My Dental Hygienist

What we have to go through for good dental health! It's just crazy.

Pretty Cupcakes

Iron Man!

When I was a kid, I read my share of comic books. I'm not much into them now, but I remember them fondly, and still get excited when a movie starring one of the characters premiers. Over the weekend, I was one of the billion people who went to see Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr.

How would I rate the movie? I liked it a bunch. Check it out sometime.

Before you scroll down to the images, look to the sidebar and press the play button of the soundtrack. I tried to give you some audio to listen to, as you follow this incredible story of good over evil.

OK, now start the music (you'll find I have no shame these days), and scroll on down!















Look!! It's Iron Man!!!

(keep scrolling down)








An unfortunate roll of the dice...









He attempts to escape justice, pass go, and collect $200!
Iron Man sez- "Not so Fast, evil doer!"









The bad guy is no match for... Iron Man!







Another job well done!

The End.

L is for Llasa Moppsa

I've been wanting to do this one for a while now.

Preserved Specimen

I was always interested in the jarred up little creatures in biology class. I also think of the
"Abby Normal" scenes in Young Frankenstein. But this is dedicated to a friend known as "bunnie", who collects preserved specimens.

Collaborative Effort With Skulladay!

For those of you who are regular visitors to that blog, you saw this yesterday. I just checked it out after being gone for a few days, and Noah did a fantastic job with his end of the collaboration. I hope you'll check it out here.


[edit] Here are the characters on my back porch as I was making them.

The Gel conference was great.

I was honored to speak at the GEL conference yesterday, and wanted to say a special "hello" to anyone from there who may be visiting. They had a lot of interesting speakers, and I'm sure some of the creative thinking that I witnessed there will work its' way into the blog here.

I'll be posting something brand new to the blog Tuesday, so be prepared!

"Time's Up"

Carpe Diem!


Also-
I'll be away from the blog for a week, so tune in next Wednesday or Thursday. I have a series of shots coming up that will be dedicated to a movie coming out soon. I'll need the ability to play music with the post for the full effect- How do I do that?




On another note- the winner of last weeks free underwear celebrated with this cake that his wife made for the occasion. In exchange, he says that he'll let her be the one to wear the free underwear.

An Oldie but a goodie - "Ghost" Oct. 2006

I was going through some of my older stuff and I came across this piece. This is from October of 2006, when I was still creating with more of an idea of "sculptural" pieces rather than working towards photographic images. I made it for Illustration Friday (the word that week was "ghost"), and I think it was one of my first narrative pieces.

Figured that many haven't gone back that far in the archives, and I always liked it. It now resides somewhere in Australia.


The question of Honorable (Un)Mention(ables) was brought up by a commenter who calls him/herself Skormos. I didn't do that, because I'd still have to leave some of the ones that I liked out. But after some thought, here they are.

Honorable Mention #1

Katie Alender said...

When overtaken
by romance,
you may forsake your
underpants.

Honorable Mention #2

Sara noH said...

Working in retail is a bear.
Customers make me tear out my hair.
You can whine all you want,
You can yell, scream and stomp.
But you can't return used underwear.

Again, thanks for all who participated! I enjoyed it a bunch.

The winner, plus an image in progress.

It was a difficult judging. So many good entries. See, this is the magical thing about this internet thing- the coming together of people to share their talent, creativity, and knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the entries, from the beautiful haikus, to the twisted limericks, to the very entertaining short poems. Great stuff. I hope you all had fun, I know I did.

My wife and I disagreed slightly about our favorites, which goes to show that this is truly just one persons' opinion. I thought the winner was both beautiful, and had a wonderful little twist at the end (not unlike a pair of panties when they get up in a bunch).

sharonmattnadia said... Sonnet

Beneath a cotton cloth of purest white
The yeasty dough is set aside to rise
The goddess of the hearth approves the rite
The towel's swelling shape elicits sighs

The shrub that Flora tends upon the sward
that wafts a fertile springtime fragrance fine
in winter yields the eye its own reward
as wind-borne snow distills its graceful line

The goddess of the night divides the dome
of starry heaven with her perfect arc
She smiles upon the baker in her home
and dances on the snowdrift in the park

Such forms inspire but merit not a glance
beside you in your cotton underpants



Again, thanks for all the entries. There were several worthy of free underwear!




Also, I'm teaming up with Skulladay for an image. Here's one of the characters that I made for it. I'll be mailing my end of it to Noah so he can add his special magic. Of course, I'll give you a heads up when he posts the finished piece.

Bent Objects Underwear Give-away

Wow! Where else can you go on the internet and compete for underwear? New ones too!

I'm giving away this card/coupon that came in the mail yesterday. All I ask for is a haiku, limerick, or short poem about underwear.

This is an especially short contest. Entries in the comment section will stop being accepted at 11 p.m. Thursday, April 17th, 2008. (No more entries being accepted! Thanks to all who participated!)



