Tim Sharman Fine Art

Doof Artist Profile: D. Maylock, Doof writer

2012-02-04T09:13:00.001-08:00

In the 1930’s and 40’s, D. Maylock (1914-1977) wrote hundreds of Doof inspired short stories for numerous dime novels published in those days . Maylock’s hard-boiled tales involved the Doof as a good luck charm that always ended in revenge and murder. He believed the cartoon image of the Doof was not based on an animal but of a spirit or entity. The Doof’s appearance, without legs, torso or arms floats above the earth supports this theory. Therefore it was easy for Maylock to infuse magic and mystery into the Doof. He imagined the Doof in his stories as an object possessing the power to grant wishes but there was a catch. Like the tale of the monkey’s paw, Doof wishes came with unexpected consequences. Doof Spiritualism had a profound influence on Maylock.

Later in life, Maylock was instrumental in helping a young Doctor Hyram Standoff, Phd. do valuable and groundbreaking research into Doof spiritualism. Dr. Standoff’s eventual book, Season of the Doof, had cause a small stir among the coffeehouse crowd with it’s paranormal theory that the Doof cartoon was much more than a rubbery cartoon. Maylock enlisted a few writing colleagues to try their hand at the genre but it was Maylock that wrote the bulk of the stories, writing under a few different pen names and for a brief period was able to flood the market with his Doof stories, in a hope that publishers would push the new genre since there was a lot of it. Maylock tried very hard to establish the Doof as a mainstream genre in pulp fiction but the market for metaphysical murder mystery dealing with enchanted art objects was limited. Eventually, fiction in the magazine industry collapsed with the advent of television. People now turned their attention to the television for their entertainment. A lot of free-lance writers became television writers. Maylock never made the transition to the little screen. Maylock eventually burnt out of ideas and found himself in the middle of a nervous breakdown. Maylock stayed away from writing and eventually found his self esteem again. He turned to writing romance novels. He translated many of the story ideas of his pulp days into his love stories and they soon became the staple among women’s book clubs across the country. This lucrative genre kept him busy for the rest of his days and he finally became a wealthy man.

Early Years

Maylock was born in the mid-west, moved to Chicago. His parents were immigrants who work in the slaughter yards. Although they spoke little english, they taught their son how to read and write and sent him to school. Maylock work in the yards on saturdays to help out his parents and would entertain the fellow workers with his suspense stories. Maylock wrote stories for the school’s newspaper and submitted stories for the english class annual. He was writing for the local paper before he finished high school. He reported news, wrote editorials and designed ads. This is where he honed in on his skills of creating stories effortlessly for a deadline. He did not have to work at the slaughter house anymore. He was making money at writing.

Maylock was inspired at an early age by a visit to the Authentic Old Drug Store and Doof Museum in Florida. There as a child he met the druggist, Dr. Wayne Fullerster who showed the lad his collection of Doofs, many old and mysterious. This visit had a huge impact on Maylock as he built his own history for the Doof. Maylock kept been corresponding with Fullerster once or twice a year trading photos, recipes, stories. Maylock visited Fullerster’s Museum on several occasions.

Pulp Writer

Maylock went into the army after high school. He stayed in the army for two years and wrote for the local army newspaper. There he meet a couple of GI’s who were in publishing before they were drafted. They liked the style of the way Maylock described things in his articles and offered him a chance to write short stories for them when his enlistment was up.

Maylock was a quiet drunkard who often was blinding drunk when he typed out story after story.Maylock was a throw back to the work ethic of filling the time with work. There wasn’t any social life. He was working for survival. It was hustle after hustle making a living. He was able to work hours on end without rest. Nobody wanted to stop him because the writing was so brilliant and concise. He would stay sober for only brief periods of time.

He developed writer’s block and this drove him to depression as the once prolific artist was empty of stories. This depression drove Maylock to having a nervous breakdown and he landed in a sanitarium to recuperate.

Later Years

Maylock married Carla Joe Zimmotto in 1967. He met her at a bar in the sanitarium and fell in love with her when she told him that she had read all that he had written. He found that he enjoyed writing again. They were together for the rest of his stay and eventually got married. After many years alone, Maylock was happy to have someone in his life. His new bride thought it would be a fresh start for her and Maylock if they cut ties with everyone he knew and move to a place in the country where Maylock could try to get back at writing. She encouraged him to write Romance novels and he easily adapted to the writing style. It wasn’t long before Maylock was busy writing novel after novel. On a summer’s night in 1977, Maylock and Carla died in an automobile accident on their 10th wedding anniversary.

Doof Artist Profile: Abigail Lombard: Doof Exotic Dancer

2012-01-30T08:16:00.000-08:00

The Doof image has inspired many Doof artists and Doof writers. Today, we focus on a Doof dancer. An exotic Doof dancer to be specific. Abigail Lombard. Enjoy!

Abigail Lombard was born Helen Fournier in 1922 to parents who owned a small but prosperous bakery in Paris, France. At an early age, Helen possessed a creative mind and was drawn to the world of the Parisian advante garde and especially idolized the flamboyant Kiki. Little Helen was also drawn to the world of American movies and instantly became enamored with the Doof image after seeing Doof cartoons. She developed a fantasy about the Doof. She fantasized the Doof entering her person to live there and be her guide and inspire her. Helen, at the age of 12, gave herself temporary henna Doof tattoos. She placed them all over her body, changing the location of the tattoo weekly. This practice she would continue for the rest of her life. She

claimed the tattoo was a mark the Doof left as he swims around her being. Abigail also loved to dance and her parents encouraged her to take up ballet. Her parents were thrilled having a ballerina in the family until they learned that their daughter wanted to study exotic dancing instead of ballet. This decision strain their relationship with their daughter but Helen felt her art would be best expressed with pasties and not slippers. She moved out of the bakery, change her name to Abigail Lombard and moved into the world of the Paris cabaret scene. Because of her uniqueness she was immediately hired as a dancer. She used

the Doof image in clever costumes and she became well known for her unique Doof inspired strip teases. Eventually she came to the New York, wanting to be a exotic dancer on Broadway. After a few years she migrated to the west coast and settled in San Francisco, where she finally got to dance on Broadway. In the fifties she became engrossed in the Beat generation where she was exotic dancer and had brief affairs with writers, painters and book sellers. In the sixties she became a hippie and an exotic dancer and had brief affairs with writers, painters and rock musicians.In the

seventies, Abigail became a feminist and an exotic dancer and had brief affairs with writers, painters and politicians. In the Eighties, Abigail became a hair stylist, retired from exotic dancing and got married to a ex-biker with a dog named Duke. She cut hair and told stories about

her life until her death in 2003.

The History of Doof Merchandise: Part One

2012-01-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

The image of the Doof was once considered a valuable commodity and was used to promote various types of products for consumers to consume. By all indications using the Doof as an endorsement to sell merchandise was not a sound idea.

