Bolt III copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

Martha has painted five images of our American Bulldog puppy, Bolt, so far. He is nine months old now and at about 90 lbs no longer a puppy. But this painting captures the cute and cuddly puppy stage perfectly. That stage didn't last long. Bolt quickly moved from cuddly to demonic. It is a good thing to have a demon in your life. Such a creature reminds us that life isn't one big bowl of cherries. Life is a trail of tears or worse, a tsunami of tears. Sometimes simply keeping your head above water is the most that can be expected.
The only thing worse than all these tears would be no tears at all. The only thing worse than a cuddly puppy turning into a demon is for him to always be a puppy. If life were always sunshine and cuddly puppies, then we would all die of boredom. This painting reminds me to smile through the tears and ruefully rub the bruises on my body caused by my young bulldog using his head like a wrecking ball.

Mother and Cub (over life-size) copyright 1999 by Dave Putnam

This sculpture is made of stainless steel wire, steel structural bars, and fiberglass-polymer concrete. All these materials create a single composite material we could call wire-mesh-steel-reinforced-high-strength concrete. It is incredibly strong, able to withstand a collision with a car traveling about 60 mph (Mother and Cub probably saved the driver's life by absorbing the impact before the car hit a nearby brick wall). These bears are in Antioch California where a tradition has arisen around them. For most major holidays locals dress the bears up; for instance at Christmas they wear Santa hats and on Valentines Day hearts and ribbons.

Miracle of Hope paintings inspire fantastic article

The Miracle of Hope paintings are featured in an article in the Scientist magazine. The article does a terrific job of explaining where the paintings are now and how they are affecting peoples' lives. Below is the link to the article, which includes a photo of the triptych in its new home.
http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57747/

Wire Horse IV copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

By using Jackson Pollock style splatter painting techniques I can try to paint a representional horse and it will still come out highly abstract, even if I really try to make it realistic. I deliberatley handicap myself by using only a broad spatula for smearing background colors across the canvas and then flinging narrow splats of paint from at least two feet away to make the horse itself. I then go back and clean up the horse's outline with more background colors from my big steel spatula and introduce a bit of splatter to the background to anchor the figure in its environment. Of course Jackson Pollock would never permit any figures from entering his purely abstract work. I too have resisted introducing figures for the last couple years. But now forces outside my control are demanding a return of the figure. I am tiptoeing into the post-modern world. The wire horse paintings you've seen here recently will be soon be shipped to our gallery in Santa Fe: akhadoure@gmail.com

Primary Explosion copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Here I am showing primary colors emerging from their home: a mixture of white light. Once they emerge the primary colors form secondary colors. This is how light behaves in the real world. However mixing all colors together in the world of paint and canvas produces brown. And in the real world black is created by the absence of light; the opposite is true in the world of paint and canvas. I am exposing the artificial aspects of the art world on a structural level, hopefully gleaning some perspective in the process.

Wire Horse III copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

For this painting I orginally channeled cave artists in southern Europe circa 50,000 BC. I then needed to jump forward in time to 1995 and across the Atlantic to California to channel an earlier version of myself to complete the "wire horse" part of the painting. I didn't quite make it. I wound up in the 1800s and in the central plains of the American continent where I ended up channeling plains Indians who were raising war horses for their upcoming tangle with the US Army.

Wire Horse II copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

I am galloping ahead with my wire horse series. For these paintings I am forced to channel an ealier version of myself, a younger Dave who made sculptures out of wire back in the 90s. Plus I have an element of cave art in these wire horse paintings. That means I must also channel the neandrathals who orginally made cave paintings. Luckily the 90s Dave had many neandrathal characteristics, making the channeling task much easier. The current Dave studies yoga and flirts with the idea of a vegan diet. He could never make a painting like Wire Horse II.

Cave Horse II copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Cavemen (maybe cavewomen also) were great artists, better than their modern equivalents. The job they were asked to perform was much harder than what is asked of today's artists. Back then your art had to be both esthetically pleasing and it had to produce real magic in the way of buffaloes killed or deer slain. For that reason it as important for a current art student to study cave art as it is for him/her to study Picasso.

