Still Night in my Eyes

© “The Beginning”  pastel / pastel paper   18″ x 24″

 

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Still night in my eyes

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Threads of silk memory

dark purple blue sky,

Siren and muse song

dream dance of disguise,

Strum the stings closer

still night in my eyes,

Thin covered trails

veil creation from lies.

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The music now begins

flow of chords in my hands,

the story unfolding

dice destiny commands,

Icarus wing soaring

zenith far and above,

Embrace still the moment

till your senses love,

love,

love.

©Alexander Rosado

 

© Dark Dance     pastel / pastel paper    24″ x 18″

Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to have been invited by a great friend of many years,

the Puerto Rican virtuoso classical “guitartist” (to use a term he coined) José Antonio López, to witness and enjoy a live rehearsal where a fusion of music and movement would be taking place.

The rehearsal was for the classical guitar and contemporary dance concert “A Una Sola Guitarra” that was yet to be held at the Teatro UPR in Rio Piedras in early March of 2017. I have for countless years (maybe due to listening to trio, flamenco, and classical guitar pieces since childhood and fascinated by the agility, grace, and power present in dance) found the combination of guitar and dance/movement to be a significant catalyst of inspiration and at times a critical component of the intricacies of my art. The contemporary dance company taking part in the extraordinary performance was MayaWest Dance Project which is directed by the the young and extremely talented professional dancer David Soler.

Both the dance and the music helped give form to some existing ideas and ignite a series of new ones. The work titled “The Beginning” and the poem “Still Night in My Eyes” are but a sample of the result of merging the recent with the past.

 

© The Stretch (mounted for finishing touches)   charcoal / archival mat board    16″ x 13″

Fear of Crashing

© “Patroklos” after Jacques Louis David c.1780   charcoal, charcoal white / toned card stock paper   8.5″ x 11″

A few weeks back I conceived a short poem from a recalled dream, which I did not completely understand (remaining ambiguous to a certain degree as most dreams do).

I had decided to not post it for the moment because it apparently did not have any relation to what I was working on at the moment which were some drawings, so devoid of an elegant paring of both poem and drawings, I waited and remained waiting without posting.

© Study of Antagonism   charcoal, charcoal white, colored pencil / pastel paper    11″ x 8.5″

After viewing a video a few days ago from the course “The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hrs” where the scholars Douglas Frame and Gregory Nagy discuss “telos” and it’s relationship to charioteers and crashes, the dream and poem resonated on a very different level for me, especially since the title of my poem was “Fear of Crashing”.

© Rising Girl Back study    permanent marker, charcoal / card stock paper    11″ x 8.5″

 

© Female head study    charcoal, ink, colored pencil / pastel paper    11″ x 8.5″

The discussion centered around chariot driving and the outcomes for heroes such as Patroklos, Nestor, Phaethon, and Hippolytus, all having to do with life/career paths, stages, initiations, and cycles.

A very important key for me: avoiding crashes with mythological bulls and incoming traffic. Here is the very short poem:

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Fear of Crashing

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Night highway flowing darkly,

swarming headlights blind my eyes,

against traffic I’m driving,

lane swerving swift motions of mine.

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© Figure study sketch  charcoal, white charcoal / pastel paper    8.5″ x 11″

Ode to the Strangers

© Ode to the Strangers   mixed media / pastel paper     18″ x 22″

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Ode to the Strangers

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Sightless three seers, uproar a muffled sound,

I see crystallized minds, soft arabesque-ing aground,

I hear the breathing of fates, eerie discourse of years,

dogs’ camouflage barking, singing crocodile tears.

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© Untitled drawing   charcoal/pastel paper  11′ x 8.5″

© Untitled Line Study  mixed media / toned card stock paper    11″ x 8.5″

© Study for Three Figures    charcoal/pastel paper    8.5″ x 11″

© Study for Dancing Figure   mixed media / toned card stock paper   11″ x 8.5″

Metal Mesh Earthen Tomb

©2nd of the Achaeans     mixed media/pastel paper     12″ x 9″

The following and the above are some recent works (drawings/sketches) on paper and other media.

After a yearlong pause from writing, a verbal oxidation tried to take hold and arrange itself around the edges and the creases of my mind. After scraping this off, I encountered a poem.

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©Based on Sebastiano del Piombo drawing (c.1520)     graphite/paper     11″ x 8.5″

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The following is the poem as a short story from a recent dream, which is somehow related I believe to a course I’m currently taking titled The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 hrs from edX online.

Do check it out if interested in Ancient Greek culture as it is definitely worthwhile.

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©Nina frontal sketch      charcoal/toned card stock      11″ x 8.5″

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Metal Mesh Earthen Tomb

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I travel alone through some dusk moisten ground,

wandering past dark earthen shroud,

my eyes not troubled from mist or cloud,

a dextral encounter with a terrestrial mound.

