Creativity has taken over...

The time is moving fast this winter, but the nights are to long and the days to short.
Can't wait for my grandfathers birthday, the shortest day of the year, Dec 21.
Then the days will start to be longer again... i hurt when i stay in bed to long.

Trying hard to go back to sleep after 0300 hrs. is really hard... strange dreams.
Tis the season for lots of packing paper... i convert it to drawing paper.
It's getting brighter in the house... more lights... heater running more.

 Fish prints, colored pencils, drawing.

 My right hand print along with fish print,
watercolor pencils... 
I just keep going where the ideas lead...

 Fish print, colored pencil...
boat, vessel,
still trying to figure where this is all going...

 Notes and sketch book drawing... working through the process.
My Grandfather and three generations back were fishermen...
and wooden boat sailors, out of St. Johns New Foundland.
In the 1920's Charlie came to the United States, New York...
and worked as an iron worker, high steel.
As a teenager i would go out in his wooden power boat.

 Cruz = a cross
Cruzar = to cross
flying vessel not on/in the water 
but through the air/clouds...
still not sure where this is all going...

 More notes and sketch book pages...
looking at boat/vessel shapes...
defining parts... 

 My right hand print, and vessel with passenger...
passenger is me moving through life... 
colored pencil and paint.

 Again right hand print...
unmanned vessel moving through the air...
Ink print, and colored pencil...

Another right hand print with fish print...
unmanned vessel moving through...
ink print, and colored pencil...

Still wondering where this is all going...
i just keep following the ideas as they 
flood in. Keep notes because the ideas
come faster the the pieces can be worked
through...

Unmanned vessel, study, with "wings"...
working out colors, shapes and paper...
pen and ink drawing and colored pencils.

Still working with ideas...
where they came from...
where this is all going...

i am happy with what i am seeing...
and will follow the process...
letting the creative run loose...

Come on back to see where it all goes.

CHEERS

NOVEMBER 1... end and start again...

Looking into the "death box" wilderness... Escalante UT.

Seven months over and five months start...
creativity takes courage... got to muster some up... 
sooner then later... or boredom will creep in.

Gray warm very windy day today... change...
must learn to provoke in a positive way...
journal/sketchbook is a way to Remember.

 Life has reason and purpose...
even though we may not see it now...
life is not fair... its a test... i never did test well! 

Trial: a person, thing, or situation that tests...
a persons endurance or forbearance... situation
that reveals the strength or quality of a person.

We are living in an age in which everything...
is political... an nothing is honored as pre-political...
marriage is a pre-political institution.

Full moon thought... 
faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind...
at the same time, for one will dispel the other,
cast out doubt, cultivate faith.         T.S. Monson

The reality never matches the hype of the holidays...
 awake my soul, awake my soul...
for you were made to meet our God.

Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God...
let your hearts be comforted... 
for all flesh is in my hands; be still and know i am God.

Some thoughts from last off season...
now off into the wonders of a new off season...
i will be more diligent in writing this season.

One of my scary places in the world...
can't drive across it... or stand on it's edge...
but i can walk across in the middle.

Cheers...


 

Where in the world have you been...?

Where... i have been right here just very quite silent... to say the least...
being busy has nothing to do with it... i should be making time to do my vent work... in all fairness i have been expressing myself just in a hands on sort of way... not on line here... i have been dealing with quite a lot of  "actors" this season, and we all know how touchy they can be... they take everything so personal... no sense of humor... and most everything is by the book... those year end evaluations create lots of pressure... so needless to say a bit of hot-water and deep do-do i have found myself in early in this season... my hell you mean to tell me it's three quarters past August already!! Well that almost borders on obscene... ya know fecaobok is a habit forming, allowing one to make most of the time cryptic statements and don't have to explain ones self... or you just crawl the web and post things that are the best ever! Then everybody else just scrolls and likes. And in my case with seventy+"friends" i only interact with about a half dozen at best and scroll through the rest... i have wanted to quit lots of time... butt, we all have one, it provides something to kill time and vent in three liners. i suppose i am like most folks trying to quit something that i have become addicted too... it's hard and takes time... just like setting down to corral some thoughts and running on in this blog... my thoughts come so fast and they depart almost as fast as thy come, and if i do not make  a sketch of what i am thinking the train rushes  bye... yes i have my sketch book, but if i go to that and come back to where i was when captured by the though or idea i sometimes forget where i was and what i was doing that started this random line of thinking to start with...? i make notes in the form of words, images, and scribbled combinations of both to try and hold ideas and thoughts on paper till i have time to get to them, and they cover a good part of my desk top and a shelf under a table in the corner... oh the life of an unorganized artist. But then i don't think you can be an artist and be tooooo organized or nothing would ever get done. i now feel like the guy painting the floor in my studio sitting on the unpainted triangle in the corner waiting for the floor to dry!

i will get my head out of the clouds, rummage through my notes and find my ruminations and rants and get back with what i find.  We had one clear blue day with no clouds... but now they are back...    and yes i can see out of the window but it's on the other side of the  studio and the floor is still wet!?                                                                    Cheers to the day!

