Quotes about my Paintings

Rick Jacobi, Bird Brain, 24" x 30", acrylic on canvas panel, 2017

Quotes from other people about my work:

On my painting "Deus Arcanum": "That piece is a cool mystical cartoon surreal alchemical opus. Well done. Applause, applause!"

-- Alex Grey

"Your art seems to exist on a wonderfully fuzzy line between a kind of controlled psychedelia and a sublime divine pattern organization."

-- Lewis Saul

On my painting "The Oracle": "Disturbingly fascinating, amazingly grotesque, yet utterly elegant."

-- Gwen Carr

"Rick, your art is spectacular-- divined, a calling from another universe, a deep place."
-- Skip Davis

"Rick Jacobi’s unique artistic voice resounds far above the ubiquitous chorus of psychedelic monotony and meaningless abstraction. His deep affinity with the ancient mysteries emerges in a most delectable way through his vibrant palette and fine technique. For every step the deconstructionists took toward abandoning decency and forsaking technique, Rick takes 10 steps closer to honesty and attention to detail. He elucidates our strange predicament on this strange planet and his critically important imagery challenges his admirers and peers alike."

-- Sean Allum / Eloh Projects

The Symbolism of "The Messenger"

The Messenger, 18" x 24", acrylic on canvas panel, 2016

There are a number of symbols and references in my painting of Jimi Hendrix. The numbers 6 and 9 represent Jimi's song, "If 6 was 9". The flaming heart is a reference to "the sacred heart of Jesus" which can be found on many pictures portraying Jesus. I certainly am not equating Jimi Hendrix with Jesus, but I DO believe he was a spiritual messenger, which is why this painting is titled "The Messenger".

This whole picture is influenced by Orthodox icon paintings of Christ and other religious figures, in terms of the composition, and also some of the design elements such as the halo, flaming heart, and the other symbols. Speaking of which, the symbols in the red and blue triangles represent the letters A and O, a reference to Alpha and Omega (sometimes used in Christian symbology); the symbols here are from the alphabet known as Enochian script. I wanted to keep this from being really obvious, and the Enochian script symbols make it more enigmatic which I like.

The flaming heart represents the message of love, the power of soul (coming from Jimi's lyrics). The eye in the triangle is NOT about the Illuminati; rather, it is "The Eye of Providence", or the eye of God. Jimi is wearing a yin/yang pendant, and has a tattoo of the Egyptian Ankh on his chest; both are to represent the universality of his message.

Observant viewers have also noted the small, somewhat demonic-looking face at the top of his hair. Honestly, I do not have a specific meaning for this; it basically appeared on its own during the process of doing the initial sketches for this painting, so there is no specific intent for this. That said, to me it would perhaps represent the intensity and ferociousness of his playing, particularly his solos on songs like "Voodoo Chile", "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)", and "Machine Gun", among others. At his best, as in these examples, Jimi is in my opinion channeling higher cosmic forces coming from somewhere not of this earth. In the words of one of my friends:

"Jimi was a messenger of Peace from Another Dimension. He spoke through his instrument in a language unheard of."

 
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I'm Teaching a Workshop at CoSM

 I'm going to be teaching an art workshop at CoSM, a.k.a. Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, owned and operated by visionary art legends Alex and Allyson Grey. CoSM is located at Wappingers Falls, NY. The workshop is August 10-12.

Don't make art that looks like what everybody else is doing. I'll be discussing a number of topics regarding creativity and personal expression. Students will learn a number of specific methods and techniques designed to help them come up with ideas and concepts that are truly their own.

For more:

For detailed info on the CoSM website, click HERE.

Indicate your interest in attending:

Go to the "event page" on Facebook, click HERE.

"The Messenger" - a portrait of Jimi Hendrix

In the words of one of my friends, "Jimi was a messenger of Peace from Another Dimension. He spoke through his instrument in a language unheard of."

Fine Art Prints of this painting are available on my website:
JIMI HENDRIX ART

"The Messenger", 18" x 24", acrylic on canvas panel

New painting, "I AM"

I AM, 18" x 24", acrylic on canvas panel
© Rick Jacobi 2015

The title of this painting refers to God's reply to Moses when Moses asks God what his name is. God, appearing as a burning bush, tells Moses that his name is "I Am That I Am" (also translated as "I Will Be What I Will Be").

There are a number of symbols in this painting. I have used the alchemical/tarot symbols for fire (upward-pointing red triangle) and water (downward-pointing blue triangle); these of course also represent male/female. Earth and air are also present, rounding out the four basic elements of alchemy and tarot. While this is not an image of a seraph, the six wings could be somewhat suggestive of that. The snakes form a vesica piscis. The glyphs on the winged triangle spell out "I AM" in "Enochian script", as developed by the 16th century English occultist John Dee. The eye in the triangle is often referred to as "the all-seeing eye". It has recently in popular culture become pretty well-known as a symbol of the Illuminati. However, it has historically been known as the eye of God, and is referred to as the Eye of Providence by the Freemasons.

We also see a number of UFOs in this painting-- this refers to the possibility of extraterrestrial "help" in the creation of life on earth, particularly human life. There is a mysterious glyph on the bottom-- this is something I came up with a while back-- it does not have a specific meaning that I am aware of, but it's one of those things that the viewer can "read into". I think it may have to do with the expansion and reaching out of the creative force, or something like that, which would make sense given the theme of this painting.

And finally, the eye in the center: this was not part of my original sketch, but it came to me late in the process. When it hit me, it totally made sense-- this radiant eye represents the all of everything that exists, the universal creator, a.k.a. God.

They Came From Within

They They Came From Within , acrylic, 12" x 16", 2013
(portrait of Randy Tessier)

This past August, I attended this three-day workshop with Amanda Sage @ Alex Grey's CoSM "Art Sanctuary" in Wappingers Falls NY. The CoSM house is a combination art gallery, event venue, learning environment, and guest house. It was a wonderful experience-- Amanda is a great artist, and she apprenticed for ten years with Austrian visionary artist Ernst Fuchs, one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.

Fuchs paints with a method known as the "mischtechnik" (mixed technique), as used by 15th century painter Jan van Eyck among others. Painter Mati Klarwein (known to many as the cover artist for Santana's "Abraxas", Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew") also studied with Fuchs. Amanda Sage has also mastered this technique, and this was the focus of the workshop.

Traditionally, mischtechnik involves alternating layers of egg tempera with glazes in oil. Because of the short time frame of this workshop, most of us used acrylic paint-- technically not "misch" in the strictest sense, but the principal is essentially the same-- start with a darkish red over the whole canvas, develop forms in white, glaze with transparent color, and repeat as many times as necessary to get the desired effect.

There were some outstanding artists that participated in the workshop, and everyone was super-nice and supportive of each other. Amanda was very helpful and generous with her time, and a really positive force in general. All in all, it was a great experience-- it was difficult to leave and come back home!

Spending several days at Alex Grey's CoSM house was an amazing experience, incredibly inspiring (we stayed on-site, in one of the guest rooms upstairs). At CoSM you are surrounded by many of Alex's original paintings and sculptures, his art/metaphysical library, and much more.

Many thanks to Amanda, the other workshop participants, and to Alex for sharing his space with us.

Note: CoSM stands for Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. If you are not familiar with Alex Grey, I highly recommend a bit of research online. Ditto for Fuchs, Sage, and Klarwein.