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I carry for dinner an upended fowl,

unbeknownst its hue, its weight, nor fount,

I recall no whispers nor deafening sounds,

I turn to behold such terrestrial mound.

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Quite unnerving, amusing deception, I thus initially found,

as it just touched the pile, disappear did the fowl.

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I search in vain for the vanished,

my disbelief torrential reigning and mounts,

to decipher, unearth present quandary,

to retrieve and reclaim from the mound.

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(Through some trickery of my own), I attempt to regain,

what I never have loaned, and my posture maintain.

Tapping lightly damp earth, myriad bearings I’ve chosen,

conviction shall work, ritual spell to be broken.

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I find myself covered, magic sand surround pile,

slow brush vex my skin, subterranean bush file,

metal mesh earthen tomb, scraping dirt to be found,

how am I below now, such uncomfortable mound?

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I am lodged by mistake soft ripe underground,

The fowl dinner nowhere, as I continue to scrape.

I then see a tunnel and perceive my escape,

my plan a calm getaway such mysterious mound.

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©Quill and ink line sketch       India ink/card stock paper      11″ x 8.5″

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©Nina profile sketch   charcoal/toned card stock     11″ x 8.5″

Triple Theme Time

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz  Yawning Gnosis 14″ x 11″ graphite / 98lb Canson mixed media paper

Here finally are three drawings which I recently completed.

Although each one is related to a different time period in history, they have been joined on this occasion through synchronicity, or maybe through chance :

The first is “Yawning Gnosis” – which I posted as a work in process in my last writing (Feb, 2016). I had briefly stopped writing down my dreams fresh when awakened, therefore they would slowly fizzle into fuzzy formed fragments which I wouldn’t bother to jot down. I believe they somehow went straight back to some storage space in the realm of unconsciousness, unapproachable unless through some sort of meditation, hypnosis, or moksha state. Al this turned into a huge hiatus. There were also other pressing deadlines during that time that came up – some even self inflicted.

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz  After Lucas Cranach the Younger  17″ x 14″ graphite & charcoal / 70lb Canson drawing paper

The second drawing is a copy after a drawing by a great northern European master I deeply admire, Lucas Cranach the Younger. In my version I highlight a tad more the eyes, and the expression tends more towards a smile. It is a portrait of Princess Elizabeth of Saxony c. 1564 currently at Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museum, in Berlin. I also greatly admire his father, Lucas Cranach the Elder’s work and his depiction of the human figure and features. There is a painting of Judith with the Head of Holofernes at the Ponce Museum of Art in Ponce, Puerto Rico attributed to him which I love. It has his characteristic fantastic style, elegance, beauty, and mood. There is another very similar painting by him with the same name/theme currently at Kunsthistorisches Museum, in Vienna.

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz  After Pheidias sculpture  14″ x 17″ graphite & charcoal / 70lb Canson drawing paper

The third is a drawing of the ancient Greek male torso sculpture “Ilissos” attributed to Pheidias c. 438 B.C. which is part of the Parthenon pediments. The sculpture intrigued and inspired me somehow, although it is millennia old, its pose seemed quite contemporary and the visible signs of wear, aging, and damage create to a certain extent a haunting and beautiful contrast.

It is in this light that I delve a bit deeper into the concept of time. The following poem inspired by a recent dream sort of deals on different levels with the impressions of “aging” of fine spirits, fine bodies, and fine attitudes.  Enjoy.

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Decanter of Time

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Unsure cause of celebration

wrinkled song canteen bar

serve me something fancy

slow bartender grizzled shard

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Set some sample glasses

cold cube commissary shine

high priced whiskey bottle

Khronos perfume flask design

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Pour gold liquid luster

anxiety my head abounds

is this silky precious elixir

(sour, stale, or)

exquisitely sound

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Gaudían Like Structures

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz unfinished Yawning Gnosis 14″ x 11″ graphite / 98lb Canson mixed media paper

The poem ‘Gaudían Like Structures’ is inspired by recent states and frames of mind of futility, struggle, and doubt, and the following dream:

I arrive at the square in the town of Aguada where I grew up as a child and find the church/cathedral totally transformed into a Gaudían like structure. I find this change totally captivating and stand in awe as the lineal symmetry of the old church has become almost alien-like and fluid. I could almost compare it to a classical  musical concert transformed into a Latin jazz jam – both beautiful in their own way.

Above is an update on the slow progress of my drawing Yawning Gnosis. I am currently also working on a double portrait painting that requires much more of my time than is usual because of a looming deadline. Whoosh!

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Gaudían Like Structures

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Questioning the insane the very existence

harmony feeding fake fat far removed

lowly drippings in this world so slow

strong emotions riding hard gross stone.