(this was just too silly of an idea not to follow through with)

A Cheesy Sea-doodle Monster

Yes, yet another cheese doodle/poof/curl image! Aren't you guys lucky!

I post this one in honor of choosing the official date of SOSAD (Strangely Orange Snack Appreciation Day) - JUNE 21st! Which not coincidentally is also the longest day of the year, otherwise known as the Summer Solstice.

I keep vacillating on the acronym for this day, from SOSAD to OSNAP. The latter is much catchier, but celebrates the eater of these snacks maybe, instead of the snacks themselves (or maybe I'm just thinking about this waaay too hard). Whatever you want to call it, Hallmark can create silly days to celebrate, so why can't I?

By the way, has anyone out there had some good (or bad) experiences with Cafepress? I think I want to create a shirt to go along with all this nonsense.

Everyone, please feel free to join me in paying homage to all the orange foods and drink, and the strangely orange snack foods in particular!

A little cat doodle

Whisk Broom Bird

I seem to have gone absolutely bird crazy this week. I think my recent illness has made me bird-brained. I just don't know.

Red Wine Pistachio Bird

Attention Visitors! There is no joke here! Move along quietly. Go on, back to your homes and places of business...

There may be something of humor here next time. No promises though!

Mind Your Fingers!

Edit- Sometimes, I get too close to an idea, and the story has written itself in my head, and I think that others should be able to figure it out. I've slowly learned that there are times where this is a good thing. There are other times when I want to let others in on "the joke" (Although mostly this isn't a "joke". It's just part of a weird story.)

Vulture Feathers

It's a fact that these particular characters are very hard working. They take such enjoyment from wiggling their tail feathers over dusty furniture. They've been bred to act this way I suppose.

Anyway, ours has been worth its' weight in raw meat, which makes up its' three meals a day. Just be careful around it will you? It also has an appetite for pinkie fingers.




I didn't include the previous story until I woke up early the next morning thinking about this post. Kudos to the Crafty Mama, Carol, anonymous, and kjaere, for commenting even before I added it.

Todays' Dr. Seuss moment has been brought to you by the Bent Objects Corporation.

Keeping the Kids Close

Latex Suit

A glove taken from a doctors' office.
Posted for the heck of it.

Still friggin' sick!!!

Well, this is just ridiculous.  It's been over a week feeling like this.  I bought a new camera and lens recently, and haven't had a healthy chance to use it once.  I've had to come home early from work the last two days, and I just come home and sleep.   Haven't had even one idea for a photo.  My brain has shut down on me too, apparently.  

edited 3 minutes later- I just came from Drawn!, where I read a post about Jillian Tamaki (you can read about her work there).  She was mentioning what she listens to when she works, and I figured I may as well do the same and save this post from being a total waste of time for you guys, instead of-- waah, I'm sick, or whatever.

Anyway-  Like Jillian, I also listen to This American Life, it's fantastic stuff.  It's available on podcast  Other than that, like Jillian, I listen to a lot of NPR, and BBC.  Music-wise, I play everything from Rage Against the Machine, Beck, Johnny Cash, Feist, Pavarotti (got to see him several years ago.  He was still great), U2,  and many others.  To get a range of ideas, I think it helps to listen to a wide range of music, listen to a wide range of people, study a wide range of art.  

It seems many people stop trying out new things after they graduate.  For example, their hairstyles are locked into place after high school.   Any music that they listen to is the music of their youth.  I do understand why this happens though.   Everyday life, making a living, it takes effort, and many times there isn't enough energy to seek out, or experience something outside a persons norm.   I understand the wonderful freedom a person feels by not having to keep up with the latest fashions, not feeling the peer pressure of classmates to do so.  It's one of the many pleasures of being out of school, of being able to be more yourself and not dealing with the hierarchy of classmates or whoever.  It's truly wonderful not worrying if you fit in enough to get a date on a Saturday night.  To you who are still dealing with this in school, it will get better later in life for many of you.  It did me anyway.

If I want to be lazy and wear my pajama pants to the video store, I do.  My wife laughs at me, but there isn't anyone I need to impress there.  On the other hand, I'm not blind to the different fashions going on.  I like many of them.  And as for music, art, cinema- give me new, new, new! Show me something that I haven't seen before!  I'm hungry for surprise.  Show me someone who is trying to think in ways that no one else is.  Nothing makes me more excited.

In the end (When it comes to my work), if I need to get myself going, then I play some energetic music, drink some strong coffee (the caffeine buzz is very helpful), and maybe jump up and down a bit.

Have a good day, and hopefully I'll have something new for you to look at soon.

T

Doodles for the Circus Peanut Series

Doodled these at work on scrap paper. The next one to be photographed is the one being hidden here.

As you can see, the fire-eater and lion tamers' poses stayed just like I first imagined them. The other two changed drastically.

(New here? If you scroll down a few posts, you'll see this series.)

On the Chocolate Farm, There Was A Chocolate Bunny...

Happy Easter all you people out there! I welcome springtime to the northern hemisphere!

I'm afraid I'm getting sick...

