Soap Lake Art Museum

Doing a show in a small town like soap lake has its own unigue offerings. for one thing, people do not have tons of art to look at on a regular basis. So they like you and are appreciative. the second thing is that they are in a very small town so everyone knows everyone and they will spread the word pretty fast when something is going on. third is they go all out for an opening with more bells and whistles than a usual opening.

That said it is hard for a gallery to even exist in a tiny town and survive. It is hard to survive in a big town too but with less to people to draw from it is even harder. I would say that The Soap Lake Art Museum is a gutsy, innovative revolutionary, monumental shocking idea for a town of 1700. Nevertheless, it prevails with lots of interesting and groundbreaking shows. One person even drove all the way from Seattle to go to the last show I had there because he couldn’t believe a town had that much courage. Brent Blake is the owner of the gallery and he built it from an old bank.

Does a small town in the poorest part of Washington buy art? Yes they do.  It just shows that you cannot always rely on what makes sense and sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. no matter where it is. no matter what it is.

sabotage

If what-you-see-is-what-you-get, then you’d better be putting some great things in your view. I can make a concerted effort to only see the good in others and hardest of all myself.  If i spend all my time bemoaning how far I am away from where I want to be two things happen: I don’t enjoy the journey, and I get discouraged. Oh brother, what a waste of time.

I am actually sabotaging myself, without even knowing it. If you start down the”I don’t know if this will work out” path, everything starts snowballing. Not only that , but the snowball gets going so fast that before you know it you block out all the other possibilities that exist right now and start moaning about there not being any. When, in fact, yes there are other things you can do.

If I know this, how can I know it without having to remember it and think about it? How can I make it second nature or even first nature?? I am going to give myself a visual that will be my mantra . Every time I look at my ring on my finger I will make that the memory ring. It will be my power ring. Don’t you want a power ring? Its more than a ring, it is a ring of roses a ring of reasons and a ring of remember this thought.

If I could go back in time knowing what I know now

One thing I would do is try more things while I could. Teenagers are so ripe with possibilities that they do not take advantage of. In a perfect world I would not have to go to school which takes up a huge amount of time. I love the fact that homeschool frees your days up quite a bit in that direction.

I think of the N. C, Wyeth. He was a famous illustrator who had a several kids. He and his wife raised them in a unique way in a remote area in Maine. They were were schooled at home and were given free reign to pursue their dreams at an early age. They lived the ultimate creative life and the result was all the kids turned out amazing.
In this day and age, not enough time is devoted to exploration of who you are when you are young.

Here you have an opportunity to not have to support yourself full time so you can try everything out and see what clicks. I would start a career in art out at the earliest age possible.  As soon as you pick that I would paint and draw all the time and hone skills. I would go to museums and read art books all the time. I would read about artists. I would try and sell work immediately. I would write a book on how to be an artist when I am only a kid. Those years when you are supported by your parents are the best years you have for free exploration. I would not waste time with mundane things like doing what is popular. I would find a mentor and try out a business plan to sell my work. I would find other people who are interested in what I love and hang out with them. I would read a blog that says you can be an artist right now and you do not have to wait to grow up.

I would go to creativity groups and do whatever they say to do. If you did all this you would be lightyears ahead of most teenagers who do not.

Path

You write the story of your life with every thought you have. Our minds just get used to going down certain paths because of repetition and then that becomes “OUR WAY.” You have heard that term” Oh, that is just her way.”  Yes it is our way alright, and if we know this we can change our way.

Constantly thinking you are not good at one thing or another is just making a groove in your brain that grows with each thought. There is a thing called Mind Mapping. It is just about those paths that are created by thinking over and over the same thought. New Paths can me made with practice and if you have the visual to help of an actual rut in your mind like a path worn in the dirt it will help you do a new path.

I like to think of that when I walk on a real dirt path. All the feet that have passed this way for a long time make this distinct path.  Most people are not aware that this is true of your thought patterns. that is why some people are negative and some are positive people. It is not something they were born with. If you know that you, you can change your ways if life would be better to do so. Simple yet profound

Focus Factor

Have you ever met somebody who could focus on what they were doing to the extent that they could not even hear you when you talked to them. Of course you have. You have even done this.  We get absorbed when we are good at something.

Here is my challenge for today. To focus on something you hate doing so much that you no longer hate doing it.

What I realized is that everything is interesting if you can super-focus on it. Things are boring if we don’t understand it. You can’t even see it if you don’t understand it.

You aren’t getting it so it is so BORING. Nothing in life is really boring. Everything is tremendously fascinating if we look at it enough.

Do you know someone who is not fun to listen to because what they are saying is not relevant to you?

Imagine how interesting they would become if you were stuck in solitary confinement. ANYBODY would be infinitely fascinating and absorbing  then.  If you think about this for a few minutes it will make everyday things seem wonderful. Because they are.

error: Please do not copy.