P.S. Eddie i am glad you and Rob have returned... Thank you.

Ruminations on a stressful season... so far...

Hello  again from the busy time in my life... summer... more stressful this year then in years past. Mostly of my own doing but none the less stressful.  

 Good morning sunrises...

 Spring weed burning getaway...

 No water coming out the plug...

 The blooming prickly...

 Couple of early full moon rises...

 Morning monster sunrises...

 Abstract shadows on the drive way...

Ruminations...
eleven pieces on the red canyon walls...

Subtle light in/on canyon walls...

Happy Mother's day... from A-red too A-white canyon...

Back to subtle morning sunrises...

Rainy afternoon windows, inside out...

RUMINATION...
30 MARCH 2012...
paper page, wooden frame, dotted line...

CHRISTmas 
bird count kids ArT display...

Come what may...
give the dog a bone,  chew chew   chew...





















Cheers till we meet again...

Of clouds and cupcakes...

The winter is almost past... though in most cases all it seems we got was spits and sputters this year. Yes it was cold but most of the days were mild and pleasant, not good if your a worker of the land, and it might prove short on water for green grass and drinking this summer.
I have been trying to figure my "footprints'... you know how green am i/we as a family... I have paid into Rocky Mountain Powers "Blue Sky" program for the last couple of years and quit that this winter... i don't feel the warm and fuzzy no more... and really i can't see or tell the difference between "green" electricity and the regular, or i guess the coal fired electricity we use now... yes i know it goes far beyond me. But ya know right now i am looking for the cheap... even if they do find a "greener" cleaner alternative its always going to be more expensive because it's "new", even though it looks, feels , ouch!, and does the same as the "old" stuff the "guy"or "corp." that finds or makes it wants their $$$ back plus more $$$ so they feel warm and fuzzy. Then there's water... the big difference there is we can't make more of it and that's pretty much a closed system... and a government trying to control all this stuff and make sure everyone gets an equal share... well that almost borders on insanity, because they want the $$$ plus the power and control to hang over my head.
Ya know as i set here and write and think i think this all becomes "mentally hilarious"... i am not even sure if i am thinking and writing or writing and thinking...!! Keep it simple stupid !! why do we need to go through all these mental gymnastics to prove we are smarter then the rest of the heard and we deserve more money or power for doing it. Yes i know it's very simplistic but come on folks what's the deal ??

A stick is still a stick no matter what colors ya paint it...

Sticks & stones or in our case around here rocks... other peoples actions and words can only hurt us if we allow/choose to allow/accept them as we do.
Fat tuesday, fish friday, and now lent, an old system now given up for a new less complicated and plain/simple understanding and belief of this world and life.
Pottage: to sell something for a ridiculously small price... (Gen 25:31)
Anxiety, fear, angst... some of the posts that come through on facebook and most posters don't even realize what they are saying.
i love the sounds of a train in the open country side... all the sound, not just part...
The need to clear the eye boogers, dry mucus, from the dogs hairy eyes... he's happy.
a meeting that involved squeezing feeling and comparing stuffed animals, beavers & fish to determine which is the best... whatever it takes to get on the same page.
review of signs that have no rhyme or reason... i don't understand this one !?!?!!?!??!?!?!???
being angry at a "brick wall" does not affect the "brick wall" in anyway...
it just makes me unhappy... choose not to be angered. stop being angry.
Taoism... a life of complete simplicity and naturalness and of noninterference with the course of natural events...
a milagro is a 'miracle'... and milagrito means a 'little miracle'... we need to look for these in our everyday life...
"Where there is no vision, the people perish."   Proverbs 29:18
Vision if not pursued, will grow apathetic, wither, and die.
Take the dog for his afternoon ride about town... its all still there on a grey overcast cool cloudy day... i might just have to take him to work.

Thanks for rattling along with me... i am about a month away from freeing myself from Panguitch winter cabin fever... back to work.
checkinlaterluvya bye!
Cheers

Winter/winner... dog lessons...

