PURPLE REIGN

Detail from "Purple Reign"

The grey skies parted this morning here in Tennessee to bring another dose of Southern Pop Surrealism to LIFE!  I hosted the very first collaborative painting session at our new house by having over The American Printmaker Jesse Shaw and Wolfman Bennett.  I lucked out catching Wolfie before he headed down to the Gulf for his vacation next week.  Mr. Shaw is knee deep in teaching the yahoos at APSU about art during their summer semester.

#StandWithWendy Women Have a Right to Choose

I didn't quite have time today to make some snazzy pink shoe art to honor Senator Wendy Davis of Texas for her actions last night so this quick meme will have to suffice.  Every now and then an election official rises to the occasion to support her constituents in their needs and human rights.  Texas officials yesterday attempted to pass a bill which would have limited abortions in the state by extreme measures while shutting down the vast majority of abortion clinics in the state.  Senator Davis stood in opposition of this bill for over 11 hours without a break in her now-iconic pink sneakers.  Even when the Republican majority shut her down, it was just a few minutes too late for their vote on the bill to count.  Protesters chanted, "Let Her Speak, Let Her Speak!"

  

Summer Solstice (Standing Still with the All-Seeing Sun)

Only the lucky old sun knows what happened and how it will all end.  The sun is our nurturer and for all intensive purposes IS God.  The Summer Solstice is the longest day of summer and brought about a new illustration dedicated to this wonderment- this giver of life.  It also brings sweeping nostalgia and a poem from my younger self's second collection of poetry,
Dip and Trip .45 (AVAILABLE HERE!)

the longest days of summer

we are all artists

          merging cloud and soil

elliptical commentary

          tangible obscurity befogs static

we are all tuned

          to a certain pitch of singing

a serenade of conviction

all moved by simple energy

we sit and drink and speak of things

          as grand as god

          on the longest days of summer

history is recorded

          bouncing from the vibration

          from small pressures on guitar strings

a fire burns miles high

          haunting lake shores

all children dance

          in the strobelight cloud effect

of the flickering sun

water and smoke alike rise

CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD
the DIP AND TRIP .45 EBOOK!

FAT TRAPPED (Cover Art)

The arts are a labor of love.  A few years back, I met R.T. Ewell at the Knoxville Comic Con.  At the time Richard was promoting his own visual art and has since went on to pen his first horror novella, entitled Fat Trapped.  I was commissioned to draw up a promotional cover for his first literary venture which he's worked on diligently the the past two years.  This week, the finished product is available for download via Ebook along with the covers I designed for him last week from the art I created back when the process began.  What you visualize becomes a reality whether it takes days, weeks or years! Congrats Rich!

Click HERE to see the final Cover of Fat Trapped and give 'er a download to experience all the chills and thrills!

What'd that Asshole Say?

"Talkin' Shit Again..."

Pen on Cardboard

Do all the damn dOOdles (clickity clack HERE)

Top 10 Songs about WAR and PEACE

TOP 10 SONGS ABOUT WAR

"There never was a good war, or a bad peace." 

-Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac

"Purple Heart" Inks on Bristol

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DREGstudios

X-SiGHTED

Pen on Scrap Chipboard / 2013

Go BLiND with the Rave of Doodles HERE!

WHAT'S in the BOX?! [SPOILER ALERT]

Somebody had to...

Most of the memeage I create is over on the Official DREGstudios! Tumblr Page!

WE the PEOPLE are Bradley Manning

After three years of incarceration by the United States Government, Bradley Manning is being tried for 22 crimes against our country and "Aiding the Enemy" this week.  In 2010, the young soldier was arrested for leaking documents to the now infamous organization WikiLeaks whose founder, Julian Assange currently resides in political refuge himself via the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.  This landmark case puts whistle-blowing and freedom of information on trial.  Freedom of Speech is one of the pillars of American life, written and set forth by the Founding Fathers.  Organizations like WikiLeaks exist to expose the public eye and provide the transparency and freedom of information which are supposed to be available to facilitate an open Government.  Today, more whistleblowers and informants have come forward to expose the truth of such things as the wars in the Middle East than ever before in history.  Likewise, more American citizens have been put on trial and prosecuted for such actions than ever before.   

Many men and women have sacrificed their freedom and lives in the name of Human and Equal Rights.  These past few decades, the voice of the people has been ignored as much as ever despite the tools at our disposal to seek out change in society.  For the next few weeks, the American Judicial System is on trial along with Bradley Manning in the court of public perception.  Raise you voice to protect our sacred Freedoms by telling people that YOU too are Bradley Manning!

Click HERE to help FREE Bradley Manning!

This Doodle is Mean as Hell

For all the Meanies out there Monday...

Pen on Scrap of Cardboard / 2013

Click HERE to see ALL the Doodles... Loser.

Choking on the Sight of Sound

Pen on Scrap Chipboard / 2013

Click HERE and Gag on a FULL Helping of Doodles!

TOP 20 Greatest Movies of ALL TIME About Writers

Each author is the grand communicator (well, some more than others.)  Since the inception of spoken language into human life, man has beckoned newer and fresher ways to communicate visually with one another.  Writing came to the forefront of the arts as a respectable profession long before the visual arts.  Whether it be a historical, philosophical, religious or educational context, the written word has laid out the history of man's journey and his struggle with a higher calling.  The high art of film has captured the brilliant moments of such minds and their processes in countless adaptations of the lives of our favorite authors.  Considering both fictional and nonfictional accounts, here are my Top 20 Movies of ALL TIME about Writers!