Doof Wonderments

In the aftermath of the fiery demise of Music-toons Productions, a somewhat phoenix rose out of it ashes. One of the now unemployed sales force, a man by the name of Arturo Sukini created a small fortune from the salvaged image of the Doof.

Sukini, who everybody called Sal, was a smart and resourceful man. Losing his job at the studio was not a great setback. He was a salesman and knew that all he needed was a product to sell. He remembered befriending in a bar an out of work chemist, Earl Headly. He looked up Headly, offered him a business opportunity and together they developed a line of medical salves and ointments. In 1939, Doof Wonderments was in business. As the story goes, it was the salesman's use of the Doof image to represent the brand that fueled sales. He saw how Mickey Mouse’s image was very successful and he banked on the Doof to appeal to the public as well. Doof Wonderments products made a modest profit for the two men at first but things quickly ended with tragedy. It was discovered that many of the

chemicals that Headly used, when mixed with each caused strange abnormalities to the people who were using them. People were literally losing the use of arms and legs and the dead

appendages were wilting off their bodies. Soon people began protesting and demanding refunds from the company. Getting no response from the company, an angry mob stormed the Wonderments factory and set fire to it. The two owners made their way out a back door and into a waiting car that was never seen above the equator again. Afterwards, the victims, their families and the people who supported them formed a grass root political group, Doof Culture and tried to get their voice heard in Washington about regulations on cure-alls, but with the declaration of war by Japan on the United States, the group disbanded as many of its members enlisted in the armed forces.

Miracle Toy Company

Doof Wonderments spawned Miracle Toy Company, which manufactured Doof toys for children. Although it boasted that the toys were made in the United States, the toys were made in Usa, a tiny province of China. The toys hit the market and it wasn’t long before 12

children were diagnosed with radiation poisoning in 1940. It was believed that the materials used in the manufacturing of the toys were rare and radioactive. The children developed strange mental abilities and after a week of terrorizing the little southern town that they lived in, were herded off by the government to a top secret installation in Nevada. The toys were quickly taken off the shelves in the spring of 1941, the company was quickly sued and was forced to closed down due to the power of the Doof Culture political party.

The Spirituality of the Doof Image

2012-01-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Doof Museum of Culture and History is honored to post an essay on Doof Spiritualism by the renowned historian and heavy thinker, Dr. Hyram W. Standoff, Phd. Dr. Standoff is one of the leading authorities in a variety of important fields of studies. He has written award winning essays on such topics as Sexuality in the Male Super Hero, Why can't Birds and Bees Mate and the essay that would be considered his benchmark, Yellow is the Color of a Banana, not a Coward. Dr. Standoff has written about Doof culture and published a book, Season of the Doof, which claimed that the happy go lucky Doof, star of many Music-toons cartoons was based on a spirit or enity that people found to be of a mystical nature and had a touch of magic. Dr. Standoff is currently fielding offers for university posts. if you or your friends know of one, please let the good doctor know.

The Spirituality of the Doof Image

Dr. Hyram w. Standoff, Phd.

If you were to ask the question, Do you remember where the Doof came from?, to the man on the street, he would readily agree that the origin of the Doof image would be in the animated cartoons produced by Music-toons Studios in the late 1920’s. Mr everyman would also remember the image of the Doof adorning the labels of Doof Wonderments health products.

As fate would have it, products from these companies would be the cause of nine deaths, five disfigurements and a score of people with rash and allergy problems. The families of these victims pulled together and tried to seek justice from the companies that brought misery to their love ones. Eventually their group blossomed into a small grass roots organization that tried to bring change to the country but the beginning of US involvement in WWII ended its power. Using the Doof image as the groups insignia gave it’s image a power that elevated it from being a humorous cartoon pitchman to being a symbol of hope for the struggle of the common man. It became spiritual.

Strange picture from the 1860’s was found in Wisconsin of an union soldier in full uniform and holding his rifle is standing next to a wall that has a Doof drawn on it. The story of the soldier was that when he went off to fight in the war he never got there and disappeared forever. How is it that an image of the Doof be so far back in history.

To make the matter more mysterious, a photo turned up of General Robert E. Lee in a history book and if you look close at the photo, the general is wearing a jewel brooch that has a distinct image of a Doof on it. There must have been a magical notion about the image and maybe it was for good luck or protection.

As for all the unexplained sightings and beliefs of the Doof spirit being able to grant good luck and clearness of vision, there was always people who saw an opportunity in the vulnerability of people and their beliefs.

The strangest case non withstanding, appears to be a petroglyph found the island of Malta, in the mysterious ruins of Hagar Quim. The ruins are said to be 2000 years older that the pyramids of Egypt.In a small corner of the existing encampment, next of what could be a doorway, a small doof like image was discovered carved into the limestone. tests suggest that

the carving was made by the same tools as the other decorations found on the site. Archaeologists who have been working on the site are working on a theory that the whole settlement was a matriarchy and the symbol that resembles the Doof had something to do with fertility.

Doof cults, whose beliefs vaguely resemble the ones they base their creed system on, still exist today and cases and documentation of Doof phenomenon are still being recording by the authorities, reluctantly. Doof phenomenon has it small space in society’s need for the unexplained just like the legend of Big Foot or the belief in U.F.O.s. It is a god given right.

Two Strange Cases of Doof Phenomenon

This photo shows a cloud formation that resembles a Doof. It was taken in 1995, after a major snow storm that dumped more than 7 feet of snow. This photo was taken on the day it finally cleared.

This old photo, Taken in a church down in Mexico, shows a strange light reflection that shows the Doof image. Could it really mean that the image of the Doof is more that just a cartoon Character?

Music-Toons Animation Studio

2012-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Doof Museum of Culture and History is happy to have in its archives, more artifacts and history from the early animation studio, Music-toons. Although we have posted before about this tragic studio, new evidence is always being uncovered, so we are updating you about the little cartoon factory where it is believed that the image of the Doof was born.

Writers and animators at the Music- toons studio go over

story boards for the next ten films. these sessions would

last well into the night. Some of the most brilliant minds

of the industry were at not at these meetings.

A Revised History on Music-toons Productions.

There were only a handful of animation studios in the late 1920’s, such as the great animation studios like Max Fleisher and Walt Disney, making animated cartoons which were shown as a novelty before main feature movies in theaters all over the country. The country went wild for their cartoons. Although these cartoons were hits with audiences, they became very expensive for the theater owners. So there were a smaller group of animation studios that created less expensive cartoons as an option to those more thrifty theater owners. The most prolific of this small group was Music-toons Productions, whose production during a five year run in 1929 almost topped Disney in bookings, only to see everything go up in smoke in 1933.

