What seems to be my annual poem

RUNNING TODAY  

With the wind on my back

With the heat on my feet

I thought of today

I thought of yesterday

I thought of everyday

Where I loved and lived

Where I gave a part of me

    to that day and got a part

    of another so we could

    turn and give all of those things

    we gathered

    inside

To create another today

yesterday

and everyday

of loving and living

Where every breath is fresh

And feeds our lungs and souls

With the freshness and joy

That our history provides 

To heal our hurts and confirm the comforts

That puts the wind in our sails

And the heat in our hearts TO LIVE.  

(November 26, 2015, start time 12:36, finish time, 12:41)  

It's Thanksgiving today.  It was my birthday on Tuesday.  It was a nostalgic day - which was for all I can remember, a new way to feel on a birthday.  Life uniquities.  

I can't say I was thinking exactly the above while I was running this morning - but I suppose my subconscious was because it's what came out on the paper.  

Now...back to drawing.  

SUNDOWN

It's like there is this totalitarian reign on the sun making minds transition into thankfulness, awe, quietness, etcetera; each and every day.  When does a sunset ever not bring a good thought into your mind?  Even if it is on a bad day, or a day you don't want to see end, I have yet to think of one that made me quickly close the window, turn my head, shut my eyes, or wish it was something I had never seen.

I put together some of the things that when I drive, often have me pull over on the side of the road to either snap a picture, or just sit and look at.  Trees, mountains, and sunsets.  I know that list is longer, but I settled on those three things for this drawing.  I wanted a contrast of warmth and stillness.  The tree with no leaves, that still stands....says something.  The sunset is an imaginary one made up of a rainbow of color, and I see the reflection off of the mountain being the summary of it all.  The glow at the end of the day that warms everything around, inside out.  

I have always wanted to get a sunset drawn out - so I'm glad to have done this.  

RESTORATION and thoughts

This past year has been a year of A LOT.  Short version.
Long-short version:  I set my time, thoughts, and focus on the story of my life.  What is it?  Where is it steering me?  Am I the person I want to be?  Is my life what I want it to be?  I wouldn't complain about it because it didn't feel right to do so, but I knew it wasn't what I wanted.  I had successfully added a lot of really great things into my life (that I wouldn't take back or change), that were essentially distracting me from areas that lacked fulfillment.  And after years of doing that, I realized I wasn't happy with just that and my life was out of balance.  So - where did I start?  I chose a path, committed my time and money to that path, and worked super super hard to stay the path.  I've enjoyed the last year and everything I have learned, the people I have met, and the me I have allowed myself to be (again).

So what's this have to do with art?  Well - for one, I haven't done that much in the past year.  But, I'm feeling the space and spirit return to my mind so I'm back at it.  I have been lugging around this box filled with  shattered car window(s) for a long time - adding to it when I randomly see more glass on a side street.  I had a vision of how I wanted to use it, then as a lot of my projects go...it didn't go as planned, so I just worked with it.  I think I spent a good 4 hours gluing glass the first day I really worked on this.  Time flies when you're gluing glass folks!  At least for me.  Ah - the satisfaction of the tedious tasks that I get.  I started listening to myself as I was putting this puzzle of glass together.  I found myself talking to the glass - encouraging it to play nice, get along, and fit together so we all stay happy.  I would compliment it when it went together easily, and I thanked it for not cutting my fingers.  Ridiculous, I know.  But it's the truth.

Which is where the restorative things comes in.  It's what I've been doing with myself this past year.  I have been scooping up these parts of my life that have been busted up and dispersed to be found in random areas, all brought back together to create something whole again.  I'm like these cars that lost their windows; sometimes it's great to have the wind blowing thru your hair - exhilarating at times.  But then when it rains, it may not be as enjoyable.  I think I had learned to just enjoy life with my windows gone.  Rain sun or shine.  Or at least convince myself that I was enjoying the breeze and dampness.  I finally acknowledged the windburn and decided on an upgrade.  I have had to learn to be kind to myself, encourage myself, and compliment myself.  Some of the hardest work in my life.  Perhaps some of you can relate?  And if so - what are some things that you do that put you in that frame of mind where you feel restorative, empowering, and like you are contributing to a greater good?  I thank all the random things and people that steered me into the path of my artwork.  I have a great peace and joy for every contribution.  If I can learn to apply a similar view to all areas of my life - I think I may have something good there.  No doubt.

One of the most powerful things I've heard over the past year, is "If you are going to blame someone for all the bad they have done, you must also blame them for all the good." ..Tony Robbins.  Think about it.  Apply it to others.  Apply it to yourself.

...THE LONG DAY CLOSES

What happens in a long day?  Probably a little different answer there considering the audience variation.  But - I would imagine that there are many layers to a long day.  Layers of emotion, activity, sound, thought, etc... 

This particular piece is for a CD of Chorale music at a University - entitled "The Long Day Closes" which is a compilation of recordings of the choir over a couple of years.  People coming and going with graduating or transferring.  Four parts are shown here, by color.  Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano - in the forefront creating the main story.  Then behind what you initially hear - there is a stream of consciousness that, or the river that runs through it; that holds things together - which could be seen as the director.  Something about the individual levels of sound, in combination with the director - we then have what surrounds us.  The excitement, the whimsy, the mellow, the gentle, the quite, the busy, the fast, the slow.  Undertones and components of what creates our day.  Our Long Day...that eventually comes to a close.  This also makes me think of the lyrics of Edelweiss from Sound of Music - "bloom and grow forever..."  That's our lives and the way we live.  I hear so much in music, that I feel LIFE in music - in every long day - forever.  Music is eternal in our reminiscent souls - as is what I expect this collection of chorale recording is to those whose blessed voices created it.  

Thank you James for the opportunity to create!  

SOLD  

WE THREE

Three Sisters, one pie shop, creating a place to go and walk out with a box of goodness to share.  When I think about pie, I think about the smell, the warmth, the layers of crust, the flavor, and the occasions that pie normally gets consumed in.  That's what I was capturing here.  All of these senses coming together.  And in this case, by 3 sisters, the Pie Sisters to be exact.  Knowing one of the sisters, she approached me about doing something involving their shop.  One thing most of us know is family and food.  I love the energies captured here.  Families a lot of times are this mesh of really different but similar personalities, together creating the worlds we live in.  Which can be kind of wild.  Add some pie - and things calm down a little.  Wouldn't you say?  

Bless this mess, and carry on.  

SOLD

14" x 17"