Natural Killer cell 2 copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

The human immune system's greatest warriors, the Natural Killer Cells (NKC), can destroy cancer cells in either a close up grapple or by standing a short distance off and bombing the bad guys with shrappnel. It is important that the NKCs have the ability to kill cancer cells at a distance because the bad guys fight back and in a close up grapple the NKC can be destroyed by the cancer cell. In this painting I show the NKC in the upper right hand corner; it is unloading its bomb bays and showering the green weed-like cancer cells with a savage salvo of shrappnel. You will notice that one of the central chunks of shrappnel takes on the aspect of a superhero, this helps with the visulazation process.

Natural Killer Cell 3 and 4 copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

As with yesterday's painting I am depicting the human body's greatest microscopic warrior, the Natural Killer Cell. However, I am using more fanciful imagery for this pair. In both panels the NKCs look like killer bees. In the first panel the bee-like NKCs are swarming a green clump of cancer cells and are begining to shred it.

In the second painting in the series the bee-like NKS have destroyed the cancer cells and with the fighting done they assume a more peaceful posture which almost makes them look like daisies, a reminder that while the NKS are savage at destroying malignant cells they are friendly to their fellow human cells and stop attacking once the enemy is vanquished.

Natural Killer Cell I copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This painting is the first in a series depicting the human immune system's Natural Killer Cells (NKC). Our immune system is a vast and complicated army with many different types of warriors. The most powerful warriors are NKCs which are colored blue. A cluster of cancer cells is colored green and somewhat resembles a weed. The two largest blue cells are injecting dark blue venom into the cancer cluster. And a smaller (more distant) blue cell near the top is "bombing" the cancer cluster with shrapnel.

Here is a detail showing the small blue cell bombing the cancer cells with tiny blue blobs, which tear apart the green weed (cancer cluster). The purpose of this painting and the ones I will put up over the next few days is to help cancer patients visualize the offensive occuring inside their bodies and to marshal their own natural defenses.

Dawn of Hope copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This is another in the Hope series, where the subject matter is eradicating HIV. In this painting I am trying to show the global nature of the effort against the virus. The three Miracle of Hope paintings are finding their way onto scientific blogs. Hope is going viral. Here are two science blogs featuring the Hope paintings:
cirmresearch.blogspot.com
http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/archives/hivaids

English Bulldog I copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

This is the first in Martha's English Bulldog series. People who own English Bulldogs slowly acquire many of their pet's traits, such as stubborness, a high threshold to pain, and a stoic nature. These are all good traits so the painting is designed to reinforce this tendency. In other words if you owned this painting and a bulldog you would recieve a double dose of stubborness.

Happy Grazing copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

This steer is half Angus and half Hereford. His mixed lineage gives him hybrid vigor and a strong survival instinct, qualities that shine through in this painting. The background story for the portrait: There have been mountain lion citings near his pasture. A more pampered and pedigreed steer would be nervous and off his feed. The white-faced Angus scoffs at such concerns and gorges himself with a devil-may-care attitude. We humans can learn a life lesson from this humble hybrid.

Spring copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

I'm getting ready to paint horses. This painting doesn't have horses in it but it does capture the essence of Spring. Horses love spring more than any other season. So I warmed up for my horse painting by channeling and painting Spring; this put me in a horse-like mood. Only a few yards from my canvas there are two powerful Quarterhorse geldings. I am now channeling them. I am ready to paint but have an uncontrollable desire to eat a bucket of oats. I am putting down my brushes to cook a pot of oatmeal. Incidentally, the Wire Horse won the survey.

Wire Horse I and Cave Horse I copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

I am entering a competition for horse paintings. Here are two rough drafts that go in different directions. The bottom one is based on cave art. I ate raw meat for two days before starting this painting. The top one is based on my wire sculptures, so I had to channel an earlier version of myself to make this painting. This was harder to do than it sounds. Anyway, which of of these two do you like better?

