2021 Gallery Updates

[photomaster]

Gawd has it really been a full year since I've posted to this forum? There are some words and terms which I am super anxious to see removed entirely from the English Language: Covid, "Social Distancing," Anti-vax'er, "Mask Up," and "The New Normal." Here in New York we are on the cusp of achieving 70% vaccination i.e. the Governor is about to open up New York State to near-normal without restrictions. Granted, there are a few caveats such as being vaccinated... which I don't get. There's a deadly virus still roaming around out there and the powers that be are offering free vaccine for anyone who asks and still people don't want to get it. I don't get it... the resistance to logic, I mean. I'm totally vaccinated and anxious to get back to my life.

I won't get into my hell with the "day job" and the covid job market. I'll also gloss over the details of my declining health sitting here day after day in front of the TV. While everyone else is gaining weight I'm loosing weight, thanks to reducing my salt intake which threw my body into shock and destroyed the balance of my electrolytes such that the cure was way worse than the disease.

But, I digress. Here's a photo of pretty naked woman...
.
.

kccv0601a.jpg (78.06 KiB) Viewed 7322 times

.
.
So, I had this idea of a nude woman painting a nude woman. The painting of the nude in the background is actually a photograph which was digitally converted to LOOK like a painting. My intention was to hang it in an art gallery but a close friend and actual artist told me that was a really stoopid idea and I would just embarrass myself doing so. Like... ok, but what can I do with this photograph of a nude model from Woodstock which I took years ago? The model hated me and hated modeling for me i.e. the expression of utter disgust is genuine disdain. What did I do?
.
.

kccv0616a.jpg (93.18 KiB) Viewed 7322 times

.
.
Sometimes I get great results just by accident. A few times the wireless trigger on the strobes failed and the mains didn't fire. I got some amazing looking dramatic lighting entirely as a result of a weak 2032 coin cell on the transmitter. hey, whatever works, right?
.
.

kccv0621a.jpg (151.19 KiB) Viewed 7322 times

.
.
Like I said, I can't paint for the life of me. I had to google what colors to use on the palette for painting a portrait. The colors should be correct for a commonly used portrait painter. If not... well, hopefully you're not focused on the technical details to miss the concept of a nude painting a nude while painting on herself. It's a bit of recursion and the infinite.
.
.

kndv0510a.jpg (102.5 KiB) Viewed 7322 times

.
.
I also can't paint for shit so have this quasi-splatter technique to apply water based finger paints, trying to make them look like acrylic. I'm not cruel enough to cover a model with oil based paints and hand her a bottle of turpentine and offer, "Best of luck, dear!" The finger paints are well designed to cover well yet wash with water. The red was a bit tricky, tho.

This series, devoid of any vulvas (vulvi?) shots are going onto the fine-art photography website hbutz.com and is available for purchase on the POD site as well at henrybutz.com

[photomaster]

Absinthe - click here The Green Fairy, a liquor from the turn of the 20th Century which changed the world. Absinthe imparted its image onto paintings and posters as well as influenced literature, becoming a green scapegoat for a rumored drunken rampage which caused it to become outlawed in many countries around the world.
.
.

kscv1149bsq.jpg (71.32 KiB) Viewed 7127 times

.
.
I was out of work following the events of 9/11 as the economy went into shock. I had interviewed for a position which would require international travel so I was reading up on all the latest regulations from the TSA and Border Patrol about tariffs, taxes, duty, exemptions, and how much booze I could lug back across the border. To paraphrase import regulations, "You can bring back home anything except Absinthe." oh? What is so special about Absinthe that it is forever banned from import into the country?

As it turns out, nothing, really. It was all due to some hysteria about wormwood (Thujone) a moderate poison which was turned into a bitter herb infused drink onto which people would drip water onto a cube of sugar over the glass of the stuff. Now, before you get into a huff about drinking poison... on purpose, remember that nicotine, undercooked potato, raw red kidney beans, black licorice, rice, and apple seeds are also somewhat or entirely poisonous

Matter of fact, the alcohol in Absinthe is more poisonous than the evil wormwood ingredient. We did try to ban alcohol LOL. You remember how that turned out. Well, Absinthe is back although they're keeping an eye on the Thujone levels this time.

To celebrate its return, please visit the latest gallery - click here to visit hbutz.com. I've done this concept in the past. This series is a dramatic improvement in cooperation with a fantastic new model whom I met just this past month. I do hope you will drop by the gallery.
.
.

kscv11120b.jpg (68.12 KiB) Viewed 7127 times

.
.