the Dark Bird Palace (the Shed)
Absurdity is my Friend (million selling NYT best sellr 4 sure)
Visit me at the Tesuque Reservation Flea Market
(undoubtedly the most famous flea market artist in the whold freakn world)
(March thru November).....
or go to the end of the alley (bout 100 yards back at 620 Canyon Road (thurday -monday)
New Art here on the front page Evry Monday til i croak (BOOKMARK ME)
Three Stars
21 x 17 oily on a good bord framed simply
tight men
with fat wallets
crowbarred into
their jeans
holy cow if they only understood
what art means
to the one
they love
he wont let me
buy art
he doesnt like paintings
and he really
doesnt like you
no problem lady
me and you
we got a secret
its called a
Dark Bird
IOU
mad money mad money
how a dark bird loves
mad money
its all green
something the husband
has never seen
mad money mad money
how a dark bird loves
mad money
i hide 20 here
i sneak 50 there
sometimes i flip
thru his wallet
to see what i can see
its ok
he wont miss it
and what he doesnt know
wont hurt
him
buying art
an aphrodisiac
for those
who can't fart a dime
but dont worry ladies
if that doesnt work
theres always
the Dark Bird IOU
Wild Horses
24 x 36 on a good bord
SOULD
alot of folks ask
what a Dark Bird like myself does
when the flea market closes in the winter
the answer is that i spend alot of time
driving a Kat around looking for
wild horses in the southwest
not a bad job
if you can get
it
Cadillac Ranch Dark Bird
foto by Kat Livengood just outside of Amarillo Texass
2015 is the Year of the Dark Bird
its going to be a big year
one to remember
so thanks for all
who got off the main road
and bought a piece
of my work at the flea market in the past
because the future is about to take flight
this will be
the year of the
DARK BIRD
Fertility Totem
20 x 80 mol on a good bord
may this year
be pregnant with possibilities
exploding with cheap gas prices
and booming with the sound of
"who does this guy from north korea think he is
pulling a movie from my metroplex!?!"
the year at the flea market was a good one
and next year i plan on having a few surprices at the Dark Bird Palace
for those that venture off the main road of life
to a small flea market outside of santa fe
just like i hope to offer a few surprise this year to those
that visit my
creaky prehistoric website that was born
at the dawn of the innernet
when no one really knew where
this digital highway was heading
(all roads lead to facebook and two other big box stores nowdays)
so thank you for caring about art
its a small world and theres no sense explaining why
art is important to folks that dont understand that
so a tip of my hat to those that
smile back at that ;)
if you havent already seen
my new art this month you might wannna
click and take a look as there
are some great deals to be had on my
end of the year art
from this full time American Artist
in Santa fe New Mexico
who is undoubtedly the most
famous flea market artist in the world
End of the Alley at 620 Canyon Road
i love to build a good fire
Kat loves to serve hot apple cider
and in Santa fe on Christmas eve
everyone gets out and walks up and down
Canyon Road just to say
merry Christmas
have a happy new year
so come by if your in the area
ive got more art in my studio
than a sensible clean nicely spaced gallery will
ever have
which sounds like ive moved the flea market
to Canyon Road
yes says Kat
you certainly have
adios til then
Flower Giver
1 8x 24 oily on a bord
get out
of your head
get out
of your head
i know
its hard to believe
when you think
your that smart
but if you live in there
youll never
make great
art
whats happening?
where am i?
where is my paint thinner?
