TRANSCENDENCE

Never thought of myself an art connoisseur and didn’t invest in high-end artifacts or drawings but was surrounded by some who had talent. My brother was the artist in our family. I wanted to draw but settled for tracing over pictures of horses from the encyclopedia by either projecting the picture onto a piece of paper taped to the wall or laying tracing paper over the picture in the book.

Dad’s mother was an artist and two oil paintings hung on our hallway wall. Carl was quite the artist although not many people knew about this talent. I even tried to check out a few books from the library to learn the basic techniques of drawing. Many things can be self-taught, but artistic talent seems to demand classroom time with an instructor.

Sunday afternoon I went to the Laguna Art Museum with a friend. Have visited a few art museums in the past but not of this genre. The current exhibit was Heart and Soul--Rick Griffin’s Transcendence. This artist was a major presence and set the stage for pictorial illustration during the counterculture movement of the 60s and 70s. His art work influenced surf and psychedelic rock movements and conveyed idealism and hope with a mixture of hedonism, politics, and new and experimental expression. Griffin created the cartoon character Murphy that was in Surf Magazine. His work includes album covers for The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan; posters for The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, and Janis Joplin; and the logo for Rolling Stone Magazine.

I was not a part of the hippie scene. Did not listen to rock or heavy metal music. Never experimented with psychedelic drugs. As a matter of fact, one of many messages drummed into me while growing up was that those who participated in such things were considered rabble and should be avoided at all cost. Being one who didn’t want to do anything wrong, I complied wholeheartedly and steered clear of such practices and associations.

So why would I be interested in going to such an exhibition? Well, for one my friend asked; that was enough reason for me, but did some research prior to going and something caught my eye--Griffin’s work also influenced the born-again Christian movement. That aspect intrigued me. After Rick became a Christian around 1971, his work was instilled with Christian themes and symbolism. He did album covers for Mustard Seed and posters for Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa and Harvest Christian Fellowship. He also did a project for Maranatha Music--an illustration of The Gospel of John done in acrylic and ink.

Rick Griffin was a talented artist whose life was cut short when he was involved in a fatal motorcycle accident in the Northern part of California in 1991. His work, especially after he became a Christian, was done with such exquisite detail. So vivid. Great focus. His last picture was used in “The City” magazine--Rick kneeling in front of an open Bible at Heaven’s gate.