Month: March 2017

I saw an artist Ken Greenes’ work and it was the kind of work that moved me to want to talk about it here. He is not holding back and that  inspires me to do the same.

The bold (understatement) paint strokes just ooze life and power and freedom .

You really can’t paint like that unless you are like that. Every artwork has something to offer that somebody needs. That is why you are attracted to a particular piece of work. The language of art speaks to the deepest need in us.

You will buy what you need.

Kens work is like diving into the emotion of the land. It pulls me into the fields waving in the wind and the color of the sky is smeared all over my being. It enters my pores and becomes part of my body. It is as if his paintings are breathing and pulsing life into a at first glance static in reality , but he finds the joy there that is unbounded.

His portraits are the same way. I really want to know the people he is painting as they seem infinitely alive to me too. If you are tired or starving for something like vibrancy in your life then his work should be in your home.

It makes me want to open a gallery and show his work just so I could be around it awhile and give others an opportunity to own something that would feed them everyday like these paintings do.

He gave me permission to post one of his paintings here but I would advise you to look him up and check out his work. You will not be sorry you did.

I am reading a book called “The Simple Life.” By simple they mean getting rid of things that are hindering your mission in life. Just the act  of creating a life mission statement is valuable to clarify where you want to be and what you want to accomplish before you die.

To ask that question begs another, How do you set out to do that mission statement? What kind of energy does it take to get from point A to Point B. This step is going to demand every once of strength to get started because we naturally don’t even want to get off the couch. The book likens it to launching a rocket. 80 percent of fuel is spent on blast off.  This is helpful to learn this as a lot of people WAIT to be inspired. I did not want to do this 40 day blog thing. . It is way easier for me to knock a blog or two out occasionally instead of in a row.

Then is Alignment . Recalibrate, adjust , rethink throw off hinderances.

Then Focus .

A simple beautiful plan to make a path in this world that becomes  a stream..

You don’t want to let that stream get dammed up and then have the water spill all over like a flood plain, thwarting the purpose . You want to be a stream that flows easily. I recommend this book. It applies to everyone, not just artists or businesses. Everyone who breathes has to have a plan or if you just let things happen nothing , nothing much does.

Clarifying is hard, movement is hard, alignment is hard  but focus is not hard if you have the first three. I usually don’t think this way but it does seem like a good plan.

What I am realizing is that is the easy road and therefore the one taken the most . So back to square one. on Day 15 back to square one. I am resetting.

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Roots are the place you will make art  from. Even if you hate your background because it was hard, It IS the place you will paint from. Trying to run away from it or deny it will only make it worse. Embracing it will make it powerful.

“Embracing your dragons,” some have called it. I loathed my background when I was a young adult because it was so unsophisticated and normal and boring.

What a laugh that I had all this goodness poured out and I twisted it. Big Cities were more IMPORTANT than small towns in my book.

I could not see how you could ever be an artist or a poet in a town like mine.

Of course you never appreciate your roots when you are young. You have to have a perspective from down the road a bit.

Every kind of beginning can be used for something wonderful , but only if you embrace it and draw the gifts it has to offer. People who have survived hardship are stronger than me , That is a gift. Strength is a gift.

My gift was transparency and intuition . I got transparency from a safe and sound upbringing.   But I did not know it at the time.

I love to go into my studio to work. My little studio is just right for me. It has all the things I like to look at to feel good about working. Great light, a garden of roses to look at when gazing out the windows. A kitty or two to play with. Paints all lined up gleaming in the sun. brushes, canvases, Alexa, my lemon  tree, tea pot boiling, books and mags for color ideas, pens and pencils for writing. My chair that wheels all around. my sink, my tables. by boho thinking space that can be a sleeping place too. A fireplace , Yeah I have it pretty great as far a studios go. It was built just for me. from scratch. We put a drain in the floor so I could hose paintings off if I wanted to. I should talk about my technique some day.

We built it close to the house for easy walk to work.

I really am lucky to have all this glory. When it is going well in there and something is getting born that is past what I can do, then it becomes a chapel. Getting to that place is every artists goal. Artists make beauty  that can sooth the soul of somebody. that is quite an honor.

The sweet things of life are a place to call your own. no matter how small. it helps you get into alignment.