part of the "transitional works" series
G and L
G and L
This was painted as the wedding present for my friends Glenn and Lauren who live in Northern California. (In this case, there can be little disagreement as to whether or not where they live is, in fact, Northern California.)
Glenn and I have known each other since we met surfing in Central California during the early 1970's. Lauren and I got to know each other though Glenn. The place in the painting is nothing at all like the area where we spent so many years getting to know each other and working together.
The painting was influenced by the area where Glenn and Lauren now live: many cliffs and coves, very cold water, and far fewer lefts than rights. The biggest difference between painting and reality is that the spot in the painting will never be crowded.
Some thirty years ago, back when Glenn, a small handful of others, and I were the new aliens on the block, the number of unfamiliar faces in the lineup one would see over the course of an entire surf season could be counted on the fingers of one's hands. Many locals of the day were convinced their area was as crowded as it would ever be. Many more were vehemently confident that the cold water and harsh conditions would, at the very least, keep the huge crowds at bay.
These days, in that area, the number of people I recognize in the lineup over the course of a week can typically be counted on one hand. There will be hundreds of people out, and I will not know even one.
The point being... In these times, no matter how "adverse" the conditions may seem to be, it simply does not matter when there are far too many mice and not nearly enough cheese. There are no places remaining in this world where one can completely hide from the changes which we cause by continuing to fuel the development of our growth-centric civilization. While one might still find spots to elude the heart of the infestation for a few years (at best), the growth-induced pressures are currently global in scope and unrelenting in nature.
Changes will happen and, indeed, change is vital. If we, as a species, are so flippin' smart, then we should be ingenious enough to work together directing progressive changes rather than to simply bail out as individuals and ride the whitewater crap of that which so many unwisely and disingenuously dismiss as being "inevitable".
We need to work toward redefining the very basis of our civilization's future.
We need to base our social and economic indicators on intellectual and emotional progress rather than on physical growth.
Infinite physical growth is a physical impossibility.
Infinite progress offers infinite possibilities.
Eventually, if we continue to base our civilization's future on infinite physical growth, we will accomplish nothing more than the creation of huge short-term gains for a few opportunistic parasites while we ensure the long-term losses for all-that-is-alive.
