012010 - Day 10 'Due Time'

Happy 10-day!

It's a really interesting process to step up to the easel and truly not have any idea of what I'm going to do. I guess I just try to relax, begin,.. and be open to whatever moves me. I think we often find ourselves thinking, "I've got nothing."

Yet that is always so, SO very far from the truth. Once I accepted that-- I found I always had an abundance of things easily within my grasp-- all I had to do was begin.

Tonight I find myself very tired, very happy with having forced myself to paint,.. and VERY happy to have a girlfriend who's incredibly supportive of my newfound late-night habit!

Today's words;

'due time'

ps-

Apologies for the poor photo and lighting it's more white and the colors are actually more vibrant. My usual method failed me and I had to do something.. anything to post and get some sleep.

011710 - Day 7 of 365

In order to make things sync-up more accurately.. I'm adding the poem to this post which was inspired by this painting (written by Robert 'NAILS' Martin')....

Magellan

had I not learned to sail

to dream

the periscope I am today

in this red tempest

would mirror another omniscience

and the face of my father

I wear when I am looking—the ghost

of my Magellan—would keep me

from ever sleeping

and blind

-------------

OK - first things first,.. Last night a buddy of mine (NAILS,.. aka, 'Robert Martin') was impressed enough by my project to jump in and promise a poem from yesterday's painting-- and boy-howdy did he deliver. Here it is,...

destino

plumage
heavy as history
Carrara white
rising from a Cape Canaveral

destiny, a drillrig
another day
the moon a skull
in the sky

blood on the ground
reminds us
that we were here
and once human

Besides being honored, I'm damned impressed! Thanks Robert for saying 'Yes' and joining in.

After a busy day I got off to a late start tonight, but things came along nicely. I had one little spot where one thing worked so, so sweetly I honestly had a rush of surprise and joy.

I recently read a definition of 'joy' somewhere that went something like this;

'Joy is unexpectedly coming across something or some experience you've long been seeking'.

No matter what it was, it was simple,.. yet truly incredible. I only wish I could find a way to share it with others.

All I can do is suggest you listen to your own voice/motivation and step into it's calling.

Today's word;

'Seven'

011610 - Day 6 of 365

OK, I'm just sneakin' this one in.. Yes, the clock just slipped past midnight, but to me-- it's still today.

I'm feeling the challenge of the weekend day that zooms by as if I'm living it in 'dog years'.. I'm not so strong at math-- I just know it's faster. Maybe that's why dog's are so happy?-- They know that life is too short to take too seriously ; ) (Sheesh, even I recognize myself feeling a bit of the fool after that last statement-- but why care? I had a great full day of friends, productivity, partaking in a great birthday celebration... all that, AND I made it home in time to deliver today's work! Now THAT is a good day in my book my friends!)

This project continues to bring me things I didn't,.. and couldn't expect. I highly recommend staying aware,.. and listening for your own 'thing' that keeps calling you to 'jump in'. Trust it-- say 'Yes'-- and Jump-In, the water's fine!

Which reminds me... a good friend of mine I saw at the birthday party tonight found my project motivating and inspiring enough (sweet,.. it's working! ; ) to commit to writing a poem about my next painting (NAILS - you're 'ON' buddy!). Yeah,.. yea... it's working. If he's cool with it, I'll share the poem with you all soon. (Maybe he'll also share the cool project ('Hear me out') he's working on to connect young writers with their own voices.)

Thanks again for dropping in-

dave

Today's word:

'destino'

This just in-- a poem inspired by this painting and submitted by Robert 'NAILIS' Martin,..

destino

plumage

heavy as history

Carrara white

rising from a Cape Canaveral

destiny, a drillrig

another day

the moon a skull

in the sky

blood on the ground

reminds us

that we were here

and once human

011410 - Day 4 of 365

Ahhhhhh-- so, so many things to experiment with. That's one of the secrets, risk,.. BIG risks!

This is probably a good time to share just a bit about my method(s). Once you see the videos it'll be obvious,.. I don't use brushes (or traditional materials now that I think about it),.. I paint with my hands. Yes, my hands, paper towels, and many little odds-n-ends that I use to rub, scratch, smear, scrape-- all various ways to mix and remove the paint from the surface.

People often ask,

"You're hands. (awkward pause)..? You're,.. Not serious,.. Are you?"

Once they realize the answer is yes, the next obvious question usually is,

"Now why in the hell would you do that?"

The answer is pretty simple,.. to have less control.

You see, when I use,.. let's say 'less crude' tools, I have greater control. And with greater control comes more 'expected' results. Mostly because when I have a tool that I can control, I want to do just that, control it. By receding to very basic and crude tools, I lose most of the control,.. which in turn leads to many (many, many) more mistakes,.. which as disheartening and frustrating as they can often appear, usually lead me to places I would have never otherwise gone. Which (in the end) I like. (Funny, when you think about it,.. it's a lot like life eh?)

No, it's not a method for everybody-- but it is the one for me.

Thanks for dropping by-

dave

Today's words:

'journey' and 'go'

011110 - Day 1 of 365

Day One:

The painting went well but of course I was welcomed with a few 'technical difficulties'. No big surprise there,.. it is (me and) technology after all. Pesky yes, but I do love it when it works!

Also, I was reminded of one of my own personal sayings...

"Live and pay"

I guess this time I pay the price but having the Flip run out of juice and quit recording.

Yes.. I must admit, one of the 'technical-difficulties' was batteries : )

(Ha! At least that one is easy to solve.)

No matter, it's great to have started and have day one under my belt.

As expected, it was a little awkward getting back on the horse/easel-- probably just waffling,.. but things came back pretty quick. My style is pretty quick, spontaneous and quite erratic-- 99.9% of the time completely unplanned. And, lucky for me, it usually produces a finished painting each time I paint.

Here's a snap-shot of day one.

ps-

I'll post a video at a later day if I can cobble something together from the footage I've did manage to capture.

pss-

The blue 'edges' in the photo is tape that I use to mask off the material I paint on. It gets removed late-- always an exciting moment.

Why do I think this?

Perhaps I'm a hopeless romantic.. or just a wondering/pondering soul?

Or,.. it may be because I find that looking at things differently, not only is fun and entertaining.. it can be highly functional, inexpensive, more memorable than other methods (sticks better in my brain), and frequently time saving.

For example-- the other day I wanted to hard boil an egg... I knew I'd done it umpteenth times before-- yet I never remember just 'How to' when I 'Need to'. So rather than just read it off the internet.. and forget it again, I thought I'd turn it into a little visual design that's more likely to stick in my head-- or at least be something simple (and perhaps mildly entertaining) I could put on a 4x6 card-- to quickly reference the next time I had a jones for a boiled egg.

Today's image is little visualization I created -- take a look and let me know what you think.

(BTW - Yes,.. it's quick and pretty crude execution.. certainly no work of art. I did that intentionally... partly to keep it quick, but mostly to show that practically anyone can do this-- even with the most rudimentary drawing skills ; ) Don't worry, I really can draw-- I'll bring you many examples of that in the coming days. As well, I'll be directing you to many great visual thinking examples, exercises, books, and sites too.

Give it a try... Oh, and don't forget to let me know how your eggs come out!