Thought for The Day - Not Yet

It's a sad reality, that moment when you accept "I'm not ready." And all too often, that realization is followed by "when will my time come around?!" Patience gets tossed out the window in moments like this, but there's not much you can do. Oh, you will wait because there's not much more you can do...

Back to the wood shed! Continue working and practicing and building your skills. Each opportunity you get, you try to showcase your talents, though often you ask yourself why; the end is always the same: rejection or worse, apathy! And each time, you wonder whether you have what it takes, if you are too young, too old, too short or the right race...nagging questions that you dare not ask, because in truth it won't matter what others say. There's a reason you continue to hone your skills, show up for the performance and give it all you've got: you have a message, a song, a move to add to this vast collective! And whether you're "ready or not," you have to press on!

Perhaps, many years from now, the "right audience" or group will see you for who you are. One day, you will be recognized for your outstanding performance, but for now, in the meantime, just not yet...

Thought for The Day - You See it as an Entertainment

The Turn 9 x 12 Pastels

Of a feather 18 x 24 Pastels

I'm Listening 24 x 36 Oil painting

You watch a dancer, you hear a singer, a musician strumming a guitar and all is well. But they move acrobatically, turn a phrase or sing a note in a unique or funny way, play notes on the guitar from the neck and you clap in response. And somewhere along this path, the message gets distorted. Both audience and "messenger" alike are caught up in the miraculous and the amazing and like a child clamoring for more fun, the original intent can be lost.

We don't pay money for a message or to be told something true but unflattering about ourselves. And yet an artist's true purpose is to hold the mirror up to the world and say "see, this is who you truly are." At times, it is done by talking about themselves, their desires and wants and their loss. Sometimes it is a true message about the state of the world, the human condition. And sometimes, it's a message about the BIG picture of life and how it twists and turns. But words, body movement, the notes of a song are all messages.

You see pretty colors, I see a divine rendering, declaring the changes in the state of conscious. You see "abstract" or "scribbles." I see how we "flock" to those who are like us, but we never really find our mirror image. You see a blue orb surrounded by other blue lines; I see the mouth of someone speaking and respond "I'm listening..."

You "might want" entertainment, but when artists listen to the voice of God you get...

Thought for The Day - A Good Story

Sleeping Beauty 8 x 11 pencil

Shaken Up! 8 x 11 pencil

Everyone loves a good story; perhaps you love good poetry or great music or a great dance...we love the story, the human drama and seeing our lives reflected. It isn't a matter of vanity or pride, but the fact:

1. We're not alone - others feel, think, act and say the same things. It gives validity to our struggle and desire for greater; better.
2. Someone else feels our pain and hopes for the same thing.

 With visual art, the message isn't as clear, at least to those who always need their story or thoughts spelled out, but even a child can look at an image and see "something." I've read poetry where the "message" isn't immediately obvious; the words almost run together, but a story is being told. Currently, I'm listening to a song by Tony Remy & Bluey (the group, Incognito's leader), called "Between My Finger and My Thumb;" it is by far, one of my favorite songs of ALL TIME!!! Actually, the entire CD is one of my favorites, but for very personal reasons. I found it around the time when I begin painting and drawing again and the songs "speak to me," in the sense, it reminds me of my own creative flow. Songs that seem to come out of nowhere with so much depth and volume, you have to marvel at the power of God to use us fallible beings! It isn't power for the sake of manipulation or control; it's power to love, to heal, make whole and celebrate the gift of life.

But here's the thing, outside the room where I'm sitting, I can here my wife's feet on the wood floors. Outside the window, I hear the occasional car going by on the wet street and every sound tells a story! every sound, color, smell and sensation has a message for me and for you. Are you listening? Tune your "ears" to hear what is being said.

Be.

Thought for The Day - Rain Dance

Defying the illusion...

Typical for me these last few years, I've been awake for several hours. Regardless of the season, I'm awake well before sunrise. Growing up, on occasion, I would wake to use the bathroom around 5:15 or thereabouts and find my father, either in the living room reading the bible or praying, or in the kitchen preparing to leave for work. I remember thinking what a terrible time to start the day! And every now and then, the idea that my day might come would get a frown and shaking of my head. Well here I am around the same age he would have been at the time. Rising early has become so commonplace, sleeping until 6:30 feels foreign.

I turned a few minutes ago to look at my latest work, "Open Portal" and a thought came to mind: "this might be a waste of time; you might want to settle into your Quality Assurance role until retirement." That familiar frown and shaking of the head occurred, except like a strategic warrior, I'm fighting reality. The sky says I will wake tomorrow, board a train headed to the Chicago Loop and I will sit at a desk. I will test software and find defects, discuss the work with coworkers, etc. But in my heart, those colors I see on the paper over my shoulder, they are reality.

Like a rain dance, it's not practical, but it is necessary. I am defying what is before me in hopes of recreating reality. You see, while the world seems to be composed of what we see, there is a world that exists behind the visible world. It is the world I bring to bear on paper and canvas. It is the world where life is vibrant and energetic; where possibilities are ENDLESS!!!

Thought for The Day - The Dance

After the Dance (in process) 18 x 24 charcoal

We approach

You pause

I hold out my hand

Reaching for your outstretched hand

Slightest hesitation

A signal that all is not well

You draw closer

Sidestep a full embrace

I pull you to me anyway...

This living, this life...L-O-V-E. Reasons too many, past, present and future prevent full disclosure. Surrender and trust a precarious dance, not just for two. It is our way, our cultures, mankind in general. We are a strange mix of emotions and thought. We know what is possible and like a dance, there are moments of full disclosure, followed by ambivalence and even cold distance.

Like a dance, we approach, we welcome and we greet. But rare are the moments when we give and receive without remembering and guarding.

Let's try a new dance, one where we embrace and hold fully. Where we recall pasts and yet hold on to the present. Let's dance as if tomorrow will be brighter with one another.