Zoe copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

Different people see different things in Martha's portraits. For me this painting shows a teenage feline caught betweeen adult cathood and kittenhood. The internal conflicts that boil inside human teenagers also bubble and churn within young cats and also require special attention. If this were my cat I would give it a bowl of milk to help moderate mood swings.

Black Belt Restrained copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

I know two people with expert level martial arts credentials: Michael Putnam and Roger williams. Folks trained to this level are always very pacifistic in their day to day lives. Of course simmering below the zen-like calm is a seething tiger. In this painting I try to show the inner tiger that the outside world can't see.

Giraffe copyright 1999 by Dave Putnam

The spiral pattern that the wires form in this sculpture is called a "God's Eye" by African artists. When I make a sculpture of an African animal I also like to borrow design elements from African artists. Western artists have been borrowing (or stealing) from African artists for decades. Most of the big name 20th century artists did it, such as Henry Moore and Picasso. It would be nice if folks at least aknowledged where they are stealing ideas, as I am doing right now.

English Bulldog II copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

This is the second in Martha's English Bulldog series. For centuries the English Bulldog would do battle with an opponent up to 40 or 50 times his weight: the English bull. The courage required to tackle such an opponent was so great that it aquired a mystical quality and become a sort of force all by itself. Even though the English Bulldog of today cannot physically perform the ancient task of bull-baiting, he may carry a mystical dose of courage and Martha's painting immortalizes that quality.

Brady and James copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

Here Martha and I are trying to capture the essence of the Hughes family of San Francisco. The bottom two portraits are Martha's rendition of the three year twin boys: Brady and James. I try to capture the essence of the Hughes family with the top painting: Hawaiian Volcano. Hopefully with all this painting effort, the Hughes family is well and truly captured on canvas.

Anne's Rainforest copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

I was halfway through this painting when Anne's husband, my brother Marty, said in effect that I was doing a bad job of channeling Anne. I had been focusing on this "little Miss Sunshine" vision of Anne, which totally ignores the fact that she is one of those rare women with the ability to beat the crap out of 99% of all men. Probably only a few professional cage fighters could stand up to her. For instance, if I were to get in a fight with Anne she would beat me like a rented mule. Of course this meant my painting had to be scary and threatening, with a potential for violence without an active expression of violence, like a thunderstorm before lightning strikes. Anne could beat up almost anybody she meets, but almost always chooses not to. So I changed the painting and made it terrifying.
The downside to such honest and raw art is that probably nobody will have the courage to display this painting in their house. The mojo behind a woman beating up a man is too much for the average American male to stomach. But at least I was true to my craft and didn't sell out.

Katie's Rainforest copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Before starting this painting I channeled my teenage niece, Katie. I tried to envision a pristine tropical wilderness through her eyes. Because she has an optimistic nature and is unsullied by the travails of a longer life, Katie's view of the future is crisp and clean, unlike my view of the future which is dark and brooding. I would show the rainfoerst being torched.
This is my second in the rainforest series. I am working on a third rainforest painting currently. It is entitled "Anne's Rainforest." Anne is Katie's mom. Even though Anne is my age and has lived a much harder life, her view of the world is as positive as her daughter's, but more detailed and complicated. If not for my ability to channel these sunnier souls all my paintings would be dark and menacing.

Sitting Gorilla copyright 2002 by Dave Putnam

Over the years I have made over 100 sculptures of gorillas. Unlike humans and chimps, gorillas do not wage war against other bands, or commit murder against members of their own band, or torture their enemies. Like humans, gorillas don't really have natural enemies but they refuse to substitute their own kind as enemies as humans and chimps do. Because they are morally superior beings and still very closely related to us, I can never make too many gorilla sculptures. They are, as Abraham Lincoln once said in reference to peaceful humans, the better angels of our nature.

Yorkie copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

To the left is a painting of Chester, a Yorkshire Terrier. Martha captures the hardiness and vitality of this scrappy little dog, belying the image of pampered purse pet. After all Yorkies are terriers, bred to kill rats. In WW II a Yorkie named Smoky earned 8 combat stars by warning his human squad mates when incoming shells were approaching their foxholes. Smoky even had his own customized parachute and went on numerous fighter sorties with the Pacific Army Air Corp. Just as we shouldn't prejudge people, we shouldn't prejudge dogs. Some little dogs are tough and some big dogs are sissies.

