the Profession of Art is Odd Indeed

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Study for 5 Cherries

Being an artist is truly one of the odder professions. Yes, older too, but what I wrote was oDDer. Imagine a librarian saying he/she needed to start meditating in order to draw forth the source of their inspiration. Imagine an accountant contemplating giving up being an accountant because it was too hard to know how good an accountant they are when compared to other accountants or to the history of accounting. Imagine a plumber studying the work of other plumbers and quitting their job because every type of plumbing had already been invented.
Of course all professions might focus on constant improvement, or working as a meditation itself.

My brother is a physicist and he probably falls into most of the artist related rantings and mood swings and soul to universe searching (but then, Physicists are an odd bunch as well).

At any rate I was reading this facebook discussion line asking each artist to describe a moment of 'awe' in which they viewed another artists work and in 'misreading' it or reacting to it (either because it was so spectacular or so horrible) created their own path in response. It was insinuated that this would be somewhat torturous, and that artists in general are on and off again tortured by their carrier choice. Perhaps. Its certainly true for myself. And yet we are driven as artists to continue through these ups and downs, because we must create. imagine our accountant feeling they must add numbers or go insane and they would look a bit daft themselves.

Meanwhile... I am branching out in the studio. Literally!- branches have entered my paintings. Or rather they are shooting forth from the wood surface and other paintings in the form of boxes are hanging from them. The painting/sculpture, called...probably..."Five Cherries", is based on images from a poem I wrote. And just you wait, kind reader- up next- Ill take you to the forth dimension...my noggin is spinning with ideas.

New Years Resolutions

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Happy New Year! May your resolutions make you a better, fitter, more successful, more organized, cleaner, more endearing, easier going type of person. Almost all my resolutions have to do with career advancements. I'm so on it! I'm already perfect, of course, so I didn't need any personal improvement. right.
Don't get confused, kind reader, when I post three or four posts on this blog this week. Don't think for an instant that my resolution had anything to do with my blog. I am just at the tail end of three paintings, needing only a bit here and there and a go with the digital camera. In fact, what I plan to update is my website. I think I said that last year as well. But now I have the new programs to make it happen, and with a little duck tape and rope and some quality time with the closet, my boys shouldn't be a problem.
New year-new sketch book. Here's the cover and first drawing in my new sketch book to keep it visual..I mean real. I usually take a drawing from the old sketchbook for the cover to start out the new book. This gives it a feeling of continuity. I don't often post my sketches because they are constantly being added to. In fact the cover is just waiting for a park playdate with crows to give her a nice black bird head. You can already see it turned toward the tree, can't you?