Author: Mark Alexander

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Body of Work

I used to paint. A lot.

My earliest recollection of putting a brush to canvas was in high school, although it wasn’t until years later that I began to do it with any sort of seriousness. Like with so many other things in my life, the arrival of Star Wars is what lit the flame. A lot of my sci-fi work also served as illustration/inspiration for that never-completed always-in-progress novel I started in my 20s.

After my move to San Francisco in the mid 80s, I was surrounded by all sorts of new…ahem… “inspiration” that prompted not only new subject matter but a completely new style altogether.

My last work was the portrait of Ben from ten years ago.

For some reason the Muses have sequestered themselves out of sight after that was completed, but as I’ve written before I’m not too worried about their absence as I’ve had long dry spells before, only to have them broken with a tsunami of new work. Maybe this coming year will bring that tsunami, because I’m tired of friends saying, “You’re so good! Why aren’t you painting?” and I have to explain that it’s not just a matter of sitting down and having inspiration magically appear.

So here, with apologies for the low quality of some of the photos (and to be honest, some of the actual paintings themselves) for the first time ever, my (nearly entire) body of work. You’ll notice some common themes repeating…

Once Upon a Time (1977)
Not Even Death Shall Part Us (1978)
The Hitchhiker (1978)
City By The Sea (1979)
Flashback (1979) – This was done as a gift for a friend who loved “Not Even Death Shall Part Us”
On The Beach (1979)
Cast Out (1980)
Olyxas Rising (1981).
Kiss (1980)
(The Pilitian Requested) A Room With A View (1981)
Zarok (Returning Home) (1981)
Olyxas Rising II (1984)
Chariots of the Gods (1986) – This came to me in a meditation one afternoon
Self Portrait (1986) – My first venture into the new style. I had a long way to go.
Patrick (1986)
Is It Love? (1987)
Leatherman (1987) – This was the first painting I sold.
Untitled (1988)
Dreams (1987)
Attitude (1987)
Michael (1988) – There’s a long story behind this one.
Trevor (1988)
Kenny (1989)
Dennis (1989)
Parade (1991)
Tom (1992)
Giovanni (2000)
Chris (2001)
Dan Futterman (2001)
Knows His Place (2001)
Coley and Bastian (2003)
Miss KC Dare (2003)
Yuri (2003)
Steve (2004)
Joe (2004)
Bruno (2006)
Ben (2008)

There are maybe a half dozen others done over the years that I never got photographs of because they were early works and given away.

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I Used to Sketch

While searching for the photo of my painting Not Even Death Shall Part Us for the previous post, I ran across a bunch of other stuff.

Okay, I know they’re not fine art, but at the time (I was 20 or so) I was very happy with how they turned out; now doubly-so because I know I didn’t lay anything out first. I just grabbed a pen and started drawing.

Artistic ability may indeed be a gift, but I know this much: if you don’t use it, it deteriorates over time. Take this from a guy who really hasn’t produced any art in over ten years and is now almost terrified at the thought of drawing anything.

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Jean-Michel Jarre Does It Again

Chills upon hearing the first track. Just like 40 years ago after rushing home with the newly-released Equinoxe.

Once again I am twenty years old, skimming over a vast sea of golden dunes in my landspeeder under a double sun in a wheat-colored sky with the love of my life at my side.

“Not Even Death Shall Part Us” (1978) by yours truly, based loosely on a STAR WARS pre-production painting by Ralph McQuarrie. Yes, I used to paint.

In 1978 as the original Equinoxe was spinning on the turntable I called my friend and mentor Kent and after holding the receiver (yes, Virginia, it was a phone with a wire connected to the wall) up to the speaker I said, “Can you hear that? Landspeeders!” It’s been a long time since a piece of music had me bouncing off the ceiling.

I won’t say Infinity does this—and a lot of the same criticisms I had with Jarre’s last sequel, Oxygene 3, apply here as well—but it’s still a worthy followup to the original work.

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Moody and Atmospheric

Netflix does it again.

As we often do when nothing catches our eye on cable, we pick up the remote and say, “Netflix.”

Sometimes even that comes up empty, but a week or so ago we started watching Bodyguard.  I was initially reluctant to dive into it because the subject matter didn’t pique my interest, but once I started watching it gripped me. It’s one of those dark British dramas whose inscrutable characters, subtle soundtrack, and saturnine cinematography immediately drew me in.

Bodyguard is the story of Sgt. David Budd, a war veteran who helps thwart a terrorist attack, and is then assigned to protect the Home Secretary who was a major proponent of the conflict he fought in. Sgt. Budd harbors a secret and carries with him a host of conflicts and issues that must be addressed, but not until circumstances force him to confront his demons does he finally find peace.

I give this one a 9 out of 10 stars only because of a couple gaping plot holes that were never fully addressed. It’s only a six-episode season, but worth every minute.

And Richard Madden (Sgt. Budd) is very pretty too.