Yoda copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam

Martha is an expert at capturing the soul of her animal subjects. This dog is a wise and ancient Pug who has seen many years of life flowing by and taken it all in with great aplomb. Together Martha and I operate a little art business called "Barking Dog Studios." We've been busy lately. Martha has been swamped with dog portraits and last Friday we hosted a gigantic christening party for my Miracle of Hope paintings. The party was a raging success and the paintings are now hanging in the Stanford Positive Care Clinic. I talked to a couple patients and they seemed pretty stoked. During the party I talked to the head of Stanford's Immunology Department. She urged me to paint more microscopic based medical art and gave me several suggestions. Today I am starting a painting of natural killer cells attacking a cancer cell. There is a microscopic war between the immune system and alien invaders occurring inside all our bodies day in and day out. I spent 20 years making representational animal sculptures and painting this microscopic war taps into my experience with 3 dimensional biological art. Reading about natural killer cells (NKC) enflamed my imagination. The battle between NKC and cancer cells is truly a battle between good and evil. Now I'm stoked.

Tree of Hope copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Images of Moses talking to the burning bush and parting the Red Sea were swirling around inside my brain when I started this painting. I fight to keep religious imagery out of my paintings. Its not easy. Our house/gallery/studio was a Catholic church for 40 years before we converted it into a residence in the 90s. The church was never properly de-sanctified. I think there is a tooth from a saint buried under the spot where I paint, this relic was supposed to have been removed but somebody in the Catholic hierarchy was sleeping at the wheel. We may have been partly to blame because we put a big aggressive American Bulldog in this area before the de-sanctification process was complete. In any case, the tooth is often in conflict with me over the subject matter of my paintings. The tooth would be happy if I painted nothing but images of the Virgin Mary or other stuff from the Bible while I'm trying to create secular midcentury modernism. Sometimes I give in because the tooth scares me a little bit. But its not all bad, Moses was a very positive guy, filled with hope, so this painting fits in with the rest of the series.

Miracle of Hope III copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

The final painting in the series shows that the HIV protease enzymes have been 100% destroyed, a complete victory. The protease inhibiting drugs (blue dots) remain in the system, sentinels guarding against a return of the infection forever. In the first two paintings the edges of the canvass are painted black. In the final painting the edges are painted red, emphasizing the nature of the total victory. As with the first two paintings the background colors still represent the human body but in the final one they also resemble a glorious sunrise, symbolizing the dawn of a new day.

The three paintings will be displayed next to each other at the Positive Care Clinic and a plaque will be included giving an explanation similar to what I've done here in the blog

Miracle of Hope II copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

In the second painting of the series the HIV protease enzymes (black) are being annihilated by the protease inhibiting drugs (blue). The background colors representing the human component of the team are fully engaged in wiping out the enzymes. Molecular warfare is occurring on a microscopic scale. The tide is turning in favor of the patient being treated and the impending victory is fueled not only by medical science but also the will to live, in other words by hope.

Miracle of Hope I copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This is the first painting in a series of three. It depicts the beginning of a battle within a single human cell between the molecules of protease inhibiting drugs (blue dots) and the molecules of HIV protease enzymes (black dots). The blue dots have just breached the cell wall and are spreading out inside the cell, engaging and destroying the black dots. The blue dots are being transported by the watery appearing colors of red and yellow, the human body working in concert with the drugs.

On Wednesday painting II goes up on this blog and Thursday painting III. You will need to look at all three in sequence to get the full effect.

