Michael Lee Summers

Posted on November 11, 2010 by David Hurley

This week I would like to introduce to you my friend and Artist Michael Lee Summers. He is an Artist who lives in the Paducah Kentucky area and his work is real to life and fantastic. Michael (or Mike) quoted Ringo Starr and said I was born “At a very early age” in Paducah, KY and I’ve lived here ever since. Mike attended Lone Oak High School and went to college at Murray State University. He is a member of the Paducah Area Painters Alliance (PAPA), the Art Guild of Paducah, and the Mayfield-Graves County Art Guild. He lives with his wife Deborah and their beautiful daughter Caitlin Autumn. He is a Virgo; his turn-offs are “Smiley faces” and the pop group ABBA. Without any further ado here is Michael Lee Summers!

David: We all had a time when we realized that we wanted to be an Artist or create, how did you start painting and drawing and realize that you wanted to take the path as an Artist?

Michael: I began drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil. My Mother recently gave me a box full of drawings I did when I was probably three or four, so I have proof! I think I decided to take the artist’s path when I heard artists could sleep past noon. (Editors note: How I wish that were true!)

David: You have beautiful real to life artwork. What is your favorite medium to work in?

Michael: The medium I enjoy most is pencil, pure and simple. It gives me the control I need for my highly detailed work, plus I enjoy the starkness of black and white. Recently, however, I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and tried my hand at painting brightly colored abstracts.

David: Who do you consider to be your favorite Artists and greatest influences?

Michael: I have several artists that I would consider influences .Vincent Van Gogh and I share similar outlooks on life. I love the photography of such visionaries as Ansel Adams and Edward S. Curtis. I greatly admire contemporary artists Paul Calle and Alan Lee but to me Andrew Wyeth is THE absolute Master, both in style and content.

David: There is a discipline to Art, but what inspires you to pick up a paint brush? Most Artists would say if they didn’t create they would go crazy, or it’s their inner struggle or joy that drives them to create. Do you have an inner striving that pushes you?

Michael: For me art is the ultimate escape. At the end of a crappy day of, oh let’s say for example, WORK I can lose myself in creating a drawing. In conversation I am totally inept so I feel that if I have something important to say I can best say it through my art. Hopefully, people will get the message.

David: I’d like to end with a light hearted question. What do you consider to be the greatest comic strip or cartoon?

Michael: Without a doubt, “Peanuts” by Charles Schultz. Other people claim to be Charlie Brown but they are just wannabes. I AM Charlie Brown! Growing up I was (and still am) a big fan of “Creepy” magazine. The art by such greats as Frank Frazetta and Al Williamson put it in a class by itself. Also, there’s this new Internet comic called “Don’t Pick the Flowers” which shows potential.

David: Oh thank you! That’s an honor! I am so thrilled to have you on the blog! You are an exceptional Artist and friend!  Check out Michael Lee Summers website and his Facebook page!

http://autumnleafstudio.web.officelive.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Michael-Lee-Summers-Autumn-Leaf-Studio/148833851794102?v=wall

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The Dear Family

Posted on November 4, 2010 by David Hurley

Peeping out from the bushes; antlers, cap, eyes, face…its Mr. Dear. Coming up behind is Ms. Dear and Baby Dear, a family not so different from any other except for antlers. Mr. Dear, a Park Ranger, Ms. Dear a stay at home mom who hands out literature on Evolution and wrapped in her arms is Baby Dear.

I can’t explain how I created the Dear Family, other than one night I was sketching and I knew I wanted them in my comic. I knew who they were and what kind of characters I wanted them to be. I fell in love with them. I love the irony of Mr. Dear being a Park/Wildlife Ranger, Ms. Dear handing out pamphlets on Evolution. I’m not trying to offend any Religious group or make a statement. I love the humor of it. So now out of the bushes the Dear Family has moved into town. Here they’ll make their home among Flowerville’s finest.

© David Hurley 2010

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Happy Halloween from Flowerville!

Posted on October 28, 2010 by David Hurley

It’s Halloween time again, one of my favorite holidays. It’s the time of year you can dress up as crazy as you want without getting ridiculed, have a gorgefest on candy, get scared to death at Haunted Houses and go crazy at the coolest parties and hall shows.

Some other great things to take advantage of during Halloween is “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, The Rocky Horror Picture Show live screenings, The Simpsons Tree House of Horror, Vincent Price films, Scary Movies, Tim Burton films (anytime of the year really), The Anne Rice Vampire books, carved pumpkins, and of  course Trick or Treating!

