Beautiful Noise
2011 - 20" x 24" x 1.5" (50.8 x 61 x 3.8cm)
Acrylic, graphite, charcoal, newspaper, on gallery wrapped canvas
Finished with Liquitex Gloss #5016 & Golden Polymer Matte Varnish #7720-6
(Not For Sale)

July 12, 2011

Polar bear goes hunting for dinner and discovers a mysterious box, frozen in ice. Curious about the box, he brings it to his friend Alligator, a connoisseur of strange artifacts.

 

Polar Bear
(eager to share his new discovery with alligator)
Look what I found!
A mysterious box.

Alligator
(rides up on his three legged dinosaur)
It glitters like gold.
Where did you get it?

Polar Bear
(pauses for a moment, distracted by alligator's pet fish)
I was hunting for dinner and found this box frozen in ice.
There is strange writing on the sides.

Alligator
(Alligator takes a closer look.)
Heiroglyphics, just like the pyramids.
A gift from the sky people.

Polar Bear
It makes noise.
Listen ....

Alligator
(completely mesmorized by the noise)
It makes beautiful noise.
I must have it.

Polar Bear
I will trade one of your poems for the box.

Alligator
Yes indeed.
A poem it shall be.

Living in the literal sense
It's beautiful what people say
Simple things
More poetic than I thought

An occasional moment of coherence
I think subconsciously
Feel without feeling
Look without asking

Silent listening is good
The symphony of silence
An oasis of serenity

Sing a sad song
Or maybe melancholic screaming

Shhhhhhhh ......
Whisper softly

The beautiful sound of noise
Can you hear it?
Follow the pulse
A natural rhythm of life, and death.

Polar Bear
(Polar bear hands the box to Alligator and gives him an enthusiastic applause.)
Bravo!

Alligator
(takes a bow)
Gracias senor oso.

(Alligator waves goodbye and rides off into the sunset)
Hi-yo silver!

Background:

The polar bear was the first image I drew but at the time didn't know it was a polar bear. I have been playing Plants & Zombies on iPad and they recently updated the game with the Zen Garden. They have a vintage phonograph that you can place on plants in the garden to help them grow.

Alligator and his dinosaur were originally slightly more to the left. After I added the phonograph & sound waves, they touched dinosaur's nose, so I covered up the original drawing and moved the dinosaur to the right by a 1/2". This is why you see unpainted patches of newspaper in this area. I liked how it looked and didn't bother to paint it white.

Aligator's pet flying fish was just a spontaneous idea, but it's one of my favorite parts of the painting. By coincidence, the fish and polar bear are making eye contact and that fit into the story of polar bear missing out on his fish dinner. Behind the dinosaur, you will see who ended up with polar bear's fish. It's a penguin, in case you are not sure.