Time and Light Switches

I may have sprained the pinky finger of my left hand. I’m not sure, all I know is that it was weird enough to need some rest. But it made me think, I really need to take care of my hands. It’s an obvious, a given, that I would take care of my computer and my paint brushes but it skipped me that my hands would be just as important, no more. Because at the end of the day I can always by a new brush if it gets wrecked, but I only have my two hands for this life.   There truly are some beautifully obvious things that take me a long time to learn. I’ve heard it said that the beauty of this life is real because life has an expiration date. As a Christian I can’t say I completely agree, but I do think there is much compassion to be found. I think I’m more soft on me when I remember that I only get this one try and its okay if I need to wear a blanket like a cape to fight my monsters. I think compassion comes when I remember my heart never grows up and I get to be a child at heart so lon...

And the wind goes on howling   and the trees go on swaying  and the tears go on falling. See the world doesn’t work the way I thought it would and I so desperately wanted to leave.  Living in the great wide I don’t know   is a lot like living in the snow, its cold and soft.  It has been awhile awhile since I’ve strung the words to the string.  And the waves still push and pull and push and the sun still sings and sighs and sings and the moon still shines and hides and shines. See I didn’t think the world would be this wide and I don’t think I’ll see it all.  I think the creative process is a lot like dancing, dancing with yourself. Constantly recalibrating and adjusting to the new rhythm, the new song. It’s an endless dance of two steps here and one step there on repeat for years until, all the sudden its three steps and a leap. So you falter and fumble till you master the leaping and then is begins anew, all over again.  Bu...

I’m reaching the end of my project. Not the long term writing one, the series of paintings that I’ve been working on since last fall. I probably have about 12 hours of work left before it is all completed and ready for selling. It doesn't really feel real.   I grew up saying that I would be an artist when I grew up. And it’s incredibly strange to look up and realize that I’m living in my childhood dream.  Sometimes, like today, I stand in wonder at how I’ve made it here. Really some days I am quite shocked, because if you have met me you’d see that I’m quite a soft person, quite shy and even a little bit awkward. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t think I have a typical artist type personality. I think sometimes we introverts think we can hide in our art but it tends to backfire on us. Because I don’t like to be completely alone in my art, so to the masses I go. Sharing what I’ve learned and all I hope to accomplish.  I think we artists take the long  journ...

I believe that creativity is meant to flow. Like a garden or a river, it carries on even when we aren’t looking. Because I believe that the sound still shakes the forest when the tree falls.   In October of 2020, just three weeks shy of exactly 2 years ago, I wrote a piece titled The Garden. To be blunt my writing has become greatly refined in these two years, so its not my best piece but it did signal the beginning. The beginning of me coming to truly understanding creativity and how it works, how it looks in my everyday life.  I came to the understanding that when I didn’t create I was doing myself a disservice. Creativity like any other tool, can be used to for great majesty or for great harm. And my lack of action, my inattentiveness to my river of creativity causes problems.  If I never pull water from the river it will flood the banks. If I never harvest from the garden the plants will take over and gum up all the gears. If I never act on the creativity I’ve b...