that you do not pull a Karen Carpenter and digest your own lean body mass to meet your basic requirements for protein. Have lost 27 lbs since November – though oddly gained a pound this week even though the calculations say that I should have lost two which is a three pound discrepancy. This process continues. I am unsure what contributes to this week's Soup. But here it is.  "And I read the note, that you never wrote, to me." 1. and 2. Your Starter For Tonight and Tonight – The opening tracks off Miss Elton John’s 1976 Blue Moves double LP. Elton had great hopes that this LP would revive a career that was rapidly heading south following the disappointing “Rock of the Westies” LP. In this, he failed. This LP was panned by critics  and fans alike, whose tastes had shifted away from rock and pop, and towards "reeking and flatulent, sequin encrusted platform wobbling cheap polyester draped sweat hog dancing" disco. It is a pity. Elton considered this his finest LP, and it definitely stands the test of time.
It only goes to show that popularity has absolutely **no connection** to quality.
3. In the Wee Small Hours of The Morning -- This LP is arguably the first “concept” LP, the concept being late night isolation, and lost love. The LP cover is one of the all time great 1950’s pieces of commercial art. Many people have covered this song, but Frank shows that he owns the song in this stunning and understated rendition, filled with tender vulnerability.
4. The Note You Never Wrote -- This obscure song off Paul McCartney and Wings 1976 “Wings at the Speed of Sound” LP, was written and is sung by band member Denny Lane. I have observed that notes neither written, nor sent, can nevertheless at times speak louder than anything you might otherwise write. I have been both on the sending and receiving ends of such notes.
And the hearts that you played on the porch swing for me
Was a song that I'd heard in the past
For I had an audience somewhere inside you That applauded whenever you laughed All of this makes it's way into this week's soup. You can get your big ass bowl of Saturday Night Soup for the Soul by clicking the jukebox. |
Nothing much to report, or to be more accurate, not much that I am going to report from the wide open road. That said, here is another de Carlo painting that I passed in between Burma Shave signs on I-95.
 
I finished this painting yesterday, and wanted to use my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give it the title of yesterday’s date. That’s my backyard and my garage in the background. I was considering adopting one or two more white Chihuahuas someone here is trying to give away, and this image helped convince me it probably wasn’t a good idea.
“09.09.09”
24” x 36” Acrylic on Canvas
At least I didn’t hijack a plane because of the date, like that nut in Mexico did,
TONY
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Run through the
Red Stop Light to read the story of Tony's "Waiting" painting. (Click the Stop Light) 
Cherry Red, Severed Head
And one you don't remember, You said. |
    It is because I so deeply love you  that I ask you all to put your cigarettes out and instead click the icon to read T-Birds story for Tony's 2002 "Naked Cigarette" painting.
Note: This is a large (8.8 MB) PDF with lots of embedded sound clips, so be patient. It tells the story of my first teenage experience with the wonder drug Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.
Not advised for the timid, nor for the feint of heart. Rated "B" for Bizarre. NOTE: You may need to "Allow" in the Adobe Trust Settings to be able to listen to the many audio embeds in this PDF. After you read and listened to the PDF Story, you can watch this Vid which figures in part of the story. Have fun – I sure in the hell know I did. The epilog to this movie (starts at 1:29:10) is a stunning bit of emerging-psychedelic comedy strangeness. This is very much the roots that spawned Monty Python several years later. Someone was smoking rope and/or having LSD Flash Backs when they did the voice overs to Wagner. |
 
Amid the news coverage of the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and now Southern California, I envisioned my next still life as not so still, but quivering and shaking during an earthquake. It was hard, but I forced myself not to use any black in this painting.
“Anthuriums In An Earthquake”
20” x 30”
Acrylic on Canvas Quiveringly, Tony |
 
