Time and Light Switches

Another year makes ready to bid us good-bye: and I can honestly say, I’m not ready this time. In all years past I’ve been burnet out, ready to just move on even without any direction. This time I know where I’m going, at least more so than ever before. And somehow knowing where I’m going makes me want to stay right here… just a little while longer.   I am not ready to bid farewell to the year where I met peace, where I learned the right way to hold onto hope, where I grabbed life by the neck and said I will make you mine .  This year began in such a way I was not expecting. There were many surprises along the way, many beautiful and exciting, a few that knocked me on my butt. All the same, I believe this year has been one of the best yet, like I might just be beginning to age like wine, not rotting away like veggies left out too long.  It feels like just yesterday I was arriving home from my long stay across the border. I suppose it is like the saying goes, time fli...

There are extra lights in all the windows, and there is extra colour splashed upon the world.   As the nights grow colder the lights get brighter and the colours more vibrant.  The cold isn’t yet a haunting, but an invitation to draw closer.  And the anticipation is sweet, and full of wonder.  Because family is coming home, and the joy of the world is coming too.  There have been valleys low, and mountain tops high, but now we’ve reached the sea. And it is nearly time to jump onwards into the new beginning.  In ending there is beginning and it a beautiful thing, to see the new morning sun.  The tree goes on twinkling, and hearts go on waiting, for what they don’t even know.  Because it is nearly here, almost, almost, almost. 

Last week I talked about getting out of my own way. I was procrastinating on top of procrastinating, avoiding what I was avoiding. But I finally signed my paintings. I posted last weeks post and got up and signed them. I had to hold myself accountable to something.   But now its the Christmas season. Like really Christmas is soon upon us and with that comes a whole slew of emotions. There are some parts that are so drenched in nostalgia they squeeze your chest till tears come leaking out. And there are the parts that look stranger the older you get, the light seems to change in the way that it bends.  I find as I get closer and closer to the holidays descending upon me the less I want to paint. It’s not like before, when the whole love of it went out the window. Its just that I would rather spend my time with my family, laughing and yelling and carrying on. My family we like to be in each others space, just like to be in the same room together. And there’s almost always la...

Procrastination: delaying, postponing, or putting off, yup I am a master at this. That right there could be the whole blog post, I’m a master of procrastination and I wish I wasn’t. And I could say that it’s because I care, but really its that I care too much.   I have had 8 paintings done for about 4 weeks now and I am happy as can be with the outcome, but none of them are signed. Not a one of them. There is a small portion that honestly cares and doesn’t want the placement of the signature it take away from the painting as a whole, but its small. Because the real reason I haven’t signed any of the 8 paintings is because then its real, and then I have to make good on my decision to sell them.  I have been painting since before I could spell my name, this series will mark the first paintings I ever set out to sell. As I write this on December 8th 2022, I have yet to sell a painting, and all because I’m too scared to sign my name to my work.  Some days I wish I had ...

Inspiration and motivation can be found in the most unsuspecting places. I was watching a tv show, and the main plot was this boys desire to go to art collage and the journey he takes to accomplish this. I, like many artists at least considered going at one point. Ultimately I chose to make my own way, without attending any form of transitional post-secondary education. But in watching this show I was inspired to practice. To challenge myself for the sake of growing and refining.   I took it all the way back to my high school days with a warm-up my then art teacher had us do regularly. I couldn’t tell you if it has a proper name or tittle, but I just call it 1-5-10. You have a still life set up, as complex or simple as you can manage, and you sketch it three separate times. First time you only have 1 minute, the goal is to get started and not think so hard but also get basic shape and form in a timely manor. Secondly you get 5 minutes, here you should be able to get the whole thi...