It all began when two brothers from New York, Guido and Salvador Campilli, came west to Hollywood looking for the golden goose in the glamorous world of movies, although for a while they did not know this. The brothers,who were identical twins and of Italian descent, came out first to Los Angeles to learn the contracting business from a family uncle. The family of the brothers that sending the two boys to California would be a good thing and Guido and Salvador could yet again get a fresh start. All this changed when Guido and Salvador attended a Hollywood party and met a few Hollywood starlets. The brothers knew right then that they wanted to be in the movies so they told the family that they wanted to run a movie studio. The family could not refuse them. Because of the family’s standing back home in the olive oil business, Salvador and Guido were not given a big movie studio like they wanted, they hand to settle for a small animation studio that was given to the family as payment for a favor from a former business associate. In a few weeks the doors of Music-toons production was opened for business. This took place in the fall of 1925.

Because of their reasonable cost and the sure-fire methods of the sales force, which never lost a booking, it wasn’t long before Music-toons cartoons were being shown in most of the movie houses in New York. The cartoons were becoming popular. Media critics were generous and one named Music-toons, “The little studio that could”. The cartoons were not only cheap but they were good. Some of this success would be due to the fact that the studio had under contract an artist who was a top notch storyboard artist, animator, background artist, cel painter and a budding director. This jack of all trades name was Lester Cloud. Cloud was a talented young naive visionary of animation direction and his unique character development was way ahead of its time. Cloud quickly established for the studio a line of of characters that to this day critics say transcended the cartoon medium.

Soon Music-toons were being featured in theaters across over the United States. It seemed like every movie theatre had to show them. Inspired by all the success, Cloud worked furiously, making sure that there were many future cartoons up on the storyboards waiting to be made.

Music-toon cartoons were making a lot of money for the Campelli brothers and that was making the family back home very happy. Then something happened and a change came over the brothers. More money started being transferred from the general funds into the brothers personal expense accounts and payroll ballooned with the addition of 10 new secretaries, five for each brother. The family back home took notice the profits of the studio were dipping. This information got back to the brothers and they thought it best to fix things before the family had time to think it over. So they now wanted the studio to step up efforts an make the cartoons half the time. They sent out the sales force to increase bookings. The overworked and underpaid writers were told only give the most skeleton of storyboards to the animators and the animators were recycling cels just to get the cartoon done on time. They worked on a non existent budget. It was never spoken out loud but it was widely known that Salvador and Guido were also spending suitcases full of money, betting on the ponies and nights out with female company. The brothers also were prone to have terrible arguments and money was spent to pay for damage from their public fights. The family of Guido and Salvador was very distressed when they finally found out why their monthly profits were dwindling. A short time later, on a moon less night, the family came to visit. The brothers were convinced to move back home and the family took over the operations. Within a week, a fire broke out in every single building on the lot at the same time. Almost everything was destroyed. The Los Angeles police department reported that they found the fire was caused by a natural disaster.

Music-toons Photo Archive

Guido Campilli in front of the gate to Music-toons studios.

His brother Salvador took the photo, just before the two

brothers got into a fist fight.

The busy animation studio. These men worked 13 hour days

in order to get eight minutes of film per week. Cartoons

needed to be new and fresh for the movie going audience.

Luca Brasi, animator, worked for Music-toons for

two years. Although his drawing skills lack finese

and a total lack of talent, Luca was never criticized

for his work. Oddly, Luca was awarded many three

day vactions during his tenure.

Two of Music-toons top salesmen, Tony Degracy and Enzo

Dalton. Their unorthdox sales techniques yield dividends in

theater bookings for the entire time Music-toons was in business.

A Moment in Doof History

2011-04-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

DOOF CULTURE

In the 1930’s a small powerful political party, Doof Culture made their voices heard all the way to Washington D.C. This grass roots organization consisted of lower middle class working men who were horribled maimed by the effects of certain health products that sold under the name of Doof Wonderments. These deadly concoctions were readily availible at any drug stores and magazine vendors. These poor men suffered severe injuries that caused them to lose work and watch helplessly as their hospital bills pile up. These products were in time found out to be full of harmful chemicals and it was believed to be the main cause of the men’s disfigurement. Relatives and friends of these unfortunate victims protested the factories and stores that dealt with the suspect products. the protesters wore bright red and white patches with the Doof image and were later give the name Doof Culture by the press. This small group grew to be a midsize grass root organization that gained a fair amount of politcal power. it was said that they even had an ear or two in Washington but when World War II gathered strength, the strenght of Doof Culture faded due in part to most of its members were now members of the United States Armed Forces.

Doof Culture in WWII

When Americans soldiers who formally belonged to Doof Culture were stationed in England at the beginning of the war, they inadvertently introduced the Doof to the allies. The British Air force took a fancy to the Doof image that they saw some of the american airmen were painting on American B-17 bombers. The British fondly called the Doof “Lord Albert” and were eagerly reading the stories of D. Maylock and Clancy Webster which the Americans would sell to them. Eventually some of the ace british pilots formed a tight knit flying squadron and they adopted the Doof image as their mascot.

The highly successful squadron rode a lucky wave of missions, boasting not a single loss of aircraft.

One of the pilots, Captain Andrew Hailstorm, a highly decorated raf pilot, went on at least 65 missions sporting a Doof or “Lord Albert” on the side of his spitfire aircraft. Sadly, the squadron luck ran out as Hailstorm's plane did not return, his plane shot down over the water. That began a dreadful string of bad luck for the squadron. Mysteriously, Hailstorm's fateful dog, Lady Mumsbley, died on the same night as her master's fatal mission. The dog was accidentally ran over by a small maltese nurse who did not see the dog asleep behind the car she was backing out.

After that, more and more planes were shot down. The Doof was to blame. A case of being bad luck. Doof images was painted over and forgotten. A new emblem took it’s place.

Doof Culture Now

The Images of Doof Culture had a small revival in England in the late Seventies adapting into the Punk Culture. This picture above on the right shows a typical late 1970’s group of English punks standing outside a British pub waiting to use their monthly stipends to buy drinks and smoke cigarettes. As fate would have it, the young man in front belonged to the short lived Neo-Doof Culture. this enterprising group of easily influenced school boys began using the Doof Culture insignia that was popular in the USA in the 1930’s. This misguided little group had the misfortune to adopt a fascist fashion style and was eventually hounded out of existence. Some of the surviving members either formed bands or went into guiding European tours for Americans.

More Images

2010-11-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

Images from the Doof Internet Imaging Dept.

2010-11-13T06:48:00.000-08:00

From the freshest files available. These images are so new, they are now passe. Enjoy!

A Comic Book by Bananas

2010-04-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have already posted information about Bananas the Chimp (April 7,2009). I was happy to find going through the archives this example of his comic book work. Below are pictures from Tales of the Doof, a Mudhut publication from the mid 1970s. Enjoy!

Doof Paintings

2010-03-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Below are some paintings I have done, using the Doof as subject in a variety of mediums and styles. A Doof visual smorgasbord. Bon a petit!

Illustrations of Doofs

2010-01-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

I have been inside busy on the computer since it has been cold and wet outside. For a whole week I have been in Photoshop creating these visions of the Doof. It has been a lot of fun. It has also been a pain in the neck. ( A real shooting pain that runs up my right shoulder into my brain!) But I think it has been worth it. I hope you like them.

