Some may have noticed the appearance of an antique carpenter's saw in my odd little gallery. Though I am a Poet, I decided when I arrived here to reserve my Deviant Space for my humble attempts at experimental photography, desiring to stretch my life as an artist. (Also to learn a thing or two from the freaking amazing array of artists in this community)

Mostly I take self-portraits, a potent tool which I learned from studying Vincent Van Gogh; (my saint and muse) it's not about my ego, for I feel as goofy looking as any other homo sapiens, which is fine with me.
No, I feel the self-portrait helps us reveal the humanity inside us, surrounding us.

That's where the saw comes in...mostly to stay sane, and to feed my love for jazz, I formed a poetry-jazz band a few months ago called, surprisingly, DawnRunsAmok. I speak the words and a handful of jazz heads/good friends play the music. It's a hell of a lot of fun. (We are working up enough originals for a full demo CD.)
But that wasn't good enough for me. I wanted in on the music.

Being disabled from a brain malformation, chronic insomnia is one of my demons. One night, while rummaging around in an old storage unit, I found the saw, which was in awful shape at the time. I spent some time restoring it, the wood handle is beautiful and unusually ornate; but not too much restoration, I wanted it to keep its scars and stains, all well earned.

My friend Tim, and our drummer, sprang for a new violin bow; then I built a few custom mallets, and...started off by making the sound of a thousand tortured cats, all screaming at once. Or worse, this awful mooing and lowing, like a cow being violated by Probing Aliens. I almost gave up on the spot. But, with painstaking and ear-mangling practice, it is beginning to sing like an Elven princess.

Now, I practice day and night. My teachers are the masters of jazz: Satchmo, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Lady Day, Django, Byrd, and all the rest.
And of course, Regina Spektor, my Lady Night.

So, a few sets of me with Saw, whom I haven't named yet...
And maybe a few of the band, but don't worry, I'll stop soon and find something else to show you.

I'd like to thank the artist !Draye, for inspiring me to cast aside my doubts and just put them up. After all, art requires risk at times...
If you've gotten this far, I thank you for your time.

-end transmission-