Friday, June 13, 2008

La Mariachi (2008)

Many of you have been waiting for me to finish this babe for a while and I apologize for taking so long to do so. First off Id like to give props to my photogropher Phil Holland for doing such an awesome job on photographing her. Secondly shes up for Sale. you can own one of these dolls for $450. I only wanted to release 3 of these gals but then every one wanted to own one so I decided to double the edition to 6 one of a kind pieces. So If your wondering what to waste that stimulus check on why not support an artist. You can find the original story to La Mariachi here
Below you can read a new story I wrote entitled, "Good ideas and bad women"

La Mariachi (2008)


Good ideas and bad women


It was Sunday afternoon and I woke up from a bad dream nursing a hangover. I checked the call log on my phone hoping I didn’t piss off too many people with drunken phone calls. I wiped the sweat off my brow and stripped to my shorts. I reached for the bottle of club soda that I keep on the nightstand and draw back a good one while I listen to a message from a doll I’ve been avoiding for sometime now, “Hey rooster hope your doing fine, this is Tanya, I was just calling to say ‘Hi’. I think I saw you leaving the Powwow Saloon last Friday around 11. I think it was you. You where driving a silver Taurus or something. Anyways, give me a call when you get a chance alright, bye” Tanya is a girl I met one night while winging a buddy. There were hardly any women that night and for the sake of not letting a night go to waste we decided to talk to the only chicks at the bar. At the end of the night our friends exchanged numbers and since me and Tanya had a somewhat deep conversation about ball bearings and cheese cloth, I felt a little obligated to exchange numbers with her as well. We talked a few times on the phone but I cut the connection after I tried to get her to come over one night and she wouldn’t budge.

I decided to get some serious work done that night so I sat down and started designing some new sculptures. I had a few Ideas I had been playing with for sometime now and tried to put them down on paper. I quickly drew out some quick doodles to loosen up a bit then did a little playing with surface planes and curves. Tried applying them to some figures but could not get them to flow consistently. I wanted to start playing a bit more with light this time around but just couldn’t find anything that satisfied me. I opened up a few books looking for reference, and then did a little meditation. I turned up the radio and blasted some jazz for a bit hoping it loosens me up some. I ended up laying out some good designs but they still required a bit more structure and flow. One of the things I kept struggling with was trying to keep true to my original concept. Many times an artist can come up with a good idea but end up fucking it up by cutting corners. Nothing good ever came out of cutting corners.

A good idea is like a good woman. If you cut corners or have no idea how to handle them they can ruin you. For instance, say you see a beautiful woman at the end of the bar. You build up enough courage in you to go over and initiate a conversation with her. You sit around, have a few drinks, and enjoy each others company. She asks you where you’re from, what do you do, and all that. That’s her way of checking your qualifications and if you don’t live up to them she’s not going to give you the time of day. Now, let’s say you meet her qualifications, you guys go out a few times, you start a relationship, and then after a few months you start getting comfortable. You begin to cut corners on her, stop giving a shit about your appearance, let your gut go, and before you now it she’s thrown your ass to the curve. Then, a few months go by, you try and contact her, and find out that not only has she kicked you to the curve but she’s also found another man and to fuck things up a bit more she’s engaged. Then you turn to drinking and hookers and before you know it you’re ruined. Now let’s look at how this relates to ideas.

You’re sitting around on a Sunday night and you come up with a good idea. Assuming you have the proper qualifications to undertake this project, i.e. proper education, enough research, and funds, you decide to take the initiative and begin working on your idea. So a few days go by, your funds start to slip, then you’re challenged by an unforeseen problem, you begin to cut corners, and half ass everything just for the sake of getting this shit done. You finish your piece and it looks nothing like your original concept. You’ve wasted tons of money on this big pile of shit you created, you get depressed, you forget completely about your idea, and let the damn thing sit in your garage for weeks on end. Then a few months go by, you try and work on that good idea once more but find out that some other artist has already made that idea and done a better job at it. That artist ends up gaining recognition and selling the piece for a ton of money. You grow bitter, depressed, and turn to drinking and hookers. You’re ruined.

On the other hand bad ideas are abundant and easy to find. Just walk into any trashy bar on any given night and you’ll find a bad idea looking for company. You call it up on a Sunday night after 3 weeks of no action. You go on over and dance with your bad idea for a while. A few months go by, your bad idea calls you, and tells you that in 9 months shell probably have ideas you’ll be interested in. Since you don’t really dig your bad idea that much anymore, you end up calling her drunk one night, end up telling her to go fuck her self, and before you know it your bad ideas turn into bad days. This will also lead you to drinking, hookers and your ruin. So don’t half ass your shit.