Doof Signage

2010-01-12T11:08:00.000-08:00

Signs found in the Doof universe

Stills from Music-toons Cartoons

2009-12-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

I have already mentioned Music-toons productions, the ill-fated cartoon studio, (Archives, June 3rd, Some Doof History), stating that there were publicity photos that survived the fire. Through a stroke of good luck, I was able to retrieve a dozen or so of this priceless artifacts. I would like to share some with you.

Scene from "A Christmas Star", made in 1929.

The group of characters are Vinnie Vulture, Droops the Cat and Puppy Schultz.

Scene from "Doof's Bad Day", made in 1929. This is a dark story

where the Doof meets the scary Murderous Mike.

Scene from "Treasure Isle", again made in 1929. The Doof and Ratso Rodent

are shipwrecked on an island full of pirate treasure.

Clyde Darrow: Doof Artist of the Insane

2009-10-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Clyde Darrow (American, 1902 - 1981) was a fellow patient and friend of Doof visionary painter T. L. Douveres at the Arkham Asylum. He became interested in making art after observing Douveres painting in the hospital’s day room. Darrow painted hauntingly apocalyptic paintings that sometimes frightened the staff doctors. He was persuaded to give up painting when the hospital installed television sets in 1961.

Clyde Darrow, The Doof Appeared to Me and My Friend Jimmy, 1937, oil on canvas

Artists who have flirted with the Doof

2009-10-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of famous artists who have used the image of the Doof in their work. Although most of the flirtations were brief and the work quickly forgotten.

Hans Hoffman

Alberto Giacometti

Josef Albers

Mark Rothko

Philip Guston

Frida Kahlo

Piet Mondrian

Morris Graves

Jackson Pollack

Salvador Dali

Sir Peter Blake

More Pictures from Museum, Studio Quercus

2009-09-23T08:05:00.001-07:00

Strange Oddities: Selections from the Doof Museum of Culture and History

2009-09-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

These are fresh photos from my new exhibition that opens today at Studio Quercus.

Some Doof History

2009-06-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

The Doof's history has not always been a subject to easy research. A lot of facts about the Doof have turned out to be fictitious. This has frustrated Doof historians and made their work most difficult. But sometimes the hard work pays off and a story about the Doof proves to be factual as in the case before you.

The Doof has been traced back and it's origin has been mostly recognized to have begun in the 1920's at a small animation studio, Music-toons Productions. The Doof was mainly a supporting character and made it's debut in one of the studios productions, "Snow White". Snow White was an silent cartoon short produced some eight years before Walt Disney's enchanting version. The Doof started life as Looking Gus, the magical mirror that gave the evil queen daily reports on her beauty. Alas the studio went bankrupt in the crash of 1929 and the film was never released along with other shorts that used the Doof image. Adding to the bankruptcy was a mysterious fire that destroyed the studio and all its films.

The image of the Doof could have died in that fire, but luckily an employee in the sales department had in his possession, publicity photos of the Doof which he gave to his daughter. This salesman, whose name has been lost with time, was a resourceful man, so losing his job at the studio was not a great setback. He was a good salesman and he knew that all he needed was a product to sell. He had a friend who was an out of work chemist who had a line of medical salves and ointments. A partnership formed as as the story goes, it was the daughter who proposed the use of the Doof image to represent the products. The Doof products made a modest profit for the two men but the line failed eventual. The by-product from the exposure of the Doof image was that folk artists, seeing their children responding favorably to the Doof , began to use the image in their artwork. Writers, who saw the work of the folk artists, wrote stories of the Doof as if it had magical qualities, not unlike a lucky charm. But the Doof never connected with the general public and the Doof culture was regulated to the outer edge of society, fading away until the 1950's. But that is another story.

Doof Artist Profile: Jesus Diablo

2009-05-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

One of the many leading practitioners of west coast graffiti style in the early 1980's, Jesus Diablo, (1959-) painted controversial murals in the parking garage for the Whitney biennale. Diablo retreated from the art world for the rest of the twentieth century but remerged in the new millennium when he became acquainted with Doof imagery and culture through a friend, artist Tim Sharman. Diablo began a Doof graffiti project in 2004 using a street persona, Mazo and created urban friendly disposable graffiti. Diablo soon retreated from this practice and started to use the Doof in the traditional format of the retablo. His retablos has the Doof as a vision or night visitor that haunts a balding middle aged artist in his pajamas.

Doof Artist Profile: Christian Paul

2009-05-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

Christian Paul

Conceptual Doof Photographer

Born 1977, Milwaukee WI

Lives in New York, Chicago, Berlin

Education: MFA Florida State University,

Attended: Stanford, Yale, Brown and the

Berlin Art Academy.

Christian Paul is a photographer who employs modern

image taking technology to capture images of memory.

His visions of antique toy boxes filled with treasures from

so long ago.

The actors in Paul’s dramas are from his late father’s

collection of Doof memoribllia. His father collected all forms

of the Doof. Paul found boxes of the stuff in his father’s

house after his father’s passing and decided to dedicate his artistic career the contents of those boxes.

Quote: “Memory should not be forgotten.”

His direction has changed over his career. He began as an outdoor type. He surfed, backpacked and skate and ski boarded. Artistically, he was into video and was a lead singer for a small time punk band, the Drags.

Like the great photographer, Andres Sorrono, Paul sometimes shoots his subject through liquids, enhancing the mystery of the subject.

Christian was considered at one time to be of interest and was to be invited to be included in some really big group shows, but it never materialized.

His mother and father were both in the food industries. They also were “Dead Heads”.

Paul sees the Doof as a lost American icon. A slowing fading memory in the nation’s mind.

Paul was a wrestler in high school and college. He got his masters in art while on scholarship to Florida State University.

Paul was for a short period, an underwear model.

His father told him to take up photography, for he felt his son did not possess the drafting skills needed to become a fine artist.

Doof Artist Profile: Timmy Lee

2009-05-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

Timmy Lee was one of 12 children born to Brutus and Sarah Lee on October 17, 1925. The Family lived in the Central Valley of California. Brutus was the owner of an orchard started by his great grand father. But Brutus was never meant to cultivate the land and so took a job as a deputy sheriff for Toulume county and the family settled into the little foothill town of Sonora.

Lee grew up restless and when he finished high school, he immediately joined the Navy. When he was discharged he came back to California and landed in the lumber industry of Northern

California. Because of his training of painting the sides of the Navy ships while at sea, Lee was very agile and could climb a tree fast and surely, and the need for climbers were always a priority. After a few falls, he made his way to jobs in the local lumbermills and worked the saws until a freak runaway man-size saw blade accident left him an arm and two toes short.

After the accident, Lee discovered religion and became a member of the flock of the Church of the Reasonable Christ. Filled with the holy spirit, Lee soon opened, Carving for Christ, a wood carving studio deep in California’s northwest. It was a mixture of the losing of limbs and gaining of spirituality that gave Lee a new fervor in which to make things of art and he worked with a passion.

