The sky was dark , the high desert air was crisp , the night was enchanting and evolved. The dim light from the warming fire cast a silhouette as she disrobed that burned an image in my consciousness. Duty and intrigue called me to another hemisphere the following dawn, but the night lived on in the canvas of my soul. I share it at this moment with you.

Yours in Post Modern Living,
Ray Rum

 As many of you are aware the initial orders for my latest book " Paint is Thicker than the Bloods - How I Saved Inter City Lives Through my Art - by Ray Rum " put the publisher and printer in a tremendous bind with unprecedented first day orders that are on back order.
As such , I will now give an additional preview of "Chapter Six as a token of goodwill to the  many millions of you waiting on the book printing.

Please enjoy Chapter Six   ( you can find Chapter five "The Meeting" on the book preview tab on rayrumart.com )

Chapter SIx  "The Raw Conflict in Unit  #11"

Art is a funny thing. Throughout my life and the many spheres of my temporary habitation of jungles, deserts,embassies, ships, the inner sanctums of high society dames - I've always reflected upon and have been guided by the truth that I know to be art. Sometimes, as now, my musings concerning my passion nearly cost me my life. Fortunately, this time, my musings concerning my enthusiasm for and my life's work quickly waned like the guy's libido in the The Crying Game. I quickly was able to recognize that the largest man in the room was making a move towards the shinny Smith and Wesson in the corner.  My years of service as a mercenary in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, West Central Africa and places beyond had prepared me for just such a moment.

Unflinchingly, Iooked into the man's soul and loudly proclaimed, " I am from the Mayor's Office of the City of Chicago and I am here to help." As he hesitated, Lydia Marie convulsed and her knees buckled. I caught her before she could fall on the white linoleum floor and damage her Vercase inspired pill box hat with a bright yellow daisy floral arrangement. Next to the handgun on the fromica table I noticed an open bottle of wine. My keen visual acuity and my years earlier experience as a sommelier for the Sultans throughout the Persian Gulf region, allowed me to quickly recognize that I was beholding no ordinary bottle of wine.
They were , in fact , in the process of sharing a bottle of a very rare red from the Somme River Valley region of France bearing a label identifying it as from the private Rothschild collection. I quickly understood why they were so well armed and so jumpy.

I proceeded to assuage their fears,"Look, " I said , "As far as I am concerned, no one outside this room ever needs to know about the Rothschild. I'm not here on a wine bust . I am here about art. In order to prove my bona fides, when you finish the Rothschild's, I have  here an excellent '86 Pinot from the Van de Kamp collection that I would love to share with the group." With that , the tension in the room dissipated like a crack whore after a five day binge. Again, Sergeant Lafette's advice to carry both a carrot ( fine wine) and a stick (Glock 9mm w/banded double clip and silencer), had paid off.

One of the men helped me get Lydia Marie situated on the large, baroque chase lounge nestled in the far corner of the room .We proceeded post-haste to savor the wine and discuss my proposition. By the end of the evening , we had consumed another bottle of fine wine which I had retrieved from the mini cellar in the back of my Smart Car, and some pretty fair sushi from Hector's Rib's Chicken and Dead Raw Fish stand off west North Avenue. My enthusiasm for the salvation that is post modern art was infectious. I had successfully recruited 4 additional disciples to spread the word through the inter city of Chicago.

Unfortunately , Lydia Marie did not make it. At the time , we had not realized that she had slipped into anaphylactic shock from an unknown allergy to the unique tannins contained in the Rothschild's. Even with my years of medical training and battlefield surgical experience, I had neither expected nor recognized her sudden drop in blood pressure and subsequent respiratory failure.

Se La Vi, Lydia Marie. As Sergeant Lafette used to say to help us buck up after battles and  the often gruesome deaths of comrades in arms - " Men, you have got to expect a few losses in any major operation as dangerous as we routinely engage. Seeing death should make you feel more alive , so savior this moment and your good fortune for tomorrow or very probably even later today it may be you!"

And so it was for Lydia Marie. Her death ,though unfortunate, was one that any artist worth his salt could readily appreciate- she was wearing Vercace and she had a belly full of the finest wine to be found in the region. She will not be forgotten as we continue our march forward towards the redemption to be found in "Post Modern Art for a Modern World".

The end ( of chapter six)

Yours in Post Modern Living,

Ray Rum

Seeing Red

I spent some time in the Ukraine a few decades back. I had been working on some mercenary endeavors in the region and spent one particularly long winter in the area. While I never considered red a favorite color it looked good on and off this vigorous young lady. This image is from memory as my vintage Nikon camera never did clear customs in the old Soviet Union.  The walls of the old Soviet Union coming down in East Berlin  was tangentially  rivaled in a parallel sense to the red robe lowering itself to the floor on that magic night in the Ukraine.  I had worked hard to make both happen and each was it’s own reward. 
Yours in Post Modern Living
Ray Rum

Starry Night

This is a revisit to a Van Gough’s original. I finished it with both ears in tact so it
was a relatively successful venture. It is said this was Van Gough’s favorite painting
and done entirely from memory while he was institutionalized in an asylum.
In that spirit, I painted this piece from a memory of the painting, never looking at it as I
worked on it in my Arizona studio all while off the prozac.
Yours in Post Modern Living,
Ray Rum

Vision of Loveliness
It was the  evening of New Years Eve of 2009 and I felt compelled to end the year where  I began  it,
in the studio pursuing artistic bliss. I usually spend at least two hours each New Year's Eve  day in a
sensory deprivation tank which enables me to contemplate the year prior and plan for the forward.
Obviously this tactic has served me well given the grand abundance in my life and of those in my orbit.

