A little break from the novel: "Taxi Cats"

Studies for the High Wire

VESTRI - His Helmut

This is a sketch of the lead Cop in the Cirque. His name is Vestri. The helmut he wears is elaborate and represents the City. It features sculpted skyscrapers, F-16's, and Taxi Cabs.

The American Cirque Parade Balloons

The day the Cirque comes to town, the parade rides down Main Street. It's an old tradition. The crew spends 24 hours getting the parade line and floats ready. Here, they are setting up the Fat Lady Float and hoisting the Star above her head. These are the most elaborate floats ever made.

The American Chair

The Cirque audiences sit in American Chairs. They are grounded on the map of the world.

Meet Vestri of the Cirque Police

The Cirque is under seige at all times and the police are vigilent. Their uniforms are imposing. Zeppelins and Fighter jets decorate their shoulders.

The Harlequin Clown in American Cirque

Clowns are the observers in the Cirque. They are the distractors. While the main ring is active with an act, the clowns create ambiance around the other rings. This Harlequin Clown is observing. He is Seraphim, the youngest of the clowns.

The Marionette Master - Another View

When an acrobat dies, the Marionette Master carves a likeness of him in wood and attaches the marionette strings. This is both for economic reasons, and to keep up appearances. But this kind of strategy can't last forever in the American Cirque. The problem is that clowns and acrobats are in short supply.

Shot from the Canon Guy

 "He's got that look on his face again. He does this just before he gets shot from the canon." Interview with the Ringmaster, "American Cirque".

The Marionette Master -

Drawn on the Train... A Wine Angel (TM)

I've been drawing wine angels since 1999 - when I unexpectedly landed in Sonoma, California and was completely overwhelmed by the wine culture. I make 3D sculptures of them @ Christmas out of rolls of scotch tape and in general, have had lots of fun with them. Sometimes you have to shake up your head to draw and drawing fantasy things does that for me.

Then, there's this guy (left). He's a sketch for American Cirque - my big project. The American Circus is a way for me to capture a view of this country. As an artist, I am Ezra Pound's example of "social antennae" -

The Joy Child

I painted this a few years ago and a Jamaican couple bought it and brought it back to Jamaica with them. It's one of the paintings that makes me think about writing because there is a novel's worth of information on that flat canvas. Who are those folks? What makes them so happy? What is the joy about around that child? Lost and then found? Sick and then well? What's the relationship of all these folks? Who is the young boy? How does it happen that he knows the joy too?