re: art update and such......

hi friends, fans, lovers, foe and the like......

here's a sneak sample into how i do my art, or at least, one style of my art..........this is basically how my work begins, i start with a base image, or an idea, and then begin layering art around it until a theme develops or something visual i love comes through and tells a story......as you can see, this next piece, about Kevin Krueger, former axe man to the bc ministry for arts/culture/prisons and how i feel about him.

it has 17 layers so far, and will take quite a few hours to pull the idea/image through!

in the meantime,  stumbled across an unpublished poem, and thought it would be great fun to post it, sort encapsulates a lot of my life and travels so far.......

much love,

cb

The stars:

Waiting in line

To board a jet

That will roar down a runway

Towards a beautiful blue sky

Full of happy people

Lonely people

And stars

Of the literary

Filmmaking

And creative arts

I meet them

At functions

And note how many

Are in excellent physical

Condition up-to-the-second style

and don’t smoke or drink, well maybe red wine

And they love antique shopping

In the different cities

We all visit

And enjoy fine dining

And exquisite breakfasts

At their favourite nooks

While I wander down

Darker roads

Absorbing the cities

Of the night

The stench of the rotting garbage

The endless gritty pawnshops

The yellow nicotine saturated air

The cheap beer and loud pounding music

in a variety of pubs

Meeting up with the crazy, love starved

Hungry, manic energy

Of the city

And when we bump into

One another at various airports

we exchange cordial greetings
and then I watch them make a scene when the plane

Is delayed

Or text angrily on their phones

While I count my blessings

And feel genuinely fortunate

To even be here in the first place

And wait for another sundown

In another city

And what might happen next………

re: interesting website i found......

hi friends, foe, family, fans, freaks and so on.....

hey, today, i was doing some research about gordon campbell to do some political art about the douche canoe, and i came across this website.......check it out!!!

it's very interesting, as we all know, or should know, water is going to be blue gold, the final wars will be about it i reckon.......

http://www.waterwarcrimes.com/index.html

this guy has some real guts to do this site.........

well, i'm working on some real scorching art about political figures in canada..........

see ya real soon kiddies!

cb

re: new art.......happy holidays!

hello friends, fans, foe and lovers.......

here's a new artwork i did, actually, i worked on a couple over the last few days, but didn't post them......

the one above is about a beautiful 72 buick i loved and lost..........

the below image is about a lot of things i won't even bother to explain.......except tell you the burlesque dancer was a still i took from some 1930's film i found at a wicked cool site called:

www.archive.org

and i've been wanting to use it for some time............

in the meantime, i'm packing up my place and getting ready to head to kelowna, bc, and it's kinda sad, to once again be packing stuff, throwing it into storage, and moving on.......but this is a really positive move, and a smart one..........

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/entertainment/112394814.html

ha ha i picked a bad time to stop smoking tobacco! as i pack stuff up, i am flooded with memories of time i spent with my kids at my place, some fun dinner parties i had, it sucks giving up the place, but it has been an albatross around my neck since i've had it! very expensive, and i've never really been around much to enjoy it a whole lot! i was gone about three weeks every month, so it felt like i was paying a grand a month for a week long stint at my house........

though, it was nice to give my kids some stability, a place they always knew would be there.......

as for now, i once find myself at chapter's in kamloops, as i have done so often, writing and reflecting.....i think this place is comforting to me, in a world where i have always been on the road, or traveling or on the move, there are few constants for me......this is one place i have, and it's anonymous, and loaded with decent books on art and design.......

even though, as a published author, i've staunchly refused to read at them! ha ha! weird?!

hoping you've had a great holiday season, mine was surreal as usual, not because of anything i ingested, but more because of the fact i've realized i'm not really close to my family, not really close to anyone but my children......and that can make for lonely holidays when they're not around........so i've made a pledge to have a great holiday season next year, with loads of friends and family around for a big solstice feast and giveaway!!!

well, that's about enough navel gazing, here's to the end of a great year, and the start of a fabulous new one!!!

much love and thanks for dropping by the past year, or two!?


cb

re: kick it old school.......

i'm kickin' it old school

hope you are well and having a great holiday season......

i miss my kids, but i'll see them soon!

cheers,

cb

re: Candy Bose

hi peeps, freaks, geeks, lovers, fans and foe,

allow me to introduce "Candy Bose."


She's a sexy bitch isn't she? In Case you didn't know, she's on the far right of the photo, in all her tattooed glory!
she'll be making regular appearances at various events, conferences and fundraisers around the world with paris hilton in the next year.....

ta ta,

cb

re: happy holidays from Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art!!!