Sunday, 9:12pm

Tanya: “hello”
Rooster: “Hey doll how you doin’”
Tanya: “I’m alright how bout you? How was your day?”
Rooster: “It was good got a little work done here and there”
Tanya: “That’s nice”
Rooster: “Yeah, hey listen I was wondering if maybe you’d like to grab some donuts or somethin’”
Tanya: “ha, you’re funny?”
Rooster: “what?”
Tanya: “nothing, but if you want to come over, that’ll be cool”
Rooster: “Over your place?”
Tanya: “yeah”
Rooster: “give me 20 minutes”

-Red Rooster 2008

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Barstool Philosopher (2008)

What the fuck is the deal with drunks?
So I finally finished this piece entitled "the Barstool Philosopher". I tried a new painting technique this time around. I was a bit inspired by early German expressionism and the sloppy drunks that I run into at bars. These awesome photos were taken by my good friend Beth Ashby Ferrara, you can check out her work at, www.fotojedi.com Below is the original story I wrote a few moths ago when I first finished sculpting him. Hope you guys dig it. Safe drinking and sorry to all of you who received my drunk calls and messages this past weekend, cheers!
-Red Rooster

Photobucket

Photobucket



The Barstool Philosopher


The dim light of the bar hides her bite marks on my neck.
My lips are bruised, my shoulders are scratched and I got a knot on my forehead.
Ive got a slight headache from lack of sleep and my sunken eyes burn.
I take a draw from the cold bottle and place it over my knotted forehead as I think about her stupid dog figurine.

"You know that thing is worth over 200 dollars", she said. "...but I got it for 20 at a yard sale from some old lady who didn't know what she was selling."

"You got jacked", I replied.

Her eyes cringed and upper lip stiffened as she punched me on my chest.
I laughed at her sad attempt to hurt me.
I grabbed her slick black hair, pulled her head back and began to passionately kiss, suck, and bite her neck.
She bit my lips till they bled and scratched seven layers of skin off my back.
A Woman like that should be caged up somewhere.

The beer bottles clank, ping, and crash all around me and my pint glass is due for a refill.
I signal the bartender and order me up another Guinness.
In a low lit corner near the edge of the bar, sits the bar stool philosopher in search of an audience.
I recognize him by his forced desperate awkward laugh.
Hes trying to make friends with anyone at the bar but its only a sad attempt to sell his pathetic life story to anyone dumb enough to listen.
He pulls up the stool next to me and begins his sad song.

"Yeah man, I work delivering beers and barely make enough money to make it. My kid is the brightest in his class and I'm going to do what ever it takes to keep him at a private school. public schools in LA are gone to shits. My Wife is threatening to divorce me but is waiting till she gets her fucken car paid off. I'm trying to fuck this bartender here but I don't want her to get attached. Yeah, I know what its like out there on the streets man, I grew up in Pasadena. All those white people hate Mexicans out there but I'm a Chicano and I don't give a fuck. Yeah, I work delivering beer and barely make enough money to make it....you know what I mean man?"

After three beers hes resolved his problems and feels the needs to give me advise.

"You know what man, your young you should save your money and buy a house. My cousin Chayo just bought her house in Riverside. She's remodeling it and then she's going to sell it. Who beat you up?"

"Some girl"

"Aww fuck that I would never let some bitch treat me like that. My wife tries to tell me what to do and I'm like fuck that. I never trust a woman. One time my homeboy Stephen took his son to the movies and when he came back his girl was fucking some black dude. Fuck that if I found my woman with some Negro Id kill them both. I never trust women. But for real man, I'm a nice guy. you know what they call me? Gentle Giant. Thats 'cause I'm big and look mean but I'm a good guy on the inside. You should go back to school and get an education. My brother Rickey got out of jail when he was 24, went back to school and now he owns his own body shop. Its all about making money and fucking bitches. Never get married, that shit just fucks you up. Hey, have you been checked? (for disease) Fuck that homeboy go get checked tomorrow you just never know who these bitches been fucking. I remember back in 92 when the Riots happened me and my homeboy Rigo came up on a Street Fighter II video arcade game and set it up in his grandmas house and charged all the little kids a quarter to play. You see I've always been about making money. Hey, you should go Holla' at that girl over there, she hot foo'. Yeah man, I deliver beer and barely make enough money to make it."

He finally gets too drunk and belligerent and ends up getting kicked out of the bar. The bartender tells me,

"You shouldn't let your friend drink too much".

"I have no Idea who that dude is"

"but you where talking to him for a long time"

"He was talking, I was drinking"

"So, who beat you up?"

"Some girl"

"Why?"

"Because I'm a sculptor and I barely make enough money to make it............."

-Red Rooster 2007