Now that Part One of the Tale of the Crippled Boy has closed at the Huntington in San Marino, we are officially in search of a venue for it to move on to.  Help in reaching out to locations outside of Southern California would be sincerely appreciated.  My hope is that we can find a museum somewhere on the eastern seaboard that will be interested in taking it on.  For the moment, the project is returning to my studio with no trips to other parts of the world planned.

In the meantime, I (and our tiny crew of Laura and Johnny) plan to get back to work on Part Two just as soon as we can regroup and scratch together enough resources  to upgrade our equipment and add some necessary components.  Several talented individuals have approached us to offer their services when we begin shooting again and we have kept a careful list of names and skills.  Our only current limitation is the usual one (money) and we are planning to start putting grant applications together very soon.  Should any real funding for the project materialize, we will definitely plan on putting a small crew together to move forward with additional set construction, animation and the general business of trying to bring something new into the world.

Anyone with specific skills relating to the production of Part II of the Tale who would interested in sharing our passion for invention and creative freedom, should drop us a line letting us know what you can do.

Again, we are adrift on the Sea of Uncertainty for the moment with no destination for either Part I or Part II  but, for reasons I don’t fully understand, I believe we will somehow be able to find our way to the goal of continuing to tell the Tale.

Additional Meet the Artist Dates.

Since we are getting rather close to the end of the exhibition at the Huntington, I wanted to let people know that I will be available in the gallery for casual conversationbetween 1:00 and 3:00 on Sunday the 12th, Sunday the 19th and Sunday the 26th. There are also several other days on which I will be there and would be happy to meet with anyone who has specific questions or thoughts about the work.  Please email me if you would like to get together.

The exhibition has officially been extended until June 27th.

This forty-five minute film was shot at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens on May 28th, 2011.  In it, the artist answers numerous questions posed by the audience on the subject of his exhibition Three Fragments of a Lost Tale. (See the Q and A here.)

There are dozens of working drawings for the Project.  Here are a few.  In most cases, the drawing serves as a starting point only.  Inevitably each object finds its own way into being.  More of the Working Drawings may be seen here.

• See the Working Drawing Page Here.

Born to Endless Night

Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by William Blake    Guest Curated by John Frame

March 12, 2011-June 20, 2011

Works on Paper Room, Huntington Art Gallery

One of the best things that happened as a direct result of the exhibition at the Huntington was being asked to guest curate an exhibition of the works of William Blake. As many of you know, the Huntington has one of the finest collections of Blake’s work in the country. For many of us working in the border areas of the art world, Blake stands in as one very striking example of what can be accomplished through diligence and devotion to one’s calling over a lifetime, regardless of how much or little one is recognized for their work. For me he is a true artist’s artist and one that is consistently satisfying to spend time with, whether he’s writing, engraving or painting.

Several of the works in the exhibition are watercolors whose pigments are considered to be fugitive in nature.  As a result these works are only rarely seen, perhaps as infrequently as once in a 10 year period. There are 20 pieces in the exhibition including several from the Book of Job, from Milton’s Paradise Lost, and from Songs of Innocence and of Experience. Also included is the rarely seen painting on canvas of Lot and His Daughters, a work that once belonged to Dante Gabriel Rossetti.  I hope you can catch the exhibition in the Huntington Art Gallery before it closes on June 20, 2011.

As has been mentioned in other locations on my website, we are trying to maintain total control of and creative freedom for the entire project.  Part 1 of the Tale, “Three Fragments of a Lost Tale” consists primarily of the figures themselves and a few basic sets.

Part two of the Tale will focus heavily on film work that will utilize the characters in multiple, newly created scenes.

Many of these scenes have been storyboarded and are ready to go. At this time however, no funding exists for us to be able to continue the filming at a serious level. We are seeking the necessary resources through multiple avenues including grants and private foundations.

The Available Photographs are the one area where we hope to be able to generate some revenue.

We will be adding some smaller more affordable images sometime very soon in the hope that we can make them available to a much larger audience.   I would like to thank those individuals who have purchased photographs for helping us to keep the film alive and edging forward.  Even though our crew is small, it is proving surprisingly difficult to keep even my editor/son-in-law, Johnny Coffeen on board.  If you are interested in the photographs, please check back to see the new images that we will be adding from time to time.