Martha & Dave Party On

To the left we have Celebration copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam. Here I am trying to show hardcore partying, the greatest celebration ever. Below we have Brindle at 13 copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. This shows our American Bulldog on her 13th birthday. It is easy to see the joy the dog feels at attaining this ripe old age. The hopeful look in her eyes indicates she is calculating the odds she will live another 3 or 4 years. Or maybe she is eyeing her birthday cake, which is made of fresh meat. Brindle's birthday was the greatest party she ever attended.

Dave and Martha Tackle Urban Youth

To the left we have Bulldog Puppy copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. The aggressive and ill mannered puppy has the aura of a young gangbanger with his ears resembling a doo-rag and the set of his jaw looking as though he is spoiling for a fight. You can practically hear his youthful growl.
Below we have Graffiti copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam. This is my view of street life in urban America. Youth culture rules the inner city. There is a lot of crime and chaos but it is also teeming with vital life force as is a boisterous if ill mannered bulldog puppy.

A Gathering Storm Worries Dave and Martha

To the left we have Ice Crystal copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam. On a frigid mountain pass bare earth and rock are being covered by the first dustings of a snowstorm that will soon grow into a raging blizzard.
Below we have Rosie copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. The collie eyes the gathering storm, worried not only about the effect it will have on her flock but also the protection afforded to wolves that will come prowling under the cover of heavy weather. However, her cocky grin tells us she isn't overly concerned and is likely to send the canine marauders packing.

Moose Definitely copyright 1996 by Dave Putnam

I got some blowback from my claim that the sculpture called Scarelion actually scares real mountain lions. Seems folks think I am exaggerating the effect my sculptures have on wild animals. Here is proof I am not. This sculpture is a lifesize steel and concrete moose designed to attract female deer for wildlife viewing. As you can see the does come flocking to the sculpture in droves. I also make sculptures of giant ants that are designed to scare away spiders. This stuff works.

Scarelion larger than lifesize copyright 2009 by Dave Putnam

Made of wood and stainless steel wire, this sculpture is supposed to function like a scarecrow; except rather than scaring crows it is supposed to scare mountain lions. And in fact mountain lions are terrified of it. They literally soil themselves when they turn the corner in our driveway and come across this formidable and super scary piece of art. The mountain lions think they are seeing an African lion and they know this a matchup they cannot win, so they turn tail and run (cowards). Once again we see that art can be both practical as well as decorative.

Wolfdog copyright 2001 by Dave Putnam

Crossing a wolf and a dog is not a good idea. The result is a powerful animal that is not afraid of people (like a dog) and has a wolf's sense of pack hierarchy; which is to say the wolfdog may consider himself alpha over a human and might fight to prove it. This life-size sculpture is made of stainless steel and nickel wire. It looks exactly like a wolfdog but since it is immobile it cannot kill you (unless it fell right on top of you from a 20 story building). Rather than buy an actual wolfdog, satisfy that wild urge with a wolfdog sculpture. I originally started making wolfdog sculptures with the hope that folks would forgo the flesh and blood animal in favor of the metal one. However, I end up selling them to people that own actual wolfdogs. They love both the living ones and the metal ones. The lesson here is that human nature is not predictable.

Aquatic Nursery copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Aquatic Nursery is supposed to show the creation of new life underwater. Of course most life on Earth is in the waters and the health of the planet is more dependent on the sea than on land. We humans are more closely linked to the ocean than commonly supposed. Your blood, for instance, has the same percentage of salt as the sea, a reflection of where we came from originally. And think about those seafaring Irishmen who populated the entire planet. There are many reasons why none of us would exist without the ocean.

Luck of the Irish II copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This painting is based on my 3-year old niece Clara, who is starting to show all the signs of extreme good luck that her teenage cousin Megan has exhibited for years. One example: she dropped an ice cream cone and it landed upright, balancing like a tightrope walker for several seconds before the toddler picked it up. The odds against this happening are probably a million to one.

As far as the color scheme, the green represents Ireland and the yellowish gold represents the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that Irishmen are famous for. This painting lacks some of the elements of Luck of the Irish I (based on super lucky Megan Putnam) because Clara is only 25% Irish and therefore has to prove herself before she gets a painting with all the bells and whistles. But even with this relatively small amount of Irish blood it is possible that Clara will become as lucky as Megan. Every child on Earth has this potential and here's why:

Every human on Earth is at least part Irish because in prehistoric times seafaring explorers from the emerald isle helped populate every inhabited continent. This is why some folks from Africa have red hair despite the fact their families have always lived in Africa. Clara's extraordinary good luck is a hopeful sign to those of us who are only part Irish. Even a tiny drop of Irish blood can generate tremendous good luck if we embrace our Irish heritage. This is true for everybody on the planet from Eskimos to Tibetans.

Martha And Dave Comment On Life

To the left we have Happy Hereford copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. The subject of this painting is a steer that has acres of land to roam on full of tender shoots of grass. Truckloads of fresh hay will materialize the instant the grass is gone. There are no wolves or predators anywhere close by. The steer's image expresses extreme contentment.
Below we have Owl in Flight copyright 2000 by Dave Putnam. This sculpture shows an owl swooping in for a kill. He is very happy. Owls and cows have diametrically opposed world views. The message here is happiness comes from fulfilling your true nature. Maybe you are a professional prizefighter and hitting people makes you unhappy. Probably your true nature is more like the Happy Hereford and less like the owl. In this case you should switch careers.