Hello friends, fans, lovers, and the like,

happy holidays, i hope you are enjoying the season with friends, family and good cheer!

i'm adjusting to life at the Alternator Centre, but it's great and we're going to have a fun year coming up!

a new city, a new gig and a new life,

what the hell, let's have some fun and blow some minds!

cheers,

cb
ps: it's sad to see Jen Pickering go, but she'll always be close and we hope she has fun in mexico! and props to my new workmate, the one, the only Heather Martin!!!

do come see us at the Alternator in the new year! Kelowna, Rotary Centre for the Arts Building.......

re: call to artists!

Hello friends, fans, lovers, and the like,

well, i guess i can finally let you in on what new changes have happened in my life, i have now relocated to Kelowna, BC, which is exactly the shift i was looking for in life, and now i'm the new Creative and Administrative Director for Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art!!!

Do check out this call to artists, and keep checking back for more art, and new films i'll be posting in the new year!

happy holidays!

cb

re: a moon made of copper.....

so, here it is, the first digital image i've done in some time........and with text from a yet unpublished poem!

actually, i'm probably wrong, i think joanne arnott is publishing this in the salish seas anthology........

anyway, it felt good to create some new art.......i hope you dig it......

i'll keep chipping away at some new stuff, already working on three more new ones.......

until next time kiddies,

cb

re: leaving kamloops.......

i'm leaving kamloops, bc, for another city.......but i know it will be like having an ex-lover, meaning that i've got family, friends and a weird attachment to it, not entirely functional, not entirely positive, but that's how it goes.

the new city i'm moving to, is great, i'm totally anonymous here and i'm excited to have continual change in my life.......and by change, i don't mean, spare change.....whew.....i'm starting a new job in a cool place with great people.......i am excited about it all......

i'll keep you posted, and plan to have some new art updates.......

soon.

cb.
ps: this is a picture i took leaving kami-town......

re: some of what I do!

 Myself and Tracey Kim Bonneau checking out a project one of the students was working on, Tracey is the program coodinator for NAPAT program at En'owkin Centre in Penticton, BC.

 editing with a student at En'nowkin Centre in Penticton, BC......as part of the NAPAT program the students got to create a short film each.......and i was there as mentor, editor for them! great fun!

 cool darth vader guitar! it even had a built in speaker!
i tried to entice dean into selling it to me, but it was a no go! damn!

 

 I get to go all over the country mentoring youth and people in digital art, filmmaking, editing and creative writing workshops.......it's really fun, and i get to meet a lot of cool people......

but i will have big news shortly, bring about some fantastic changes and opportunities......

stay tuned!!!

re: redemption.......

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/41cd18a00251b5db0c7bdde912eb8f04/video/27512891
so, here's the 500th post on this blog......way more than i ever thought, and this blog has taken me way further than i ever expected.......

this link is to an interview i did with richard van camp sometime this past summer. it's weird to see yourself and hear your self. i look bloated. in fact, i probably am, from too many good times over the summer. once i saw this video i realized i had to slow down. the past four years had been a weird boom and bust time for me. lots of shows, gigs, festival and exhibitions all over the country, and people happy and excited to see and meet you. it's easy to get carried away on a good time. sometimes, it develops into a weird, slow search for oblivion. not on purpose mind you, it just sort of happens, one good time blurs into the next, one tour in the next next and then you realize you're exhausted and just need to sleep in your hotel with the cooking channel on, so you can hear sizzling meat in the background.

in the meantime, i've got some writing to do, some guitar to play, and as always loads of research to do on art and the like........films to watch, and whatnot........i'm gearing up to leave town, and i ain't coming back......after awhile, you need to redeem yourself and some of the ground you've lost, and that comes through introspection and time away from it all.......


until next time kids,

hugs,

cb

re: nearly five hundred posts........

hello friends, fans, foe and lovers.......

here's a quick poem and some photos i just found on my iphone from recent travels.......

the poem is a quick kiss goodnight, and the images are places to take you in your dreams.......

Bakery, Deli.......
are some of the signs
i read as i sit
on a bus
slowly weaving
and winding it's way
through town
like a thick piece of yarn
ready to snap back
my eyes pierce the eyes
of those fortunate enough
to drive automobiles

stuck in the glow of a red light

and i see into their worlds
at fleeting moments
a silent invasion over
the already conquered

we wait for the light
to change

red light

beautiful woman
i see you
stuck in traffic
beside the bus
your child wailing
and rolling away
in the seat behind you

come with me
my love
and we will abandon
our worlds
cut through our chains
form our own bonds
and escape our worlds
our pressures
our "responsibilities"

we will live at last
free to submit to our desires
to accommodate each other
our needs our fantasies
and we will grow stronger
by commandeering
convenience stores late into the night
and declare war upon palaces
of poverty

bingo halls

and they will no longer hold the poor ransom
as we burn and pillage
our way across kanata and les etats unis
and ultimately
the world

standing before you
i will take your purple
tank-top off
and taste you
letting my tongue
trace the lines and curves
of your body
like time
and your husband never
could

beautiful woman
come with me
and together
we can burn
in the cities
of
the night........