This past New Year's Eve, however, I found myself in transit back from a funeral of my former sergeant
and life mentor. He died a hero's death, and I felt his presence and guidance in the the brush strokes on
this piece. It is a painting of a "Vision of Loveliness" that I had the great fortune of sharing some time
with in my travels across the planet. She would float  for hours on the tranquil dark blue waters of Lake  Como
in a state of peaceful grace and solitude. Her personal sensory deprivation tank . 

My recollection of her always brings a smile to my face and a longing in my soul.

The rewards of a rich and full life are measured equally by the quality of one's memories and the the
reach of their  remaining ambitions.

Yours in Post Modern Art,
Ray Rum

 

Sepia Woman

I met the Sepia Woman in the late spring of a not too distant year in Central Africa  while researching for Green Peace. Central Africa is a hot in the late spring, and it became a bit warmer in the company of the “Sepia Woman”. The young lady proved to be an able traveler, worldly beyond her years and a most genuine intellectual. We spent a few months in the highland forests around the dormant volcanoes in Mikeno and Visoke  ( part of the Virunga volcano chain) surveying for new groups of mountain gorillas. Sepia Woman had an aura  and a competence about her that made it a unique pleasure to be in her company in any environment.  She was equally at ease in talking to a leader from Zaire or a mountain gorilla. We had a connection that went beyond primates but duty called and I left Green Peace to remedy other wrongs with mercenary action on another continent.
I have captured this image off an old photo I found while unpacking my old weathered leather ensconced travel trunk at my Carmel studio. I was immediately moved to capture her image on canvas and reconnect with a very pleasant memory. 
Yours in Post Modern Living,
Ray Rum
,
 

Madam Lumpke

I first encountered Madam Lumpke on a philanthropic visit to southern India in Chennai off the Bay of Bengal.  I found her face to be as interesting as it was beautiful and her perspective to be as enlightening as her spirit was indelible.

We spent a few memorable weeks together and while she helped me to work on my Hindi,  I learned a great deal more about the world and a meaningful altruistic life from Madam Lumpke.

The philanthropic aspect of my time in India fueled the desire in my soul to feed others, but Madam Lumpke fed my soul with desire.  Oddly enough, after my time in India I re missioned for another tour as a mercenary in different  hemisphere. I suspect the duality of one’s existence is at continual odds with self perception and the reality of our needs.

Yours in Post Modern Living,
Ray Rum

The Provocative Parisian

A happy Thanksgiving weekend to all . Thanks for the thousands of notes of thanks over the weekend
to me for this website and my many contributions to the world .  Your welcome.

This new work I painted today while I enjoyed listening to Jakob Dylan's latest effort " Seeing Things".
This , in spite of my very public and long running feud with his father Bob. For those of you
that have asked about the details and a full explanation of my side of the story you will  be
happy to know I will cover it all in my new book, an autobiography, which I am now rewriting
to include stories about me. 
The title of my autobiography, to be released in early 2010 will be:
" Ray Rum - Prodigy, Warrior,  International Artist,  Legend - Lessons in Humility" - by Ray Rum.

As for this work , it is from a 20 plus year memory, during a too brief leave from the French Foreign
Legion in the the early 1980s.  I had spent six months  in a very troubled area of the planet and had
made my  way to Paris for my respite.  The City of Lights  was warm,  the moon was full ,
the wine was red and the Parisian was provocative. 

Yours in Post Modern Living,
 Ray Rum

Thanks to all for the thousands of comments , questions and insightful observations into the blog post  here at Ray Rum Art.com's blog.
I will attempt to get to each of you personally. As I have previously mentioned I will attempt to categorize all the questions and answer those on the blog with over 100 "like" entries.

The last few days, perhaps as a result  of the economic conditions combined with the overwhelming success of rayrumart.com, I am getting questions on available jobs at rayrumart.com.

The good news..There is always room for gifted and highly motivated individuals that I can mentor with my many talents ,  deep perspective and tremendous life experience.

Here is the application:

Last Name:_____________        First Name_____________

Middle Initial_____________       Second Letter of Middle Name_______

Address_____________________________________________________

____ Check here if Google Earth sattelite image of this address shows someone sunbathing on the roof.

Hobbies__________        Pets___________      Pet's Hobbies_______________________

List any jobs previuosly held with a US government agency. If you were an undercover CIA agent , put "Office Supply Procurement". If you actually procured office supplies for the US Government, put "Classified"

_______________________________________________________________________________

____ Check here to indicated " I have read and fully understood Ray Rum Art.com's official policy on office relationships between young female employees and Ray Rum. "


Submit this application with your resume, three photos to ray@rayrumart.com (if submitting only headshots, please indicate height and weight as we will need this for insurance purposes)