In time, Lee was introduced to the Doof Wood Collective who had a chapter near Lee’s home and longed admired how Lee did all his carving with just a handsaw. They invited him to join in their wood carving get-togethers and Lee accepted. Lee became exposed to the image of the Doof and had his second religious experience. He became obsessed with the image and is still carving Doofs at the ripe old age of 87.

Timmy Lee's Photo Gallery

In the late 1980’s created a series of work that closely resembled the sculptural work of H. C. Westerman. The pieces were carved from redwood posts that were the cast offs that Lee would collect in his old pick-up truck from construction sites in the area.

Doof Artist Profile: T.L. Douveres

2009-04-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

The Doof Museum of Culture and History has examples of Doof artists in our archives, each with a rich history and artwork that is engaging as it is visually stunting. But one gem in a chest full of jewels is T. L. Douveres, Doof painter and visionary.

T. L. Douveres painting in his studio/room at Arkham Asylum.

A Humble Beginning

After spending thirty years as a file clerk in a San Francisco law firm, T.L. Douveres (1862-1942) retired and he moved with his wife, Prudence, north to the Alhambra Valley, outside of the charming little town of Martinez. Life for Douveres became very quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, so he took up landscape painting to fill his time. He was drawn to the beauty of Mt. Diablo and began to paint it in earnest. Douveres painted the mountain from all locations and in all seasons not unlike the French painter, Paul Cezanne did with his paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire. Douveres began selling his paintings and eventually placed his work in a number of galleries. To his surprise, Douveres was becoming successful as an artist.

T.L. Douveres married Prudence Mcduffle on October 17, 1925. They met while Douveres worked as a file clerk for the law firm of Winkman, Blinkman and Nodd. Prudence supported Douveres when he began his art career but became alarmed and distraught when he started to create his Doof world. After Douveres died Prudence married a mortician and they moved to the midwest, settling in Iowa.

T. L. Douveres before the camping accident, painting at the foot of Mount Diablo, what was his favorite subject before the Doof inspired landscapes.

A Sudden Change

In 1932, something happened that changed Douveres forever. While on an artistic retreat in the Sierra, Douveres was struck by lightening in a freakish summer thunderstorm. Miraculously unscathed, Douveres returned to his studio where a strange thing happened. He became abnormally fascinated with a cartoon character named the Doof. The Doof was a minor star in cartoons produced by Music-toons productions. Music-toons was a small animation studio in the late 1920s that almost rivaled Disney only to mysteriously go out of business. Douveres convinced himself that the Doof was part of the natural world and he saw Doofs everywhere. Douveres still went out to Mount Diablo to paint landscapes but now his canvases became populated with Doof birds, Doof animals and Doof vegetation. Douveres immersed himself into his newly created world. Alas his financial success suffered from this irrational artistic change for the sales of his paintings ebbed and then dried up altogether. Undaunted, Douveres kept painting his Doof world despite the constant urging by his wife that their money was running out. Douveres ignored these pleas and his wife had no choice but to have him institutionalized. Douveres continued to paint Doofs while in the asylum, giving paintings to his fellow inmates and medical staff until one spring day he put down his brushes because suddenly he was convinced he was Napoleon Bonaparte. Douveres gave up painting for conquering Europe. He died in quiet exile a few months later.

Arkham Asylum, where Douveres spent his last seven years, was nestled in between Napa and Sonoma Valleys. It was considered one of the finest institutes in the state for the care that its patients received. One doctor in particular, Herman Ricardo, was instrumental in allowing Douveres to continue painting Doofs in Nature although it was thought that the activity was the basis of Douveres’s psychosis. The Doctor received many paintings from Douveres and in return provided the painter with all the supplies he required. Douveres befriended many other patients during his stay at Arkham, encouraged many to take up painting and helped organized painting parties that took place on the hospital grounds. Doof Tree, 1935, oil on hardboard

T.L. Douveres Gallery

Doof Tree, 1935, oil on harboard

Beach Doofs, 1940, oil on hardboard

Bonfire of Doofs, 1942, oil on hardboard

Dancing Winter Doofs, 1940, oil on hardboard

Migrating Doofs, 1941, oil on hardboard

Temporary Doof Craftsman

2009-04-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Angelo Camilleri, direct descendent of Timotao Camilleri, the Doof painter of the Renaissance, began to carve Doofs while working as a merchant marine in the south seas. He watch the local craftsman create tikis for the tourists and then copied their techniques in making six foot high Doofs out of palm wood. He tried in vain to sell them to tourists and eventually gave up to try to carve them out of cocoanuts. He returned to the United States no richer for his endeavors, gave up on the Doofs for horse racing.

Doof Artist Profile: Bananas the Chimp

2009-04-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

Bananas (1920-1985) was an extremely intelligent chimpanzee who was tested and found to have an IQ of 150 which is considered to be highly gifted. Bananas was also discovered to have a natural drawing ability that was unparalleled with any chimpanzee on record.

His remarkable drawing skills were discovered by the US government after they recruited Bananas for the then infant US space program. It was there that Bananas was being groomed to be the first intelligent animal to be sent into space. One afternoon, Bananas was watching a soldier drawing Doofs for the enjoyment of his fellow GIs and Bananas started to draw the image on the walls of his room. Art supplies were given to Bananas and for six months he created Doof drawing after

Doof drawing.

These Doof drawings were extremely sophisticated for someone without opposable thumbs. The perplexed scientists brought in psychologists, psychiatrists, psychoanalysts,

psychobiologists, psycholinguists, psychometricians, pseudoscientists, psychophysicists, psychotherapists, psychopharmacologists, pyschohistorians and a couple of art critics from New York to study Bananas work. The final analysis was that while Bananas was blessed with a high IQ, he was not fit for the space program because of his new found artistic temperament. He was released into civilian life and went to work in Hollywood, first as an actor, then a artistic advisor eventually becoming a producer and writer. He quit the movie industry in the late seventies and became a comic book artist until his death in 1985.

Bananas Photo Album

This is one of the many drawings Bananas executed that day at the military installation in the early days of the space program.

Here is Bananas in the arms of actor, Gordon Scott who played Tarzan in RKO's Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan's Hidden Jungle, 1955.

Bananas landed a job as a technical advisor for the epic cult movie, Planet of the Apes. His friendship he made with the actor, Charlton Heston, lasted for many years. As you see below, Bananas was introduced to fire arms by the future president of the NRA and took to them like a duck to water.

