NEW from the Mister Existence Series -

"Mister Existence Gets A Poodle"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I wonder if other dogs think poodles
are members of a weird religious cult ..."
- Rita Rudner

NEW from the Mister Existence Series -

"Mister Existence Finds the Dog Handler"
digital collage by Mick Mater

"... my dog, what remedy remains,
since, teach you all I can,
I see you, after all my pains,
so much resemble man ..."
- William Cowper

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Sister Existence Dressed for Success"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the road to success is always under construction ..."
- Lily Tomlin

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Sister Existence at the Dog Show"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... howling dogs herald the wind god who has summoned death, and the spirits of the dead will be taken ..."
- Unknown

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Mister Existence Meets a Mean Dog"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the dog, to gain some private ends,
went mad and bit the man ..."
- Oliver Goldsmith

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Sister Existence Revels in the Deep Shade"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I've been playing around with a new set of plug-ins while working in an old way of digital cut and pasting before running everything through the Secret Visual Laboratory. Can't stay to chat, lot's of work to do.

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"The Dog Walking Mister Existence I"
relief print by Mick Mather
- click on image to view full size -

While preparing a short foray into my old method of working - block-relief printmaking - I turned up this embossed styrofoam print while doing the research. What's that? Since you ask, it's a simple drawing on a piece of styrofoam so the pencil embosses (leaves a groove) the material. After inking the surface and laying it to paper, you get a print as seen here. Almost any kind will work and I've often used the lids to those containers restaurants give to carry home leftovers. A relatively simple and fun way to enjoy printmaking, especially with children.

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Mister Existence Puts the Dog in His House"
digital collage by Mick Mather

While trolling through some old files I realized that I haven't done much with The Mister Existence Series for quite a while. What I enjoy most about doing works in a series is that intense passion for the new as a concept develops and riding that wave for as long as it lasts. Later, a piece is created here there and is assigned when there's a comfortable fit. At other times, like this post, a glimmer of connection has to be kneaded and pushed into shape. I like that part of the process too. Well, it appears that I have a busy weekend ahead since my granddaughter needs new sneakers. The shoe shopping does begin early, dunnit? So do me a favor and set out a fresh bowl of water for the dog in the morning won't you? Thanks! :)

NEW from The Mister Existence Series -

"Ready for to Fade"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I'm really not here, but at one of the three meetings I have this week in the evening. Long days for me and a flurry of hit & run posts for you. This new image in The Mister Existence Series is actually quite old. It's been in a file for almost a year. I've reworked it at least 2 dozen times and I've never quite been satisfied with it. It's a little bit trippy with both feet firmly planted in the 1960's and, no pun intended, there's something happening here that I've never been able to fully understand. I kind of like it when this happens, even though it's rare, because it forces me to reflect, redo, change course, reinvent and accept the fact that, sometimes, there are no answers.

NEW from The Mr Existence Series -

"Mr Existence, Again With the Dog"
digital collage by Mick Mather

While fiddling aimlessly about a few weeks ago, up popped that dog again. It's in the background if you look carefully past the final layers of the white line doggy drawing. It surely fits into this old series and it was fun to work on. Now - forgive the continuous interludes with my teeth - it's time for another pain pill. :|

NEW from The Mr Existence Series -

"Mr Existence Finds His Blue Poodle"
pen & ink with digital collage by Mick Mather

All the bright and sparkly colors in this piece are from an old pen & ink drawing I did in the 1970's. I was playing about and in up to my waist with pointillism at the time. As a slight diversion from one dot at a time, a few pieces used broader squares of color...similar, but not matching, a style that made Chuck Close a household name. So, jumping ahead some 25 years, I scanned the original, cropped it to fit my usual working frame and began looking at it - turning and looking, turning and looking. Not unlike those magic 3-D prints that reveal a hidden image once you figure out how to unfocus and allow it to jump out at you, I spotted something. Spot! As in "see Spot run!" Well, not exactly, since it's a French Poodle I happened to see...and so, after a bit of digital collage and the usual manipulations via the super secret array, voila! Was Mr Existence excited about finding that darned doggy? You can bet your flea-bitten collar that he was. :D

NEW from The Mr Existence Series -

"Sister Existence on a Dog Day Afternoon"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I was playing around with a few elements last night, including a wonderfully scribbly drawing by my 3-year old granddaughter. This was layered over a rough 'n tumble, hazy, blocky base of cut 'n paste before running the whole business through the super secret array. It didn't take long to realize that we had another piece where Sister Existence is out walking the dogs. "What dogs?", you might legitimately inquire. Let me see, pretend this is one of those "Where's Waldo" books except that we're looking for "Fido" instead. Well, two of them actually. :D