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Despair design degree disgrace

headlights dimmed low

eyesight displaced.

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Cathedral temple church crumbles,

revisiting landscape.

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Gaudían like structures replace antique line

I marvel strong spectacle

staggering beauty sublime.

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Delight design degree acclaim

numerous questions remain,

vision version renewed

multi hued ludic tunes

reign ample prelude.

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I’ve included a photo of Casa Batlló and of La Pedrera which are similar to the image in the dream and one ofthe church “Parroquia San Francisco de Asis de Aguada”. The images are from the site gaudiclub.com and from wikimedia commons.

        

Yawning Gnosis

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz unfinished Yawning Gnosis 14″ x 11″ graphite / 98lb Canson mixed media paper

 

The image above is an example of the in process graphite drawing stage currently being rendered, as can be seen from the two previous posts where I also posted samples of drawings in different stages.

The drawing reaches a point where it might feel complete or seems to work regardless of the initial intention. The poem Yawning Gnosis is a short current reflection and summons on my work.

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Yawning Gnosis

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Tome Sovereign in dark dialogues

bequeath arcane lustrous lux

unwind yawning gnosis

lay bare brooding brooks.

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Spear flashing rumination

rage vision thought spared

convex plain conception

calm clarity unimpaired.

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Song

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz Song 14″ x 11″ graphite / 98lb Canson mixed media paper

 

I’ve finally found my way back here after a few holiday blogpost-free weeks which honestly I needed to recharge and finish up details on the graphite drawing “Song” and start another which is a nude male torso.

Great New Year wishes to all!

 

The drawing Song is an example of a meticulous study of light and shade and the different levels present and how they are perceived and transferred to paper via in this case graphite pencils. I have used the spectrum of 4H to 8B. In terms of composition, I have chosen to break the initial triangular form I was intending into a more diagonal semi parallel line form. The poem “Song” is from current musings on life and the drawing. Enjoy!

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SONG

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Dance float till the sounds,

soft aroma emotions,

finding delicate windows,

in slow saviour motions.

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Savorer of mirrors,

self indulgent disguise,

absurdity dragging circles,

song free luscious sky.

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Hey! you there!

bring me back from despair,

far away from this song,

from this free loving form,

this maker of meaning,

this happenstance cause.

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Song,

crash waves on my eyebrows,

sun bursting desire,

wash over this symbol,

shine pleasant conspire,

moist feminine salt,

breeze humid estate,

conspicuous these locks,

liquid

languid

escape.

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©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz untitled unfinished drawing (detail) 14″ x 11″ graphite / 98lb Canson mixed media paper

Dreamland Awakening

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz Dreamland Awakening 23.5″ x 18.25″ oil / archival mat board

A sort of meticulous study of subtleties and nuances that might appear imperceptible to the naked eye contingent upon the light angle and its intensity.

A fresh off the easel self portrait in oils along with poetry vaguely inspired by dreamland and reflections on the variety of chance states and characters transiting through so called reality.

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Unreliable mirror

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voice of illusion

singer in motion

spot on delusion

striker of force

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play me a note

shirt on my head

bring me a song

reason of course

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dancer beware

children have fun

master a dare

movement of sorts

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what is the story

2 D impression

mind masturbation

simple lie warts

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welcome today

now I do service

visions of glory

self intercourse

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ages of questions

response of folly

peril of angels

destiny source

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gravity sky jump

reach for the seedling

star ship in orbit

flight plan in shorts

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Daedalus invention

morning of masters

god intervention

chameleon of horse

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seminal ovum

break ground construction

freedom obstruction

live life off courts

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millipede dance

laggardness farce

infinite fulcrum

rejoice in chance

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Cling Oscillate Cloud

©Alexander Rosado-Muñoz Chrysalis 23″ x 30.5″ soft pastel, charcoal, acrylic / sealed cotton watercolor paper

A puzzling encounter with space and air flight related symbols from a ground perspective written in verse form and the recent mixed media work titled “Chrysalis”.

I was inspired to finish this mixed media work, which was close to completion but had been left on the back burner for quite a while, after writing the poem. I recalled having the work available and on the “ready for finishing touches” list, which seemed somehow befitting. Hope you enjoy.

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Cling Oscillate Cloud

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Whitish bright light dusk impregnated mist,

outside, the streets, desolate luminous kiss,

nothing around me except structures unbound,

colors forsaken,

abandoned,

no sound.

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Up ahead is a symbol of space flight that is wobbling,

NASA’s trans border shuttle, rope tied and dangling,

pall nebula it’s rear, synchronous pendulum swing,

both shuttle and blank cloud oscillate unison cling.

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Approaching said spectacle, white haze all around,

quite reach touch this vehicle,

incredulous,

astound.

Stand and observe, time dubious plain sight,

sky distant chained airplane, amiss in high flight.

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