And if you are still undecided on what to dress up like for Halloween, here’s my top 10 list of fun and scary suggestions:

1). Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean

2). Pee Wee Herman

3). Beetlejuice

4). The Devil with the blue dress on

5). The Wicked Witch of the West

6). The Joker from the Dark Knight

7). Bela Lugosi’s Dracula

8). Dolly Parton

9). Frankenfurter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show

10). Ziggy Stardust

Keep an eye open for the Great Pumpkin and may he bring you lots of goodies! Have a fun and safe Halloween from “Don’t Pick the Flowers”!

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Joe Watson Reviews Parasite Diet

Posted on October 21, 2010 by David Hurley

 Parasite Diet: Harmless . . . but fun

 I’m going to clear the air right from the start on this one:

This album contains 3 truly remarkable tracks full of fantastic drumming that give the music an exploding heart and super-catchy melodies that sneak into your head and kick your brains around when you least expect it. The rest of the album is, sadly, sort of a snooze fest. This is not to say that the album isn’t melodic as hell throughout (it is) and it’s not to say that the drumming and musicianship isn’t top notch (it is), it’s just that most of the time they don’t make it memorable.

And the great thing about all of this is that it doesn’t get in the way of me totally loving this band.

“Water Girl”, Parasite Diet’s first track on their self-titled debut, sum up their intentions: to be a punk band that the girls can dance to. Basically these guys, if given time, might become something like The Bay City Rollers of the Paducah scene: harmless power pop whose melodies you remember years after all those other ‘real’ punk bands have blown their tube amps and traded their 4 note vocal sneers for jobs at Wal-Mart. In fact it’s that lack of pretension that I love so freaking much about them.

Remember the first time you heard The Ramones self-titled debut? Did it not sound like the happiest music ever made? Whatever happened to that style of punk? Why did all the melodies go “emo” and all the honesty turn into two chord screamfests? It wasn’t until the moog synth solo about a minute into Parasite Diet’s album that I realized this band seems to understand something about all of that, something that all the hipster music snobs in the world will never want to admit: that punk music IS pop music. It began as pop music and will never die because throughout the years the good punk bands keep discovering that punk is just a pop song, only more honest. Parasite Diet, you have rediscovered punk music.

And so I end with this: The reason The Ramones are the greatest punk band of all time isn’t because of their chops or their melodies (which are incomparable of course), it’s because anyone who has seriously written songs knows that it’s so much easier to write a sad song than it is a happy one. And why is that? Because people would rather get you down in the hole that they’re in than bring you up any higher. It doesn’t always work, but, to quote one of their songs: “I’m not saying that you get my high, but you totally fly my kite”. So thank you, Parasite Diet, for trying to take me higher. Sometimes you drop me flat on my face (“you’re in the trunk of my car”, ugh), but for the moments you don’t (“katie kittenheart”, “I call it soda, she calls it pop”, “just tonight”), it’s worth it.

http://www.myspace.com/parasitediet

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages#!/pages/Parasite-Diet/273911947442

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Danny

Posted on October 14, 2010 by David Hurley

This week I decided to post two comics. The first was on Monday, October 11, 2010 and one today. A new character Danny is showing up in Flowerville. Danny is a character I created a number of years ago. Danny is loosely based on a friend of mine, at least the part about Danny flying a kite. My friend Dan would come over late at night with his kite in hand and fly the kite at midnight. The cool thing was you couldn’t actually see the kite flying, just this string going into nothing. It made you feel a bit vulnerable and out of control, as if something were pulling you. And the big smile on the character Danny reminds me of Dan too. Dan always had this smile on his face and nothing seemed to get him down. We thought we were so philosophical at the time, talking about things beyond ourselves and the world around us. One last reminisce about Dan, we would play two CD’s at the same time on occasion. For example we would put on a Cure CD and a Bigod 20 CD to make an Opera of mayhem. This may seem weird, but being kids we wanted to experiment with everything and see what we could come up with. So these are odd but fond memories that helped make up the character “Danny”.

With that in mind, I want to catch you up on the comic. Duck is running around Flowerville with his spy cam hidden in his flying hat. Vincent is snug in his room safely watching from his computer. This is where we meet various characters coming into the story. Wayne is first on the list. Wayne is Vincent’s next door neighbor who lives with Loyd (who you’ll meet in the near future). Wayne has a passion for his flower garden. He is orderly and seems to get agitated easily. And now we have Danny who is Vincent’s running buddy. Like I said previously, the character Danny was created a number of years ago in a comic that I never published and only shown to close friends. Danny loves his kite and takes life as he see’s it, with a big smile on his face. And in the next few weeks there’s going to be many more characters to be introduced into the comic!

A very old picture I found of the character Danny I drew for the never published comic.

Copyright © David Hurley 2010

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