Bits and Pieces on my Table

1) Rub honey into the night's back,

2) Make sure the moon is fed,

3)Bathe the ocean,

4) Warm sing the trees.

            ~ Tend

My mother resembled a character out of an Isabel Allende novel. she was one of those Piscean/Aquarians who would often declare that she could see visions of things that happened in a place, of incidents that might have happened if... She would periodically move heaven and earth so that the world around her could fit into her visions irrespective of the disruptions it caused. 

One thing she did prove right was the fact that she would die and some five years before her death she went about clearing out the books in her large cellar with the energy characteristic of every mission she undertook. The result was that I was given some very beautiful old books. 

I treasure these books for their beauty except one, a vintage PR exercise about Queen Victoria. Because of the subject matter, I've decided it can be sacrificed in the name of art. The paper is so old it practically disintegrates at times but the cherubic faces of the little royal princes is perfect for cutting up and playing with. The resulting compositions have become bizarre worlds within the pages of my new Moleskine sketchbook and I have been taken aback by what has emerged. Perhaps they are comparable to my mother's visions? In this case, I am thankful they are only on paper.

These pictures I made during the last two days are probably a progression of The Red Book project which I did years ago. They have turned out more sophisticated and muted compared to an earlier cutting up of Kings and Queens within The Redbook. I have included a picture of it below.

Deep down inside, I'm mad … we're all mad here, really. 

If you've read this far, you're probably about to go nuts right now.

~ from another excellent interview by Mahendra Singh.