Intuitionist ’ s Cookbook Welcome. Get comfortable with Paradoxes. When I was 5, I found a couple of illustrated Disney books. Alice in wonderland was one of them. I liked her blue dress but the Cheshire cat stole the show with that pink/purple stripes. Popping in and out of existence, rolling eyes with a smile. I need a cat like that. Luckily my neighbor’s cat just had kittens , parents reluctantly agreed to get one and I made a promise to take full responsibility for it. For the next couple of weeks I went every day over to visit my kitten. I choose a white one with some grey stripes, g ood enough. L itter box set, milk set, cat food set. Today is the day. Cat is moving in. It was a huge disappointment, even though it was comfortable with me but not with the new environment Hiding under the bed, meowing. I had to crawl under the bed for the next couple of days for various reasons. Catch the cat, pet it. Crawl under the bed, clean poop ... I wanted to t each it h ow use the litter box. When I noticed she’s preparing to do its business, I quickly g rabbed her and carried her over but she hastily jumped out of the box and straight under the bed. Litter box is under the bed now. It works but only if I’m not looking. A friend of mine recently got a cat and asked me how to teach it to use the litterbox ? Well, it’s easy, just scratch th e sand inside here and the re and the cat will get curious. Next time when I tell you, dear reader that experience is the worst thing that can happen to you, remind me of the cat story and I’ll tell you to read the sentence above it. S eems like a lot of th ings are happening when I’m not there, broken lamps , fur balls on the bed, scratches on the door. My new roommate owns this place She loved to go for a joyride, that cat loved cars more than anything. As soon as you open the door, she would jump in. Natur ally you can’t take a cat everywhere you go I had to throw her out of the car, often. Then she got smart. You open the door and she would slide in and under the seat so fast, so slick, no chance you’ll ever notice. After a couple of minutes of driving yo u would hear a meow or just see the cat sleeping in the back seat. One day she just disappeared There was a store right across the street. Someone probably quickly stopped to grab something and left the car door slightly open. Imagine the surprise. You’re casually driving and a cat appears in your car out of nowhere. Maybe she was a Cheshire cat after all. Cheshire Cat , d igital construction, Verdran Still 5, still can’t read. A black book, a heavy one too. Lots of pictures. Going through pages and there’s a n image of a guy dressed in a red and blue costume ready to take off . Hm, seems like all you need to fly is a red cape and a pair of red boots. Will not test this theory but will keep in mind for later because on the next page is something that made me really want to know how to read. A bi rth, a small head coming out of a woman’s body. The whole process step by step in pictures. I’m confident in case of an emergency I could help but the last picture is; scissors, umbilical cord and letters. Just frustrating. All pissy, turning the page. Aaa and Here it is , everything you need to fascinate a kid Tigers, Gun s and Tits. Get em young. Wright. I noticed the tigers first, so wild, so fierce. The elephant in the back is just a distraction. I figured that out in a second, it’s on its way. The elephant has nothing to do with the whole situation but why is the woman just chillin’ there in the face of eminent danger or death ? I looked at the tigers again and they’re just too big to be there,too loud. Nor the tigers or the elephant are there but how could that be,they’re clearly in the picture. I couldn’t explain it but I felt I’m experiencing somethi ng I didn’t before. Ok, since I’ll started to play the game, I will finish it. The fruit is probably there but it’s also a distraction because it’s an act of desperation; “quick, Johnny, paint a big one with a fish inside, add a couple of beasts,distract,d istract,distract”. The bayonet, it has to be there. I focused on the tip. It’s so close, the lady has to sense the coldness of the blade and the shadow is there too. What the hell is going on ? Then it hit me, the creator of this beautiful painting is a liar and he’s trying to hide something. I don’t know what, but the only thing in the picture is the sleeping beauty. I have to figure out who he is, I want to know that bastard’s name. I’m trying to decipher the letters in the lower left corner, probably the author’s name and the name of the painting. His name is Salvatore. Good Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking , Salvador Dali There was a recurring commercial a bout a bear who loves chocolate. Dancing around all happy and fluffy. I need that bear. No bear owners in my neighborhood . The chances to stumble upon a cub are next to nothing. What