douglas brent smith

  Downstream Corporation - collage by douglas brent smith, 30 August 1991. The board of directors is not in the mood for slacking. The stream must keep flowing and the product must roll. There is money to be made, but wait! That pause for fun has already begun. For most of my life, collages all came together in one day. They could take hours, but I would seldom stop working on one until it was done. Usually the radio would be playing endlessly in the background -- WMMR when I lived in NJ or PA, WXRT when I lived in Chicago. For this collage, it was WXRT all the way. - dbS - 

  You Can Be... - sketch by douglas brent smith Where do you stand? What do you demand?  Who do you declare yourself to be? 

  You Can Be Positive - collage by douglas brent smith.

Follow your intuition when you want more of what you've already got. Get more creative when you want something else. -- doug smith

  Worldview Built In a Day - collage by douglas brent smith, 3 January 1988

  Truth and Bull - sketch by douglas brent smith, 1989. Have you ever felt completely upside-down?  "How do I know that you're telling the truth." "Because I always tell the truth." "Well, I know that's not true." "How do you know?" "Because it can't be true. How do I know that anything you say is true if I can't trust what you just said." "Because I am 100% truthful." "That's bull." "Or is it?" Feeling upside down, the conversation ended. Were they any closer to the truth? Likely, not. - dbS -  Here's another version of the image with more saturation, allowing you to see some of what is on the back of the page, and adding more color:

  One Spirit One Energy One World - collage by douglas brent smith, 16 November 1991

  Levitating a Small Guitar - sketch by douglas brent smith (probably 1991). "Do you think that he could levitate a large guitar, that is to say, a normal sized guitar as well?" "No doubt. It might take some practice, though." "Does it come naturally?" "It comes with practice." "That is more like a ukulele than a guitar." "Nope. It has six strings. Guitar." "Small" "But he could also levitate a large guitar. Maybe one wasn't available." "Well, you've got to start someplace." "Yes." - dbS - 

 It's Time For A Change - collage by douglas brent smith, 1 August 1991

  Badminton, sketch by douglas brent smith, 1991 It is only a doodle. A quick sketch that started out as a space ship but somehow ended up looking like a badminton birdie. Still, I like it, so here it is. 

  Angel Wall - sketch by douglas brent smith, 1991

  Falling Piano - collage by douglas brent smith, 01 June 1989. Below is the same collage but with a slightly different color saturation. I don't know which one I prefer, so I saved both versions. What do you think -- A (the one above) or B (the one below)? When I was a kid there were several old comedy movies that featured a piano falling from the window. And, didn't John Cage compose a piece of music that involved a falling piano? It must make a large noise followed by a big pile of wood and strings. Fortunately, life is not as riddled with falling pianos as it once seemed.   -  dbS  - 

  The Deal - collage by douglas brent smith, 21 November 1988. "What's the deal?" "You tell me." "Is he selling that giant bowl? "What if it's not a bowl?" "I think that it's a bowl." "Why would he be selling it? Unless it's more than a bowl." "Do we know for sure that he's selling it?" "No." "Then what's the deal?" Sometimes I strain to understand something and fail. It doesn't make me strop trying to understand it, I just don't get anywhere. What's the deal with that? Other times, things are so elegantly simple that I understand them right away. Or, at least think that I do.  How do we know for sure? -- dbS  -