The most famous church in Albuquerque, this is San Felipe Neri in Old Town. Completed in 1793, it replaced the 1706 church that was destroyed by floods and the Comanches.
Like all of my landscapes, it's completely out of scale, off color. and the wrong proportions. Just the way I like it!
"San Felipe Neri, Albuquerque"
24" x 30"
Acrylic on Canvas
Freezing here, TONY
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 oday, Saturday, in a parody of some science fiction movie, I am making a flying leap to attempt to jump thru the gateway that leads back to a place I call "the zone".
"What is this place?" you ask. Well, it is a intangible state of being where I can both focus, and not focus. A place where I can be enough in the day to day world, so that I can successfully execute my career -- but not be of that world, so that I can devote my finest energy and concentration to personally strategic long range goals.
This week was one where I was pulled many different directions at once, and I suffered a minor stress related fracture due to the mutually exclusive concurrent demands being made upon me. Somewhere in all this bullsh*t I passed out, and then awoke finding myself on a fast track to nowhere... and that pissed me off, and scared me more than a little. So...I am taking matters back into my own hands, and racing for "the zone" portal and leaping through, lest it snap shut trapping me in the bullsh*t zone.
I jumped in the river and what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me
A moon full of stars and astral cars
All the things I used to see
All my lovers were there with me
All my past and futures
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt
Recovering from the annual flu shot. Seemed to have a bit of abad reaction to it this year. Not sure why I was hit so hard. I normally enjoy good health. That may have added to the feeling of discombobulation that I have. Hurrah i awake from yesterdayAlive but the war is here to stay
So my love Catherina and me
Decide to take our last walk
Through the noise to the sea
Not to die but to be re-born
Away from a life so battered and torn....
Forever...Forever...
There is a theme in this week's music, which is one of escaping back to submerged underwater worlds. Sort of a stand in for what I discussed at the beginning of this post. Will follow up this post with a Tony de Carlo painting from 1997 on the very same theme.
1. Bakif We start with classic Duke Ellington from his 1940's band. Duke,  the great American musical genius with a career that spanned that spanned six decades. He never rested on his laurels, instead choosing to perpetual reinvention by reworking his vast repertoire finding the things in the old, and by continually adding new compositional gems up until the end.
This band (the “The Blanton-Webster Band”) is seriously stunning. The composition is exotic, latinesque and complex. The violin solo that winds thru this number is out of this world. Someday I will write about his musical alter ego – the shy and very gay Billy Strayhorn, who became his most trusted musical confidant. One of those great straight man gay man pairings that are so wonderful and unique (I know all about these pairings).
 2. Pyramid Song By Radiohead and from from their 2001 Amnesiac CD. I included two RELATED YouTube vids above. The first is a live performance from La Belle France, and the other is the "official" video. It portrays a scuba diver examining the remains of a submerged life and its artifacts. This topic has been on my mind a lot this winter and is is something I will be writing about in my next “Road Trip Diary” post. Go here to learn more about Pyramid Song.
3. 1983 (A Merman I Should Turn to Be) Damn I love this song which is from the great Electric Ladyland by Seattle's own Jimi Hendrix. I have some wonderful LSD memories of thsi song and the hullicinations that occurred while listening to it.
The title track asks the musical question "Have you ever been to Electric LadyLand?" and then Jimi supplies his own answer "Well I have!" . Ditto for me. The picture above is the original UK LP gate fold, which was banned in the US. Yes, I added a few tweaks.
 BTW: while I am here, "Hillary for President in 2016". Despite the collage, she is a remarkable woman and her husband Bill is a remarkable man. Would LOVE to see them back in the White House after the Obama second term.   
This song is the finishing garnish that completes this week’s Soup recipe. Click here to read the lyrics and start the guessing game as to why it is an ingredient.
All of this makes it's way into this week's soup. You can strat your first serving of Saturday Night Soup for the Soul by clicking the jukebox.
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Here we see little Dickie Cheney dressed to kill in a smartly tailored ensemble with matching coat, pants, accessorized with a perky little French inspired hat, with 24k gold piping, capped with a sterling silver Nazi SS Death’s Head pin. He is sure to turn all the boys’ heads as he struts the runways at the Pentagon Spring Fashion show.
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