can you do ? I ’ m going to draw one. First try, it doesn’t resemble the bear in the commercial , it doesn’t even resemble a bear. Everything should be more rounder I know how to draw a circle, let ’ s go. Big circle for its head. Two circl es on the upper sides for ears. T wo inside the big one, eyes done. One in the middle for the s nout and a big smile. It has that bearish look but somehow he ’ s not there. O ne circle in one eye, one circle in the other. N ow he has real eyes, he’s looking at me. Satisfied with my creation I’ve gotten a little cocky and thought the more details I add, the more it ’ s going to be a bear. Two circles in the snout and I created a pig. Best case scenario; it ’ s a bearpig. Lesson learned. The bear Lino I can represent anything in circles, anything I want to It was a profound disco very that still sticks with me. Now, let ’ s get serious Intuitionism – a world in shapes and layers. Creating in an intuitionist ’ s manner should be like a walk in the park or through the streets . Sometimes you will notice an oddly shaped tree or a rock, sometimes you won ’ t. Y ou will step on a branch and crack it, only the sound will make you aware to what happened. M aybe you ’ ll look at your feet, maybe you stop, maybe you continue walking . The fact is you are not in complete control of your legs. You will bump into someone, drop a glass, hit your head ... Pain ting in an intuitionist ’ s manner. Choose a motive. Choose symbols you want to use. Have a vague idea where to place them, vague idea of colors Don ’ t try too hard imagining it in your mind, go for a walk ,clear your head. Than paint, don ’ t think. Let the connections emerge by its elf. Corruption is what you will have to deal with Y our eyes and mind will try to take over, they will surprise you in the middle of a line and there ’ s nothing you can do, except to continue or stop. D on ’ t be too hard on yourself. T ainting the purity is also a part of the process. Wh ile I was painting the Starrift , I spend more time leaving than painting The S tarrift, Layer2, Construction, Verdran My original idea was to represent only i n c ircular fashion. One symbol for infinity. I ’ m avoiding the problem with beginning and the end . Finished or unfinished eliminated P erfect deal but i t felt so dull, so empty, so meaningless I allowed myself the triangle. Didn ’ t make up my mind if it ’ s corruption or not but the fact is it ’ s there. Your creation will break, bend and fade. Don ’ t worry , it ’ s just entropy at work. Imperfection is not a category Observing an i n tuitionist ’ s painting i s the same as cr e ating it. Take a step back, your eyes will focus on the symbols and your mind will try to form a thought . Fight it! After a while a pure feeling will emerge, through the layer s from beyond , maybe it will happen after a minute or an hour, depends on you, your setting , environment is important. If it never happens, than I’ m sorry to inform you that you have no soul. Hate to be a messenger of bad news. The Beyond - for a lack of better terminology, its heaven or hell. I t ’ s where god ’ s fire is. I t ’ s the universe ... Layers – two definitions: A space between reality and atoms Between hard reality and soft reality Layers of reality. Imagine a row of dominoes or sheets of paper from here to the sun. Each one represents a place. Layer1 – hard reality. That ’ s where you p ay taxes, slip on a banana peel and all the other absurdities of life happen. No one ever managed to capture Layer1, never ever! Not a movie, not a photograph, a play. I t didn’t happen. Go outside and get me some wind from the valley if you ’ re skeptical Layer2 – Just below the surface, that ’ s where we dwell Switching between layer1 and layer 2. I t ’ s a confusing existence Layer2, Construction Behind the curtain, there ’ s a blooming flower beneath. Layer3 - C ompletely subjective, your world, your rules. S ame for layer4 , 5,6,7 ... Last Layer - is death and dead at the same time, the final deconstruction , ther e ’ s no construction in the last layer. It ’ s not moral to paint the last layer because it ’ s just a pitch black piece of nothing. Please avoid painting dead relatives or personal past events in an intuitionist ’ s manner because it can lead to a very unhealthy relationship in construction or deconstruction. Penultimate Layer - in deconstruction, it’s a straight kick into the last layer but in construction it’s: glory, resurrection , bliss, rebirth, enlightenment ... Deconstruction - Spiral way into the abyss. Construction - world coming together in shapes. How to finish a painting Now it ’ s time to shine, after taking in subconsciously everything you could , fighting with it through the process of creation. It ’ s time to think, hard. Assign it a layer and decide if it ’ s a construction or deconstruction. Medusa, Layer3, Deconstruction. Verdran - Intuitionist April, 2022