"...as my artist's statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and therefore is full of deep significance..."                     Calvin & Hobbies

" You don't  take a photograph, you make it."     Ansel Adams


The image above is pretty much winter here in Panguitch since the start of the new year... This is a sunrise by the way... looking East out my/the office window, the neighbors houses have been cropped away... as most of you know what a house looks like, except the new doctors Mac mansion to the west of us... i think i told that story a few posts back. Mild winter by Panguitch standards, not much snow, cold but not extreme, and surely not wet, less then an inch of rain, puddles twice after showers. 
Winter lesson: i have been learning/dealing with facebook with the intention of a Red Canyon visitor center page/wall for the coming 2014 season, something on the lines of the twelve current event framed/pages that hang on the wall in the visitor center... i find  facebook a very uncreative space/place... not even a good gossip place just a re-hashing of ideas or other's opinions that some how agree with theirs a little bit, along with a good place to hide and toss out jabs at "friends" and folks whose ideas and opinions you don't agree with... not always a very positive place. Basically post and run... along with "threads" that get beat to death like a horse, lots of "snarks".  Now in all fairness i think a lot of this comes back to whom one accepts as "friends", i have less then one hundred, some folks have thousands plus, and that maybe their"badge"... and maybe i am a social introvert... but i believe you reap what ya sow. Don't open your world to the whole world, and use the un-friend button when needed... along with the hide button when visual and verbal postings become offensive... and get/stay out of the kitchen if it gets too hot... use the OFF switch. Just cause your there don't you put up with it or stay... run.
Just as an aside i found out the Forest Service does not allow facebook pages/walls for any units other then the Service as an Agency under Washington's control... so do not expect to see Red Canyon on facebook period... that is all.

Winter lesson #2: Mr. deeks the family companion and dog has got it figured out, even as a two year old... not in dog years but people years... he has become my life manager this winter season. There may have to be lots of bring the dog to work days this coming season!

This guy, at seven  pounds, can teach a lesson with the best of anyone and can chew away a bone clean as a whistle ! He is not only a teacher but an enforcer... drives a hard bargain... and gets as excited as a whirlwind, and lets you know it! 
The key to his day is lots of naps in between short intense blasts of play with his basket full of toys and me. He does not allow me to sit at the computer for too long a stretch  without getting up to so he can attend to his daily duties. We have to go for at least one drive/ride about town usually the post office and small errands , and he knows what time this must happen. Then there is nap time, usually on the couch me laying down and he laying on top to keep me in place for at least an hour, i really like these "power" naps! The rest of the time he waits patiently for Jolene to get home after work so he can "work" with her... and as soon as its dark outside it's lights out for him...  early to sleep early to rise.

Winter lesson #3: This of season was busy to start, building a storage shed before the weather got here, that's done, the weather is still not here.  Some of the household appliances have started to fail and need replacement, can't be fixed, no one can get parts.
For whatever reason these things never happen at a good time, whenever that might be, when you get it all done and replaced with something new and connected to the existing infrastructure we tend to see/have minor failure's due to new stresses on the old system. All of this teaches patience with all household members, and ya know mr.deeks is again the best teacher and example of how to deal with these issues!

I have also discovered that bring angry at a brick wall, or any other inanimate object, along with people, does not affect the brick wall in anyway... all it does is make me unhappy. I am learning slowly to give that anger to someone who has already suffered that anger for me... and will lift it from me if i choose to give it to Him and follow his example... Jesus Christ wants me and my burdens and will make them light... if i choose to just follow him. So i am learning to read the scriptures every morning in search of answers to the days challenges that come my way. Bottom line i am trying hard to choose not to be angry because it becomes a waste of time and i need that time to get the broken fixed and move on. Soon enough today will come to an end and a new day will be here with more to get done.

Cheers to the daily cycle of life... 
the past is gone with nothing more to change it...
today is here... do the best we can to make it better....
the future is tomorrow... look forward to it and meet the challenge of it...
CHEERS

From three line posts... back to almost complete sentences... ART style.

The Boys of '65... i might as well start running to and with them then away from them...
still continues cold and clear here... Panguitch... the east is getting thumped...
the "world" appears to and continues to spin out of my control... it all seems to go on though, no matter what i do... the natural world is that which i am grateful for  so i keep praying and close to home and do what i can and let all the rest keep doing and carrying on, keep calm, and be of good Cheer. The Lord has a plan and it's all under His control.
 The moon is coming up full, tonight, 14th, and with the combo of hearts and a full moon things might get really silly...

The house weather box is clear and dry... which for southern Utah is somewhat unusual, it should have some snow or wetness in it and the air is windy and warm. 

The weather appears to be going around and past us this winter, but with the hopes that its falling on/in the higher elevations and that gravity will works it's age old magic and bring it into the valley by river, creek and streams... not only has the weather been sparse but so has my usual flow of thoughts, ideas and words... 

