011510 - Day 5 of 365

It's funny that I just wrote about risk last night-- it really stuck with me today.

I think it's good to constantly remind ourselves to say 'Yes' to risk... it keeps life fresh, exposes us to ourselves. Yet, it's just so, soo, sooo tempting to follow the path of that which we already know.

So here's to 'wandering' into risk,.. wandering into (discovering) myself. Consider coming along,.. it's a great journey.

Today's word:

'Infinite'

fyi-

I'm still workin' on working out the video aspects of this project. Not to worry,.. I'll work it out and deliver. It's part of my vision,.. to (help) 'motivate and inspire,.. There's just something about seeing/watching someone truly create something new. I find it fascinating,.. and hope you will too.

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'

011310 - Day 3 of 365

Yeah! - No significant tech-smacks (aka, technical setbacks) tonight!

Working back in the garage studio. Trying a few subtle variations in supplies.

Dropped into some great music via headphones-- I really like that, it feels almost totally immersive,.. it's almost as if I'm watching the painting create itself. Perhaps one day I'll sync the music I listen to with the music I painted to. (a good bit more to learn in the video and editing before I get there though ; )

Now I'm discovering that the video files take a boat-load of time just to convert from .AVI to .MOV Being patient for the file conversion may just be more difficult than doing the painting (at least for me).

I can't wait until I can share the (compressed time) videos of creating the paintings-- you'll get to experience the 'roller coaster ride' of the rapidly changing imagery being created. That,.. and I've gotta start getting better pics of the images--

Today's word:

'Listen'

011210 - Day 2 of 365

Painted from my apartment tonight... a few new set up challenges here. Burned out light, low on supplies, too much stuff in the way (it's a small apartment which doubles as my studio), 'Low battery' indicator again in my Flip (even though I put *new* ones in this morning?)

This all brought another saying came to mind,

"If it ain't one thing-- it's two"

As well, I was reminded what a 'wrascally-ride' my particular style of painting can be. Many ups, downs, twists, turns, and 'Almost-there/*Not*-there' moments. But not to worry, it came together in the end to create another worthy finished painting (don't you think?).

Oh- and a small technical victory- I unraveled some of my video issues (apparently my Mac isn't fond of the .AVI video files). So there's still hope for some* footage from day. Update to follow at a later date.

**Today's embedded words** - - 'Find' and 'do'

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.

So by now you're likely to be thinking, "Just what's your plan Stan?

Well, I've gotta admit-- I've thought it's been fairly vague,.. and pretty fuzzy but then I realized it's been clear all along. Clear, but perhaps too intimidating to acknowledge even to myself.

I've decided to head off on a 365 day journey and invite others to come along.

My goal is to motivate and inspire.

To motivate and inspire myself as well as others. Motivate them to pick something and stick with it. It doesn't have to be big,.. you don't have to do it for a year-- just consider the word 'Possible', truly be open to it, see what resonates for you. Then simply choose to make it happen. (I've been amazed at what huge results even small, yet consistent, efforts can make.)

I hope some folks do join in,... make a choice,.. and maybe even share what it is me-- I'd sure welcome the moral support.

For me the plan is to create artwork every day for a year (mostly paintings).. and put it out there (via digital pics and time lapse video) for all the world to see.

Just the thought of it excites me and scares the hell outta me at the same time. I kinda freak and think how in the heck will I do it? Then I remember a book I read years ago about a guy who literally walked around the globe,.. and figured it all had to begin with just one step.

I always wanted to do something big like that... and although I believe I've have had some pretty great adventures,... somewhere along the way I got distracted lost my drive, my motivation, my 'chutzpah' (sp?). I'm not sure exactly why,.. but this somehow is my new 'adventure', my journey to attempt to bring it back.

I can't imagine where it'll go, what I'll create, or where it will take me,.. but it's time for a new journey to being.

Day one (of 365) comes up with the sun.

~Good-night

Some people say...

They say that once you decide to do something,.. the process immediately begins.

Perhaps this was realized (and shared with us) long ago..?

"Whatever you can do or dream, begin it."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I finally had some clarity on just how to approach the content of this blog.

It's bigger than I usually go with things like this... but somehow I didn't want it any other way.

I explain more soon, but for now - I'll share that it involves me committing to share my artwork and paintings.

More soon (from)

PlanetDave