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 Few Words...

Yeah, pretty much...I'm deferring to my images with the idea: a picture speaks a thousand words!

Thought for The Day - Tightrope Walking

I'm no Wallenda, I'm just trying to get through this thing called life! From the "four spiritual laws", the "four agreements", "seven habits of highly effective people" and "fifty ways to leave your lover", there is no room for just being! Seriously, I just want to be! Between regret ("I should have said, did or been there!") and longing ("I want to say, do or be there!") there is narrow chasm, a string, strung from birth and into the dark of the future. It's not morbid, in this second; I'm simply living my life in this moment. And in this moment, I am.

I remember playing as a child, sitting somewhere with my toys, creating an imaginary world in my head and acting it out with my cars and such. Children have that liberty; they can combine their inner world with the materials of the physical realm. But....oh yeah, there is always that interruption of  the joys of innocence! "Don't run too fast, don't run in the house, don't play with that little boy, he's bad, don't touch the stove it's hot..." on and on, boundaries are established, dug in, built up, etc. A child learns to "play safely" and then not at all. Imagination becomes the stuff of the few children who learned to channel their creativity against the blocks society manufactures. Musicians become performers, dancers become ballerinas and writers become authors.

Seriously, just BE. We can't eliminate our past and in truth, we are always looking for, if not "more" something else. But BE. Appreciate this moment, and if it is a moment of pain and not calm or joy, strive to get to a peaceful place.

Thought for The Day - Remaining Calm

Linen, Remaining Calm 30 x 40 oil (in process!)

The best laid plans of mice and men...

I can start a piece, intent on going "this way." But subtle changes crop up, appear dazzling and grand and I'm off in a different direction. The wonderful thing about it, is the entire process is a lesson in planning and trusting God to guide me along the way. A coworker had a saying up years ago: "Man plans, G__ laughs." I prefer to think of it as it's said in Proverbs 16:1: "To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue."

"Remaining Calm (working title, already changed from yesterday)" is a piece about just that: Calm, and remaining that way. Personally, I'm a big of calm, of smooth of peaceful. Even now, a recording by Pat Metheny plays in the background and in Pat's style, there is often this sense of something "epic" going on. But there's always a sense of tranquility. Creativity can be chaotic; often that's exactly what it is. The process can be full of anger, frustration and a sense of loss. But the completed product, the fully laid out message defines a start, a middle and an ending. In that sense, all messages are alike, but what is said, what is communicated through music, dance, fashion and in my case word and visually, is completion.

Peace.

Thought for The Day - Prep Work, Changing Weather

...Suddenly the skies were clear, the winds died down and calmer days prevailed.

Yesterday, I scraped my palette for fifty-millionth time this year and then applied the same colors I have, also for the same number of times. I begin applying paint to "Linen, A Storm is Coming" and as I did so, I asked myself why was I doing it? Certainly, for a person like me, the work is never quite complete. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've sat in front of this canvas, or glanced at it over my shoulder as I worked on something else and thought "I could use a shot of silvery blue or orange here." Or thought "the mood in the sky needs to spread from one end to the next," but negated that idea with the sense of a transition over the length of it.

At some point, I did what I haven't in months; I took the painting off the easel. It kind of surprised me because it was just a day before I thought there was no need to rush to complete it. A large 30" x 40" canvas has been sitting in a corner, waiting for this moment and without a second thought, I reached for it, blew the cobwebs off it and placed it on the easel. There was a moment of anxiety, looking at the white canvas. Should I turn it so the 40" is vertical or horizontal? Am I working on the blue Orisha Yemaya or "Calming winds" (working title in both instances)?

After about an hour, the canvas was tinted red, my base coat and color. The storm was passed and the canvas lay length-wise, on the easel. The calm has returned...

I told a friend the other day that sometimes, God answers our prayers and yet we aren't happy because we were looking for his response to appear a certain way or with more flair... Sometimes drama and madness simply stop and we are so surprised at the transition, we aren't sure what to think...

Thought for The Day - Words

You come across as confident, defiant and brash. But inside, you are full of fear. You use your words as daggers, held closely at the throat of familiars; family and friends. But it's not until serious damage is done that you realize the impact of words and you withdraw your attitude and replace with a "sorry."

Words can seem neutral - some words at least. They can seem powerless; remember the saying: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Not so; the fuel of words are the intentions. We communicate truth as well as what we hope to be true. We use words as weapons as well as defensively. We block - or attempt to - hurt with our words. And sometimes we are effective. But words are like seeds or weeds: they grow where they are planted and if they are poison, they leave a permanent mark, maybe destruction. Words can also be like medicine or nutrients; they can heal the soul and bring life to someone who is hurting.

Using words wisely; I would dare say, if we examine the impact words "can" have on others, we should communicate not only truth but hope to the worst enemy! We should tell others what we feel, but as important what we hope them to be. And in truth - maybe it's just me - the worst of us should receive God's best. Not as a matter of merit, but because God's love is a promise of redemption, a perfectly clean re-start and a wonderful future!

A word rightly spoken...

Thought for The Day - Weather Conditions

You never know where the factors that spell your change will appear. Sitting in the office, in the cubicle you've occupied for 8 years, on the sofa, a familiar setting you could predict from your dreams; the conditions of our lives, like a "Groundhog Day." But...unexpectedly, a thought - no, not even that. An hunch or fleeting feeling, more like a sensation of a nerve ending firing a quick spasm. Months and years from now, you might be more aware of the next few minutes, than that sensation.

It's time for a change; you've known it for years. You might have settled into the status quo, the day-to-day activities where the only difference between you and the next guy is your house, your spouse and your skin. While your clothes are similar to your neighbor and friends, your soul sings a different tune.

Like an unpredictable rain storm, or in the case of Chicago, a surprise snow shower, your "change" shocks everyone; even family members didn't and wouldn't expect such a dramatic change! But change you must; it's in your blood and the only step you can take is forward.

But...

Don't wait for a twitching nerve ending. Don't look for a sign in the clouds or a message "from God." When you know, when it rides your every thought, make the change in you!