Variations on the theme of re-birth

Clive Gerada is a Malta-based artist who has just published an exhibition called “Unrealized” on FaceBook

I want to share one of Clive’s pictures from the show here, as it rings a bell for us.  Strikes a familiar note.

Incoming...

Clive Gerada shows in “Unrealized” a series of selectively masked portraits.  His credits hint that he knows all of the characters he has portrayed. His notes say “The bare thought of “Unemployment” has given me the idea of creating a series of 13 “Unfinished” portraits, which resemble the human being when s/he feels unrealized or incompleted, or unable to fulfill his wishes to fulfill himself as a human being.”

My take on this is that Gerada refuses to give in to a spirit of malaise. Rather, he examines the feelings of in-completion by a reckoning based on “I am what I do” or identification of one’s worth being inextricably tied to one’s occupation, job description, etc.

By taking a closer look at the ‘condition’, the artist affirms his own ‘employment’, is the working artist plying his trade in a very public way.

Photo by Natalia

The concept of a figure struggling to free itself from the confines of the medium (the ‘condition’) has been around for a long time. Michaelangelo expressed it vividly in his ‘Slave” sculptures where he shows us the figure struggling to free itself from the inert sculptor’s stone.

The images here struck me personally as a metaphor for starting a new era in one’s life, with blind spots and information gaps that can seem daunting at first.  You have to gather your wits about you and tackle the challenges as they come up.

As with any creative, passionate act, all the effort and energy that goes into the construction of a new web-site can be seen as pushing of the envelope, stretching in all directions to finally arrive at a certain place where you feel fully employed, fully engaged and on fire with enthusiasm!

Making some progress w skyaak.com

Happy to say that we’re making  progress with the all new www.skyaak .com.

There’s still a ways to go yet…and confidentially… we are having so much fun experimenting with all our new toys that we will probably just keep on mashing it up, dialing it in, tweaking and the like.

It could take a little bit to massage it into shape.

So stay posted, it will be rapidly morphing in the coming days.

Royal Flush of Domain Names

Got the exciting news this morning that the domain names for our new skyaak.com site are in the bag. Now we have a Royal Flush to work with. Should be a sweep.

Check the website-in-waiting.

Still shy and blushing in its hatchling status, the ALL NEW skyaak.com will be striking out bold as brass in the coming days, so hang on tight!

Looking at the skyaak logo

A recognizable logo is fundamental in the graphic continuity of brand development.

Skyaak logo is here

Look at an early animated logo  here.

Just visited a cool site that showcases some famous logos (evolving!)

Name that skyaak skyline for free DIY deuce

Brendan w his skyaak model 3 overlooking the distant metropolis of Melbourne skyline.

Name that skyaak sky-line.

Leave a comment w locale id to grab a DIY deuce comp.

Stumped? Enjoy our instant delivery crash-free product disbursement system anytime.

First Artwork of 2009

Oscar Wilde famously quipped “Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.”

When an artist allows the creative process to trump the ho-hum banalities of everyday life, there can be some interesting results.

What if the act of making art could cast the mold for a year in the making?

What if the choice of a specific idea or image could influence the outcome of a brand new year?

What if the very act of creativity (at the outset of a New Year) could be a harbinger for a a creative, milestone year?

Or, to put it simply, what if the conscious choice to spend the first hours and days of a New Year engaged, really focused, on being creative casts a certain attitude on the remaining 364 days ahead?

That would be a good reason to step up to creativity!

Leaving nothing to chance, I decided to do whatever…exactly…I wanted to for the past couple of days.  Turns out I planted myself in front of my easel to produce a New Painting to match the New Year.

But not just any painting, not a random subject!

I decided to paint a picture of a dragon-fly resting on a leaf.

For me, this is symbolic of latent energy…the dragon-fly can spring off it’s temporary resting spot at any time and fly away into the sky!

Thought I would show you a few of the steps that I took in the painting process to ‘breathe life’ into my fist work of art this year:

The next (and last I think) step will be to tweak the high-lights on the rear gossamer wings…just a light touch of light…

It would not be too much of a stretch to equate this idea with the steady progress we have been making with the Skyaak project, especially since the invention of the innovative Skyaak DIY deuce, the down-loadable ring wing glider that you can grab, print, laminate, custom-decorate, cut out, build and FLY.

Working it out w GoDaddy @ WordPress

Check the Skyaak R&D sister site. This is strictly an experiment, in a total state of flux.

We are going to use the WordPress platform as a launch pad for the brand new skyaak.com.

WordPress has all the support, plug-ins, CSS, et al to juice up a world-class site.

For example, GoDaddy talks to WordPress. WordPress is a plug-in feature of our spanky new GoDaddy host and by proxy server. So hang on for the ride, folks. This will be fun.

Skyaak DIY deuce Work-Out!

It’s pretty hard to imagine what a glider might look like gliding without seeing it airborne.  So I invited a couple of young Skyaak enthusiasts ( Charlie Clarke and his brother Mike) over this afternoon to work it out with their DIY deuce units and took the opportunity to put together a few short video clips. The video shown here is typical of the many throws and catches between us.

Charley also decided to build his own deuce today.  It took him about 15 minutes from the word go and he was ready to launch his freshly-minted unit on its maiden voyage!

If you want to experience the sensation of Skyaak ring-wing flight before your very eyes, you can right now.

Grab the Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ model that you can print on regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper, dope with clear tape, customize, cut-out, build and fly for the one-time cost of $2.00. Just remember to make a copy of your download before you cut it out so you can go on to build a whole fleet if you want!

Messing around with our Skyaak Model 3

Just a quick couple of clips from last summer that show me and a few friends noodling around with our Skyaak Model 3.

You can get your hands on the ‘trainer’ model, the DIY deuce, right now if you want to see how this aerodynamic design works.

For just a couple of bucks you can download, cut out and build the DIY deuce right now.

Charlie Clarke presents Skyaak DIY deuce ring-wing glider!

Charlie Clarke cautions against throwing a Skyaak Model 3 around in the house, something might get broken! We wanted to prove once and for all that the Skyaak DIY deuce is perfectly safe to throw around in your average home, classroom or office, though. A half an hour or so later, we had chucked all four of these around and none of them got wrecked. Neither did any lamps, windows or TV screens. So yeah, they are safe alright.

Charlie Clarke holds 4 Skyaak DIY deuce units in a clutch before we started to chuck them around at his place.

BTW, you can also visit the official Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ vendor site at PayLoadz here that includes the affiliate builder! Anyone who wants to can grab the code there to start earning $$$ by offering this cool new product on your website or blog!

If you want to experience the sensation of Skyaak ring-wing flight before your very eyes, you can right now.

Grab the Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ model that you can print on regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper, dope with clear tape, customize, cut-out, build and fly for the one-time cost of $2.00. Just remember to make a copy of your download before you cut it out so you can go on to build a whole fleet if you want!