where is my yellow
i cant find my red
why is it
when i look
for my glasses
they're usually
on my head
dark birds
are frequently
transcendent beings
occasionally disguised
as dirty birds
but then again
sometimes a
black bird is just
a black bird
picking at stinky
day old
road kill
if you skin a bear
its said
they look
like humans
if you skin a human
i wonder
if we look
like a rat
if you skin a rat
add potatoes & carrots
for a very fine
stew
99%
of all human communication
is said to be
non-verbal
a welcome relief to all those
that grunt and mumble
as much as i do
clik hear 4 lots more art from a dark bird in new mexico
We are Vast
24 x 30 oily on a framed bord
we all occasionally
get bogged down in the daily grind
it is part of the
surreal deal
although some seem
to rise completely above it
despite frequently seeming to float off
like a balloon with a silly bunny on it
but just beyond the bills
past the daily drama
over the hill from
the seemingly unbearable truths we live with
is the vague recollection many of us have
that there is something
just beyond this memory
that is
ok with us
waiting for us
the brave beings who
lived in a world where there
were no promises or easy answers
just human beings
doing the best they could
and occasionally remembering that
like the stars
in the cosmos
we are vast
clik hear four lots of new art
Mustangs of the Rising Moon
by Kat Livengood
On the Road
racing around Montana
on a red horse
looking for that moment
that sparkly moment
when Kat puts a dream
into a picture box
gathering the reflected moon light
just past midnight
in the shape
of mustangs, wild horses, feral equine
& sky dogs
its amazing how much
you can see when its dark
its amazing how much you dont sea
in the light
and wouldnt you know it
most folks sleep when
the light is
best
Winter Dark Birds---SOULD
61 x 19
oily on a good bord framed fleabilly
when i look back on life
i see a tiny shiny moment when
everything changed in my life
in the blink
of an eye
which is an amazing thing
and a terrorfying thing all wrapped
up together
i suppose there are holy places
where fate meets destiny
and things can transform
or "become"
if we are ready for that
moment
so i will just leave you with the thought
that one of the biggest things that happened
in my life
i never saw coming
but i was ready for it
and knew it when i saw it
the rest as they say
is history
Dead Cowboy rides a Jack Ass---SOULD
oily on a good bord
ive heard people say
you cant be an artist
if you paint
and sell your own work
at a flea market
no one will take you serious
no one will pay for your work
and galleries will have
no interest in you
at all
and that may be true
but how i am viewed
by my friends
at the flea market
and that small band
of passionate art collectors
who support my work
is more important
to me than all the gatekeepers
in the world of art
not to mention
other artist who don't fight
the good fight daily
fierce desperation
drove me to the flea market
doing 1000s of paintings
transformed me into a artist
and looking deeply into myself
forged the story
that is mine alone
at the Dark Bird Palace
in my world
i believe that without
a war to win as an artist
i would get no where
comfort and a sense of ease
serve the work of an artist poorly
i am a soldier
on the front lines of art
which means i take
all the bullets & verbal arrows
as well as the spoils
of victory
and also acknowledge
that all could be lost
at any moment
and so the painting
"A Year of Work"
speaks to
my core work ethic
which is desperate & relentless
as well as my precarious perch
which has created a ruthless pragmatism
in my use of materials for art
that also allows me to
paint extravagantly
& to continue to be
the desert iconoclast
who paints at a
small flea market
in high desert of New Mexico
the Dark Bird Palace October 2014
he told me
he left $30 in quarters
in a pringles can by her bed
when he was done
he stole em back
but the dirty whore chased
him all the way back
to his broke down truck
but never forgit
life is a comma
its not a period
its a comma
and if you see
an exclamation point
just climb it like a
celestial ladder
straight into that ladies head
that asked me
what do you sell?
what do you sell?
i typed out my resignation
right that moment
right that moment
i quit like a nail
hammered straight thru to the other side
like a comma in the middle
of a sentence that cant stop
won't stop
I'm a run on sentence
moving right on down the line
straight to the dark bird diner
where i ate crow for a month
til i growed feathers and a beak
like a fish before it climbed
out of the water
and flew off in a fit
when it rained on the fish
rained on a fish
a fish hates
to get wet
hates rain
never ever rain on a fish
just like you never
wanna whistle in the ear
of a horse
its not horse whistler
its horse whispererer
it sounds like bones
blowing in the wind
i got so many bones
hanging in my shed
when the wind blows
it sounds like
the sweet dead cowboy blues
and its a comma
not a
period
next time bring
a folgers coffee can
they dont tip over
so easy
Autumn Dark Birds----SOULD
20 x 60 oily on a good bord