I know what some of you are thinking, but I don't mean mentally, I know I'm there already. I mean in the cold and flu sense. Here in the States, we've had a regular flu epidemic this winter, and I rarely fall victim, but I'm afraid it finally got to me.

So, long story short, I thought I'd have a new image on here this morning to celebrate Easter bunnies here in the U.S. I suppose Canada has the Easter Bunny also? Maybe some other places too, who knows. I know that in France, there's a flying bell that comes to give out candy. I heard that one from David Sedaris.

Anyway, I hope to have something up later today about the subject.

An example of some preliminary doodles.

These are facing pages from one of my sketch books. This book is a wonderful little hardbound, four and a half by six inches. A beautiful handmade book made for something better than these doodles, but I love carrying it around.

As you can see, the left page was the sketch for this one, and the right page was the idea for this one. About half of the time, I'll get an idea that translates almost directly from doodle to photo. In other words, there aren't a bunch of changes in angle and pose (although the photography and lighting is another thing altogether). The rest of the ideas come more slowly and with many revisions. I prefer the first way.

I'll usually have several ideas sketched out, then go back later and see what seems promising. As you can see ( I sometimes write the date I shoot an image, and usually also when I think of the idea), for some reason, I didn't do the orange shot until almost a month after the toilet roll shot- "Just One of Those Days". When I finally got around to making the orange hunter, he was one of my most popular images ever. I just never know what's going to work!

I wrote in black marker "another version further back in book" when I came up with this idea, several weeks later.

L.A. Woman

I will probably involve her in a narrative at some point, but here she is just posing for you.

Oh, yeah- those are wax lips. Do people in other parts of the world know about wax lips?

Spleenal

OK, I've been trying to spread the word about this guy for a while, and it's time to give him some space here at the blog. He says that he just lost his job, so let's all go over there and leave an encouraging comment or two, shall we? Please?

I think the guy is hugely talented, but his blog doesn't get the attention that it deserves. Be warned, it's not always safe for work. Much, much adult humor, which probably hurts him some ways as far as sale-ability, but I think it's winning work. Also, my wife is more conservative than I am, and says it's more of a male kind of humor, but you please be the judge there.
Anyway, here he is - Where I Vent My Spleen

Here is his flickr account. He's created a ton of philosopher trading cards, physicist trading cards...just a ton of funny cards.

Fidel the Fire-Eater

Another Circus Peanut Tragedy. I really think these guys need to stay out of show business.



For the record- Circus peanuts burn very strangely, and very easily.

Olive and Gherkin in OLIVE Magazine.

In this months OLIVE magazine (a British foodie mag, put out by the BBC), they included "Relishing Life...and Death"!

I love foodie mags, they're so beautiful to look at. I love art magazines, architectural magazines, style magazines... (just so you'll know what to get me for Christmas).

p.s.- New Circus Peanut shot Monday afternoon!

One that didn't make the grade.

So, I'm making some images for the sole purpose of having fresh stuff for my book. Been really busy, really pushing myself, and after I showed my wife, my brother, and several artist friends the following image, only one person was able to figure out what I was trying to say here. I was depressed. I went out for some coffee. Had to take a break.

I came back and looked at it again. I tred to figure out what I could have done differently. I still liked the photo, but decided this is going into the pile of ones that didn't make the cut. I then told my brother that I was gonna hide this. I'd pretend that it never existed.

Well, it's a bloggers' prerogative to change his mind. So here it is, the little image that couldn't. Why I'm posting this, I don't know. What the heck.

We'll call it-- "The Terrible Story Behind Our Personal Hygiene Needs".


Dateline- Greenland

I totally changed the title and info for this post. Who knows? Maybe it'll make a difference.

Whatever happens, I'm not giving any hints about what it means.
This image is pretty much just an example of how confusing one mans' mind can be.

A new Circus Peanut image late Monday.

Rethinking the acronym- S.O.S.A.D.

Strangely Orange Snack Appreciation Day. When I was writing that, I wasn't thinking about the acronym, but I obviously should have given it more thought (but, as is my habit, I'm making most of this up as I go along).

First, thanks to Scott, On with the blather, Elena, and Katie Alender for pointing out the acronym. Before this movement really takes off, I think that we should give that some more thought. I mean, this should be a happy day, right? But SOSAD doesn't sound so happy. I really like Katies' creation of OSNAP (Orange Snack Nibblers Appreciation Day), even though I'm choosing to do make a whole day of it, which is more than just a nibble. I realize that any sane people out there who join in will just join in symbolically with a cheez-it, and/or a glass of juice.

Anyway, please feel free to leave your opinion in the comment section.

While you're thinking about OSNAP, or SOSAD, or whatever, here's another poor circus peanut. One of the commenters (cm?) was asking where I got my inspiration for these. Well, this one is courtesy of too many cartoons watched as a child (but it's finally paying off for me!).

He had always been so sure footed...

Another fatal accident at the Circus Peanut Circus.

Gruesome. Just gruesome.