PATTERNS AND TONES

When it comes to cars, girls and monsters, there's no one in the world of contemporary illustration that renders them quite like the amazing artist,  Rockin' Jelly Bean . One of Japan's premire illustrators, Jelly combines west coast kustom kar kulture esthetics, with subcultural references and erotic pinup girls. Saddling two cities, Rockin' Jelly Bean seamlessly melds the two world together to create amazing and original artwork which is reproduced for the masses in silkscreen posters , cloths and more recently beach towels !  Following in the foot steps of the likes of  Robert Williams , with his lo-brow f igurative graphics and  Ed "Big Daddy" Roth , with his anti-hero  Rat Fink, Rockin' Jelly Bean has carved out his own niche in the world of art graphics.  True to his name, Rockin' Jelly Bean  is also a fantastic bass player in the amazing Tokyo  surf combo   Jackie and The Cedrics , as well local Los Angeles favs...

"Venus" Type R Chromogenic Print Taking a break from my Paper Ballet project, I thought I would share with you a few images I created awhile back. They are constructed from my imagination and incapsulate a few ideas I have about the portrayal of woman in photographs, creating a narrative between sexuality and containment, effervescence and contentment. Venus riding on the crest of a wave, the excitement and unconfined enthusiasm of youth and the contained beauty and power of wisdom, are characteristics which are embodied within each and everyone of us. "Bodies of Water" were physically created by sandwiching slide film of portraits I had shot, with close up details at the waters edge and then printing them on Type R paper. The beauty and warmth of film can be felt in these images. A discerning eye can quickly tell the difference. The tenor is at a different pitch. It's like tasting fine dark chocolate after only experiencing Hershey's all your life...

This week I set out to construct the sets for my Paper Ballet. I had sketched out ideas of what elements I wanted to incorporate and ended up with another balance of tension created between graphic designs and organic silhouettes. I had every intention of creating them in full scale, but as I began to construct the costumes, I realized that I was creating a huge hurdle for myself and promptly decided to bring them down to a manageable size.  I have seen artists create sets for the opera by constructing boxes that housed their vision before it was taken full scale. I applied the same idea here, albeit with flimsier materials, and began to cut and paste in a very short time frame.  I first started with a 10" x 10" cardboard box but soon  realized it was going to be just too small for me to  literally work inside of. The 16" x 16" box was just right.  I cut the top out to allow light to flood the set so I could light it when it came time...

After much preparation, organization and scheduling, the first phase of the project took shape and a photo shoot with the dancers in costume was set. What better location than a dance studio used by the ballerina to stage the shoot! We all met at Suzie's Studio in San Rafael. I had driven up with a car so packed with paper portfolios, that I could barely see out the back window! The excitement of actually seeing this project take flight filled my heart with joy. The two dancers for the project, Mymuna Demora and Grier Cooper, were there when we arrived already warming up. Coming from very different backgrounds in dance, one a classically trained ballerina - the other coming from the inspirations of the great 20th century modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham , I had a feeling the tension created by these varying approaches to dance would further my exploration of balance and instability within the image. They did not disappoint! The talented Gwen Allen documente...