Elephant Graveyard lifesize copyright 1999 by Dave Putnam

This Friday we are having an unveiling party for the Miracle of Hope paintings. I've been painting professionally for a couple years. Before that I was a sculptor for a couple decades. Elephant Graveyard is the sculpting equivalent to the Miracle of Hope paintings: both of them are more than decorative artwork, they both carry a social message. What you see here is a steel reinforced concrete facsimile of African elephant skeletons that have been poached. The skulls have had the tusks chain-sawed off. The assemblage carries an anti-poaching message and perhaps some of the folks who have seen it over the years at the New Orleans zoo will think twice about buying products made from elephant ivory or support conservation efforts in some way. While the subject matter for the Miracle of Hope paintings is radically different than Elephant Graveyard I think both carry a positive message and I had the same feeling after completing either project.

Full Court Press copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Here is my second attempt at depicting protease inhibiting drugs (blue dots) working to destroy the HIV protease enzyme. High contrast colors positioned next to each other make the painting pulse with energy; specifically healing energy. As the title implies, I am trying to show a massive and successful effort to annihilate the disease. A patient undergoing treatment can view this painting and use it to help him visualize the progress being made within his/her body. The title also implies teamwork, the human body and the drugs working in concert. After finishing this painting I finally had the confidence to begin the Miracle of Hope triptych. As for tapping into the works of great artists of the past, Van Gogh pioneered the idea of placing high contrast colors next to each to magnify their intensity.

Miracle of Hope I Prototype copyright 2010 Dave Putnam

This painting is the rough draft for Miracle of Hope I. As you will see in a later blog, the three Miracle of Hope paintings depict a single human cell that has been infected with HIV. In Miracle of Hope I (both the prototype and the final version) that cell experiences the initial insertion of protease inhibiting drugs. The color blue represents these beneficent drugs. Black represents the malignant HIV protease enzyme. All other colors represent the human body working in concert with the blue drugs.

The painting you see here, the prototype, is very rough indeed. The finished version is much more polished and it gets the message across much better. After completing the prototype I realized the final Hope paintings would need a much stronger element of graphic design. Adhering to the principles of midcentury modernism, I channeled Alexander Calder in the later paintings. He designed color schemes for commercial airliners, cars, and other commercial venues. Most people think of Calder as the inventor of mobile sculptures. This is true but he also rocked in two dimensional graphic design. I was also influenced by Dr. Z, the director of the Positive Care Clinic. Dr. Z is a top expert in HIV research and treatment. He has cared for AIDs patients as long or longer than any doctor on the planet, nearly three decades.

Expression of Hope copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Expression of Hope is part of a series that so far includes eight paintings. The series is built around three paintings: Miracle of Hope I, II, III. The Miracle of Hope triptych will reside in the Stanford Positive Care Clinic after an unveiling party at our house/gallery in Woodside Aug. 27. The Positive Care Clinic is one of the world's premier HIV research and treatment facilities. The series is dedicated to the idea that protease inhibiting drugs have given tremendous hope to people who have contracted HIV-AIDS. Each painting expresses that idea in one way or another. The painting in today's blog is very different from the other seven; it uses the image of stylized white doves in flight to trigger an iconic response. I will talk about the other paintings for the rest of August.

Rose copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Yesterday I explained why the work of Lee Krasner is the main source of inspiration and instruction for me. Krasner truly was a genius, in 1957 she started a series of paintings called "Green Earth." This was the first example of environmental art and a precursor to the entire environmental movement. Her paintings from that time were inspired by nature and carried titles like "Gaeia."

"Rose" seeks to evoke the image of a flower emerging from the earth as well as the earth itself, an attempt at incorporating cubism into my work. Besides her husband, Krasner was also influenced by the cubist Marcel Duchamp. Hopefully you will notice Duchamp's influence in the painting presented here.

Complicated Conversations copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Here I am trying to expand my core interest of advancing the school of art started by Jackson Pollock. The idea is to take his techniques and carefully add to them. Pollock's wife, Lee Krasner, was one of the greatest abstract expressionists ever and after her husband's death she radically advanced his school by introducing brushstrokes and meticulousness. It is imprtant to remember that Pollock was an extreme alcoholic and most of his paintings were made while he was wasted. This was both good and bad. It created a wild and bold style but composition, design elements, etc... are hard to execute by someone wasted out of their mind. Krasner's later work then is very important for a painter walking down this path. In Complicated Conversations I started with a wild painting where paint was flung into the canvass in a single session. I spent days afterwards with tiny brushes refining and cleaning up the image. Pollock used to say that he "denies the accident," meaning that the attractive images that emerged from his almost random application of paint were all deliberate, a bit of self deception. I say, "embrace the accident" by refining and expanding these lucky accidents.

