On this day in history something happened. That something could have been anything. It could have been nothing. Either way, I don't know what it is. I am also not sure if anything happened on this day in history that relates in anyway to what I am posting about now. It might have. It might have not. But one thing is for certain. Somewhere in history Roger Dean began his amazing career.

Roger Dean is best known for creating the imaginatively irreplaceable art for some well-known musicians, namely Yes and Asia. Roger has a list of work longer than any bill congress could ever imagine. The list includes not only his ground-breaking Yes Fragile cover but scores more for other musicians, logos, stage designs and art for video games. He's been going full steam since he hit the scene with The Gun's cover back in 1968 and is thankfully, showing no signs of slowing down. While I can't say I've been the biggest fan of Dean's work, I appreciate it for the consistency. Most of us find it hard to sit still for a minute, let alone hone a clear vision in our work over the years that can be easily identified. Can anything you've done be easily identified? Can everything? Roger Dean's can! And that alone is the trait of a master.

What we have here today is a great video of Rodger explaining his painting "The Ladder" which was used as a visual representation of Yes' album The Ladder as well as visual inspiration for the game "Homeworld." Homeworld is one of the all-time great rts games and included both Yes' song "The Ladder (Homeworld)" and Roger Dean's Painting, "The Ladder." However, in-context with the game the painting needed spaceships, which Roger Dean originally painted on in water color hoping he could later rinse off. That didn't work out too well. So, here Roger is removing the last bits of space ships to return his painting to it's original state. 

I don't know what it is about painters. Just like Bob Ross' show "The Joy of Painting." If you were ever flipping channels and landed on that show unintentionally, you were trapped like a fly in a spider's web, with no hope of getting out. There is something about painting that mesmerizes. Listening to a good painter while they paint is like watching a master carpenter at work. It opens your eyes to what has not been seen before, either in the natural world or in the world of make believe. Yes may have realized this and named a later album Open Your Eyes for this very reason.