 

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Released 22 Years Ago Today

The Addams Family (1991)

Another one of those films (along with its sequel) that when it appears on cable I drop everything I’m doing to watch. Raúl Juliá’s death in 1994 was an absolute tragedy. The Addams Family films had the potential for becoming such a wonderful series. Watching Pugsley and Wednesday grow up would’ve been delightful…

It turns out that the film had a very tortured birth and that there actually was a third film with a totally different cast, director, and production company that went direct to video and crashed horribly—as it should have. You don’t mess with classics.

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Fourteen Iconic Quotes From the AHS: Apocalypse Finale

Whenever you’re in a room with the American Horror Story witches, you’re all but guaranteed of hearing some fucking amazing burns, but this season’s finale really outdid itself. These surely raised welts on their recipients…and had me screaming like a schoolgirl!

Ms. Venable: “You might as well ask me to explain your hair.”
Myrtle Snow: “My hair is an eternal mystery, never to be fully understood.”
Myrtle Snow: “Purple is for royalty, dear. Not middle management.”
Madison Montgomery: “Alright ladies, we’re here. Don’t forget to rate me five stars… please.”
Myrtle Snow: “Darling, it seems Daddy didn’t tell you the most important rule of bringing on the apocalypse. If you want to finish the job, the thing you have to do first is get rid of all the witches.”
Marie Laveau: “She needed the help of a powerful voodoo queen… but that ain’t you, sis!”
Madison Montgomery: “Sorry about your little toy, bitch.”
Marie Laveau: “You will not pass… you’re dealing with the HBIC [Head Bitch In Charge] now.”
Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt: “Die again, fuck face.”
Myrtle Snow: “It appears as though we’re fucked, my dear.”
Cordelia Goode: “I look at you and I don’t see a man. I see a sad, scared little boy so pathetic he couldn’t even kill me with a thousand nuclear bombs.”
Cordelia Goode: “Satan has one son… but my sisters are legion, motherfucker.”
Constance Langdon: “Go to hell.”
Nan: “Hi, bitches.”

Did I miss any?

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Blogging

Blogging about blogging. Has it really come to this? Am I that bereft of any new, interesting ideas?

Apparently.

I started blogging in 2004. Or maybe 2005. I don’t remember at this point and it really isn’t that important. I wasn’t in on the ground floor of the movement (craze?), but came in at what was probably close to the height of its popularity.

I’d kept a personal journal from late 1987 to mid 2002, mostly chronicling my debauched San Francisco adventures, aborted romances, my near-continual financial woes, and multiple moves to and from Arizona over those 15 years. I finally gave up in 2003 with the arrival of my cancer diagnosis. While it might’ve been interesting for me to use the journal as a vehicle to work through my fears and insecurities regarding my diagnosis and subsequent treatment, the general consensus (myself included) was that I would beat the cancer and the last thing I’d wanted was a written record for all posterity of what I had gone through. I’ve never been one for a pity party, and that’s what I feared it would turn into.

This decision left a gaping hole in my expressive life that was eventually replaced with blogging. Initially I was more than a little fearful of putting my personal life out on the internet, but realized quickly that while it could be used that way, blogging really wasn’t intended to be a traditional journal; I could include as much or as little as I felt comfortable revealing to the world.

As GW Bush entered his second term in office, it also afforded me a venue in which to vent my frustration at the direction the country was taking—and to connect with like-minded individuals who felt the same way—not to mention facilitating meeting the man who was to eventually become my husband.

As anyone who’s been here from the beginning (and I applaud you) knows, over the years, my blogging has gone from personal rants, political opining and an occasional dash of male hotness to mostly male hotness with everything else being secondary. 8 years of the smooth-running, scandal-free Obama White House afforded me precious little to bitch about, and nekkid menz always seemed to draw more interest anyway.

My only regret through this journey was my failure to back up my blog prior to our relocation to Denver. I did a damn good job of stringing words together on several of those posts and wish they were still around. (I’m in the process of pulling what I can from the Internet Archive “The Wayback Machine” and back-publishing those posts here, but it’s time consuming and I’m only able to retrieve text, not pictures.)

Of course, with the arrival of the Orange Russian Wig Stand in the Oval Office, that’s changed. I once again find myself getting very worked up about what’s happening in the world and have plenty to bitch about, but there are many days I just can’t. Thankfully there are others out there—others far more erudite than I—whose work I can pass on to fill the void when my own words fall short. I occasionally rant about Apple, provide unnecessary movie and television reviews, and post funny pictures and way more male hotness than I ever thought I would when all this started.

I’ve often thought about shuttering the whole thing since I get so little feedback these days, but after all these years, Voenix Rising has become my online identity, my “brand” as it were, and I don’t really want to give that up. I know that one day—like its author—the Voenix Rising blog will take its last breath, but until that time I shall continue to use it it as a vehicle to scream into the void and hopefully provide some salacious entertainment and humor along the way.

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