i am haunted
by my memory of Dark Birds
thru my years at the flea market
the sight of these outsiders
hoping around
watching out with one eye
sizing up an apple core
with the other
by the scratchy sound
of them talking to me
when im alone at my Shed
where on weekdays they feel safe
from the crowds
that dont understand them
safe from too much
attention out front
i am inspired by Dark Birds
as they sit a fence line
on a late summer afternoon
when a big thunderstorm cloud sneaks up
behind them
bringing thunder and lightning
and a big wind they use to
float on like a desert
ferris wheel
dark birds
stay at the edge of things
never in the middle
of things
Dark Birds are cautious
too much experience
to be naive about the world
but too much humor to be
cynical about the
lay of the land
i smile at the memory
of watching dark birds
on hot summer days
as they hop on the desert ground
dust flying up around them
as they pop up and down
like slow food popcorn
i day dream at the memory
of Dark Birds
flying over the bold
blue new mexico sky
looking like a dark rip
in the cosmos
a portal
into the animal cosmos
where i find the
dark bird inside of me
the painter who found
himself a home just outside of santa fe
at a flea market
which might as well be
a million miles away
from the tour buses downtown
NEW ART NEWSLETTTTTTR TO MORROW SIGN UP HEAR FOR DARK BIRD NEWS
Flea Market Table---SOULD
i have no idea
how i arrived
at this place on the path
its as though my tale
has been dusting my trail
all along the
way
in a world of
constant change
i am a rusty hinge
with a bic lighter
that turns a can
of WD 40 into a
flame thrower
i want to play the game
i want to be smart & connected
i want to be in big art shows
i want to be famous
and on front pages
of art magazines
and theres not a shred of
evidence to support that
line of BS
dogs on a leash
a new happening at the flea
i cant help but notice
the canines all love
the beef jerky guy
tables of turquoise
tables of tools
tables of beads
tables of used books
and tables of
used VHS tapes
its so obvious when
you find the right place
to sell art
The Prosperity Painting---SOULD
big oily approx 65 x 40 inchesesees of manna
ya know
i dont have a tatoo on me anywhere
& i think im stuck in
1973 driving a 65 mustang
thats running out of gas
but all that
feels modern
compared to the flea market
we are still in 1573
which is yesterdays news
since yesterday i found
a dark bird skeleton
and instead of looking
this darkbird rexus flea marketus in the mouth
i put a saddle on it
and flew it right to the edge of town
where where i saw a long road of
coronados conquistadors marching towards Wal Mart
home of every day low prices
for spray bottles & WD-40
to keep your self cool & flexible
under that Don Quixote
up metal armour suite
just in case you go chasing any
windmills gone rogue
(somedays i just type and somedays i rite and sometimes i dont know what happens when i get behind the keyboard)
clik hear 4 a couple more paintings
Guitar Music---SOULD
24 x 30 oily multicrappia framed fleabilly
OMG
i love your art
heres my website card
i do what you do
i will give you
50 cents on the dollar
for that painting
a backhanded bitch slap
disguised as an
art pilgrimage
in my dream
old Rod Stewart
still wearing tight pants
with saggy skin
blocked my way
as i tried to get thru
to the other side
later
waltzing with my shadow
on the front aisle
i took the lead
danced past the spice guy
turned at old pawn jewelry
& dipped at
"get over it"
yes im happy
to sign your book
how do you spell your name?
exactly like it looks now
on amazon used books
for 3.99
i tried to pirouette
but it turned into
an endless spin
that became a
a dark bird screwgun
that wouldnt
return my
call
selfies everywhere
some foto themselves
some paint themselves
some hate themselves
personally id rather
paint a dog in the desert
trying to get
lost
dark bird national bank
offered me a coffee mug
with my new account
i cant pour anything into it
but i can use it like
a fork
to eat crow
transcendent
my new painting
grounded in the
surreal real
of the flea market
doesnt really come close
to explaining the daily dose
of
inexplicable beauty
constant deja vu
sudden epipthanies
awful flashbacks
and other strange
coincidenses
at the dark bird palace
but its just a painting after all
and maybe if im lucky
it will help pay
for the most real of all ...
rent
the Dark Bird Palace
foto by flea market photographer Klaus Priebe
whats a dark bird?
im asked this question almost daily
for some its just a black colored bird
but for others its a bit more
poetic....
for example
if you find yourself
5 miles outside of
the art capital of the southwest
off the main road
on the reservation
at a flea market
looking at some crzy guys art
in a weird shack
he calls the Dark Bird Palace
well
you just might be a dark bird
clik hear for a look at another new totem
Three Totems
72 x 60 on three good bords
twomorrows the art newslettr
got several new ones
join up if you want
two sea what eye got
plus some fotos of
desert treasure
(ok its my kinda treasure but who says a got skull aint valuable?)