Lavender Crystal copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Here I am trying to capture the feeling of intense jealousy, an emotion that is both an eruption of anger and an implosion of despair. If someone you love doesn't love you back, then anger is useless as a coping mechanism. Despair is the better choice. This painting, however, shows a slightly higher percentage of anger vs despair since that is a more realistic reaction for the average human being.

Ambush hunters

To the left a rear view of a wire owl sculpture. Thousands of pieces of wire are twisted together like a tapestry to create this piece. In real life owls are very fuzzy and soft, evolutionary traits that make them utterly silent while hunting, the ultimate ambush hunter. Silence in flight helps two ways: the rat can't hear the owl's stealthy wing flapping and the owl can hear better without his own noise interfering. In this sculpture I tried to highlight the traits that make an owl silent.

Rhino Family 2/3 lifesize copyright 1999 by Dave Putnam

These sculptures are designed to scare either African lions or Asian tigers. The rhinos are halfway between the African and Indian rhino subspecies. The owner of Rhino Family lives near a zoo where a tiger escaped a few years ago. In this particular episode the tiger never left the zoo grounds, but it easily could have. Any tiger prowling around a suburban neighborhood will look over the fence and see these bad boys and head the other way. Do you live near a zoo with substandard enclosures for its big cats? If so consider a rhino sculpture from Barking Dog Studios.

Barn Owl three times life size copyright 2007 by Dave Putnam

This sculpture is designed to scare rats, pigeons, some domestic animals, and people with weak nerves. The giant owl swings overhead on an invisible wire; when the wind blows it swoops in on hapless victims visiting for the first time and gives them a scare. Frequent visitors are quickly aclimatized to the mobile sculpture. It is an open question whether rats become aclimatized.

French Joy copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Bastille Day in Paris is a time for unalloyed patriotism and reveling in the essence of Frenchness. An explosion of red, white and blue national pride reminds us Americans that democracy erupted in France just about when it did on our side of the Atlantic.

You might think that this painting would be suitable for beginning collectors. Unfortunately viewing French Joy before meals will trigger cravings for rich food with heavy cream sauces. Therefore only experienced collectors or people with excellent cholestrol levels should consider owning this piece of art.

Circle of Friends copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

I was told to capture on canvas the feelings and emotions displayed by a small group of friends when they got together to party. All the friends possessed a great deal of mental horsepower and their conversations were fueled with high octane gasoline, maybe with even a little nirto mixed in. The resulting painting throbs with verbal energy and it has a sense of depth telling the viewer that this energy is well directed.

Dave & Martha Lumberjack Duo

To the left we have Pacific Northwest copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam. This painting evokes the raw wilderness of the region spanning Oregon to Vancouver back in the 19th century.
Below we have Oxen copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. The lumberjacks in the old Pacific Northwest would haul trees to waterways with teams of oxen. Most people viewing these two paintings will experience an uncontrollable urge to put on a flannel shirt, pick up an ax and start chopping down trees. Therefore, only experienced collectors should hang art as powerful and subliminal as this.

New Mexico Chili Peppers 60'' by 72'' copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Martha and I go to New Mexico once or twice a year. Over the past 16 years I have never had the courage to eat the really hot chili peppers, but on our last visit I dug down deep and found a well of courage. Tapping this unexpected source of bravery, I ate a lunch rich in hot peppers. The memory of that lunch was permanently seared into my consciousness and as soon as I got back to California I got out a gigantic canvas and expressed myself. This painting is good for people whose doctors have ordered a bland diet but they yearn for something spicy. Looking at it while you eat will make the food seem spicier than it really is. Your stomach will enjoy the mild food but your brain will think its getting something hot. As I've said so many times, good abstract expressionist art can deliver practical everyday benefits beyond mere aesthetics.