a free prize goes to the lucky person who can guess where these tour photos were taken?

until next time lovers,


cb

re: lacking a computer these days.......argh!

hello fans, friends, lovers and the like,

i've been lacking a computer (that works!) and only getting to update stuff when i can score one for a couple hours.......and haven't done any digital art for awhile! IRK!!

but i've been playing guitar like a madman and really digging it!!

and listening to lots of music, lately getting back to some of the SoCal groove i grew up on as a punk ass kid skating around van and the loops, being bored, getting into trouble for kicks and the like......one of my favourite all time guitarists is Rocky George, formerly of Suicidal Tendencies and currently, Fishbone.....great bands......

just thought you should know.......

in the meantime kids, i'll be back......

cb

re: the onondaga madonna.......

 

 

Duncan Campbell Scott (1862-1947)

The Onondaga Madonna

1898

She stands full-throated and with careless pose,
 This woman of a weird and waning race,
 The tragic savage lurking in her face,
 Where all her pagan passion burns and glows;
 Her blood is mingled with her ancient foes,
 And thrills with war and wildness in her veins;
 Her rebel lips are dabbled with the stains
 Of feuds and forays and her father's woes.
 
 And closer in the shawl about her breast,
 The latest promise of her nation's doom,
 Paler than she her baby clings and lies,
 The primal warrior gleaming from his eyes;
 He sulks, and burdened with his infant gloom,
 He draws his heavy brows and will not rest.

so, most people have no idea, who this guy is, 

i ask it all the time in universities, high schools 

and the like, across canada 

and i get blank faces staring at me.......

the same is for the "Apology" from Stephen Harper 

to us NDN's in Kanata

.......

what it demonstrates in some ways, 

is the cultural sensitivity or lack thereof, 

or the continual "Dumbing DOWN" of our society

what are your thoughts?

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/11/pm-statement.html

i've been under the weather all week, 

and also currently do not have a working computer, 

so i'm not online or doing art....

i am playing lots of music though 

and writing a whole whack of new songs....

i'll be collaborating with my friend soon and we'll

hopefully be recording and writing more stuff soon!

exciting!

until next time peeps,

cb

re: wanted dead or alive......

ahhhh, how i would love to have a time machine, i'd definitely go back and change a few screw ups.....that our wonderful society has wrought upon many people around the world.........

namely this guy, duncan campbell scott.......if you have no idea who he is, why are you looking at this blog? go and do some research and then come back.......

until next time kiddies, i'll continue exploring dreams and nightmares.......

hugs,

cb

re: bury my heart at wounded knee.......

son of morning star, george armstrong custer, an arrogant sumbitch that paid a heavy price.

meh, good riddance.

hugs and love,

cb
ps: the novel, "bury my heart at wounded knee" should be required reading for everyone in north america. just because it might, just might have shifted this reality we live in for the better.

re: space/time

i'm watching a movie called "pandorum" and it's pretty trippy.......it's cool.........

anyways, i'm working on some new art.......inspired by garry gottfriedson, we're gonna work on something cool........

life continues to change and shapeshift the world around me........i'm tired, but i have to keep moving on.......

in the meantime, check this out.......

cb

re: home......

i just got back from prince george, did a wicked fun reading up there with garry gottfriedson and richard van camp! it rocked! great crowd, great crew of people who put on the gigs, and i really enjoyed myself!

 

went to UNBC and read at the Gathering place, and then a really cool bookstore downtown......it had a large space for gigs upstairs, called "artspace". 

PG kinda reminded me of cranbrook.......

i'm hoping to get some art done, right now i'm editing some old video project stuff to get out of the way.......and working on getting some cash to get a new laptop, and find a roommate coz life is a bit expensive..........

i flew up to PG in a really tiny plane, a beechcraft 1900.......but it was actually a really smooth flight......the last time i had a gig up there i caught a greyhound, this time i flew, it was kinda triumphant and felt good.......coz i started this year driving to my gigs, and put over 25000 km on my poor rez car, and now i'm able to fly to gigs.......hopefully i can keep the momentum going.......kinda tired though........and someone read and wrote a really strange/creepy pome to/for me during one of my workshops.......

anyway, gotta run, i'm tired.......

cb

re: tour time again!!!

hello friends, fans, lovers, etc......

i'll be hitting the road again this week, after a couple weeks at home......i'll be casting off to Prince George to partake in the UNBC Weaving Words Celebration!! Richard Van Camp and Garry Gottfriedson will also be there, so it should be great fun! I'll be hosting another rowdy session of "BINGO POETRY" as well as reading with Garry on Saturday.......

so, if ye be from thar, come check it out and have a good time!!!!

in the meantime, here's a few images of Garry's latest book, "Skin like Mine" and "Whiskey Bullets."