Doof Artist Profile: T.S. Sharton (1940-2004)

2009-04-05T18:02:00.000-07:00

Was born Theodore Sandoval Sharton but legally changed his name to T.S. when he was three. His parents were of the middle class and each made very comfortable livings. They were raising their only son with the beautiful and sensible values of the middle class. Sharton was sent to an east coast prep school when he was 13. When he graduated, Sharton attended community college and loved taking creative writing, which he flunked repeatedly. He began reading his Doof inspired poetry in the campus cafeteria, standing on the table and grabbing everyone’s attention by reciting with strange accents, high squeaky voices and various sound effects. He sometimes staged fake fights to break out in the middle of a poem. All these antics caused his reputation and his self confidence to grow. Sharton came west to California when he was just seventeen. He was lured to San Francisco by tales of writers, coffee shops and community colleges. He wanted to be part of the Beat Generation after reading about it in the college newspapers. When he finally got there, he found out he had just missed the first reading of “Howl” by Allan Ginsberg.

Aside from reading all the Beat writers, Sharton fanatically read pulp magazines, and especially enjoyed the writings of D. Maylock and Clancy Webster. Sharton became obsessed with the Doof at an early age. His father owned a few Doof things and bought the magazines that the young Sharton would read and reread. Oddly, instead of finding comfort in the Doof image, Sharton was repelled by it. He felt that it haunted him and drained him of his humanity. This negative energy fueled Sharton and he produced in his lifetime many poems, plays, short stories, rantings and obituaries. Sharton once wrote poetry for 43 days straight without a break. Sharton ended up in the hospital with exhaustion after using up 45 reams of typing paper. The paramedics had to shovel the paper aside in order to find the unconscious Doof poet. His live poetry readings often had Sharon still screeching his words at high falsettos but now dressing in odd costumes, sometimes wearing capes and always leaving the stage before he finished. To better himself as a writer Sharton work at numerous jobs to gain life experience. Sharton worked as a gas station attendant, welder, delivery boy, fruit picker, carpenter, fluffer, plumber, cashier, spar partner, beach comber, dock worker, department store Santa and dishwasher. Sharton also tried all religions but proclaimed to be an atheist, but because of being a devout drunkard, he became a born again christian.

Although he did not play an instrument or could read music, Sharton loved to sing in the shower and was under the impression that he had a nice singing voice. Sharton once sang for Bob Dylan in his shower after the drunken poet crashed at the singer’s apartment during a spring visit to New York. Sharton attempted to record his poems to music. In 196-- He recorded three albums, working with who he thought were the best musicians at the time. He met a young Johnny Winter and found his guitar work extraordinary.

He wrote a drama, Forbidden Fruit, Forbidden Doof, under the pen name of Saul Mckowen. It never premiered on Broadway or New York for that matter, but made its premiere at his mother’s drama club in 1969.

His first collection of prose and poems, Listen to the Doofbird, was publish by the first firm Sharton sent his manuscript to, Abandon Press. The quirky writings made a few reading lists of community colleges English departments, but Sharton was always restless and never settled on one publisher.

Sharton’s personal life was always in upheaval and he went through one torrid affair afternoon with members of both sexes as well as a farm animal or two. He had a brief affair with the Doof exotic dancer, Abigail Lombard. He married twice, once to a ballerina from Bulgaria so that she could become a U.S. citizen. After the wedding, she disappeared and Sharton fell into a deep depression. He used the money he got from selling all the wedding presents to finance his Broadway musical. The musical, Doof opened and closed in one week, a complete box office disaster. Rumor had it that Sharton’s backers were looking for something so awful that it’s failure was a great tax write off.

Sharton then entered years of hibernation and a shocking refusal to work. He claimed that the Doof had final come home and taken his soul. Then some ten years later, Sharton was forced by a small group of young fans to start up his career again. They sent him to an artist residency in Wyoming for two weeks in December. the Wyoming winter was extremely harsh and sent Sharton into a deep depression and he went on a writing frenzy and ended up with his finest work, A Collection of Doofs. 25 pieces of superb self reflection, touching and revealing subjects deep within Sharton’s soul.

His fondness for drinking ultimately cost him his live performances. He was drinking so heavily that he could not get through a set without throwing up on someone in the performance. The only places that would book him were punk clubs. The punks thought Sharton’s performances and vomiting were ultra Dada. He soon tired of the hostility

and eventually removed himself from the public eye. He moved to Idaho in 1995 and built himself a one room cabin to shut himself and his work off from the rest of the world. Sadly, in 2004, he ended his own life, leaving the world a cabin filled to the rafters of hundreds of poems, plays and anything else that you would think to write.

Below is a sample from A Collection of Doofs. It is entitled, Everywhere.

DOOF!

doof!

DOOF! I Hate DOOF!

EVERYWHERE

DOOF!

Stop it

Stop them

DOOF!

It's staring at me

It's staring in me

It's staring through me

DOOF!

It's worthless

useless

colorless

SACK OF SHIT!

DOOF!

easy to draw

easy to paint

easy to ignore

DOOF!

Doof

I hate you

leave me be

go away

Do not call me

DOOF!

poof.

Sharton with his on again off again companion, Comrade Peter, who owned Revolution Press. Sharton published his book, Doof Boy with Revolution and was quietly praised for the work in the free newspapers.

Welcome 2009

2009-04-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hello 2009. Yes I know it is April and yes I haven't been maintaining this blog. I beg for your forgiveness. There are no excuses. So to make it up to you, I will post some random pictures from the Doof collection for your quiet contemplation. In the future I will try to keep up with fresh information.

Aftermath

2008-12-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

Doof Drawing Mural by DVC Students

Doof drawing by Ethan

Still More Pics

2008-10-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

The Diablo Valley College Art Gallery gives way to The Doof Museum of Culture and History.

Doof lamp made from fence post in front. At left is photo by Christian Paul. Painting on right by Clyde Darrow.

Bananas, a chimpanzee with artistic talent and an IQ of 150.

View of Doof poet, T.S. Sharton wall with T.L. Douveres in background.

Doof pieces by (left to right) Frank Zincavage, Susan Lefkowich

and Susan P. Sharman

Pics from the Doof Museum

2008-09-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken on the first day of the exhibition with most of the kinks worked out.

Museum is Ready

2008-09-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hooray!

I finished with the preparations for opening of the Doof Museum of Culture and History yesterday and on Monday the doors open to the students and public. I am very excited and I think I got everything in its place. The students that walked through yesterday were very thoughtful and asked questions which lead to nice conversations. I would like to thank Arthur and his staff at the gallery for their help and opinion. I also would like to thank Frank the Tank Zincavage for his superb expertize in the field of exhibition preparatoration. Of course a big thank you goes to my wife and collaborator, Susan. She gives me more support than the cables on the Golden Gate Bridge.

2008-09-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

DOOF MUSEUM AT DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE

2008-08-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

Starting on September 29 and closing on December 9, 2008, The Doof Museum of Culture and History will be open to the public at the Diablo Valley College Art Gallery. All your favorite Doof artists will be showcased as well as rare artifacts pertaining to the Doof. I do believe that the museum will be open 11-4 Monday thru Friday. there will be an artist opening on Thursday October 2, 6 to 8pm. Directions can be obtained at www.dvc.edu and you do have to pay for parking, but the museum is Free!

