Split Infinity copyright 2011 by Dave Putnam

After the Miracle of Hope Paintings, which dealt with biology, I became interested in combining art and science. The greatest scientific event ever was the Big Bang. Prior to the Big Bang, everything that would become the universe was compressed into an infinitely small point or singularity. Somehow something or someone (God) split the singularity, which triggered the Big Bang. Some of the first particles created were photons. While this was happening somebody may have muttered, "Let there be light." In any case, infinity was split and if anybody was around to see it there was a light show. In this painting I am trying to depict that light show.

Cubist Impression copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This painting in no way has any elements of Cubism. But it is composed of cubes. This is my way of mocking Cubism. Recently a mocking bird has taken up residence in our backyard and I hear it all day long. This has made me think about the general subject of mockery. It seems to me that modern art doesn't do enough mocking. Across all sectors of society you will notice that there is very little good mockery going on. When is the last time you heard some really good mockery? Not for a long time. In my small way I am trying to right this wrong.

Pink Ponies copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

Pink Ponies was a commission by my youngest collector, a three year-old girl. She has very specific taste in art. She likes balloons, clowns, cows, elephants, and horses. When I showed her the completed work she was so excited she ran in circles, jumped up and down, and clapped her hands, laughing with delight the whole time. I have never had a collector more pleased with a painting. It was gratifying to hit the nail so squarely on the head.

Blue Horse copyright 2010 by Dave Putnam

This painting hangs in the house of a family where the husband loves chaos and the wife craves order. Because the husband is so strong-willed the poor wife doesn't often get the neat and tidy world she so desperately wants. But when she gazes at Blue Horse she sees a stylized version of a peaceful draft horse, calmly trotting toward a field for a day's work. This helps restore a sense of serenity and gives her the strength to face the chaotic challenges of her adventure-loving family.

To depict motion, I borrow technique from the great abstract expressionist master, Marcel Duchamp.

Chocolate Storm copyright 2011 by Dave Putnam

This is part of my water series. I create these paintings when there is a light mist falling in my outdoor studio. Recently my doctor told my I can't eat anything with sugar, which causes me to crave chocolate. Rather than give in to my craving, I channel it into art. Some people look at this painting and are overcome by an insane desire to stuff themselves with chocolate. Other people, me included, will be able to satisfy a choco craving by viewing and contemplating Chocolate Storm. In my last blog I put up a painting that only causes craving, not satisfaction. I am working now on a painting that progresses one step further and is satisfying for everybody, and causes cravings in nobody. This is how absrtract expressionism evolves, one step at a time.

Chocolate Whirlwind 60'' x 48'' copyright 2011 by Dave Putnam

This painting combines the image of a chocolate sunday with rasberry sauce and a whirlwind. The effect is a whirling magnification of the popular dessert treat, an explosion of sweet delight. It should only be displayed in the house of people who need to gain weight because looking at it for any length of time will cause a craving for sugary snacks. Once again we see the power of abstract expressionism over human will power.

Eohippus copyright 2011 by Dave Putnam

The word "Eohippus" means dawn horse in Greek. It refers to the ancestors of modern horses who lived millions of years ago. These were wild and woolly creatures who were eons away from domestication. If I were making a sculpture of an eohippus it would look like a scientific museum piece. But as an abstract expressionist painter I try to capture the spirit of the ancient wild horse, not anatomical accuracy. And I'm trying to make a larger statement about horses in general, namely that within the heart of every tame and docile trail horse beats the heart of a wild beast that would just as soon buck you off its back as do your bidding.

Good Health copyright 2011 by Dave Putnam

This painting is part of my health series, which features images of microscopic war between the human immune system and foreign invaders. Good Health depicts the lattice work structure of human bone marrow, this is where the cells are created that fight disease. If your bone marrow is strong, then your entire immune system is strong. Visualizing a strong immune system right down to the marrow of your bones is an important method for acquiring good health.

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