Lips----SOULD
approx 36 x 36 of lipsmackn multicrappia
less wolf
more rabbit
less whisky
more beer
less heat
more rain
words fail me
if you know
what i mean
mister
im an 8 year old
cowboy from texas
do you want any
spearmint chewing gum?
i also have juicy fruit?
my most memorable
exchange at the flea
this weekend
an apple core
thrown onto
aisle J
same time
same place at the flea
how to train
a dark bird
i was invited to the mosque
to join in prayer
told that i might make
a good mullah some day
my beard
an invitation to 72 virgins
in paradise
a beautiful summer afternoon
with a nice cool breeze
blowing in a light mist
of uranium from los alamos
giving everything
that soft fuzzy glow
that my paintings
so often capture
about the land
of enchantment
clik hear for another couple from the flea market this weakend
Illumination---SOULD
small oily on bord
july 14 2014
illumination
a 45 watt bulb
balance
standing on a
richety old chair
reflection
talking to myself
while a rooster crows
some place
far away
a cup of water
a river of stars
8 pounds of dust
shake gently
add salt
make a wish
the making of
a celestial being
at the shed
poor folks tell me
they are rich
wealthy folks tell me
they are common
unknown artist
await imminent discovery
the truly accomplished
smile like a cat
i stand there
and listen to it all
and wonder
if i should be writing
presciptions
an archeologist
of artista obscura
bought my star dust
asked if he could use
my art
as the flavor delivery device
my paintings his dorito
my dirt
the salsa
the Dark Bird Palace
my ragged
dirty aging shed
a flea market shrine
to folks
who love to live
or explore
just off the main road
of life
it wont last forever
but then again
none of us
will
clik hear four two more wild thangs two sea
Chupacabra---SOULD
32 x 48 oily on a bord
painting the strange beauty
of a dark vision
seems my only way out
im the anti thomas kinkade
the painter of blight
(clik hear for another new painting "the strange beauty of a dark vision)
Beauty of a Dark Vision---SOULD
oily multicrappia on a bord or two or three
Dear God,
(if you text please let me know)
grant me the serenity
(aka money, power & destruction of all my enemies)
to accept the things I cannot change,
(sorry no can do)
The courage to change
(this sounds alot like that acceptance crap)
the things I can,
(yes im still working on that last dark bird painting)
And wisdom
(im more interested in power but if this is required i can try it)
to know the difference.
(FYI...i can do an animal sacrifice
like in the old testament
if this would speed things up…)
p.s…please get back to me ASAP we have tons of Shamans
here in santa fe that can take care of this for $99.99
CLIK HEAR & JOIN MY MONTHLY ARRT NEWSLETTR
Planes Trains & Automobiles---SOULD
CLIK HEAR 4 SEVERAL MOORE PEACES OF FINE FINE ART SHURE TWO MAKE UR EATN ROOM FANCY
clik rite hear four moore artsttstststststssssnakes
piggy back painting done over a thrift store painting i figured i could improve on greatlylylylyly
important art rule
i read yesterday...
"never talk or write
about your paintings
to the viewer"
another sacred cow
from the world of fancy art
that i smash every day
with my 5lb hammer
demystifying the artist
and $20,000 paintings
along the way
(my lower hinged mandible
as well as my double jointed typing finger
set me apart from most neanderartist
who can only grunt
and wave their arms wildly
while chasing the exotic
rare art collector across
the manna savanna)
but then again
i digress
and then
i digress again
and then agin
& agin
takin me further away
from the hanging
tree
(if this has distracted
your attention from
the preciousness of my painting
then just maybe
i should go back
and take a look
at how i can make it
more worthy of your
attention)
being that I AM
a chronic rule breaker
a formal ball buster
and a painting procedural discombobulator
that is
a full on bonified dark bird
i trust you will understand
why you've never seen my art
in a gallery or museum
and why i am
at a flea market
where i assure you
no one is
talking high concept
and deep metaphor
about
art
but oops there i go agin
typing at well over
45 words a minute
with only 12 errors more or less
(whos countn?)
and you've prolly already
forgotten the painting
"you know of course
that if you talk about your art
you will ruin the mystery
for the viewer
dont you?"
and what if a dark bird
was just a dark bird?
would that blow your mind?
(and sales price as well?)
and so i spend
the next 15 minutes explaining
that the naked assassin
lives under the volcano
and that the dead cowboy
drives a red truck
and that tricksters
are everywhere
at which point
the lady bought the painting…
(i hate mystery)
fundamentally
i believe in the exchange
between the artist and the viewer
where people see
who i am
despite my other worldly stream of consciousness
ideas that often erupt into a flea market boogie
which i have also been warned about
(important art rule # so & so
never ever dance in front
of the viewer of your art)
(couple of really good paintings left on weakly art..clik hear to sea whats left)
(fancy website design done by me and copyrighted by me so no one can steal my complicatd codes)