Doofs at Jack Fischer Gallery

2008-06-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

The funky Doof retablos by outsider artist, Jesus Diablo can now be found hanging around the Jack Fischer Gallery, 49 Geary St. SF fourth floor. Jack shows the work of outsiders and none could be more outside than Diablo who once lived in his 54 Chevy. Diablo takes the Doof and places him in environments, in the shadows, threatening, while other times uses the Doof as an unearthly vision causing the inhabitants of the retablos to pray.

Doof Story

2008-06-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

He gave her the only thing that he had of value. He gave it to her without hesitation, without reservation. He gave it to her out of love and the sacrifice that is love. he gave it to her because it was the right thing to do. The gift he gave her was what he was given so long ago. He was this gift out of sacrificial love and now he knew what that felt like. A happiness mixed with a touch of sorrow that curiously uplifted him. He looked into her eyes as she accepted the gift and the wetness there grabbed his heart. He knew then that he had did the right thing. He told her in a soft voice to take the gift and use it to make things right, to stop the pain. She told him thank you over and over for several seconds until her voice trailed off and her eyes dried with largeness. She turned quickly and headed out the door while he stood still and watched silently. He knew he would never see his daughter again this time. This time there were no clever reasons for her to return. She had finally got what she wanted, what he had always promised knowing that it was the only reason she would come and see him. But now that was all gone. By giving her the gift, he had given his only offspring her long sought freedom and he knew that he couldn't change that so he gave up his sacrificial love with a smile on his face, watch the car roar down the street and went back to what was on the still running television.

Students Respond to the Doof

2008-05-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

As the Art of Diorama show draws to a close, My friend Leah Korican brought her students to enjoy the exhibition and to listen to me talk about my project. The best part is that they listened to my ramblings without a lot of fidgeting and yawning. This show was a wonderful venue for people to come and appreciate an art form without a lot of explaining. I enjoyed a chance to show off my Doof collection and to be able to realize a part of my project that until the show was just in my head.

Doof Manifesto for May

2008-05-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

The Doof does not play with fire. The Doof speaks only the truth for it has no fingers to cross. A Doof can rest peacefully on canvas as well as be contented to be made of rusted metal or concrete. The Doof likes the feel of paper; It takes just thirty seconds to draw a Doof (but who is counting?). Anybody can draw the Doof, except. . . maybe. . . .nope! EVERYONE CAN DRAW A DOOF. A Doof is willing to adorn the walls of a gallery, home, museum, office, cafe, bar, hallway or restroom. Doofs like to be drawn upon or made from, cans, rocks leaves, cardboard and stucco. Doofs can be stuff with beans, cotton, sawdust, plastic, paper, memories and money. Sometimes it is if the Doof becomes a temple. Can the Doof be used in Voodoo? Doof is on the fence of product placement, but at the right price, who could refuse? Doofs do not mind being painted, carved, drawn, molded, poured, written or looked at. The Doof can divide itself into different sections of study. With every new study, the inventory of the collection grows. Doofmaking is an efficient time consuming entity. But the war with Art rages on, each with our own burden to bear. Doof exhibitions are events, happenings, the best ticket in town, Doof pictures make you think something other than what's for dinner. Does the Doof wear a false smile? Does that smile mean that the Doof is content? The Doof cares.The Doof looks out for you and tries to keep you safe. DOOF ADVERTISMENT: BUY A DOOF Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Those that see the Doof as a sex symbol, that is your privilege, but please, get a room. Laughter builds confidence, a smile breaks tension but an evil smile will get you nowhere. This manifesto is sure hot work, I need to change the paper and get me something cool to drink.

May 24, 2008

Doof Poem

2008-05-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

I wonder

how many Doofs could appear

on canvas or paper

set out in neat rows

How many would be compassionate?

How many humble?

How many afraid to be next to a Doof?

or a boatload of Doofs

heading out on a stormy sea

How many would panic?

How many would cry?

How many would comfort

before reaching the shore

Life is a competition

BE YOUR BEST

SHOW YOUR BEST

KICK SOME ASS

works good on a battlefield

but is it necessary

in a spelling bee?

Doofs can't spell

they can't see the symbols needed

Stupid Doof!

but he is entertaining.

Thoughts on the Doof

2008-05-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

Doofs are without bodies for they are beyond earthly needs, after all, they are fictional creatures and as all fictional creatures, there are parts of their character that are omitted or not dealt with for the sake of continuity. the Doof's past is unknown. Although, the need for answers to the Doof's past is not urgent. In fact, the Doof is like a wallflower, fading out of view as the night progresses.

The Doof has the ability to transcend from low art to high with ease.

The question remains, can the Doof sit alone or does the Doof need a group to get lost in?

The Doof does not seek offerings, only tolerance.

does the Doof offer forgiveness?

Although the Doof is only a handful of years old, the Doof appears timeless.

Does the Doof proclaim anything at all? does it try to make a difference or is it merely trying to part me from my money with false promises of importance and urgency?

Doofs are not superstars, novas or antichrists. They do not seek office or try to lead. They offer advice but you cannot hear it. Their advice might not be that good, because advice coming from a 2d image might be hard to believe....Doofs like to show you the way, although you do not have to follow that direction.

Every Doof is different on the outside but the same inside.

A Doof on the wall, high up in a corner can ward off the munchies late at night. A Doof hung in the bathroom can guarantee successful missions. A Doof placed in a field of clover makes them sweet.

Doofs like to be made from materials that are slated for the dump or fireplace.

Doofs like music, that isn't strange, what is strange is that the Doof does not know how to play the maracas, bongos or congas.

Raves about Doof World

2008-05-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some quotes from the press on Doof World

". . . Some artists may fit into several aesthetic glass boxes, while others, like Tim Sharman, whose Doof World paintings, sculptures, and faked photos and press clippings create an alt-universe Magic Kingdom, defy such categorization. . ."

-DeWitt Chang, East Bay Express

". . . Sharman's work, titled, "Doof World" takes the character to such locations as the Arctic Circle in a fashion that (Carrie) Lederer describes as "perfectly constructed and beautiful."

--Talia Kennedy, Diablo Arts Magazine

". . . Sharman has done a painstaking but imaginative job of creating a Doof gallery. . . Featuring Doof cloud formations, inscriptions on pyramids and an appearance in Death Valley..."

-Robert Taylor, Contra Costa Times

Fiction about the Doof Culture

2008-04-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

FALSEHOOD#5133- Walt Disney did not base Mickey Mouse on the Doof.

FALSEHOOD#4456- An image of the Doof was not found on transmitted pictures from the surface of Mars. The image turned out to be buildings from an ancient civilization.

FALSEHOOD#8879- A Doof was not found along side a Kilroy in a Japanese bunker at Iwo Jima.

FALSEHOOD#3321- Doof necklaces were not part of the hand full of beads given to the Native Americans for Manhattan. Although gold Doof watches were given to retiring employees at the ReadyStall corporation as a cost saving measure in 1956.