Humans Are Servants To Dogs.

To the left is Brindle copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. The dog's soulful eyes create a haunting feeling as we wonder as to the depths of canine intelligence. The humans on our planet do all the work while our pets laze around in the lap of luxury. A visitor from another planet would conclude that dogs are the master and humans the servant. Deep down we know there is a chance this is true. This painting is on display in Sante Fe at akhoundre@aol.com

Two Underwater viewpoints

To the left we have Green Depth copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam. Here I am trying to show what it looks like to be twenty feet underwater and looking up at your surf board while a shark circles hungrily.
Below we have Zip copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam. Zip is a field trials bred lab who can maneuver underwater like a sea lion. If you had his aquatic abilities then being submerged that far next to a shark would be a piece of cake. Again we see that human beings are sometimes lacking in the evolutionary cards that life deals us.

Water copyright 2010 by Dave Putrnam

The idea here is to show all aspects of water in one painting, sort of taking the concept of Cubism to an existential level. In other words not just showing one object at different angles but different fundamental characteristics of that object in one frame. I'm trying to show rain, snow, mist, surface level water, and the depth of a body of water, all at once.

Two Paintings Explore Same Theme

On the left we have "Blue copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam." This is a painting of a wild dog that Martha's sister took in several years ago. He is half coyote and half husky or maybe Samoyed.
Below we have "Spiderweb copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam." Sometimes a painting is purely abstract on Earth but on another planet the image depicted is completely representational. And so it is with Spiderweb which shows a web constructed by the dominant species of a planet only a few light years from Earth circling Proxima Centauri. The spiders on Proxima are twenty feet tall and their webs are larger than football fields.
How are these two paintings related? The alien spiders have eating habits similar to wild dogs. Both have enormous appetites and both gobble their food with little attention to table manners. The lesson? We can find underlying similarities to overtly disparate objects if we only look closely enough.

Volcano copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Only the most seasoned collector should consider owning this piece because it evokes the power and fury of an active volcano. Contemplating this painting during a heat wave like the one engulfing the east coast could raise your core body temperature and endanger your health. On the other hand, some people see two squids mating when they stare long enough into the painting's depth. In this case the only downside is an irresistible urge to eat calamari.

Homage To Jackson Pollock copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Over the years Jackson Pollock has proven to be the hardest midcentury modern master to imitate or counterfeit. Actually it is impossible to create a Jackson Pollock counterfeit. Since he would sometimes throw paintings in a dumpster, which people would later find, a counterfeiter could claim that a fake painting was a real Jackson Pollock and potentially get away with it, except nobody can reproduce his style. All this energy at creating forgeries is misdirected. Instead let's learn from the late master and extend his school of art. In this painting I use a base of arylics and a top layer of oil paint, a technique not possible in the mid 20th century because these materials had not been invented; and a way to bring inner light up out of the canvass. I am therefore able to advance in a small way Pollock's legacy. An art expert would know instantly that my painting is not a real Jackson Pollock. Good, that is exactly the point. This painting is in Santa Fe at akhoudre@aol.com

Dave and Martha Both Paint The Big Ouch

To the left we have "Blackberry Patch copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam." This is an abstract depiction of what happens when you are seduced by the lovely blackberries calling out to you sweetly from their vines, but when you pick them the nasty thorns painfully jab the heck out of you. Ouch, it's barely worth it.
Below we have "Bolt copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam." Another painting of our American Bulldog puppy. But this one was made when Bolt was at that age where he would chum you in for a pet with a friendly look and a wagging tail and then take a bite out of you. Ouch, it's barely worth having a beastly puppy like that.

Muted Rhapsody copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This painting is supposed to encourage quiet contemplation. And what better time for reflection than the 4th of July weekend? Stare at the painting for a few seconds and ponder what it would be like if America had never broken away from Britain. A moment of abstract expressionist induced meditation will convince you it was a good decision to break away from mad King George. If this hadn't happened we would today be eating over-boiled food with no nutritional value. We would be forced to watch boring soccer games rather than baseball and football. Worse of all, our beer would be served at room temperature. Muted Rhapsody is on display at akhadoure@aol.com, our gallery in Santa Fe

Two Forces Of Nature

On the left we have "Kirby copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam." Kirby is a little Pug with a big attitude. Through sheer force of will this little dog is able to dominate Rottweilers and most of the other big dogs in our neighborhood. They might snarl and snap at him but his Yoda-like stare always seems to cow the big dogs. In a way Kirby is like a force of nature.

Below we have "Ocean Tempest copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam." This painting could represent galaxies colliding as seen through the Hubble telescope, or an ocean surge churning a bed of corral, or even microbes devouring each other: all elemental forces not unlike the powerful gaze of a tiny Pug with a big attitude. Ocean Tempest is at our gallery in Santa Fe: akhadoure@aol.com

Dave and Martha paint two sides of one coin

On the left we have a painting entitled: "Bear copyright 2010 by Martha Putnam." Bear was a male American Bulldog who lived to be 13 years old. He was the kind of dog that a caveman would need to defend his home from fearsome prehistoric monsters; a mixed blessing because Bear once stampeded a herd of cattle through a fence, tore up several steers, and endangered several cowboys. He would administer the same treatment to raccoons and other varmints.
Below is a painting entitled: "The Cave copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam." Here I am trying to give the feeling someone would experience if he or she lived in a cave and had a ferocious bulldog as a protector.