rounding the bend

eventually i will paint this boy again and when i do he maybe in blue.
or he may not be. right now i'm concentrating on other things. halloween mailorder projects, the pretending tree and yellow paint. and up and coming umbrella tree's. first i'll need more canvas and secondly i'll need well more modpodge. i am also counting down the days until my super nyc trip. working every night except for thursday this week. wish me luck. all of this work will help in funding the nyc trip. i do not have much more to say...

bitter water & other

***you may think i'm not making anything or that little progress has been made, but the reality is quite the contrary. i am taking a brief break from the r0b0t, paper quilt collage, and paint-markers to advance upon my bitter water-posturing/pretending tree. i've taken so much time with this painting, enjoying every minute of it really. i usually work between several projects anyway. it's not so much attention defecit, as the balance between paper and paint. i love both in very specific ways but can't always combine them to create a successful piece. so it's back to the bitter water. painting, for me takes a little bit more concentration as well and i'm focused on the line quality in this piece. i'm really going for the style/refined imagery. plus the background has to be just right, perfect. and i'm not always satisfied with my initial ideas. for instance i wasn't sure if the water was going to work, but i'm pleased and won't turn back now. once the water stage is completed i plan on "bubbles" and some sort of sunny-orange, red and yellow behind the tree branches. in the end i think the canvas will be completely covered. i also plan to experiment with more of my sanding technique and hope the underpainting parts(initial yellow) will appear. cross your fingers.

in other art-e news, i began the process of reinventing the bicycle painting i once was working on. i did get tired of the yellow bike and have got this incredible stash of old movie stubs, japanese receipts, and stamps of james dean, and pieces of twenty bucks. i finally made the move, really i thought i had more movie stubs, i think they've been packed away for safe keeping. my next tree-the umbrella tree. so keep your eyes out.


i'm so excited about this new process of making collage with modpodge and then painting over it. the poison tree has been my first success with this process so again cross those fingers.

i plan to keep you all informed as i continue to make and create.

i wanted to share this one other little snippet. just the other day i was listening to npr and a beautiful sounding musician was being interviewed. at the end of the segment she was asked to sing, her husband and sweet baby daughter sang along with her. it was absolutely delightful, it's a must listen. here it is: you are my little bird. also if you're out there and as interested in great emerging artists, go see kate's art. it'll be gone before you know it. the rest of my week looks good, hoping to see my dear friends this coming weekend. peace.

beep*beep*

okay so this is as far as i've gotten and yes yes my robot is blue. i have only a small selection of paint markers, and plus i don't know if i would have liked a red robot so much on a red background. although my plan is to add more detail and silver silver silver. again my apologies for photo quality. i can't say that this week has been one of great artistic motion. i should be showing you all the things i'm giving away. only because it has felt so good, so freeing to create large piles of things i've not touched in oh so many ages. someone is really going to enjoy the clothing, someone will surely beable to use the shoes, and of course there's the huge bag of gift bags and handled bags from department stores to give away. i mean, what does one need all these bags for? i cannot think of one creative thing to do with all of them. from holiday to brown blueskies bags it's all too much and should be reused or recycled by someone other than myself.

farming a good life

i should have been here yesterday, but i just couldn't quite gather all my thoughts together. plus i was out of the office in franklin on friday, needed to catch up with the paper trails, post.its and social piles leftover from last week. i needed this past weekend like any plant needs water. the sun was hot, the wind cool, and the company a pleasure. i had been so exhausted, but i couldn't miss a saturday with jen, nor an opportunity to see all of her hard work, and the work of other local artists. the feelings i had while sitting with lavendar, jen and susan are unexplainable. i have been trying to think of way to eloquently express the way, as if a spirit moves between us, our words, and movements. i love how conversation came easily and the white church tent went up without a hitch. i love how kate was there in spirit and all our friends and jen's family came by to see her. can i see myself with my own work at one bridge next year? umm maybe. for now i'm most definitely more interested in farming this sort of good life.

i started reading wendell berry's, the gift of the good earth, hence my post-title, a week ago or so. boy oh boy it is has been one of the best things i've read in, wow! sometime. i had just finished the kiterunner, which received public accolades, but i wasn't well impressed. before that, dan brown's angels and demons-not that impressed. but the gift of the good earth, my word. written in the mid-late 70's, his travels from peru to papago to mexico to the amish country. what brillant imagery, what food for thought, so spirited and comfort-gentle. and we're here as he has predicted, not exactly predicted but shows by example, and expresses as stupidity, these last twenty years.

i'm not scared, just wondering about becoming a farmer. or at least farming my relationships in a different way. sometimes i think i let my emotions, fears, and insecurities rain on relationships in a way that washes away the deep dark, warm and moist topsoil-the stuff that makes relationships rich and wealthy. it so happens expensive fertilizers get in the way, when simply turning the friendships over to expose only that which needs to be cooled by the air-like a confrontation, a fresh approach, is sufficient and healthier. and certain weeds, if i knew how to look for them, might actually be advantageous, the natural way i'd be led to fertilize, instead of my self made contributions. i love what this book is making me feel and think. i love how it has tied itself into the conversations i've had with say, kate and my dear mother. and jen she sent me flowers, which i have yet to photograph because i am pleased to say i'm cleaning up my apartment's act. it's been four whole years and some things have got to go. so i am working on the revitalization of my apt life. i want a near perfect shot of the bright flower display, cross your fingers, tomorrow(?) and i should have a pic of the complete robot-red paper quilt collage. i should write more about these things but diagnosis coding is really really calling my name.

gosh i'm grateful for such a sweet weekend.

black-eyed pumpkin pie

i haven't been around a whole lot lately because i wasn't in the office yesterday and i haven't been motivated to take a whole lot of photos. i did happen to get a couple of shots of my favorite pumpkin in the world. the gift i mentioned a couple of posts back from my snl. it's tiny and cute and i should make a pumpkin tree to hang it on. i'll be out of town tomorrow, off from the old rx this weekend. to enjoy saturday with my friend jen, while working the fest, playing with lavendar, soaking up the autumm air, please be nice! sunday is my day to relax and remember.

i have almost finished the third and final red paper quilt collage, i finally drew the best little robot in the world and i can't wait to show you all. your just going to have to wait until monday or tuesday. have a wonderful weekend. peace and love you all.