FALSEHOOD#6634-Three teenage boys did not in the early 1960's go to Mount Rushmore and climb to the top of George Washington and tried to carve a Doof into the first president's forehead. They were not apprehended and taken to reform school, where they did not develop the skills to land them top jobs in the CIA.

Diamond Doof

2008-04-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

DOOF

DOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOFDOOF

DOOFDOOF

DOOF

Doof Painter

2008-04-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Artist put down his brush. He looked at his painting and knew that it was finally finished. When his mind accepted his statement, he poured himself a drink. He drank while he painted and he drank the rest of the time too. He was happy that the painting was done as it was a bear, unwilling to succumb to his masterful hand. Many times he had wanted to throw the canvas on the fire but he pushed through and now was very satisfied with the resolve. The painting was a good one. It had lots of magic. He figured it had lot more than all the others he had painted.

The Artist poured himself another drink in his dark and cramped studio. He lived in a forgotten part of the city, and his work was never seen by the public. The painting before him was going to get him a lot of money or get him into a lot of trouble. He was getting too drunk to really care. He didn't paint for the money and he did not want trouble. He painted for the simple reason that he had to.

The Artist could only paint about three pictures a year. he worked odd jobs to make ends meet once the money from the paintings was gone. He tried to paint more than three but found the others to be trash, utterly without a trace of magic. So he settled for the three.

The Artist poured himself a drink and thought about the people who came to buy his paintings. Some of those people, the Artist thought, should not own one of his paintings. Of course, when they offer more money, he took it and gave them their prize. One time, the Artist refused the collector and burned the painting so no one could have it. That cost the Artist a third of his income and he almost starved that winter but he felt strangely good about it. The Artist knew that there were other artists like him who sold their work to the highest bidder. The Artist thought that letting his paintings and their magic into the hands of those who would not appreciate it a horrible crime. But that wasn't a crime. What was a crime was painting what the Artist painted. If the Artist was every caught by the Government there would not be a trial. The Artist would be swept away into the night and never be seen again. This would happen, even though the Artist lived in a great Democratic Society. Yet, in the face of all the danger, the artist still painted what he painted. He had to . He was a Doof Painter.

the end

2008-03-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

Let's face it. Art in California can only try to compete with nature. Blue sky, flowers blooming, birds singing, green grass, ocean beach, tall mountains, fruit orchards, giant sequoias, Yosemite, Death Valley. I could go on, but I won't. What's Art got? Let's see. . . Sex, Money and Politics all in a pretty package. Hmmm. I guess it depends how you want to spend your time. OH yeah, you can't touch the Art. Oh what an artist has to put up with.

Doof or Goofy

2008-03-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

It has come to my attention that people get confused about the Doof. They say that the Doof is Goofy, Disney's prized goofball. But as you can see, The Doof does resemble Goofy, but only in the way all early animation cartoon characters are similar. Are they the same character? Compare them with your own eyes. There are similarities in the drooping ears and large eyes. The Doof does not have buck teeth or sports a cap. (Although the Doof has worn a cowboy hat on occasions.) The noses are different shapes. Goofy also has whiskers. Most importantly, although this could be just my opinion, but doesn't the Doof look just a little more intelligent than Goofy? I rest my case. The Doof might be a far distant cousin but the Doof is not Goofy.

The Art of Diorama

2008-03-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today is the opening of the show, "The Art of Diorama," at the Bedford Gallery, in Walnut Creek, CA. Twenty three artists give their interpretation of what a diorama is to them. I am exhibiting a small installation of my Doof collection, including Frozen Doofs, a very chilly diorama of doofs huddled together from the cold. Also, on display will be Doof World, a minature roadside attraction that boasts a museum, cafe, picnic area and ample parking. Surrounding these works are items from the Doof Culture collection; paintings, photos, news articles and souvenirs. This installation is an exercise in developing my project of creating a museum of Doof curiosities that some day will beckon travelers to pull off the road for something cool to drink and nourishment for the mind.

2008-03-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Fable of the Two Doofs

2008-03-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

Two Doofs met while traveling from opposite directions along a rural dirt road one fine sunny day.

"Doof", cried the Doof from the east in greeting.

"Doof", cried the Doof from the west in reply.

They then stared at each other, face to face, quietly waiting for the other to move first.

"Doof," said the Doof from the east to pass the time.

"Doof," replied the Doof from the west.

They did not move for the rest of the day. The next day, they patiently waited, with smiles on their faces until noon time when the D0of from the west spoke.

"Doof."

"Doof'," replied the eastern Doof and they both remained facing each other, smiles on their faces, not moving a muscle. They remained there as the days passed. One day little birds used the shadows cast by the Doofs to shade themselves as they pecked for food. Another day it rained and the Doofs got soaking wet. Another day it was so windy, tree branches and other things pelted the Doofs but they did not notice. They just faced each other waiting for one to make the first move.

The seasons passed, and on a crisp spring day, a man appeared on the horizon and soon came upon the Doofs. He smiled to himself as he watched the two Doofs stand quietly facing each other, waiting, and the man said to himself, "Silly Doofs."

The Smiling man put his hands on his hips and looked over the situation. With a knowing nod of his head, the man picked up the Doof from the west and move it three feet to the left of the eastern Doof. The Doofs now seeing their ways cleared, gave themselves a happy sound and started merrily on their ways. The man watched them as they headed in opposite directions until they faded away into the horizon. He then made his way north through a beautiful field of golden wheat.

The End

Doof Realism a la Courbet

2008-03-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been painting landscapes that deal with the Doof as an inanimate object that is part of the landscape. When I was 11 years old, My parents bought me a set of acrylic paints, a pad of canvas paper and some brushes. I then got an art lesson from my father's friend who had recently took up painting. He showed me how to create a landscape in ten minutes. Later that year, my parents arranged for me to have painting lessons with Minion Kimes, who gave lessons in her home on Saturday mornings. There were seven people painting in a spare bedroom converted into a painting studio. Mrs. Kimes had her paintings stacked against the walls and I would sneak peeks at her still lives, portraits and landscapes. There were only two children there, myself and a girl whose name I can not remember. I do remember that everyone was quiet and busily painted on their paintings. There was a fellow who was making paintings of every Spanish Mission in California. he had a very bohemian haircut and he wore Birkenstocks. Mrs. Kimes, when she accepted me as her student, first had to learn how to use acrylic paints. She and I learned how to use them together. We also composed landscapes out of our imagination at times. It was sort of a collaboration. She would paint on my paintings. I tried to copy what she did.

Now almost 4 decades later, I find myself painting landscapes out of my head again, and now the landscapes have a new feature; a forgotten Doof, left in the wilderness.

Welcome One And All

2008-03-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome, my friends. I now have a fully operational blog. It will be my way of being more spontaneous with the internet. Now it will be possible for me to show all of you out there what is going on inside my studio on an almost daily basis. Plus I am able to write down what is in my head, which may or may not be the best thing.

Today, I will not pontificate, but leave you with a quiet small survey of my ever expanding collection of Doofs.