(Pic #1) Divine delivery: Today’s lit loot from Drip Machine
Art Supplies: Manna From Heaven
A Boy Who Channels A Master — from the 50s
(Pic #1) Laser-focused artist “Jaylen” splatters his way to a perfect abstraction. Hope’s Nest Halloween Workshop, Van Ness Recreation Center, South Los Angeles.
He just started splashing paint around…
It caught my attention — especially since most kids are compelled to “stay within the lines” and to make art that “looks like something.” It’s just how most teachers steer them. They are often taught to copy — to draw with precision — the object in front of them.
Then there’s Jaylen. A young man who stopped by our Halloween Art Workshop in South L.A. and spun my head around. I asked if he knew about abstract expressionism and had he heard of Jackson Pollock. He said, “This IS Jackson Pollock.” I quickly shut my mouth, and silently thanked the teacher who took the time to introduce him to one of my fine art heroes.
Not only did he know one of the greatest painters in modern art, he knew at that moment, to be true to Pollock’s explosive style, he had way more splattering to do. He wasn’t finished. He had at least “one more coat” of black to apply before he could dry his thickening masterpiece in the sun.
His work would take longer to dry than any other child’s at his table, but he probably knew that Pollock would often have to wait a month for his paintings to cure.
Age Before Beauty — Duh!
(Pic #1) Side panel of 1941 Mack Fire truck. Saticoy, California
Confession: I’m kind of a junkyard junkie.
Not sure that’s a thing — but I love the mix of rusting old metal, peeling paint, and layers of decay. I know, you really want to say, “Lon, get a life.”
Well, check out this formerly red, classic 1941 Mack pumper truck I found in Saticoy, California. It sits in a salvage yard I like to visit for artistic inspiration. (And often, I incorporate these discoveries into my creativity workshops for Fortune 500 executives.) Art is in fact everywhere, if you are willing to look beyond.
These colorful, textured images — with their own preordained compositions — represent 80 years of extreme Southern California heat, and perhaps unintended neglect. But weathering brings new life — in the form of unpredictable art. These abstractions are just as exciting to me as a Rothko or Rousseau — just as visually stimulating, and way more accessible.