I have been learning to use the face book with the intent of using that form of social media at the visitor center in red canyon this coming season... to inform visitors of whats happening in the canyon on a daily basis, doing so with the use of original images that i make and speaking and writing in three line haiku style bites, because i dislike long drawn out posts, my thinking process has taken on a different shape and style. I am making between 25-30 snapshots of the environment about town & country per day and doing a once and sometimes twice daily posting per day on fb. That along with all the "likes" and mostly smart "comment"s to re-enforce "friends" to keep up with the threads that go this way and that and get all knotted up some days. Lots of times i have to log out and escape the clamor of it all... and go take a nap with the dog !

Well this brings me to Valentines Day and Journey Jars... and the book; Put A Cherry On Top written by a good friend of mine, Ben Behunin, who is a Master Potter, Artist and learning to be a writer. As you may or may not know part of being an Artist is the "thieving" of ideas... it's an age old artistic practice among each other...  
Ben builds journey jars, ceramic and glass receptacles to collect and hold small found treasures, the joys of discovery of a younger life and sometimes carried into adult-child life. 
Picasso once said "Every Child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Well running the journey jar idea through my upbringing, experiences, beliefs, point of references and ideas can bring it out the other end... different. 
We all have a story within us and at one point or another we want or will need to tell that story... one way is write it... the old sit down and hammer it out the best way you remember it. Or... write/draw in a journal or sketchbook each day... feelings, experiences, impressions, dreams or ideas that come to your mind and heart. If your not inclined to write and are visual as i am... then think of the journey jar as the journal and collect "things" in your journey through life... most of us collect treasures to remind us of places we have been... special or just the common everyday places and things we do, see and visit.
Bottom-line it all tells a story... yours if you do it. The size of what you collect is dictated by the size of the opening in the jar/journal you use... you may have or want to put tags and labels on or inside each jar for ease of remembrance. That way the people who "read" your story will have a place to start guessing from. My Father, an old "leatherneck" by profession, use to say "...history is a collection of lies that men have agreed upon.", and he never told me many of his stories. So tell your own story in your words, found objects or made images that you created/found. It's all ART... and we all have it in us... go searching for it so your family will know why you were/are "weird" in your own "words" and way.

Cheers to your journey... pray for rain in the West so the East doesn't get hammered so bad by all the weather that passes through/over us.
Sorry for the late start this year, but keep looking in for more coherent thoughts and not just three line FB posts!!

                                                                            CHEERS.

Twentythree, twentythirteen to twentytwo, twentyfourteen... a month

# 67... only i can prevent wild fires       12/23/2013

 Sometimes you have to control what you can and not let things get to out of hand... each match=10years 
better a big flash then wick&wax and lots of heat... be cool. Nothing major... 12 cupcakes rather then one big cake. Small doses of chocolate and sweet rather the trying to eat cake for daze... sugar daze that is.          







CHRIST mas mid-week this year between two weekends...
kind of like bookends... really throws the rhythm off...
low key this year... peaceful morning cooking for dinner most of the time then Family and gifts later in the afternoon... 

CHRISTmas                    12/25/2013

Family outing.... bowling...food and stuff shopping along way from home , the first saturday after the green tree holiday... then home town movie night.

Slip and fall down in the snow... somewhat of a "soft" landing... the only mark left was in the snow... and the dog went on a great run about the yard... he finally came over to see why i was not in pursuit... no snow angel!

Finish cleaning up the leftover wood from shed construction... wooden storage boxes.  Dog path to back yard where snow fall took place... has now been moved closer to the shed, driveway, and house... but now snow is gone!

Setting sun across field of snow... looking west from east of town out by the cemetery...
which became a very busy place at year end and start of the new year... eight of the local old-timers returning home... after a good life here in Panguitch and on earth... clear blue skies so a clear shot HOME.

Home town is getting older... lots of activities planned for summer and spring... though it's not half the place it was fifty years back... trying to reinvent itself for a new economy.

Most of the snow gone now... looking east at the Sevier Plateau...  must now Fast and  Pray for more Moisture to get us through the spring and coming summer... something about climate change... it's been a colder year then normal!

The same field as in the above image... only without the snow and sunset... looking west from the busy cemetery road... still clear blue sky days... warm if your a lizard out on the rock. Been looking for that sideboard to the truck!

It's always nice to have good book to read for the winter... even if they did print it backwards... just read it looking in the mirror... plus half of it is a coloring book... so forward or backward don't make no diff... so i can practice coloring outside the lines while standing in a box... one way or another get out of last years box and stay out!
That should put me up to date for now... sorry for the long pause... not to be confused with menopause, which lasts longer i have been told and requires more Rx's...
> Cheers<