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I had this image but was not sure what
it meant, if anything. So when my friend the artist Michael Lindas
said it was "quite dismal" on Facebook, I replied,
half jokingly, "Yes, but I'm counting on you to tell me
what it means." "Now I interpret your dreams?"
he rplied. "Okay ... I'll give it a shot." I was so
impressed with his shot that couldn't resist illustrating it.
I've never met Michael personally, so this is coming straight
from his experience with my paintings, not with me.
MICHAEL GIVES IT A SHOT
#1438, 2018, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches
If I look at it as a personal Criswell message..... TO ME it
looks as if your standard classic 'go to' image of 'curved road
going around tree grouping with bridge' is being caught up in
that Golden Spiral heading toward the drain. Like a black hole
in space that pulls in everything, even the light.
The dead flying insect..... [and] your classic crow.... also
being pulled toward the drain. If I had to interpret this dream
image from your muse, I would say she is telling you to trust
her to pull you into a new direction, a new plateau.
I remember you used to do very
realistic pastoral landscapes ...
The Arkansas Red Wolf,
1981, acrylic wash on paper, 17 x 24 inches, private collection |
Narrows Road Morning Poem, 1981, acrylic wash on paper, 17 x 24 inches, private
collection |
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... until a tornado shook up
your world. And you moved on to other 'swirling things' ... from
the homeless swirling around a 55 gallon alley fire, to strippers
spinning around poles ...
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Dangerous Sunset,
1983, watercolor,
11 x 14 inches |
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Moths, 1988, oil
on paper, 48x 36 inches, private collection
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Rita, 1989, watercolor & pastel on paper,
8 x 10 inches, collection Capital Art Center, Taipai, China
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... to the spinning images of you
interpreting yourself ...
... to finally the curving road
with circling crow above......
Vapor Trails (The Hurdy Gurdy Man), 2015, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches |
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As the Crow Flies,
2014, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches |
Smoke, 2016, oil
on canvas,
18 x 24 inches
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Arc, 2014, oil
on canvas,
16 x 20 inches
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Overpass, 2018,
oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches |
Sailor's Delight,
2017, oil on panel, 13 x 18 inches
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And we still see that tornado-like
spirialing effect, in your work today.
Your muse may be saying that
its time for a 'new mask' to appear, a new addition to Personae....
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Personae, 1991,
5 masks, acrylic on papier-machet, life-size: Crow, Acteon
the Hunter, Acteon the Prey, Anubis & The Unnameable, private
collection |
If I look at it as a public Criswell
message....
Our world is going down the drain. The world we have grown accustomed
to is being pulled away from us. All that was important to us
has turned into dead blood sucking parasites. That's the dismal
part. LOL
Lately with your work, I focus more on the spirals and arcs than
I do the interpretation of the subject matter. Love the way the
road, the shine of the sink basin, the top of the tree line,
and even the water droplets curve into that opening. Very sensual
to me.... I'm a big Georgia OKeeffe fan, so seeing 'inappropriate
objects' floating in the sky is right up my alley.
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