Garry was one of the first people who believed in what i was doing as a writer, and i'll never forget the first time i met and heard him read. It was around 1998, and i was TRU in Kamloops, skipping class, when the First Nations Student Worker, Linda Thomas nabbed me, and forcibly introduced me to Garry. She said, "I HAD to come to his reading!" I tried to dodge it, but she grabbed me and dragged me to the hall in the Campus Activity Centre. Well, it blew my mind what Garry had read, flames, barb wire and gasoline spewed through the air, vitriolic, explosive, and even savage.

He read with such a beauty and ferocity that i had no idea could exist in one poem.......i went up immediately and bugged him, asking him questions......blown away totally.......he even gave me a copy of the poems he read that day, eventually we forged a friendship that has lasted off and on to this day. I've even got a rare copy of his manuscript "Coyote Moon Story." He changed my life for the better by encouraging to express myself and to not be afraid of using my voice. A great mentor.

Also, Richard Van Camp, another great mentor who championed me to get a book deal with Theytus books about five years ago. My first professional foray into the world of publishing. I was a bit naive, and probably a bit over the top in terms of just being a keener and wanting to get the book out there.

Anyway, Richard was living here in Kamloops, and sometime around 2003 i managed to get a copy of my chapbook famously titled "God Hates Us All"........which i came up with before the album by Slayer. So, i give a copy of my chapbook to a friend, who passed it on to Richard, then a few weeks passed by, and i get a phone call from someone claiming to be Richard Van Camp and wanting to meet in half an hour at Tim Horton's for a coffee.

Nervously, my girlfriend, Scarlett and I went to Tim Horton's and lo and behold there he was, the man himself, sitting with my chapbook, excited about what potential there was in it. We must have talked excitedly for an hour before we decided it was time to go, and Richard said he'd keep in touch, and do everything he could to help me get a book deal, that my talent shouldn't go to waste. What a champ, i love the guy so much. He's always been a great supporter, and a friend to myself, to my ex, and our children. He edited my first book, "Somewhere in this Inferno" while on tour in France, and would send me updates nearly daily about how much he loved the book. A labour of love that never quite found the home it should have, but strangely, people have heard about it, and have tracked me down asking for any kind of copy of it. I think it will live to see the light again........

So, i've been fortunate enough to have mentors appear in my life when i needed them most, and i will always remember them and what they've done. Other great mentors have been Doug Buis, for showing me how to edit in Final Cut Pro, forever changing my life for the better in video, and Ashok Mathur for providing me with a home for over a year at the CICAC, the Centre for Innovation in Culture and the Arts in Canada........Jen Budney was also a great mentor to me in the arts administration, and just teaching me a lot about the art world in general..........and there are more.........

well, it's nearly four thirty in the morning, and i've got to get some sleep........

see you soon somewhere down the road........

chrisbose.
ps: by the way, i have read and really value the books my mentors have written......do check them out.....and mine too!!!

Stone the Crow is published by Kegedonce Press, and is my collection of 12 years or so worth of poetry........i've already written another volume of poetry and hope to get it going soon too.......

you can order any of these books online, and at your favourite bookstore!

re: hallowe'en!

 

I can't believe it......they've made a teevee series out of the walking dead comix........i just downloaded the first show and am gonna watch it........as i've been traveling lots lately, i have had opportunities to discuss viral type zombie things........a lot of people seem to be of the opinion, that it's just a matter of time.....zombies are one thing.....but viral creatures are worse.......think back to the movie '28 days later' by danny boyle........gross and fast and evil........

anyway, i'm gonna watch it, and i just watched the new "30 days of night, dark days" film, and was disappointed......obviously a straight to video watch.........i usually like watching "sleepy hollow", as well as "monster house" with the kids......"corpse bride" and "coraline" to top it all off for a family hallowe'en treat.......alas, i don't have my kids this holiday for the third year in a row.......to be fair 2 of those years i was on the road.......and this year i was supposed to get them, but was double crossed at the last minute........the world is a cruel mistress........

well, friends, fans, foe and lovers,

i'll post something later specifically for hallowe'en..........it's 2:34 in the morning, and i wanna watch some scary movies......

cb
ps: the original 30 days of night film was freaky as hell......and i love the graphic novels.....

pss: i thought i'd also throw in some art by my favourite influences...dave mckean and ben templesmith......